Q & ATX at #BlogathonATX – Video Blogging

My friend Elmer Boutin wrote several articles about the most recent #BlogathonATX. This one is an excellent review of our session on video blogging, led by Talmadge Boyd. I really love Elmer’s note-taking style. I think we’ve found the official scribe of Blogathon!

Video Blogging With Talmadge Boyd – #BlogathonATX

By Elmer Boutin – The Crossing of Marketing & IT

Talmadge Boyd (@Talmadge) headed up with first session at BlogathonATX and gave out some great tips on video bloggin. Here they are, in no particular order of importance:

  • Anyone who’s not afraid of their face should video blog. You shouldn’t be afraid, how you look like how you’re going to look.
  • Check out The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (Amazon Affiliate link).
  • Don’t use the excuse that “I’m just not into it today” or “The muse just isn’t with me” for creating. If you create for a living, get out there and do it.
  • Content-wise, everything needs to be bite-sized. People don’t consume things like they used to. A challenege it to make thjngs short enough and compelling enough to to get your message across.
  • Write a short piece and then shoot based on on that idea or thought.
  • Don’t overthink things to the point where you don’t actually do anything. You can have a great idea but it’s no good if you don’t actually produce something to get your idea out somehow.
  • It’s a great idea to make sure you include a transcript of your content when you embed video in your site. Very important for SEO purposes.
  • Make sure to include keywords from your content in your file name. Don’t neglect keywords in descriptions and keywords when you upload to YouTube.
  • Video quality is very important, but audio quality is just as important. People will watch content with good audio and bad video more than the opposite. If you’re trying to articulate something, you need to be heard. Consider investing in a condenser microphone – not too expensive, but very effective.
  • Don’t let editing get in the way of creative time. It’s almost better to just reshoot the thing (if it’s short enough). Don’t be afraid to practice a little, too.
  • When doing webinars, consider sitting a camera off to the side to record yourself so you can have multiple angles and repurpose the content.
  • Natural light is great. Use the sun as much as you can.
  • Invest in a small tripod. It helps so you don’t shake too much.
  • Rule of thumb for length is 1:30. But, if you have compelling content, people will watch (think Ted talks).
  • David Haddad offered this tip: If you’re too blue (because of lighting), consider putting a different color on your monitor screen to balance out the color of your face.
  • For those who are interested in a white balance card, check out this article on Wilsonart’s “The Statement” blog: http://goo.gl/AwU2B (Disclaimer: I work for Wilsonart)