Every business secretly wants to get into video and can’t either justify the time and resources to come up with ideas or they simply don’t know where to get started. I’d like to share a few things I found and started to implement that can help you know where to start and how to create your videos quickly and efficiently to get into the game of online videos.

The key takeaway to making videos for your business, you first need to create videos that provide value to your potential customers. When you dive straight into pitching mode, customers will be turned off because you’re not providing value for them to see you as the expert. It really doesn’t matter what equipment you use so long the video can be clearly understood, the visuals tell the story, and the value is worth the prospects’ time in watching your video.

Before we dive into the details, we first must understand some of the lingo and technicalities that go into creating a video for your business.

Online Video Hosting Provider

An online video hosting provider is a service like your cell phone provider. There are many places online that can take your video and share it with the world, but depending on what you’re needing, some have a monthly cost to use.

Youtube

Youtube is the preferred platform because it has a few things in its favor. Aside from being owned by Google, it has the best video CDN (Content Delivery Network). What this means is that your videos are saved on computer servers all around the world so people can watch your videos without having bandwidth issues where they live.

1. The cost is FREE
2. It’s its own search engine like google
3. There’s a massive amount of traffic utilizing the platform
4. It has built-in analytics
5. The content can be easily curated and shared in your profile

Youtube is a great platform to start with while you get a better understanding of what you’re needing for your video marketing. Youtube will help get your feet wet with video marketing and start driving traffic to your site along with Google’s search engine indexing your webpages and blog articles.

Vimeo

Vimeo is branded to be used by the artistic professionals who take filming seriously. But that isn’t necessarily the only people. There are a lot of businesses that use Vimeo for some of the tools that Youtube doesn’t offer and at a fraction of the cost as Wistia—a major video hosting provider that caters to serious video marketers.

1. There is a FREE option
2. A paid plan includes password lock
3. A paid plan allows restricted shares
4. Send video drafts to customers and have them leave feedback right onto the video (great for video editors)
5. Best if you have you want people to pay for your content like online courses

Vimeo is best utilized if you’re on a budget and need restrictions keeping people from seeing certain videos. Also, if you’re a creator that has clients or a team of editors creating content, the feedback feature will help communicate what changes you need on your videos. This feature is similar to what Frame.io offers at about the same price.

Wistia

Wistia targets businesses that are heavy in video marketing because it provides the most flexibility for branding your video—but at a premium cost. Wistia was made for the video marketer in mind and those who want full control over their video content without youtube or vimeo trying to hog the audience. 

1. Pay-only option
2. Has better analytics than most platforms
3. Add and email opt-in before watching a video
4. 100% personal branding

Wistia’s premium price wards off any casual user, common creator, or even advance affiliate marketers to attract only businesses that have the budget and organic traffic to sustain its pricing model. Don’t get me wrong, the platform is priced at a bargain for the features it provides, but using Wistia as a one-man band is no easy task—and you’ll find out as soon as you begin to see what all business video marketing entails with youtube’s platform.

VooPlayer

This platform is something I accidentally stumbled across and by the looks of it, it’s mostly used by affiliate marketers. It’s about a third of the cost of Wistia and provides little more options like playing from Dropbox and Amazon S3.

1. Pay-only option
2. Curate other people’s video content from just about anywhere online
3. Add personal branding to video content
4. Add a payment gateway, email opt-in, and personal ads on any video

I’ve tried VooPlayer a few times and have to admit, was impressed by what I saw. It has a little more premium features tha Wistia at a very affordable price. What I enjoyed most about this platform is that when videos are embedded on your site, VooPlayer removes the hosting platforms’ watermark to prevent viewers from leaving your site to go to Youtube or Vimeo. 

Now that we understand what an online video hosting provider is, why we need one for our video content, we need to understand why Youtube is preferred for business videos.

Why Youtube For Business

For any business that wants to increase sales, grow their customer base, or raise brand awareness, it’s imperative that they put out content. Social media content is designated for a proprietary platform that wants its users to stay on their site.

• Facebook wants people to stay on Facebook
• Instagram with Instagram
• Youtube with Youtube
• Pinterest with Pinterest
• You get the picture…

The only platform where you can customize your prospects’ and customers’ experience is through your website. To be found, you need content for Google to index. Google indexes Youtube’s videos, too—which is another behemoth of a search engine that is also “Google”—so you need content for Youtube.

Hear me out; with Pinterest, you can post awesome content that points people to your site, but Pinterest is built on images which will have people’s attention for a few seconds before moving on to the next.

Facebook can point people to your site, but you have to pay to play in order to get high exposures on external links in posts—same thing with instagram.

Twitter’s microblogging platform is so saturated with content, the only real way to navigate through it is by using hashtags. When was the last time you went to twitter to look through hashtags to find what you’re looking for?

Youtube, on the other hand, who is basically Google, has turned its platform into a multipurpose search engine. Youtube has become the go-to platform if you want:

• To teach something, make a video about it
• To sale a product, make a video about it
• To get famous, make entertaining videos
• To start and grow a business, start making video content

Google indexes websites and their new content; as well as youtube and its videos. Create enough videos that can be found by using keywords and you’ll have content working for you, selling your service, attracting new clients, tell people how to find you and contact you 24/7.

The power of video is either greatly underestimated or over thought that it becomes discouraging to get into. Check out my post about some business video ideas you can start immediately to see how you can get in the game.

Now that you know why you need video and what videos you should be making for your business, let’s get started with making it.

Where to Start When Making Youtube Videos for Business

Video Topics (You Can Implement Immediately)

• Frequently Asked Questions
• User-Generated Video Topics
• Tips & Tricks Videos
• Customer Testimonials Videos
• Case Study Videos
• Product Demos
• Webinars
• Already-made Presentations

Outlining Your Video

If you’re doing keyword research, be sure to include a few long-tail keywords as your bullet points. Let me say that again, use a few of your researched long-tail keywords as bullet points in your video. This will ensure that your points are relevant to the keyword terms and that you provide content for those looking for it.

I’ve curated a youtube playlist about doing some keyword research here:

Don’t worry about creating a script, but work on your outline. When you’re so focused on memorizing what you’re wanting to say, it will be distracting for the viewer and won’t come off as authentic.

Try this, outline your content, turn on the camera and just GO! Don’t worry about being perfect. Then come back to the computer to review what you have. Did you know that you don’t have to publish anything you’re not happy with? Crazy, right?! The great thing about digital technology is that it’s virtually unlimited. Get the ball rolling by turning on your camera and filming. Review your content and iterate.

I like to get a minimum viable content online and iterate down the road. Remember—it’s better to be done than perfect.

Camera

Don’t worry about your camera so much. Actually, smartphones are getting more and more advanced with exceptional video quality. Start small, figure out what you need in a camera, then upgrade if the quality of the camera makes sense for your return on investment.

If you have to, go to a local camera shop and rent a camera to test it out. Borrow your friend’s camera to see if it’s something you need. If you’re not familiar with DSLR cameras, there will be more added time in overcoming the learning curve which could prolong your content creation.

Audio

If I had to choose one thing to upgrade first, it would be your audio. You can get a cheap audio recorder and mic (affiliate links) to start off. The cost for these is minuscule compared to the quality you get and the longevity of the equipment. If you’re using your smartphone to film, just stay close to your phone and your audio will be great. The on-board audio for smartphones nowadays are exceptional for quick run-and-gun content.

If you’re going to be further than 3 feet away from your phone, then there’s no question about the recommended audio equipment above. You’ll be able to sync the sound in post production (when you’re editing) and make it sound top notch.

Here’s a video I made about what equipment to upgrade first—spoiler alert; it’s audio equipment.

Editing Software

Very rarely can you get by without an editing software, but if you need some recommendations, here you go.

Pro Tip: When it comes to editing, you really don’t need anything fancy. Video editing is mostly telling the story and delivering the content your viewer needs in a way that they understand what you’re saying. The only tools you need in a video editor is a cut tool—that’s it really. When you watch a movie or an educational video, are the transitions the reason you watch the video? How about SFX or special effects? No, it’s the content. If you’re worried about supplemental images or text on the screen, Google Slides can help facilitate that to help you get your point(s) across. Just create your slides, export them as images, and bring them into your editing software.

Windows comes with its own video editing software, Windows Video Editor. It’s ok and definitely gets the job done. Apple has its own iMovie.

If you’re wanting something a little more, I’d recommend Camtasia to get started. Depending on your operating system, you can get it for $99 from Apple’s App Store or for $249 for Windows from the actual Techsmith.com site.

Camtasia was made for windows and for educators, so you’ll have more functionality on the Windows operating system, but in either case,  this is a great video editor at a low cost that has most everything you need.

What the pros use and what I use is Adobe’s Premiere on Adobe Creative Cloud. I’ve been using Adobe products for years and love how they all work together.

Both, Techsmith’s Camtasia and Adobe’s Premiere can be used for free for 30 days and they don’t require a credit card upfront.

Test them out yourself to see which you prefer.

Pro Tip: Everything is in the edit—not the equipment, not the software. Tell your story through your edit, deliver value through the content, and you’ll get customers using you as their go-to resource. This will translate to sales.

(Not so) Quick Tip:

 Your CTA should be platform specific

• • Facebook

    • Facebook does not like external links and won’t push that content in front of many people. Expect these videos to only be played on Facebook and rather than pointing people to your Youtube video, point them to your site with your embedded video.
    • Instead, make your Youtube video into a teaser trailer for Facebook that will increase the desire to watch more from your site.

  • Linkedin

    • LinkedIn is just now jumping on the video bandwagon and the platform has little opportunity to share outside its platform. Expect these videos to be seen once, maybe twice, before the LinkedIn feed pushes the video out of view. Your call to action should be to link back to your site.

  • Instagram

    • Instagram has one link placement and that’s from your profile. Unless you’re doing a paid campaign, your call to action should be to check out the link you have in your bio or to tag a friend that needs to watch your content.

  • Youtube

    • We’ve beaten this platform enough, but your call to action should be to check out your site, or if they are currently on your site, to contact you with the contact information on the page. This will also entice viewers to go to your site if they’re on Youtube so they can contact you.
    • Pro Tip: Youtube has cards and end screen elements that can link back to your approved site. Because Youtube requires you to be the owner of approved sites on your channel, you can create a redirect link from your site to another site and post your site’s URL in these end cards to take the viewer to a desired destination outside the approved websites. This is an advanced feature that you’ll need to consult with your web developer or web hosting provider for details.

  • Website

    • Your call to action should be to contact you by email, phone, or chat.
    • Your call to action could be to buy or download a product.

  • Or teaser trailer to go back to your site

    • This can be applied to any social media platform, but essentially you’re providing teasing content to your viewers to have them check out your site. The main objective is to get people to your site to see what you have to offer, so that through your site’s content they will become buying customers.

Your Videos Are Just the Beginning of Your Content Creation

When you begin to get an audience viewing your content, you’ll begin to get engagement that you’ll need to nourish. This engagement will come in forms of feedback, compliments, hate, and curiosity.

I want to mainly emphasize curiosity. Your viewers will ask questions about the content you deliver and this will be an invitation to engage back with them. You will be on the perpetual content creation windmill that with every piece of content you create and publish will open another series of questions from your viewers. Ideally you would respond in video, text (blog), or through comments, but use that as an opportunity to continually create content.

Not only that, but from videos, you’ll have ample opportunity to create more content.

Take your one video, transcribe it, and turn it into a blog—BAM, blog post finished.

Take a couple of one-liners, paste them to an image—BAM, Instagram and Twitter posts created.

Condense your blog article into a short paragraph, take one of your instagram images—BAM, Facebook post done.

Is there a way to turn your blog post into an infographic that can visually tell the same story?—BAM, Pinterest post.

Now you’ve just created a video for Youtube, an article for your site, a couple Instagram and Twitter entries, a Facebook post, and a Pinterest pin—all of which points back to your site.

Conclusion

People are looking for you, you need to be in their way and video is one of the most powerful tools that businesses overlook or don’t know how to use. You have the advantage as a small business to be nimble and adapt quickly with social media—and Youtube levels that playing field.

By creating videos for your business, you’ll begin to leverage the power of Youtube and Google to point eyes and paying customers to your product or service. Video content is king and from it stems all other content for your business.