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10 Tips to Improve Your Videos When You’re First Starting Out

- May 8, 2013 | by April -

When I began publishing videos on Blacksburg Belle, I had no idea what I was doing.

I got an HD Flip camera, learned what the couple of buttons did and hit record. I didn’t put much effort into it, and it showed from the lack of views.

At the time, my readers enjoyed my written posts much more than my videos. Ouch.

I needed to do more than just record and publish. I needed to put more thought and planning into each video. That’s how Wednesday Wisdom came to be.

Suddenly, my videos became the most popular type of post on my blog.

If you’re experimenting with video, I want to help you avoid the mistakes I made in the beginning. Watch today’s video for ten tips to improve your videos when you’re first starting out.

What about you? Have you used video on your blog? Do you have any tips to add? Have you been holding back from using video? Why?

14 Comments · Filed Under: Blogging Advice, Creative Business Development

Comments

  1. claire stone says

    May 8, 2013 at 3:20 pm

    Seriously, did you do this in response to my first ever video today?? If only this had been up about 5 hours earlier! Something happened to this half-way through, so I’ve only seen the first half – and even that has given me about 14 things to think about right now!
    thank you!

    Reply
    • April says

      May 10, 2013 at 2:01 pm

      Hahahahahaha 🙂

      Reply
  2. Phoebe says

    May 8, 2013 at 3:30 pm

    thank you, all good tips. =) And I always love your backgrounds. 😉

    Reply
  3. Sage says

    May 8, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    I agree with your husband–that was the worst alien voice! Hahaha! But seriously, you’ve given me a lot to think about. I know I need to put more effort into my videos (no more white backgrounds!), and stop filming them in one super long take (snooze). Here’s my plan for my next video: a fun but not distracting background and more ENERGY!

    Reply
    • April says

      May 10, 2013 at 2:02 pm

      Hahahahahaha…I know! I’m sooooooooo bad at accents and voices. I’m really bad.

      Sounds like a great plan!

      Reply
  4. Coral says

    May 8, 2013 at 5:17 pm

    Ah, another mini workshop disguised as Wednesday Wisdom. Love love. I’ve done one video for Creative Women’s Business – I did it outside under my mango tree with the magpies chatting away above me. Some people might of thought it was a little distracting but I felt like it showed where I lived, my surroundings. I’ve watched videos by Leonie Dawson who regularly films outside who was my inspiration. I was worried about my very ‘ocker’ Aussie accent but that was one of the things I got the most compliments about. Funny how the thing you are self conscious about is the thing other people love.

    I’ve done an art video for Finding Firelight too. It wasn’t until I watched it back that I realised what I was doing was only half in the shot. So I had to re-do it. Which was scary since I’d had to prepare some stuff the day before and had only prepped enough for two takes. Argh! But the second one went really well for a first try.

    In both, I think I showed my personality but I know they will get better the more I do.

    I think we fear people liking us. It’s a bigger, bolder step in putting yourself ‘out there’.

    My biggest tip – once hubby had helped me set up the camera, I made him go away. I was too self conscious with him watching. Oh, and don’t worry about your equipment. I use a 5 year old still camera that has a video function on it combined with either being outside on a nice day or next to a big picture window. It’s not what is going on behind the scenes that matters, it’s what you are doing in front of it.

    Reply
    • April says

      May 10, 2013 at 2:06 pm

      Yes, that’s soooooo true. I know others who’ve been self conscious about their accents and then they get tons of compliments and can’t believe it.

      You’ll never make the mistake of not taping a mini test video again! I’ve done it before, too. That’s how I knew to make it a tip for this video.

      It’s definitely a bigger step than publishing a written blog post for most people. I know it felt like it to me.

      Hahahahahaha…I actually like having my husband with me. He makes me laugh throughout the entire thing…in between takes of course. It makes it more fun and I think that shows, but I do understand if you need to tape alone. Different strokes for different folks.

      Reply
  5. Katie says

    May 8, 2013 at 8:44 pm

    Great advice. I love the background, and your face looks flawless in this video! My biggest issue when making videos is sounding like a robot, and I think sometimes writing a script makes that worse for me. Though I do try to make at least an outline so I get all the shots and wording in that I need.

    Reply
    • April says

      May 10, 2013 at 2:08 pm

      Thanks Katie! Here’s my best advice for getting rid of robot voice: practice before you tape and then tape yourself, watch it, and see when/how you’re acting robotic and what to change. I just practice in front of my mirror. When I say the script the first and second time, I sound a little robotic…but when I start saying it over and over, I get more comfortable and add in my own personality. And, even then, sometimes robot voice still sneaks in sometimes. 🙂

      Reply
  6. CAtherine says

    May 9, 2013 at 4:46 am

    Love tip #10 !
    I cannot listen to videos that last 30+ minutes

    Reply
    • April says

      May 10, 2013 at 2:09 pm

      I can only listen to looooong videos if I absolutely LOVE the person doing the video AND they’re good at video.

      Reply
  7. Dawn Petrill says

    May 9, 2013 at 8:38 am

    Where were you 1 week ago, April? I just shot my first video last week as a studio tour. While I did write out a script, edit, and add a fun twist at the end- I also made many of the mistakes that you harked on. My #1 mistake was to say “um” way too many times!

    But I decided that I had to start somewhere and not apologize. Next time I’ll be much better equipped! Thanks so much, April, for all your tips and for sharing your font of knowledge. You have really made a difference in how I approach my business and my art!

    Reply
    • April says

      May 10, 2013 at 2:10 pm

      Yay! Congrats on shooting your first video. Do multiple takes of the places that you say “um” and “uh.” You don’t have to go with the first one! 🙂

      Yes, you have to start somewhere and the more you do, the better you’ll get.

      THANK YOU! That makes my day!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Marketing from A to Z: 101 FREE Resources for Promoting Your Creative Business | Blacksburg Belle says:
    April 6, 2016 at 12:25 pm

    […] 55. 10 Tips to Improve Your Videos When You’re First Starting Out: If you’re new to video, this post will help you improve immediately. […]

    Reply

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