A lot of the time technology can get in the way and be a cause of procrastination in getting your videos out there.

Of course the quality will be vastly improved if you start getting into using more high end camera gear but the purpose of this post is to make video creation as quick and painless as possible.

These few simple tips will help you stop overthinking it and start publishing more.

Use your phone camera

It’s safe to assume you have a fairly recent smart phone such as an iPhone or Android device. Anything made in the last 2-3 years or more has a camera good enough to publish in an online video.

By following a few simple principals you can get away without the need to use a digital SLR or complex video system.

3 things to remember

• Good lighting
• Use the rule of thirds
• A tripod or a steady hand

Keeping these 3 simple aspects in mind will ensure you can produce quality looking video.

Having natural light or a couple of lamps pointed at you or your subject will make a huge difference in the quality of your videos.

When lining up your shot on your screen, use the rule of thirds. This means you should have your subject in either the left or right third section of the screen, preferably where the third lines intersect.

If you’re using your device hand held, make sure your hand is steady. If you are able to use a tripod, even better. You can find mobile phone holders to fit on top of a standard tripod on eBay for under $5.

Don’t worry about perfection first go

You’re probably going to need a few takes to get the perfect video. You will be able to trim the clip down later so leave the camera recording while you do a few takes.

If you mess something up:

• Stop, leave the camera rolling
• Take a few breaths, leaving enough time in between for editing
• Start again
• Repeat until you get your best take
• Leave some time at the end for editing

Edit to length on the device

Now you’ve recorded your clip you probably have a few takes.

Most recent model smart phones have the ability to do basic edits to trim the length of your video. Find the section you want and trim it to length. Save is as a new clip just incase you want to refer back to the original.

Different social media platforms allow different length videos. For example Instagram currently allows up to 1 minute of video. Keep this in mind when you’re recording your content and editing it down. You can even edit in Instagram but i find it easier to do it before hand.

There is some powerful software available such as the iMovie app on iOS enabling you to edit separate clips together, add separate audio such as music or overdubs, but for now let’s use a single clip with sound recorded with the phone microphone.

Write an accompanying post with hashtags and upload to social media

By now you should have your video edited to the best take at just the right length ready to upload to social media.

It’s always good to write a short post to describe the video for people who may not automatically decide to watch it. Keep it short and descriptive so that it can be read at a glance.

If you’re uploading to somewhere like Instagram or Facebook you can also use hashtags to enable people to be able to search more easily for relevant topics.

Hashtags should be related to the content of your video. For example if you want people to be able to find the video of you playing a song on guitar you could use hashtags such as #guitar #guitarist #song #songwriter #music and more.

It’s pointless to use unrelated hashtags unless you have a specific reason such as getting more followers on Instagram. In which case you could use some hashtags like #tagsforlikes #spamforlikes. Try not to come across too spammy though.

Now you can post your video and wait for the likes to roll in! 🙂

Next steps

The sky’s the limit when it comes to editing video. The purpose of this post was to give you some ideas on how to make it as quick as easy as possible while producing quality looking content.

Now give it a try! Think of something you want to post, grab your phone and start filming. As with everything practice makes perfect so the more you do it the better you’ll get.

Contact us if you would like help with ideas about creating content for your website

The post Quick and easy way to create quality video for social media appeared first on Abepe.

Providing valuable content for your audience is a sure fire way to increase traffic to your website and form a basis for increased engagement and sales.

Coming up with content on a regular basis can be time consuming and often feels like you can never keep up. Here are some simple things you can keep in mind to help boost your productivity when it comes to creating content.

Be consistent

The number one thing to do is be consistent! It doesn’t matter if you’re creating content every day or once a week, keeping a regular routine will help you to get into the habit of creating content. Set a schedule in your calendar and stick to it.

If it means getting up a little earlier each day, set an alarm and do it. Just make sure you turn up and create something.

The interesting thing i noticed when i started writing every day is that it made me realise things I never would have though of if i hadn’t been getting the words out of my head.

It doesn’t matter if you end up using the content, just create something on a regular basis and the good stuff will follow.

Start simple

You don’t need to write a movie script in a week. It can be as simple as writing down your thoughts in a journal regularly. The act of doing this alone will get the juices flowing and get the thoughts out of your head.

If you’re creating video content don’t get bogged down in the technical minutia of camera gear and lighting. Get your mobile phone out and use that to record a simple video.

This simple act of just getting something done will provide a huge boost to your confidence regardless of whether anyone sees that piece of content.

Start with writing

Everything starts with writing. Anything you can think of from books to movies to podcasts to marketing campaigns starts with some form of writing.

Whether it’s a simple outline of some show notes, an entire movie script, or a sales page. Getting words on paper is going to form the basis for every piece of content you create.

But everything has already been said!

With so much content already on the internet it can be tough to not think it’s all been said before. Yes a lot has been said already, but when you say it in your own unique voice it’s coming form a unique perspective.

Write about what you know

Writing about what you know and being honest will make your content stand out from the rest. Apart from being completely obvious when someone writes about something they know little about, it just making your job harder.

Thinking of things to create content about when you start with topics you know about is much easier and will benefit you and everyone who consumes your content.

Set aside time to brainstorm topics

As well as being regular with creating content, its a great idea to lock in a time and day to focus on coming up with topics to create content about.

Sit down for 10-20 minutes on a Monday morning, put a timer on if you have to, and start listing topics you know a thing or two about. Pretty soon you will have a list of things to write about or create content about.

Start an editorial calendar

The best way to remain consistent is to start a simple editorial calendar with a list of topics you want to create content about with a date next to each one. Having this helps to keep you accountable and as you start to create more often, you will not want to miss those days.

It can be a simple spread sheet with a date column on the left then a column for your topics. Seriously, trust me, once you have a list of topics in a list you will want to get it done.

Take the topics you came up with when you brainstormed and add them to your calendar. Start off with four to six topics and add a date next to each one of them for when you plan to expand on the content for each topic.

When it comes to that date:

• Use your topic as the title
• Expand the topic into 3-5 bullet points to break the topic down further
• Expand on each point.

Don’t worry about grammar or editing your writing, just get the words and ideas out of your head and edit later.

Do this consistently for a week or two and I guarantee you will start to think of things you never would have if you had not started doing this.

To re-cap and get your content on track:

• Be consistent
• Start simple
• Start with writing
• Write about what you know
• Set aside time to brainstorm topics
• Start an editorial calendar

Starting with these 6 simple tips to improve your content creation will be a huge step in the right direction to adding value to your audience and customers.

Doing it consistently will put you head and shoulders above most other people and make you stand out from the rapidly increasing noise on the internet.

Get in touch if you would like some guidance on creating content for your website

The post 6 things you can do to make creating content easier appeared first on Abepe.