Let me tell you a little story to kick off this post! Back in early 2009, I had just started a new blog with a tech focus that some of you may remember if you have been following me for a while. It was called “The Pink Mac” and it was all about my love for technology and Apple products; a total fan girl homage to my computer! One day, I was contacted by a company to review some of their gadget cases and I accepted. At that time, I had only been a traditional blogger, and didn’t even have a YouTube channel, but I loved watching tech reviews and unboxings so much that I decided that I would make the unboxing and review of these cases into a video. I’ll be honest, when I filmed that first video on the kitchen table at my dad’s house, I wasn’t even sure if I would post it. I remember feeling like a total weirdo for talking to myself about some iPod cases while my dad and step mom were watching TV on mute in the room next to me until I finished. Once I got home and reviewed the footage, I decided that although it wasn’t the best tech video, it certainly wasn’t the worst (although if you go back now and watch it, it was such poor quality, but for the time that was the norm). So, I bit the bullet, signed up for a YouTube channel and uploaded the video! Although I wasn’t as serious about my YouTube channel in those early days, it’s one of those, if I had known then what I know now, who knows how different things could have been for me, my brand and my blog! So, hopefully you learn a thing or two about video in this post and avoid my mistake!
Video has been a major trend among websites for years now, but with the major rise of YouTube, even famous video bloggers have started integrating their content to personal blogs and websites, and major bloggers have been taking a cue from the YouTube generation and adding video content to their sites as well. Video, whether you like it or not, is the future of blogging. As a blogger today, you need to treat your blog like your own little media empire. Think Martha Stewart, Oprah, Rachel Ray, and the like. Each of these women have an empire around their brand which includes written work via magazine’s and blogs, and video work via television and YouTube channels. Now, I get it, you may not want to be the next Martha Stewart, but in order to have a successful slice of the internet, we should be looking at brands like these and producing as much as we can like them. Why? Because they have whole teams dedicated to their media, studying the market trends and telling the brand where it needs to be. If you are like me, you can’t afford such a team, so the best you and I can do is just follow their lead!
For the uninitiated, video can seem like a whole new world of content, and it really is, but the good thing is, you can start slow and work your way into using it more and more as time progresses and you get used to the medium. The important thing to remember is that, in today’s world, you need to put out a pretty decent quality video to be taken seriously, which means HD video and good lighting, but I already talked about how that doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Most decent point and shoot cameras nowadays take HD video as well. I happen to use this video camera which is reasonably priced and this studio lighting kit which is pretty affordable! So, what are some ways that you can start using video on your blog right now? I have compiled a list of 10 videos that nearly any blogger can film no matter what you blog about!
- An introduction to your blog
- An “About Me” video that you can leave in your bio page
- Your favorite things
- 20 random facts about you
- A desk tour (aka a tour of your workspace, the place where you sit and blog, etc)
- A video show and tell to accompany a written product review
- What’s in your bag video (this is super popular!)
- An outfit of the day video (you don’t need to be a fashion blogger to do this!)
- A “Get Ready with Me” video (aka morning routine; people also love these)
- A “How To “ video related to the content of your blog (these can be super useful!)
Okay, so now you have some ideas for video content brewing in your mind! You don’t have to do all of these videos at one time, like I said, start with one and then gradually work into the others. Take your time and produce the best video you can. That’s more important than rushing to make a ton of mediocre videos! Good luck!!