A Beginners Guide to Social Video

Posted: January 21, 2013

[caption id="attachment_11134" align="alignright" width="0"]image SteamFeed[/caption]Video is gearing up to be the new way to connect with your "social" crowd. Make sure that your video is the best quality it can be, so you can continue to keep and grow your social following – and not deter them. Most times you don't need to go out and buy any special equipment, you can use what you've got. Read on to create the best video you can.

Heading into the new year, I wanted to find new ways to engage with members of my community. The one that has caught fire with me has been video. I now do a semi regular Google Hangout and I send a Vsnap to a new person every day.

Video is a great way to communicate with your community in a new, deeper level. It is also shaping up to be the darling of 2013 and beyond. For a beginner, it can also be a non stop blooper reel. Before you go out and buy all your video equipment, please note: all the video I do is 100% mobile. I film everything on my Android phone or my iPad.

Here are some things I’ve been picking up as I go:

Have a plan

You want to make sure you are not jumping into doing video just for the sake of doing video. The first thing is to decide a purpose for what you are doing. Are you doing video greetings to engage community members? Teaching them something? Entertaining them? You need to have a clear idea of why you are there.

Once you do decide what the reasons behind your video are, plan out what you are going to say before you sit down to film. A full scripting is not always necessary, unless you are creating a longer presentation but even then you want to make sure you are showing your personality. I will jot my list down on a Post It and put it where I can read while filming with a quick glance.

Be seen and be HEARD

You want to make sure that you can be seen clearly and more importantly, be heard. As my very own Yoda of video*, Aaron Biebert of Attention Era Media says:

“Make sure the first thing you invest in (if anything) is audio. Bad audio drives people away faster than bad picture quality.”

A small external mic can help you get clear audio for your video. Don’t forget to speak clearly!

I also think it is important to be as properly lit as possible whether you are filming a video or even participating in a Google+ Hangout. Don’t film in a dimly lit room as it will look darker on the video. Make sure you are front lit and do not have an open window (or other light source) behind you.

Read the entire article A Beginners Guide to Social Video at SteamFeed.

Biz Tip Provided by Randy Bowden, bowden2bowden llc via Twitter.