Have you asked yourself whether you should be using Video in your marketing? It may seem a bit daunting at first but the answer is definitely ‘yes’. There is no other medium more engaging than video. People get a sense of who you are and you get a chance to really connect with them on a personal level, it’s the next best thing to being there in person. So if you have been thinking about it but not taken the step yet, I’d say go for it, as it definitely pays off.

Video also is a great way to create celebrity status with your audience, which in turn helps to make you more client attractive. It creates that little bit of magic that has you stand out from the crowd (and we all know how important that is).

But it has to be done well. Not perfect, but well. there’s nothing worse than a low quality boring video.

So here are my tips for doing video so well that it definitely works in your favour:

1. Good quality sound and lighting

You don’t need professional expensive equipment for this. Just make sure you use daylight (morning sunlight works best before the sun comes too high), choose a nice background that is not distracting but adds to the atmosphere (eg. if you live near the beach, do a shoot near the beach) and make sure there is no distracting background noise. This is especially important if you use the built in microphone of your camera which you will when you first start out. Once you are using it more, I suggest you invest in professional sound equipment. I use a Sennheiser Lapel mic which I think is excellent.

2. Loosen up and be yourself

This one is easier said than done. When you first start out you will almost certainly appear a bit stiff and artificial on camera. My tip here is take a whole day for your first shoot, prepare what you want to say and just do a lot of takes. I found that after 20 takes I was over my nerves and could just be myself and speak the way I would if there was a person there instead of a camera. This is VERY important and will definitely make you stand out as most people’s videos are just not natural enough to be appealing. Just be yourself.

3. Connect with your audience

There’s a real difference between just speaking your rehearsed content into the camera and really connecting with your audience. Here is what I do: I have a specific client in mind who I am speaking to when I say do my video and I imagine that client standing right where the camera lens is. I then make eye contact with them and create an energetic connection just like I would if they were really there with me. This creates the sense of intimate connection for me where I really speak to that person who is representative of my ideal client.

Most importantly of all though, just get started. Your first videos most likely won’t be the best ones you ever make but you have to start somewhere and then build on it.

Looking at my first videos now I cringe but if it wasn’t for those first ones I still wouldn’t be doing videos now and would have missed out on a lot of business.

As with so many things in marketing, the difference that seemingly small details make is huge. One small change can be huge in terms of your response rate.