Life Unexpected's Top Tips for Creating Video Content

It's been almost 5 years since I launched my little corner of cyber space. That time has both flown and tiptoed quietly by, but no matter which way I choose to look at it, so much has happened in that time frame. Leo has grown from a small baby who relied on me for absolutely everything, to an independent 5 year old child who loves to branch out on his own. 

I have had to learn to stand on my own 2 feet two, and the journey has seen me learn so much about myself. The blog has grown and evolved, it had a name change two years back and it has most definitely rolled with the punches. 

As I cast my mind back to those very early days in my blogging life, I recall how horrified and shy I would be when it came to creating video content. It was something I quite honestly did not want to do. I knew that as time went on, it would be something that I would have to make peace with in one way or another. It may have taken me 5 years, and often my videos are anything but perfect, but I love that I am putting myself out there and giving it a go. 

If you don't already produce your own video content, then maybe this could be food for thought: 'Video content is staging a takeover of the Internet. By 2017, Cisco projects that video will account for 69 percent of all Web traffic. The majority of that traffic will come from non-PC devices, including tenfold increases in smartphone and tablet usage.'

Now is the time to start creating content and pushing your brand further than it has ever gone before. We all have to start somewhere, but if you think about just how huge video is in 2016, and how much bigger it is going to get, then now really is the time to get over your stage fright and persevere. 

You can do this. 

I thought that it would be nice to share my Top 5 Tips for Creating Video:

1. Find a Video Editing Software that you are comfortable in using. 

Invest time in learning how to use it and getting the most out of this software. This first tip may just be the most essential, because if you can't get on well with your chosen software, you will not be producing the videos to the very best of your ability. For many years I used Windows Movie Maker, and this has done the job for me personally. I am now looking into a more comprehensive software.

2. Make a list of what you want to talk about in your video.

I am a firm believer in listing the subjects you want to discuss in your video ahead of going live. I don't believe in scripting the video, you can always tell when someone is reading off sheet or just going for it. I know it's a worry that you will go in and suddenly your mind will go blank, but you'll look and sound a lot more natural. 

I would suggest doing some trial runs on camera because you might catch something great, that goes on to feature in the finished footage!

3. Think about the message you want the video to share.

 Before you even start shooting you need to decide on an objective, What do you want to achieve out of the content?

Once you have the answer to this you can start to think about how you want to construct the video. For instance, if you were putting together a video on the opening of a theme park and you wanted to show people what they had going on there, why not do something like this?

4. Make it easy for people to follow and connect with you.

If people like what they see, they are going to want to keep up with you. If you make them laugh or you resonate with them on some level, they will want more from you. You need to make sure that all of your social media networks are accessible from the video.

5. Make it easy to share. 

People like to share content, that is a fact. People don't like to jump through hoops in order to share content, that's another fact. Make sure that your Blog/YouTube accounts or wherever you are sharing the content, has everything needed to be shared quickly and easily by your readers/viewers. 

It's always great to make sure that the video can be shared over any social network, so that is can be seamlessly shared from Facebook/Twitter/YouTube etc at the touch of a button.

Toast TV a video production company in London have put together a great infographic featuring their best Pro-Tips for creating videos for social media, you can have a look at this below.