Videos are a powerful marketing tool. They’re also hard for a solopreneur to create on their own. Here are four ways to simplify video creation for your personal brand.
Videos are one of the primary ways marketers are promoting their brands to consumers. They foster good engagement, are accessible, and often lead to powerful results. They’re also versatile and can help with lead generation, customer support, and everything in between.
The promotional potency of a good video applies even if you’re creating a personal brand. However, it’s hard to harness the same resources as a larger company when the professional entity you’re promoting is, well, yourself. When asked, 88% of companies reported they had entire teams devoted to video creation, with nearly half committing multiple staffers to the process.
It’s hard to replicate this with the comparatively slim resources that come with most personal branding efforts. Before you wave the white flag and resort to stagnant images and uninspired walls of blog text, though, here are a few tips to help you simplify the creation process of high-quality videos for your personal brand.
1. Create a plan beforehand.
It’s easy to visualize how you want a video to look in your head. Turning that vision into reality can be more challenging than expected. That’s why you want to start the creation of each video by taking the time to plan it out beforehand.
This may sound like adding another layer of complexity to the process. But the minimal effort of pre-emptive strategizing can lead to a streamlined and efficient video creation process.
Take the time to storyboard your video. Write out a script. Choose an ideal length. Consider what production tools you need (more on those below). By organizing your efforts, you create a clear roadmap to follow at all times.
2. Set the stage, visually speaking.
You may not be performing on an actual stage. Nevertheless, it’s important to set the stage for your video. Think through things like backgrounds, clothing, hair, and makeup. The last thing you want to do is retake footage because you missed something behind you or forgot to use a comb.
Also, take a minute to light your space properly. Whether making a how-to video or interviewing an industry leader, you want to ensure you get clean, well-lit footage from the get-go. That way, you don’t waste time in post-production trying to salvage a dim or shadowy shot.
3. Record separate audio.
Clean audio is easy to overlook — and more important than you think. One of the best ways to simplify the audio recording portion of your videos is by recording a separate track with a good microphone. As with the first tip, this might sound like extra work. But it can actually open up the doors to creating more clean content faster.
For instance, you won’t have to spend as much time tweaking audio in edit if it’s already high quality when you start the process. In addition, if you have a separate file, it’s easy to repurpose your audio for something like a podcast or audio-only version of your video.
The good news is that it isn’t hard to get an affordable mic to pick up a clean recording. Remote podcast recording platform SquadCast points out that we’re rapidly approaching the point where the microphones in something as basic as a smart speaker may be good enough for a professional recording. Pick up a quality mic for your next video (usually, they’re under a hundred dollars). The clean, edit-free results are well worth the investment.
4. Edit with a plan.
Editing can be the most time-consuming part of the video creation process — especially if you start with poor audio or sloppy visuals. Even when you film your video well, though, there are ways to simplify the editing process further. You can use a video editor tool such as VEED.IO in editing your videos to create good results. Aside from that, this video editing tool has so many features that you can leverage to use such as audio joiner, MP3 to WAV, MP3 Converter, and many more. A tool that you can lean on.
Multi-skilled veteran video editor Adam Taylor recommends doing as much in your head before you start the formal editing process. This can help you avoid mistakes and unnecessary edits. It’s also worth watching through all of your footage before you start. That way, you can immediately use the best clips without spending extra time trying to clean up lower-quality takes.
Videos are a powerful way to promote a brand. And yet, they can take a lot of time to create. The good news is even an individual promoting their own brand can create a video in a reasonable time frame if they’re willing to invest in a good process.
Start by planning things out and getting organized. Set the stage, visually speaking. Record separate, high-quality audio. Start your edit by watching all of your footage and think through as much of the editing in your head as you can before you get started. These are the little things that can streamline the video creation process and make it easier to continue making quality video marketing content for your personal brand.
