Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Small Business Video Creation Tips : Part I

Helpful Tips for Creating Videos for your Small Business Part I


Like any form of content creation things can seem overwhelming at first. Video creation often makes people nervous because they believe they need to appear in it (don’t fret you can do presentation videos as well). Here are tips we hope will take the edge off of your content creation nerves.
Engage your customers on a new level by building a better relationship even when you can't be in person.

Getting Ready

What is your Goal?

Identify what you want to accomplish, it may sound simple but skipping this step can leave you feeling unorganized and conflicted.


Examples would be: I want to introduce my business, I want to introduce my staff, I want to explain our policies, I want to demonstrate a product


Write a Script

It doesn't have to be a novel but jot down what you want to say. This can help guide you as you start planning what you want to show and revising it can help you remember your changes. Even better your final script can be adapted into a transcript, or Closed Caption material.


Tip: Keep your vocabulary simple. Try to minimize the amount of technical and marketing terms used.

Be sure to take breaks in between revisions!

Should it be Split?

Sometimes it takes you more than one page on a website or more than one video to fully cover your goal. There isn't anything wrong with that and it actually will make the video more appealing if it’s kept in bite sized pieces. Normally promotional videos are kept short to get to the point. Offering smaller videos also helps viewers select exactly what they want to see.


Example:
Goal = Introduce my business
Video 1 = What we do/make
Video 2 = How we started
Video 3 = Our beliefs / community responsibility
Video 4 = Our team
Video 5 = Our CEO / owner
Splitting videos into parts is like splitting a book into chapters, it makes it easier to use.

Practice

Now this doesn't mean you have to recite your script for weeks, but read it through a couple times until you feel comfortable. Not only will you be more familiar with what you are reading but you can listen and find anything that might not come off clearly. Remember there is nothing wrong with revising your script.


Tip: Before you start think of something that makes you happy and try to smile when you talk. If you listen to yourself you’ll notice when we smile our voice is actually brighter and more welcoming.


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Other Tips

A collection of advice from others on video production.