Monday, April 30, 2018

Tips For Making a Better Video For Home Or the Website

Found this article for the basis on making good video and with the basics.  I'll be bringing more tips on this shortly.  What do you think?



The explosion of free video sharing websites has made shooting personal videos a rather ordinary affair; everyone is doing it. But even before this happened, home videos were viewed as a fantastic way to record and preserve memorable events in one's life.
Whether the video is meant for viewing at home or for uploading to the Internet, one thing that anyone quickly notices is the poor quality of these videos.
Make Your video Look Like a Pro's...
Many home videos are hardly viewable which defeats the very purpose of making them in the first place. 'But after all, they are amateur videos. And that is correct so one cannot expect a movie-standard production. However, contrary to what many realize, the tips for making a better video are so easy to follow that one would wonder why they did not use them in the first place.
First, it is important that one identify the objective for recording the video and the intended audience. That's right! Even for a home video, this is absolutely important. This information plays an important part in determining the volume of the video content, the types of angles the shoots should take, whether there will be interviews or not and the inclusion of any other features that will be relevant to the production.
Use Good Equipment...
Another one of the key tips for making a better video is ensuring that the equipment used is of good quality. This does not mean that you must look for the most expensive video cameras in the market. Rather, there is a certain minimum standard of camera that should give you an acceptable level of quality as far as the final product goes.
A Good Foundation, Tripods Work!
When it comes to the actual shooting, you might need to get a tripod stand to use as a support for the camera. Many amateur videos are often characterized by a hazy picture due to shaking by the person doing the filming. It might not seem significant during the recording but as one sits back to see the entire shoot, the realization that the video is unpresentable becomes apparent.
A number of camcorders come with a tripod stand. However, if you do not have one, buying one is not that expensive especially when you consider its benefits. A tripod stand also allows the person doing the filming to, when required, join in with the persons being filmed without leaving out anyone else that is required to be in the video.
Learn the Fine Adjustments...
How you zoom and change shooting angles is also one of the important tips for making a better video that you should pay attention to. Changing the shooting angles has the ability to liven an entire shoot. If you have to film a certain object for a while, do not be fixated in only one angle.
However, you must avoid constantly adjusting the shot as it quickly tires the viewer and leads to disinterest.
Whenever you have to zoom or change the angles from which you take the shots, doing it smooth and slow is the way to go. Never jerk the camcorder from one angle to another and avoid zooming in and out on the same object.
These few video tips should help you shoot a clip that is worthy of an Oscar!
Jerry Pelletier is an online marketing and self branding expert who teaches the tips and techniques to his team of new and experienced entrepreneurs that gets results to sell anything to anyone, anywhere in the world, working from your own home-based business. To learn how to become Financially Secure and gain Financial Freedom through his unique Business platform.
To join Jerry Pelletier and his internet success coaching, apply at his website or contact him from there. [http://www.TimeForYours.net]

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Why online video is the future of content marketing


Looks like video is the way of the future.  The way technology has superseded itself, it seems people are more inclined to watch than to read.  It's also easier.  Here's an article below.  What do think?  Comment below.


Video is taking content marketing by storm, but you'll have to do more than just make one to realise its full potential
Hands filming with phone
Video is everywhere. Small businesses who ignore it 'do so at their peril'. Photograph: Robert Gray/Getty Images
If it were five years in the future, would you be reading this article or would you be watching it? As online video continues its inimitable rise, it's an interesting question to ponder.

By 2017, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic, according to Cisco. Video-on-demand traffic alone will have almost trebled. Leafing through a swathe of statistics on the subject, I'm hard pressed to find any indicator that doesn't suggest rapid growth.
With online video quickly becoming a key means for people to satisfy their information and entertainment needs, small businesses that fail to include it in their internet marketing strategies will do so at their peril.
Video is the future of content marketing. That is, if it's not the here and now. Various studies show more than half of companies are already making use of the medium – a figure that's predicted to rise as more and more realise the possibilities. Nielsen claims 64% of marketers expect video to dominate their strategies in the near future. It's not difficult to see why.
When it comes to potential reach, video is peerless. YouTube receives more than one billion unique visitors every month – that's more than any other channel, apart from Facebook. One in three Britons view at least one online video a week – that's a weekly audience of more than 20 million people in the UK alone. Video can give you access to all this. Video done well can give you a slice of it. What other form of content can do the same?
The success stories of videos that have gone viral are legend. A recent campaign from Volkswagen, for example, saw a trio of its videos viewed a combined 155 million times. If such numbers seem out of reach for companies without 12-figure revenue streams, they at least demonstrate video's inherent shareability. Engage viewers and they will share the video with others. They will spend longer on your website and more time interacting with your brand. For any social media campaign, any SEO exercise, video is without doubt one of the best tools in the kit.
But is video really possible for small businesses? Absolutely. Production costs have fallen significantly in recent years and you no longer need to be a technical whiz to work out how to use it. Apps such as Twitter's Vine, with its six-second maximum clip length, have dramatically increased the opportunity for businesses on a limited budget to get stuck in. Nevertheless, if you're to realise a decent return on your investment, you will need to bear the following in mind.
Always consider the audience you are trying to reach and ensure the video is relevant to them. If it's not the most appropriate means of getting your message across, you are probably wasting your time.
Do not neglect social media and be sure to promote across multiple channels. If you want to fully realise video's potential, you must make it easy for users to find and share it. Don't neglect mobile either. Ooyala has claimed a tenth of all video plays happen on mobiles and tablets, and it's an increasingly important segment, with mobile phones holding 41% more share of video consumption at the end of June 2013 than at the start of that year.
Finally, be creative, not only with the videos themselves but in the campaign strategy you build around them. As my head of marketing likes to say, creativity wins over the cost of production every time. Get that bit right and video won't just be the future of content marketing, it'll be the future of content marketing for you.
By Chris Trimble

Friday, April 20, 2018

19 reasons why you owe it to yourself & others to be rich

It comes up a lot about why you shouldn't have money.  After all the talk, then some people begin to self sabotage themselves in getting money!  I know I have.  He's an article I found that says why you should have money, wealth, and abundance.  Comment below for your views.  Do you feel the same?



A lot of people think that if you are rich, you have to have taken from the poor. This is nonsense, because money is fluid; constantly moving. One paper denomination could circulate 10,000 times and as such is not a single exchange where someone gains and someone else loses. Money is simply a universal mechanism of exchange, a way to measure value, a unit of account and a future store of that value. It is not good or bad, right or wrong. If you can learn to leverage money to its full purpose and potential, rather than make it mean what you think it means, or how it makes
you feel, then you transcend being a slave to money and you become a money magnet and master.

The most important fundamental of becoming a money master is to accept, believe and then own your right to be rich. It is your birth right. No one was born to be poor. Sure, some people less fortunate can’t help their environment and upbringing, but if you’re reading this you probably can.
Here are 20 great, real reasons why you shouldn’t just be rich, but it is your right and responsibility to be rich:

1. Your increased net worth increases your self worth

Which in turn lifts others up around you. The rising of tides lifts all ships.

2. You help others grow their wealth by growing yours, because:

a. You pay more people more money (because you can afford to)
b. You teach people what you know that helps them make money (which is the greatest gift of all and a more lasting legacy)
c. You inspire people, which creates a positive knock-on, butterfly effect of wealth (well being)

3. The more you make, the more you can give away

Pretty obvious, but many don’t seem to get that the more you earn and own, the more you can share and give. Charity starts at home, commit to wealth and to creating wealth around you.

4. Being broke restricts you from serving, solving & creating

You can’t do much that is creative or inspiring if you lack financial resources. Sure you can be creative, but an artist can do better work with better tools.

5. Being broke consumes resources in society, being wealthy produces them

If you have no money you have to rely on parents, the state and donors to help you get by. If you are wealthy you provide value and resources for others.

6. Being rich leaves a legacy for others to carry on

Money is not the only form of legacy, but it can finance most kinds; schools, libraries, hospitals, foundations and history.

7. It is one of the measures of your progress

Whilst not the only measure, making more money gives you feedback that you are growing, improving and progressing. It’s a useful measure and method of keeping score.

8. You can fund innovation, progress & improvement in important areas

Pretty much all progress is fuelled and financed by money. The cures of disease, the running for election, reaching the moon and Mars; the solving of man’s challenges is accelerated with money.

9. You can fund your passions

Some say that money doesn’t make you happy, but your passions make you happy. Some of those passions are expensive to fund and as such money funds your passion which makes you happy. Use money to fuel and fund your passions, and then share your passion with others to inspire them. Don’t wait until you retire to do what you love.

10. You can start a foundation & even reduce poverty itself

By creating vast wealth you can set up your own charity. A lot of people don’t like the fact that many charities consume most of the donations before they support their cause, so you can change this by starting a foundation, funding education and schools, libraries, hospitals, or simply donating your time to help the causes that matter to you. You can’t do this if you have no money to fund causes or your free time.

11. It will transmute confidence into other areas of your life

When I was skint (temporarily poor) I lost confidence in meeting people, socially, dating and my self employment. It seemed to exaggerate all the worse areas of my life. Conversely as I become more financially secure it increased my confidence in these areas. The rising of tides lift all ships. Money will not change you, but it will exaggerate your existing traits. So use it to do that as a force for good.

12. You will have a statistically better relationship

Half of marriages end in divorce, and most of those divorces are due to money problems. A lack of money will make all your problems worse, because it is the universally agreed mechanism of exchange, which enables us to do anything. Not having to worry about money will relieve stress in your relationships, leaving you to worry about the things that really matter.

13. Money makes you more of what you already are

It is a myth that money will always change you, it mostly makes you more of who you already are. Money will likely exaggerate your great traits (and your bad ones). You can expand your great traits by becoming rich, and use those to help others too.

14. Money gives you security & confidence

If you ever get stuck or get into hardship, you can pay your way out. You know you will always be secure, confident and strong, with a level of wealth behind you for protection. That enables you to get out there and do what you love with more volition. You never have to sell out, you can always follow your dreams.

15. You will attract other wealthy people

Wealth attracts wealth. We are attracted to people like us. The more riches you have. the more likely you are to attract the quality of peer group that lifts you up further. You can forge partnerships, raise more money for ventures and your causes, and meet some of the worlds most interesting people.

16. What you learn by getting rich you can carry into future endeavours

Being rich is a learnable skill, like any other vocation. The lessons you learn are great life lessons that you can carry into many other endeavours. It is also a great gift to pass on to your children, clients and people you care about.
Image result for classic cornucopia of fruit and vegetables

17. You can put your kids through good schools/education

I don’t know a parent who doesn’t the best education for their kids. Private schools aren’t necessarily the best by default, but you can afford the best possible public, private or self education for your kids the more money you have.

18. You create many jobs

Wealth and riches create employment and opportunities. If you have a company it creates economy and increased local GDP by helping people fund their careers (and passions), and pay their overheads. The private sector funds most of the public sector too, so in creating jobs you have a cascading effect of money circulation.

19. You pay vast taxes

Despite some big companies reducing their corporation tax bill, they still pay vast taxes in business rates, VAT, employers AND employees national insurance, pension contributions, fuel duty, regulatory and accountancy, income tax and more. You are funding many of the public sector services by generating wealth, and that is good for the local, national and global economy.
There are so many reasons to be rich that transcend greed and power. Wealth contributes too, not just for your lifestyle, but those around you too. Let’s be honest, money does make you happy, or at least what good you can do with it makes you happy. Don’t be a martyr, stop worrying about how people will judge you, and go and create the wealth you deserve and do great things with it.
by Rob Moore

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

To Blog or Not to Blog?

Found this clip of Lorna Li explaining why to blog!!!  A start to our blogging/vlogging/video presence!  Comment if you agree.  Also how you started.

Monday, April 16, 2018

How to Get Started with Video Marketing in 6 Simple Steps

Video and video marketing.  Sort of goes hand in hand when you're using it in business.  Here's a few tip to get it together. from Marcus Sheridan.  Even though it's for a business you can adapt it for yourself if you're a one person band.  Would you agree?  Comments below.


Video marketing. It’s all the buzz in the marketing world right now, and rightfully so.
Have you seen the statistics?
  • 4X as many customers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. (Animoto, 2015)
  • 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week. (HubSpot, 2016
  • 43% of people want to see more video content from marketers. (HubSpot, 2016)
As we begin to build a video culture within our companies, it’s important to understand these reasons why.
At The Sales Lion, many of our clients will produce video content as at least half of their overall content moving forward, but we know that’s easier said than done!
With the addition of some basic equipment, hiring or placement of vital team members, and an editorial calendar to lead the way, you could begin making great video content at your organization immediately.
Feeling lost and don’t know what you’d make videos about? Check out 5 Easy Videos Every Small Business Can Make ASAP or 7 Places to Use Video Marketing on Your Website

Step 1: Make it A Part of Your Culture

It’s important to make video marketing a priority and get your team (including leadership) on board from the beginning. This will be a team effort and your videos can not be simply a “bolt on” to what you are already doing.
It needs to flow through everything you do when marketing your company -- as a part of your culture.
A good way to start building this culture is involving your entire team in the ideation and creation process. (Most everyone has a creative side, but it’s the job of the company/organization to “bring out” that side of them. Video does this.)
Start by filming simple short videos to use on social media. With the addition of stories to Facebook and Instagram, your team can casually learn how to be on camera for seconds at a time.
Doing this has many benefits. For example, when an employee is a part of a company video, they usually feel a sense of “ownership” about the company brand. On screen, they become representatives of the organization, a public figure people associate with it. Even though many employees are nervous on camera at first, once they learn how, they not only often start to enjoy it and feel an extreme sense of accomplishment.

Step 2: Get Your Equipment Together

Each company is going to have a different budget level, however, this shouldn’t be seen as a hurdle between you and success.
There are many companies killing it with video marketing while simply shooting with an iPhone or Android device. At the same time, by acquiring even the most basic camera and lighting equipment, you can make the jump to really professional video content.
Although you can easily get started with a smartphone and natural light, consider upgrading your set up with:
  • DSLR or Prosumer Camera
  • Basic Studio Lights
  • Mounting Equipment (Tripod, Monopod)
  • Recording Equipment (Wireless Lavalier Mics or Shotgun Mics)
Using a resource like B&H Photo, you can easily compare different equipment by price, rating, features, etc.

Step 3: Set Up Your Studio

Setting up a space for video shoots is likely less expensive than what you may think, in fact, a quiet space by a window with natural light may be all you need.
With that said, if you have a spare office or conference room, talk to your team about converting it into the video marketing studio. Collect any existing video equipment together, get it set up, and you’re ready to go.
If you don’t have equipment yet, consider purchasing a backdrop system and some basic lights to eliminate shadows and light spills.
Having a space ready to go makes it easy to be creative in the moment and removes the hurdle of setup time.
Check out the set-up our friends at IMPACT have put together in their training room:

Step 4: Find Your Pros (or Learn How to Film Like One)

Once you have your office studio setup, you’ll need a captain to steer the video ship.
Whether you hire a new videographer or assign existing team members, you’ll need someone who has experience in production and editing those new shiny videos you create.
If you’re hiring a new staff member, you’ll need to identify personal and creative traits, as well as technical abilities. If you’re unsure about this, use this simple guide about how to hire an in-house videographer.
If you can’t afford a full-time videographer or simply choose to assign this to an existing teammate, they can start by learning the tricks of the trade. Some of introductory tutorials they want to start with are:
Most basic video shooting, editing, and publishing techniques can be learned using YouTube and a dedication to perfecting  techniques along the way.
If you want to dig deeper, a Lynda.com subscription or subscription to the Wistia Learning Center will be the educational tools of choice.
Additionally, search for your specific camera, mic, or lighting models to get more specific training videos.
Once you’ve assembled your video composition talent, they’ll need to work tightly with the content manager or content production team to weave the video marketing into the overall content strategy.
In most cases, the content manager and videographer will touch base many times throughout the creation process, and keep each other accountable to create this video content.

Step 5: Create an Editorial Calendar

One of the biggest hurdles of creating video content is simply adding it to your editorial calendar. What you schedule is important and what is important gets done.
When we go through this process with our clients at The Sales Lion, we start with a couple things:
  1. Schedule a brainstorm of the most asked questions your sales team receives. Those questions should be turned into videos your sales team can use to save time and close deals quicker in the future.
  2. Look at your “Big 5” and align your video content with this search philosophy. Start with the basics and then work your way out to the more niche topics.
  3. Start with the best of the best. Take a look at your content that has performed well in the past or even a competitor’s content that seems to be resonating well within your community. Use this as a guide to create videos and examine ways to make them even better.

Step 6: Start Filming!

When you’ve assembled all the moving parts of the video production process, and completed your pre-production steps, it’s “lights, camera, action!”
Until you find your groove in video, consider this one very important tip: While you can always redo a take, avoid stopping one. You may struggle at first but this is an important step in learning to be on camera. Many may not be a “one take wonder” but you can always cut pieces of footage together.
Once you begin shooting a segment, go from start to finish, as many times as it takes until feel like you have the best footage. Over time, you’ll find that you become better at communicating to a camera, and realize that it’s simply having a conversation.

The Best Next Steps To Take

Practice makes perfect. Get some ideas together, make a plan, and start shooting. If it’s not good, don’t publish it. If it’s good but not perfect, publish it anyways. Rinse and repeat.
After all, do you remember the first blog post you ever wrote? It probably wasn’t awesome. It may have had great elements, but some areas needed work. As time went on, though, you got more proficient. The same process will take place with video marketing.
If you’re ready to take this whole video marketing thing to the next level, consider a video workshop from The Sales Lion. We specialize in assisting companies create a culture of video, and produce awesome marketing videos.


By Marcus Sheridan