DIY Online Video Tips from Jenny De Lacy

February 25, 2018

Tell us about you & what you do…

I’m Jenny de Lacy and I’m the Visibility Coach. I am a video marketing strategist with a 25 year background in writing for and presenting to audiences from 2-200 people. I realised there was a knowledge gap here in our online community about how to use video marketing to grow our business. How to do it well, but also easily and without taking out a mortgage on the house!

I run webinars and workshops for entrepreneurs and small business owners to set up their strategy, and learn how to create simple social sharing style videos, live broadcasts, and videos for blogs, customer care and more.

Why is video marketing so important for business owners?

Online video accounts for close to 75% of internet traffic according to Insivia’s comprehensive roundup of video marketing statistics. And with people spending on average 2.6x as long on a page that includes video according to Wistia, you can see there is a huge potential for growing our business.

Video allows people to get to know us faster than just words on a page, and online shoppers are 1.8x more likely to buy a product or service than non-viewers. This is powerful stuff! Because it helps people trust and connect with us – the next best thing to meeting them in person really.

Now that video is so prolific (YouTube has 1 billion users – that’s one third of all the people on the internet. And 500 million people are watching videos on Facebook each day) – I believe people expect it now. If I land on a website without video, I think it’s old fashioned or out of touch.

What kind of equipment can people use?

I am a huge believer in using what you already have – don’t spend bucketloads on expensive equipment, when the smart phone that’s constantly in your hand is a perfect video marketing tool.

Manufacturers like Apple and Samsung are throwing squillions at the camera technology in our smartphones, so they are better cameras than our webcams, definitely.

I also recommend that if people want to do this well, invest in a tripod – you can pick them up from about $60. It’s really the only piece of equipment I recommend at the beginning, as lights and sound can be free too:

If you do a little sound check and feel you need a mic, just use the headphones that came with your smart phone – that mic is perfect
You need light on your lovely face – make sure you have natural light facing you (not behind you), or even a desk lamp that’s already somewhere in your home.
If you want to invest in lights or a microphone, they are available online and start under $100.

[A quick search of ‘mobile phone tripod’ returned this list from Officeworks starting at $10)

What’s the biggest DO’s when it comes to video marketing?

Do make it suit you – YOUR business, clients, budget. Start with a strategy in mind – WHY are you doing this?

Brand awareness
Raising your personal profile
To enhance your blogs
To educate your clients or potential clients?

And those DON’Ts to look out for?

Don’t wing it – I can tell when someone has just decided to press record or ‘go live’ without really thinking or preparing. Such as from the car during school pick up, or in a place that is messy with no relevance to the message they are sharing.

It doesn’t take long to get prepared – Where are you going to stand or sit?

What’s the purpose of this content?

What are the three–five main points you are going to make?

This will pay off for you.

Most people that we talk to have some big block around video marketing, that it needs to be perfect for it to be online – what’s your advice to them?

The days of over production have gone. We aren’t actors learning lines sitting in a Marie Forleo style TV studio with a production crew, makeup artists and stylist. We are who we are, and we look how we look.

By it’s very nature, something like Facebook Live is a little rough around the edges – conversational and real. That’s what people are looking for.

And you’re NOT going to get better at the thing, without actually doing the thing! So start – practice, delete, practice again. Confidence grows as you take action, and the nerves will get less and less annoying.

The best thing to do to look great on camera:

Make sure you have light on your face,
make sure you have the camera up at eye level so you are looking me in the eye (not on your lap so you are standing over me and I can see up your nose)
and that you look at the camera lens and not the screen

Super simple, but will make you stand out for all the right reasons in a sea of poorly thought out content online right now.

Where’s the best place to upload & share video?

Go back to question 4 – the best place to upload and share will depend on WHY you are doing this, where your clients are, and what they need from you.

Once you know where you are using your videos – work out how to load them there. For example on Facebook just load them like you do a photo. If it’s for your website or email marketing, then load them to YouTube and use the link to add them.

Start simple – get fancy later.