In this new series, I’m laying out a radical way to think about video. What happens when we take the “professional” out of it?

If you know that, you can move with confidence and speed. If you don’t, you’ll struggle and fret and possibly give up.

Take it from me. Giving up is not an option when you have something you want to say.

But it’s very possible you have a slight misunderstanding of what video marketing is. There’s so much information out there, it’s impossible for you NOT to have already received a lot of contradictory advice.

You know, like make every video a home run, make hundreds of videos…

Hey, put the two together and that’s a recipe for overwhelm.

There’s a better way; a more sensible way. And you can take the 1st step (or the 500 millionth step) right now.

Unless of course, you agree with Stevie 😉

    23 replies to "What’s the best video you can make now?"

    • Mel Hardman

      Very inspiring, Steve. You’ve made me see the missing ingredient in my videos; what I can add to give them much more appeal and impact. I’m going to build a new one….directed to our wounded warriors as my target audience. Using the techniques you’ve outlined, I know it can be much more effective.

      Thanks again…for all the inspiration you give us.

    • Sven

      Awful. Scary. Horrible. That’s what I think about my first video ever.
      But..you asked for it. Now take it 🙂

      Note: I’m not a native English speaker and…it’s my first published video (Practice will make it better.)

      https://youtu.be/HwtGivcSjxA

      • Steve Washer

        This was a great deal of fun, Sven! Some people find their inspiration in their message. Some find it in just “doing it”. Both approaches have much to recommend them.

        With a message-based video you don’t worry at all about the technology or your role in it. And that calms and inspires you to do your best.

        With the entrepreneurial approach (which you have chosen), you move forward fast as well because you’ve set everything up in your environment to support you. So in your case, your background, composition, video image, audio; basically every technical element you could imagine, was clean and pure.

        And while you took nearly a minute and a half to explain about translating from German to Spanish to English (a problem that most of us will never have to face), you needn’t have. Dialects are inherently fascinating to most people. And in the environment you set up for yourself you were relaxed enough to reveal some of the inner workings of your character. And it came off beautifully. And you were really fun to listen to. Smiling into the fear was also a great choice!

        Thank you for showing that even without much content, a video can find and reach an audience when you’re not afraid to be yourself on camera.

      • Paul

        Sven, I agree with Steve (and Stevie). Congratulations on taking that giant ‘leap of faith’ and publishing your video. It was excellent.

        Like Steve I’ve been around and working with video for about 30 years. And your video was awesome. On top of that, you have a fantastic on camera ‘presence’ and you come across as authentic and believable and as someone I can trust.

        So keep making those videos. You’ll have women swooning and men (me included) envious of your good looks, charm and great message.

        Wishing you every success and I look forward to seeing you on the world stage sharing your message.

        Auf Wiedersehen and Adiós

        Paul G
        Australia

        • Sven

          Wow! Thank you both for your fantastic feedback 🙂 Best motivation to produce video content regularly, and I already have some ideas on the list. I always wanted to produce videos for landing/sales pages, but…[…] Now it’s time to take action.

          Thanks guys,
          Sven

    • Joshua Popenoe

      Steve,

      That was truly beautiful, in so many ways. You’re a great human being.

      Josh

      • Steve Washer

        Thank you, Josh. And Stevie thanks you, too. 🙂

    • James Black

      I am going to give it a try. But there is always a But, do not know how to post the video for you to see?

      • Steve Washer

        Good question! You can just post it to your YouTube channel and make it unlisted if you don’t want the rest of the world to see it, or make it public (which is kind of the whole point).

        If you don’t know how to create a YouTube channel, then stay tuned. That will be coming along shortly…

    • shamek

      Thanks Steven. You message really spoke to me.When you said we must be the change we want to see in the world. You got my attention. I like reading books and would like to make videos explaining my favorite books.

    • Stella Lindeke

      Thank you Steve and Sven for your motivation. Well, well here we go my first video: https://youtu.be/PZxeTrY-TsQ ….and you realize that there is still a long way to go …. but starting was the first and probably the hardest step.

      • Steven

        Could you make the video unlisted rather than private? That way we can see it. 🙂

    • Stella Lindeke

      Hi again, sorry, this should work now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-SKY2xZa_4 . Thanks Stella

      • Steven

        Hi Stella,

        That was fantastic! I salute your courage in stepping out of your comfort zone as well. That’s a major factor in your growth. I enjoyed your observations on dialect, “big words”, and when you brought out your alter ego, it made me laugh out loud.

        Keep up the good work! 🙂

    • Stella Lindeke

      Dear Steve, Thanks for your feedback – you really made my day!
      For the recording I have used my Samsung Galaxy S5 but I am unhappy with the audio quality although I was only an arm’s length away when speaking. I plan to produce videos inside the house. Which camera is best suited for indoor filming? You are proposing GoProHero and Canon Vixia HFR-10. Are files compatible with Camtasia? I was recommended Canon EOS1100D.
      I really enjoy your blogs! Stella

      • Steven

        The Canon EOS is great, but has a steeper learning curve. The Vixia is much easier to learn and better for indoor shooting than the GoPro. You will need a microphone for any of these cameras. A cheap one is the Audio-Technica ATR-3350 and will work better than what you are currently doing.

    • Peter Gales

      Hey Steve,
      Timely repurpose of this video. Don’t know if you’re leaving the “Brainy Video” in there for historical reference or as an oversight, but it does bring up a new obstacle that didn’t exist in 2015: should I shoot in landscape or portrait mode? You gave a casual response to this when I asked you the first time, but I’m requesting you to formally address this. Instagram is the social media du jour, and this is from their IGTV platform: “IGTV is:
      Mobile first: IGTV is built for how you actually use your phone: vertical and full screen.”

      https://business.instagram.com/a/igtv

      This is now maddening to me, as it suggests I have to shoot videos in two formats. Is there a way to shoot video so that it can be edited to work in both landscape and portrait modes?

      Really looking forward to hearing what you have to say about this, because it is now an additional obstacle to shooting video, another choice you have to make, or additional work you have to do to get video to work.

      Looking forward to your advice on this.

      Peter

      • Steven Washer

        Yep. That’s a good question. There is an answer, and I’ll make a video to demonstrate it..
        It will be one of the first when I start Season 3. 🙂

        • peter

          Legislation? 😉 . Can’t wait cause it’s driving me batty.

          • Steven Washer

            Not necessary. Actually, it’s all good news because it will enhance your marketing from now on. 🙂

    • Cesar

      Very well done and very useful.

      Thank you!

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