As a Solopreneur, you will surely have your hands full all the time, and as a result, marketing may come as an afterthought for you.
When you’re short on time and money, you need solutions that offer maximum return on investment (ROI) in digital marketing. They’re more engaging and easier to consume than a text blog post. Viewers find it easy to connect as they can see and hear real people.
Depending on your personality, videos can be fun and interactive or more serious and easygoing. It’s no wonder then that YouTube has more than 2 billion monthly registered users.
Videos can seem intimidating, especially when you’re not familiar with video editing. However, with a little research and investment to learn a new skill, you could be creating amazing videos to market your business all by yourself.
Without further ado, we share 4 tips to create excellent videos.
TIP 1- IDENTIFY YOUR NICHE AND CREATE VIDEOS WITH THEM IN MIND
As a solopreneur, it is important that you identify a segment that you expect to form the majority of your clientele and focus your strategy on them. Start by creating some ‘personas’ that define this group. When creating ‘personas’, try to be as specific as possible about your demographics and your lifestyles, value systems, and aspirations.
For example, let’s say you’re a fitness instructor and most of your clients are women between the ages of 25 and 40. One of your personas could be this:
Anne is 32 years old, married, and works as a corporate attorney. She recently returned to work after her maternity leave. She has been keeping quite busy at work and raising her baby and has difficulty getting in shape after her pregnancy. Although she is committed to fitness, she doesn’t have time to go to the gym and is looking for a personal trainer who can provide her services online or at home.
This person generates 3 types of videos that you can create: Those aimed at women in their 30s, short but effective workouts, and postnatal exercises.
TIP 2- LEARN TO CREATE VIDEOS WITH TUTORIALS
Video production is a specialized skill. It’s not enough to be creative enough to develop great ideas or have an eye for aesthetics. You need to know how to shoot and edit if you want to put those great ideas into action.
If you’re not familiar with video editing tools, consider hiring an agency or freelancer to work. However, if that’s not possible, there’s still room for you to learn the basics that will be enough to get you started.
There are several introductory online courses on platforms, and you’ll also find free video tutorials on YouTube. These videos will also help you choose the right tools that best suit your needs and skills, and who knows, they might even give you ideas for your own videos!
Whether you choose to create videos yourself or hire someone to do it, the basics are sure to benefit you, giving you more creative control over projects. Also, a new skill is never wasted, especially when you are a solopreneur.
TIP 3- WHAT IS THE BEST CAMERA TO RECORD VIDEOS?
Keeping in mind that you want to keep the process as simple as possible, here are some tools you’ll need:
pre-production tools
Phone cameras today are good enough to record simple videos, and you can use a good quality external microphone for professional audio quality. Our perfect picks are portable yet powerful:
RED smartLav +
WMIC10 move
Miracle Sound 4330236175
TIP 4- WHAT IS THE BEST GADGET TO RECORD VIDEOS WITH HANDS-FREE
Use a tripod for stable video recording and keep your hands free so you can be more interactive while filming, especially if you’re filming an interview. Some of the top on the market right now include:
Manfrotto PIXI Mini Tripod Kit
Joby GorillaPod Mobile Mini
Benro BK10 Mini Tripod
Selfie Stick
TIP 5- WHAT IS THE BEST PROGRAM FOR EDITING VIDEOS
You can imagine video tutorials and online courses for every video editing software and skill level. But ultimately, the software you choose will depend on how much you’re willing to learn and what type of videos you intend to make.
Easy and free programs
The preloaded software on Mac and Windows PC, iMovie and Movie Maker, is as basic as it gets, but it doesn’t offer much room for creativity. You can use them to trim clips and add basic effects like text overlays and transitions.
More or less simple professional programs
FlexClip Online Video Editor, Adobe Premiere Rush, and Lumen5 are quick and easy editing tools perfect for social media videos.
Advanced editing programs
Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple’s Final Cut Pro are the best on the market with all the features you could possibly need, but they are also very advanced and require some dedication to learn how to use.
TIP 6- WHAT IS THE BEST VIDEO FORMAT TO START WITH?
You don’t need fancy, big-budget videos to engage your audience. As long as you provide value to your followers, even simple videos can be quite powerful. To test the waters, improve your skills, and get more value for your money, you should, in fact, try simpler video formats that still contain the substance.
Tutorials
Record short demos of how people can use the products you sell or even other products related to your industry. If you’re in the service industry, you can promote your knowledge and skills through videos on how to use industry best practices, such as those related to marketing and content design. These videos help enhance your reputation as an industry expert or thought leader.
Interviews
Interviews are easy to record and add a new flavor to your content by introducing your audience to new experts and your industry peers. In fact, video interviews are highly marketable as they also introduce you to the followers of the people you are interviewing.
Webinars and live videos (Live)
People enjoy the live video because of the suspense of events unfolding in real-time and the fear of missing out. As a host, this format shows your spontaneity and confidence. There are various types of live video that you can experiment with, for example, live interviews, webinars, and questions and answers.
TIP 7- GET THE BEST POSSIBLE DOMAIN NAME
Video is not only a powerful marketing tool in the hands of a solopreneur. It is also a lucrative solo business idea in its own right. The engagement and appeal of video make it perfect for small business ideas like fitness businesses, education, and blogging. With high-quality videos that provide value to your customers, active promotion, and a great website to host your content, you can be a successful entrepreneur, position yourself as a thought leader, and be a great marketer all in one.
Getting the right domain name for your video channel is, in fact, one of the crucial first steps you’ll take to reinforce your company’s brand online. It’s important to choose one related to your industry and company name, communicates what you do, is memorable, and is unique enough to stand out.
Whether you’re building a solo business with videos or using them for marketing your services, there are some tips for making a domain name for your video channel.
keep it simple
Shorter domain names are easier to communicate, write, and remember. Limit your domain name to no more than three words and avoid the use of elements such as hyphens, numbers, and modified spelling.
Use keywords
Use terms that help people find you online easily and understand what your business is about by using keywords with high internet search volumes or those related to your industry.
Choose the right domain extension
Several industry-specific and contextual domain extensions have emerged in recent years that have helped startups acquire relevantly and branded domain names more easily. For example, if you post content for entertainment, you can use the .fun extension (www.timefor.fun, www.gamesandpuzzles.fun). If you post tech reviews and tutorials, you can use .tech (www.camerareviews.tech, www.todosgadgets.tech).
Stay away from copyright issues
Before registering your domain name, make sure you are not infringing someone else’s copyright or trademark protection, or this could land you in big legal trouble and tarnish your company’s reputation in the future.
ENJOY THE PROCESS AND THE CLOSE CONNECTION WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS
For a solo entrepreneur, videos are a great way to boost your marketing, engage with your customers interesting and fun, and showcase your experience, knowledge, personality, and creativity.
Experiment with different formats, lengths, and content ideas, share your videos on social media, YouTube, and through email marketing, and watch your list of subscribers and customers grow over time.