How to Film your First Video Post

I’ve spent a lot of time analysing people’s content and video performance. Here is a list of 10 common mistakes that people make when making a mobile phone video.

1. Stop Shaking

I’m sure you have seen videos when people are walking around, doing something and trying to film a video at the same time. Try to keep your hand still. It’s less distracting for the viewer and more pleasant to watch. Practice. It’s not that difficult to move around and keep your hand still at the same time. And if you are struggling to do it, invest into the tripod or gimbal

2. Don’t stand under office ceiling lights

When you are standing directly under a light you will get unwanted highlights on your forehead and nose as well as dark shadows under your eyes. Try to stand between lights so that the light falls more evenly on your face. If available, it’s best to use natural light, so switch off any artificial lights and turn towards a window. Your face is the most important part of your video. Facing a window will help you get a more flattering light and avoid those unpleasant shadows under your eyes.

3. Don’t forget to smile

Your smile increases your face value. When we are smiling we are perceived as more attractive, more approachable and more trustworthy. Even if you are presenting serious content don’t forget to smile at the beginning of your video to welcome your viewers. When you are scrolling through your news feed, do you click on a video with a grumpy face? I would also recommend you smile in the middle and at the end. In reality, you need to OVER SMILE in front of the camera. It’s 100 % better to over smile than not to smile at all

4. Look directly into the lens

When you are looking directly into the camera lens, you engage with your audience. A common mistake is to look at the yourself on the screen when filming in selfie mode. During landscape videos when the camera is on the side of your phone it looks like you are looking to the side and not at your audience. Yes, it is convenient to adjust what you are doing by looking at yourself when you are recording, but, you risk losing the engagement of your audience. On vertical videos, the camera is just above your face, so, sometimes you can get away with looking at yourself as it is not as noticeable. But definitely don’t do it on horizontal videos.

5. Don’t position your phone too low

A low camera angle will make you look bigger, more dominant and less flattering. It often happens when you put your phone in front of you on your desk. Keep your phone at eye level. This is how your audience sees you in the real life. Keeping your phone at eye level will help you to appear friendly, honest and more straightforward. It will give your viewers the feeling that they are just sitting next to you. And, as result, it’s easier for you to engage with your audience.

6. Watch the horizon

A video with diagonal horizon might look a bit artistic but for most of people, it will look like you are falling. Or everything in the background is falling. To avoid it, make sure you are holding your phone straight, or, if you are using tripod, make sure that your phone is straight on the tripod. You may also want to use grid lines on your phone camera to check that the horizon is actually horizontal. And, if don’t have the horizon in your office, make sure the floor or table is horizontal and walls are vertical.

7. Don’t forget a “Call to Action”

A “call to action” is critical and people often forget it, especially when starting out.
Don’t confuse your audience, tell them exactly what you want them to do. Your call to action depends on what stage of the customer journey your audience is at and the list of calls is endless. They don’t have to be pushy or salesy. The important part is your audience is motivated to implement your call to action.

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8. Have a background that supports your story

Your story also depends on your audience. So, the purpose of the background is to relate to your audience and capture their attention, especially when they are scrolling through their news feed. The right background helps you to send a clear message to your audience. Have you ever stopped and watched a video because the background caught your attention?

9. Use your hands

Let your hands be seen in the video. If we can’t see someone’s hands we get the feeling they have something to hide. If you put your hands behind you, you will be perceived as less welcoming and trustworthy. The truth is, hand movements are strongly connected with speaking and thinking. They make your video more conversational. When we are truly connected to our message, feel confident and comfortable, we don’t need to think what our hands are doing. They move naturally. And hand movements will help you to get your message across clearly and engage with your audience. Let your hands move in the video!

10. Don’t lean back in the chair

When you are leaning back your hands look bigger than your face on video. And this posture doesn’t look flattering. What you need to do is to lean forward. But make sure you are not hunching! Keep your shoulders straight and lean forward from the waist. In this case your hands will be on the same level as your face, and the whole figure looks more flattering. Remember, camera distorts things! What we see with two eyes often will look different on camera. Have you noticed it before?

Try to make these changes when you are filming your next video on your mobile phone and share with me your results

I want to help you to stop feeling overwhelmed with all the advice out there, and share 10 quick tips to create successful video content.

1. You don’t need professional equipment.

Start with your smartphone and upgrade as you go. With the rise of digital technology we now require little or often no additional investment in equipment or even technical skill development in order to press the record button and start filming videos. Think about it, when you start any new activity, do you always buy the most expensive equipment?

When you learn how to ride a bike, did you go to the shop to buy the most expensive mountain bike? You didn’t. You just needed a bike to learn how to ride it. Any bike can get you from point A to point B quicker when walking. You can always choose to invest later.

Don’t get hung up on complex aspects of production such as what camera or software to use. Start by defining your audience, goal, and content first to fit in your strategy.

2. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on video.

In fact, you can create video content for free! Again, just on your phone. Especially when you are starting out a new business, why would you spend money when you haven’t made money yet? If you start with videos on your mobile phone and test different messages, you can learn what type of video content gets more engagement and you can measure views and shares. It’s not that painful to realise that maybe you have targeted the wrong market, need to re-brand or clarify your offer, and you don’t need to spend another $ 5000 on another video.

Videos that are created on smartphones are great for starting out and testing your audience, your offer and your pricing.

3. You don’t need to use fancy APPs and Editing software

When you are starting out with creating videos on your mobile phone, there are a few things you need to know. You need to have a basic understanding of your mobile camera, and the functions it has, such as trimming your video.

The important editing part for LinkedIn Videos is subtitles (also known as captions). You can order these on the website such as rev.com only for $1 per minute, and I must say they are pretty accurate, they even understand my Russian accent.

Also, you can start with simple software such as iMovie or MovieMaker for Windows that have all the basics you need. Also, there are a lot of free online editing sites are available such as kapwing.com, which even allows you to edit subtitles. If you want something fancier, you can always outsource editing on websites such as fiver.com or artwork.com

4. You don’t need a lot of content.

In fact, you already have it! You just don’t know how to package it up, make it easy to consume and LinkedIn friendly. Think about it this way, your life is creating content every day! You just need to divide it into easy to watch, bite-sized pieces of useful information.

When we have been doing something for a long time, we seem to take our knowledge and skills for granted. Stop overthinking! Something that seems boring and obvious to you maybe an eyeopener for others. They can learn from your experience!

Think about what creates “Aha! Moment” for your clients?

5. You don’t need to post only about your business

You can create content based on your passions, your core values, things that concern you, things that keep you up at night, things that you are spending the most time talking and thinking about.

However, keep in mind to not go too extreme… We don’t want to see “what-I-had-for-lunch” or “how-cute-is-my-cat” posts on LinkedIn every day. It’s about balancing professional and personal content. People do business with people, and usually we do business with people that we like ? Remember my Birthday post? It got about 11,000 views.

When it’s done correctly, mixing professional and personal content can create a strong bond with your clients. Think about what sort of personal content you can incorporate into your LinkedIn video strategy?

6. You don’t need to come up with some incredible & unique ideas.

Everything has been already created, it’s only your interpretation.

Stop worrying about stealing someone’s content. When you hear some great ideas, combine it with your knowledge, see it through your previous experience, add your own real-life examples. Think about why this idea has resonated with you?

Stop re-inventing the wheel, just put your spin on it. You can start following people that your audience is already following. Listen to their content, agree or disagree, add your experience, add your examples, give your audience advice, solve your audience problems.

People don’t care how much you know! People care how much you care ?

7. You don’t need to worry about being annoying.

If people want to unsubscribe or unfollow you, they will unsubscribe or unfollow. How often do you unsubscribe and why? The chances are you unsubscribed because you’re getting too many sales messages and random discounts. Usually, it’s not because it’s too often it’s because it’s irrelevant.

The LinkedIn algorithm prioritises the posts that you’ve with engaged before. If you liked or commented on someone’s post, the chances are that you will see posts from this person more often. But if someone is not engaging with your posts, they simply will stop seeing them anyway.

If you try now to go on your LinkedIn news-feed and find the great post that you saw an hour ago it will be quite difficult. There is millions of post out there! Again, it’s not about how often you post it’s about how engaging and relevant your information is.

Think about what were the reasons you have unfollowed someone before?

8. You don’t need to post content that everyone will like.

You need to understand your audience. If you’re going too broad, the chances that your content is going to resonate with your target audience is low. Often, the reason why we want to post content that everyone will like is that we are scared of being judged! It might surprise you but the easiest way to stop being scared of being judged is stop judging other people. Be true to yourself and your values and the right people will resonate with your content and get attracted to you.Don’t be scared to express your opinion if you know that it definitely helps your audience, based on your previous experience and knowledge.

Would you rather have 100 people who love your content or millions of people who just don’t care?

9. You don’t need a stylist & makeup artist.

Think about it, how do you usually look when you are going to a networking event or meeting a client for the first time? Are you always well-groomed, dressed up, in full makeup? No. So, treat the camera like a client you are meeting for the first time. Are you trying too hard? Is it noticeable? What audience will you attract? Who is your target audience and how would you dress if you were meeting them in person? How can you dress so that your audience feels like they know you so that they feel that you understand them?

When I was doing modelling, people didn’t think I was real, I was posting all those fancy images, expensive cars, looked like I’m always on holidays. It didn’t resonate with my audience. Online I was perceived as Eastern-European spam ? It created a distance. If you are showing off some stuff, it potentially can turn people away. It can create more objections.

Be yourself, everyone else is already taken – Oscar Wilde.

10. You don’t need a copywriter.

Yes, you can use a copywriter for your articles or evergreen content… However, keep in mind that for video posts you need to sound like yourself and you need to sound conversational. You don’t need to be an incredible storyteller, just follow this simple structure:

My structure for a LinkedIn post is:

1. Introduction / Capturing attention

2. Main Message

3. Call to Action

I use it for all my videos. Do not get carried away with over-explaining and overthinking. You need: introduction where you’re capturing attention, one main message and call to action. Let me stress it again – get ONE message across. Clearly. One message, one video, one audience.

If you are struggling to put together content for your videos, send me a message and I’ll send you a template ?