Tips for Creating Videos - And Whether or Not You Should Hire a Professional

Have you struggled with creating the video content for your online course or membership? You get yourself ready and go to record your first video. It's content that you're familiar with...content that you teach on the regular and yet, when you hit the record button all of a sudden you forget who you are and what you do!

Words become incredibly hard and you can't understand what's happening. You get so flustered and frustrated and you wonder if you should just quit. Maybe you're not meant to have an online course or membership after all.

First of all, let me encourage you that this is absolutely normal! When it comes to building an online course or membership, making videos is a stumbling block for most entrepreneurs. Here's why:

Anytime we take familiar content into an unfamiliar context, it's a whole new ball game and it takes time to adjust.

The first key is to practice! Presenting on video is an entirely different experience that public speaking, writing, or working one-on-one with clients. The only way you will feel more comfortable is to practice and then watch yourself and observe how you are coming across and take notes on things you might want to try differently.

Other Keys to Improve Video Quality

• Quality camera (tip...your smart phone is amazing!)
• Background so you are well defined in the space
• Microphone that helps drown out background noise
• Lighting: natural, a ring light, or a combination of both

Should You Hire a Professional?

If you have the budget and this IS NOT the first or second time teaching your course or delivering your membership content, then go for it! However, if this is the first time, or even the second time, that you are taking your very familiar content, and presenting it in a new context (otherwise known as video) then I would actually recommend that you save the professional videographer for later. Why? 

Because your first version is never your final version.

We learn and get more comfortable by doing. Just go watch the first video you recorded and the last one and you can see and hear the difference. You gain confidence the more you do it. Plus as you take your familiar content and present it in an unfamiliar context, you'll get feedback from your members and students to see what is landing well and what's missing the mark. This will help you serve your people even better! You may want to re-record a video with a better illustration or you may have an idea to help your members and students make even more progress and want to include it.

Then after you have refined your process and your video content over a period of time and you still want to hire a professional videographer, you can! But it really isn't necessary.

Let me tell you a quick secret as I wrap up: People don't quit an online course or membership because of the video quality, as long as they are making progress! 

That's right...As long as they're making progress, that's all they care about. That's the reason why they signed up for your course or membership in the first place. To make progress! For us, as course and membership creators, we are very conscious about our forward-facing selves and there's nothing wrong with that. But trust me, people care more about the progress that they're making than the quality of your videos, and they're going to hang in there and give you the benefit of the doubt if they're getting results by your process, tips, encouragement, and by the things that you're showing them how to do.

Don't let videos be the thing that keeps you on the sidelines. Put it out there as imperfect as it may be. Listen to what your people are saying as they engage with your content and then make it better. And then if you want to hire someone who's a professional to do it, if you feel like that's the best route to go, then go for it! 

You will have such a better product in the end.

My Background

Here's a photo of me and my background. The wall hangings and table help differentiate me from the back of the wall and add dimension. I have curtains on the side (next to the blue wall hanging) that I open slightly to give a little light behind me and then place a ring light in front of me above my desktop screen. Just a few simple touches will help you define your space and make it your own. Have fun! Just make sure it isn't so interesting that people are paying more attention to your background than they are to what you're saying!

Connect with Jen

How has your experience been creating your videos? I'd love to hear from you! You can send me an email at [email protected].