Faith Dey learned how to produce videos for business and non-profit clients using Google, YouTube and through lots of practice. Now, as founder of Live Well Social Video, she’s a self-made video marketing professional who, while saying she has no real secrets, had plenty of them to share at the July #SMBMad event.
“I started as someone who needed to learn how to do it myself and I’m really grateful to be able to help others with what I have learned,” she told the online audience. “But I’m really not doing anything that’s special. There is no magic, only hard work, ingenuity and practice.”
Faith’s practical tips are geared toward making video production accessible and affordable for you. Here’s some of Faith’s advice on how anyone can level up their video skills. See her full presentation at the #SMBMad Facebook page.
Prepare First
Think about what you’re trying to accomplish with your video content to develop a project strategy. Do you want to be found in searches? Will you address some frequently asked questions? Is your video a one-off social post? And where will the video live: A website, YouTube, social channels?
Decide what information and approach will best serve your viewer to form your story and determine how you will tell it.
Then Produce
Can you take good video on your phone? Heck yeah! But, today, it’s all about Zoom which is also a good option. If you want to get fancy, you could use a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera. But it’s really not necessary to have expensive gear. What you will need to get the best video is the right stability, light and sound.
On Zoom, achieve a stable image by raising the height of your laptop or external camera to eye level. Natural light or a ring light will give you the best lighting. And it’s best to use a real background. If you want to use a virtual background, having a personal green screen gives much better results. A plug-in microphone on a stand or boom will produce the best sound.
Want to use your phone? A tripod will give you the greatest stability. Again, natural or a ring light are the best lighting options. And it is worthwhile to have a wired lapel microphone for sound that is better quality than your phone microphone.
The most complicated part of producing quality video is editing. You can use accessible programs like the Windows 10 Photo app or iMovie. But if you’d rather not, you can capture the video yourself and hire a pro to edit your work. You will reduce costs of production and get the best result.
Finally, Post
Many — about 85 percent — people watch videos with the sound off. Plan to use captions, which can be repurposed as other content. Facebook and YouTube will auto-generate captions. But to get clean captions that are free of spelling errors and other garbled text, use a caption editing program like ClipScribe.
Another posting tip: Use the InShot app to reformat your video and add elements and text for social media.
Learn more of Faith’s tips by viewing her presentation on the #SMBMad Facebook page. See Faith’s work on her Live Well Social Video Vimeo Channel, contact her at faith@livewellvideo.com or connect with her on Instagram @faithdey_livewell videos.
Nonprofit Spotlight: Madison Public Library
For more than 140 years, Madison Public Library has promoted education, literacy and community involvement, currently at nine locations in the City of Madison. The library went fine-free in August 2020 and opened for in-person service in May. Celebrate reading with the library by participating in We Read, a year-round, all-ages program. Share something you’ve loved reading on social media using #WeReadMadisoin and tagging the library at madpl.org/weread. Follow Madison Public Library online: MadisonPublicLibrary on Facebook, @madisonlibrary on Twitter, or @madisonpubliclibrary on Instagram.
