Video blogging – why is it so hard to start?

June 29 · Blog

This is my first video blog

https://vimeo.com/124132740 Not really. It’s my fourth. The three other ones are still sitting in my draft folder, because they’re ‘not ready’.

Come one, this should be easy for you!

I’ve been meaning to start a video blog for three years now. Hunting With PIxels has produced over 1100 videos for other people in that time span, but not one video blog.

Why is it so hard for us to start?

What I’ve learned from my work and my own experience is that there are three barriers to video blogging.

Perfectionism
Lack of time
No clarity on the direction.

1. Perfectionism

There’s a real vulnerability about being filmed, so most of us cringe when we see ourselves on a screen. There’s always something ‘not quite right’, but what may look like ‘striving for perfection’ is really allowing ourselves to give into fear. As a result we don’t publish until our content is perfect, which is.. never.

2. Time: If only we had more time and energy!

As a entrepreneur and a dad of a ludicrously-cute-but-utterly-exhausting 3 year old, I can appreciate time is limited and creating good content is a big investment. But ultimately it’s not about time. It’s about prioritising. Is creating your my niche by having a voice a good use of my time right now? I came to the conclusion this is not something for ‘later’.

3. Direction

Finding your voice can be hard because you’re too close to the subject and there is so much much you could share.

Three things you can do today

If you’ve made the commitment to get started, you’ll vastly improve your chance of success by doing these three things:

1. Get an outsider’s perspective

This blog wouldn’t exist if Kevin Moore and Byron Scaf from our amazing Coraggio advisory board wouldn’t have pushed the button for me. They showed me that done is better than perfect. Outsiders will have a more objective view of your content that you can ever have, use their ability to make an objective decision and let them help you get started. Even if you’re reluctant like I am.

2. Time – You have to make it easy

A well known psychological bias is the planning fallacy. We all consistently underestimate how much time a task will take no matter how much experience we have. A way to get around it is to avoid adding producing video blogs to your already busy schedule. Because it won’t happen. No really.

Here’s how you make it happen.

Plan a content day.
Turn off EVERYTHING.
Get someone to help you finish.

3. Direction – it’s simple if you get help

It’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to cover everything, so getting a very clear idea on that one thing you want to be known for is essential. So get advice from your business consultant, your marketing agency or advisory board on the direction you need to take. Find someone who can afford to be brutally honest to you: I my experience generally not people who are too close to you unless you’re dutch.

What’s the worst that could happen?

When we make decisions, we tend to focus on the results of the decision: ‘If I put my video up, someone may make a negative comment about my funny accent’

Not making a decision is a decision too

What we often don’t take into account is the opportunity cost of not making a decision. A decision to not to publish is a decision to not let your voice be heard.

Hey, that was my idea!

Have you noticed that ideas that you may have had a few years back are now ‘owned’ by someone else? Could it be that the difference between you and the other guy/girl is that she just started, making everyone else someone with the great ideas but no content to show for it? This year, I decided I don’t want to be that person anymore, and I hope I can encourage you to do the same.

We all start small

Here’s an example of someone who just started. Gary Vaynerchuk now; 350.000 views on his video, huge on twitter. Nice looking videos. … and Gary three year ago. Not bad, but does this look like something unattainable to you?

But those successful people make it look so easy..

Yes, by having all false starts years before you ever heard of them. But they still started.

Press that button!

Businesses that communicate well grow faster because engaging content amplifies their message. But you have to start.

Helen Hanson video preview

June 24 · Blog, Client Videos

https://vimeo.com/131516254

Fairview

June 23 · Blog, Client Videos

Interview examples for Carolyn

June 22 · Blog, Client Videos

Examples of interview footage

Shot against a white background for a clean, consistent look https://vimeo.com/118878227 Using two cameras https://vimeo.com/54217175 password; ‘Future’ (with capital ‘F’)

Video examples for carers victoria

June 15 · Blog, Client Videos

Tell a story: Carers Uk

Beautiful storytelling, well filmed. A production like this would be in the $ 900/minute bracket; there’s a lot of preproduction and management in producing content like this.

Ask a question

Get the general public involved in your question; what question could we ask that helps our audience think about caring? We could use this concept to look at what the general public knows about caring, or ask questions that make them think what it would mean to be cared for. Content like this is a very strong connector to the general public; it’s their voice.

Values and Purpose: get your audience actively involved

Here’s an interesting way to connect to your audience; let them tell the stories about their personal values and purpose. How can we involve your audience in the story of Carers Victoria? A campaign like this is very suitable for a retainer option because you continuously build on the idea and expand where it’s effective.

Talk about a big idea

If we want to tackle the bigger ideas, we need to embed it into a story. Videos with stories get shared. We could tell a similar type of story around the need to care; create a narrative around the challenges and rewards of caring.