A question I often get asked is, “if I’m not tech savvy, how can I make videos myself which are good enough for my own business?”
Day 27 of my video challenge, and in this video, I explain, while the technology and cost have become accessible to all. There is a caveat.
Let me explain. So yes, you know, you can shoot your videos for your business easily. The gadgets, the software that we have now is quite amazing. It’s affordable, easy to use, and high quality. When I am out and about, and I’m just filming on my iPhone. I have a simple set up with a shotgun microphone, to improve the sound. A clip-on wide angle lens, so when I am filming myself, it’s not to close. I also use a little tripod to help me hold the phone a bit steadier. When at my home office, I use a DSLR, it doesn’t have to be a costly camera. A lens on it and a tripod, and you can create some excellent looking videos.
The biggest tip I give if you want to create a video which looks good, is getting some training. There’s plenty of online tutorials on Youtube. You can invest in paid courses. Or I can come and help you. I have supported many companies where I come in and run workshops, which maximises the skill of an in-house team.
When you’ve shot your video, the next part is to edit it, and this is a potential bottleneck. It’s not hard to learn how to do editing, to do simple edits and maybe some simple graphics, but it is, to make your film look polished and professional, you need to know the software – it’s a steep learning curve for many. I include myself in this. I can edit, but I would probably only use 10% of the power of the editing software program I use, which happens to be Final Cut X. It takes me longer to edit the videos than it does to shoot them. The question I have for you as an entrepreneur or business owner is what value do you put on your time? Yes, you know you need videos for your business, but how much time do you have to shoot and edit them. My 2nd big tip is to outsource the editing. You could start and look what someone on your team, can you up-skill them with a bit of training to be able to do some shoots and edits? If cost is a consideration, look to outsource the editing overseas.
If you don’t have an in-house team, consider hiring a local videographer who can come in and shoot and edit some basic videos for you. Or bring in a video production company who can sit down with you and you can talk about your needs and goals for the video.
If you have watched any of my other videos, you will know video needs to have a plan, and it needs to have a strategy. That’s one of the reasons why I wrote my book “How to Get Video Right”. If you’re serious about growing your business, you need to have video as part of your strategy. It’s great that if you want to do your own video content, my advice would be decided on the outcomes you want to achieve with the videos, and get some training on the production.
