During the course of every week, I read, watch and collect a lot of content that interests me, fascinates me or that I want to share with my communities.

This morning I decided to take a few minutes and share a few things that have stood out for me recently.

What I’m Watching

1. Women Who Rock – my friend and colleague Lou Bortone has published a series of videos featuring women who use video in their businesses. There are some wonderful nuggets shared by each rockin’ businesswoman. You’ll probably know at least one of the women, too. 😉

2. GaryVee – How to Start – I don’t watch much by GaryVee, but I’ve been following him for a long time and every now and then I see something that piques my interest. This 12-minute video on Instagram is worth watching – and then taking action – if you’re feeling stuck or waffling about starting something. Caution: Gary curses a lot so if that’s not your thing, don’t watch this. However you feel about Gary, what he says is worth taking to heart.

What I’m Reading

3. YouTube Statistic – This chart is worth noting. If you’re still on the fence about creating videos for your business, this might convince you. Keep in mind, YouTube is the second largest search engine on the web.

4. The Most Colorful Places in the World – Beauty is all around us. This photo spread in Conde Nast Traveler is a feast for the eyes. It may trigger your wanderlust, too!

What I’m Listening To

5. Tim Ferris Podcast – Neil Gaiman – When I saw Neil Gaiman’s name pop up on Tim Ferris’ podcast, I had to listen to it. Neil Gaiman is prolific and writes in many genres, from comic books to fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, and screenplays. He’s won many awards and I always love diving into one of his books. I loved American Gods. This interview gives a lot of insights into how Gaiman writes, the tools he uses and how he avoids distractions.

What have you enjoyed reading and watching in the last few weeks? Please let me know in the comments, below. And, feel free to share the post with your friends and colleagues!

Denise
You Guide To Better Visibility on the Web

P.S. One more thing… this gives me joy every day!

Click here to catch up on previously published 5 Things emails.

The 5 Things emails began in March 2019, when I felt like there was more I wanted to share with the people I connect to via email. I was looking for a way to create a more intimate conversation, a peek at who I am and my interests, and not always be marketing! 😜

Since then, I’ve started sending the emails every Friday and have received tremendous feedback. When I asked my community whether they thought it would be beneficial to post the emails on my blog, I got a resounding “YES!” from everyone. So, here we are. If you miss the emails, they’ll be published here on Mondays (after I catch up with posting the previous notes.)

This post was originally published as an email on March 30, 2019.

Photo by Reinis Birznieks on Unsplash

The post 5 Things…the first one appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

“This is the year of video!” Have many years have we heard that proclamation? I created my first online videos in 2005. They were terrible. And, I just kept at it. I won’t say my videos are great now, and for many purposes, that’s OK since the range of video options has grown to the point that video can be created from easily in the moment to being professionally produced.

Recently my good friend and colleague Lou Bortone asked if he could interview me for his series, Women Who Rock, to discuss how successful women business owners use online video in their businesses.

The interview is just a tad over 9 minutes and I’ve posted the lightly edited transcript below if you prefer to read instead of watch video.

Below the transcript, I’ve linked to the tools mentioned in the interview plus a few more that I frequently use.  If you want to skip to the resources scroll down to the links or click here.

= TRANSCRIPT =

Lou Bortone: Hey, it’s Lou Bortone, and welcome back to our Women Who Rock Series and one of my favorite women of all time and longtime friends and colleagues is Denise Wakeman. Hi, Denise.

Denise Wakeman: Hey you, Lou. I’m happy to be here with you. Love the topic.

Lou Bortone: Hey. I know. We go all the way back to The Blog Squad days, I guess.

Denise Wakeman: Yeah, it’s been a long time.

Lou Bortone: Yeah. I just saw you on … Facebook always shows those memories and stuff like that. I just saw a picture of you and me and Felicia at Adam Urbanski’s event from nine or 10 years ago.

Denise Wakeman: Wow. I think that’s the first time we met in person, even.

Lou Bortone: Yeah. Yeah.

Denise Wakeman: Because you were close enough to LA that it was like, “Oh, I’m going to meet you.”

Lou Bortone: Yeah. So that was fun, Facebook reminding me like, oh, my God, I’m 10 years old, how did that happen? But … So I know you’ve been off on some incredible adventures. Good to see you again. What I’m doing with this series of videos is really just talking to folks briefly about how they use video in their business, if they have a favorite platform, and I know you were an early adopter and one of the really first people to use and talk about videos, so tell us a bit about that.

Denise Wakeman: Well, oh, gosh. I think it was back in 2005, I was working with Tom Antion. He was my mentor in The Blog Squad days, and he was talking about video and that we needed to get started doing video, and so my partner at the time, she and I started doing video. And I think, actually, I need to go back to my YouTube channel, that first video might be there, and it was horrible. It was horrible, but it sort of got things rolling in the whole idea of there has to be at least some content on video. And in 2005, it was a lot harder to do video, or not harder, but it was just more complicated, especially if you’re not a videographer and you don’t have experience in film and television like you do. I mean, I don’t know, I just point-and-shoot.

Lou Bortone: And the files were enormous and ridiculously big, and …

Denise Wakeman: Yeah. And remember the flip camera?

Lou Bortone: Oh, yeah, I still have one somewhere around here.

Denise Wakeman: I do, too, somewhere also. I think I have like three different versions of the flip camera, and then the next one was a [inaudible 00:02:44]. I can’t remember what it was.

Lou Bortone: Oh, like Kodak Zi8 or something like that.

Denise Wakeman: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s it, that’s it. And so I so I think I have one of those around, and, I mean, I don’t even know where they are, but now, it’s our phones. That’s the camera I use for everything, for video, and … well, I also use a webcam when I’m on the web like this. So, I would say that since 2005, I haven’t been totally consistent with creating videos, but I’ve always used video in some way, shape or form, and there are so many more options now that it makes it much easier. You don’t have to be a talented videographer to put something decent out.

Lou Bortone: Yeah, and it’s funny because I’m already seeing things like 2019 is the year of video. I’m like, “Yeah, you’re about 10 years too late,” but that’s okay. So what would you say to folks who are starting out and they’re like, “Oh, my gosh, I should have started so long ago,” and …

Denise Wakeman: Hey, there’s no time like the present, right? There is that Chinese proverb, when’s the best time to plant a tree?

Lou Bortone: Right.

Denise Wakeman: 20 years ago. What’s the second-best time to plant a tree? Today.

Lou Bortone: Right.

Denise Wakeman: So it doesn’t matter what happened 20 years ago or that some people have been doing it for 20 years or more, you just start now.

Lou Bortone: Yeah.

Denise Wakeman: And we all started at zero. We all started at not knowing anything. And now, the learning curve is so much shorter.

Lou Bortone: Yeah, it’s kind of point-and-shoot at this point.

Denise Wakeman: Exactly.

Lou Bortone: So do you have a preferred platform? I mean, do you like Facebook Live, recorded videos or?

Denise Wakeman: Well, I like doing live video. I’m not that crazy about Facebook Live, and maybe it’s because I haven’t implemented all the third-party tools because I’m just tired of paying for third-party tools.

Lou Bortone: Yeah, I hate all that stuff.

Denise Wakeman: But I like using live video for more intimate reasons, processes or programs. So something like this, doing interviews, doing consulting … I use Zoom all the time for one-on-one consults, for my group programs, mastermind groups, tutorials, that sort of thing. So I really love the idea of being live on video with people versus Facebook Live where it’s just me talking and hoping that people show up and type something into the comments. I don’t really like that aspect that much of Facebook Live. So as for a platform, probably I do more recorded, and then the live is for more intimate video.

Lou Bortone: Yeah. I know, and there’s no right or wrong answer to that, really, it’s just personal.

Denise Wakeman: Yeah.

Lou Bortone: Me, I’m a little more of a control freak, and if I’m doing Facebook Live, I mean, I do it, but if I see like, oh, my God, and old girlfriend from high school’s watching, I get a little freaked out thinking what if more of them tunes-in, really. So, no, I don’t want her to watch. So. But yeah, I mean, but there’s, I mean, it really is personal preference, I think. It’s really there’s no wrong or right way, whatever way you can get your message out and you feel like it resonates, so.

Denise Wakeman: Yeah. Yeah. And I really like a lot of the tools now that are available to create videos, so it doesn’t always have to be me. I know you’re really great about showing people what’s new … in that arena, but I like creating these videos that are based on the AI of pulling in your blog post and creating beautiful … I like doing blog post trailers,

Lou Bortone: So you do like Lumen5 videos and things like that?

Denise Wakeman: Yeah. Lumen5. I also really like Headliner. Headliner to take an audio file and then make a video out of that by uploading a video, or an image, or a series of images.

Lou Bortone: Yeah.

Denise Wakeman: That’s pretty easy and it gives a different kind of feeling to the video than even a Lumen5, like a blog post trailer, or something like that. So I like that and I really love that that these tools now allow you to create your video in various formats.

Lou Bortone: Right. Yeah.

Denise Wakeman: You’re not just stuck with landscape anymore, you can do square videos, you can … and sometimes it’s just the tweak of a button and it just reformats it.

Lou Bortone: Yeah.

Denise Wakeman: It’s like, ah, this is fantastic.

Lou Bortone: Yeah. And in the old days, oh, I got to edit that, and I’ve got to change the aspect ratio, and all that stuff.

Denise Wakeman: Yeah, then it looked like crap for me.

Lou Bortone: Oh, that’s definitely gotten easier. Tell us what types of things you’re working on and what you’re looking forward to in the new year? That kind of thing, and the last thing, where people can find you.

Denise Wakeman: I am continuing my focus into the new year on building my Marketing Trailblazers community, which is a community for online business owners who want to have a safe place to talk about marketing, answer questions, get feedback. It’s a little bit of teaching, but it’s mostly conversations about how we can help each other make sense of all these things and the changes that are always happening, that’s been a big topic of conversation in the community now. So I’m really focusing on building that because the community really is about the sum-of-its-parts.

Lou Bortone: Right.

Denise Wakeman: And so, that’s going to be my primary focus for the new year, but also I do a lot of mentoring and consulting and helping people with their social media marketing, too, which I love also. So where else can you find me? @DeniseWakeman, everywhere, and denisewakeman.com for my website and blog posts.

Lou Bortone: Awesome. Well, thanks again for talking with us, and we’ll catch up with you soon.

Denise Wakeman: Okay. Thanks, Lou.

= END TRANSCRIPT =

Links to Resources and Recommended Reading for Online Video Marketing

Blog Posts and Book

How to Win More Attention with this Awesome Video Checklist

How to Promote Your Blog Post with a Simple Video Trailer

Are You Afraid of Doing Live Video?

The Video Godfather’s Top 10 Proven Video Marketing Tips – guest post by Lou Bortone

Video Marketing Rules: How to Win in a World Gone Video! by Lou Bortone

Video Tools

The list below are the online video tools I use, have used (I experiment a lot!), and recommend. Some are free. Some have free trials, then you have pay if want to keep using it and want more features. I always advise that you start with a free trial and test the tool before committing any money to it. If you love, buy it. 

Dubb  – similar to Loom. Use it to create videos you can send via email. Great for video emails and tutorials. More robust features than Loom, with a call to action feature you can add to your video.

Loom – similar to Dubb, but without as many features. Good for video email, tutorials. 

Lumen5 – Love this tool. Use it to create videos from your blog posts. It uses AI to create videos from your text and images. You can edit with your own images and also tweak the text. Great for starting a draft video that you can then refine, add music and call to action. I use it to create videos to promote new blog posts and programs.

Headliner – Use this tool to create a video from an audio file. Very cool way to promote podcast episodes.

Zoom – I use Zoom nearly every day for one on one consults, group mastermind meetings and webinars.

Rev – transcription service for transcribing videos (like you read above).

There are many, many other video tools that do similar things. The trick when you find one is to try it. If you like it, keep using it. If you don’t like it, move on and experiment with another one.

If you have questions about why or how to create online videos for your business, post them in the comments below. If you’re looking for support and guidance with your online marketing, including video marketing, take a look at the Marketing Trailblazers Community and join us!

The post Women Who Rock – Using Online Video in Business appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

It’s not “fake news.” The stats don’t lie.

Video marketing isn’t going away. It is the most effective way to market your business… today and into the foreseeable future.

*Consider this:

• Video on social media generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined.
• 4X as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it.
• 52% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI.

There are many more stats to support the fact that using visual content to tell your stories gets better results than almost any other media. It makes sense then, that the ultimate form of visual media is video. 

That’s why I’m giving away 7 copies of Lou Bortone’s book, Video Marketing Rules: How to Win in a World Gone Video.

In addition to the images and other visual content you’re using to market your business, I want you to have the best resources for getting started with video or up-leveling your current video marketing game plan. To help you out, I’m including a 30-minute visual marketing strategy session for each winner. ($150 value)

Click here to enter the giveaway! 

Ends on April 30, 2018, at 9 pm PT.  Seven winners announced on May 1. Good luck!

Recommended Reading

The Video Godfather’s Top 10 Proven Video Marketing Tips

*Stats provided by Lou Bortone (Source: LiveStream.com/blog)

The post Video Marketing Rules! Enter Giveaway to Win 1 of 7 Books appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

In The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gawande asserts that the simple checklist is the key to taming a high-tech economy. Malcolm Gladwell in his review of the manifesto says,  

“…he [Gwande] is really interested in a problem that afflicts virtually every aspect of the modern world–and that is how professionals deal with the increasing complexity of their responsibilities.” 

If you haven’t read The Checklist Manifesto, I highly recommend it. A checklist is not a to-do list, but a written guide that takes you through the key steps to get something done… correctly, without missing important steps that contribute to the success of the whole.

In the realm of digital marketing, from creating your marketing assets to promoting your program, product, book, service, etc., there are myriad steps big and small and missing any can impact the success and outcome of what you want to accomplish. 

Drilling down from there, live stream video is fraught with details that you want to get right in order to attract an audience, encourage engagement and convert viewers to clients.

Based on experimentation, classes I’ve taught and mentoring clients as they tackled the live video learning curve, I’ve created a #GoLive Video Checklist to help you deal with the many steps involved with going live, on Facebook, in particular.

Get this valuable 27-step #GoLive Video Checklist and master Facebook Live. Click to Tweet

 View or Download the Checklist

Click here for the interactive checklist online.

Or, download the checklist (pdf) below:
(print it out and refer to it every time you #GoLive)

#GoLive Video Checklist

1 file(s) 74.83 KB

Download the Video Checklist

A Request

After reviewing the checklist and putting it into practice, I’d love to hear from you. 

• Did the checklist help you?
• Do the steps make sense?
• What steps are missing?
• Which steps need more clarification?

I appreciate any and all feedback so I can update the checklist and make it better for you and others who are tackling live video. You’re welcome to post feedback in the comments of the post or  Message me on Facebook via the form below.

Recommended Reading

The Checklist Manifesto was the #1 book on my list of Best Business Books in 2016

How to Quickly Repurpose Your Facebook Live Videos

What Do You Do When Your Live Video Sucks

The Video Godfather’s Top 10 Proven Video Marketing Tips

The post How to Win More Attention with this Awesome Video Checklist appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

Many entrepreneurs are missing an enormous marketing opportunity because they’re still not using video, or not using it consistently. Often times business owners shy away from video marketing because they assume it’s too complicated or time-consuming. But it doesn’t have to be!

Here are ten quick tools, tactics and time-savers for taking the overwhelm out of video:

1. Upgrade Your Website’s Home Page Video! Your “welcome” video on your home page is really your “first impression” for most web visitors, so make it count! Keep it short, on brand, and viewer-centric. Even though it’s your introduction, you still have to think in terms of “what’s in it for them?” Most important, be sure to include a clear call to action and tell your viewer exactly what you want them to do!

2. Go Live! Live stream video using easy tools like Facebook Live or YouTube Live make it easier than ever to do video on the fly and in the moment. The instant nature of live streaming means you can be less formal and more spontaneous. Because it’s live, there’s less concern about quality or post production. Focus on content and engagement. Facebook Live, in particular, is “low hanging fruit” when it comes to video, and may very well be the easiest way to get started with video marketing.

Facebook Live is “low hanging fruit” when it comes to video, and may very well be the easiest way to get started with video marketing. Click to Tweet

3. Find Your Video Sweet Spot! There are dozens of ways to create videos, from traditional,talking-head videos on camera, to off camera methods like PowerPoint video, animated video, live streaming or screencasting. It’s up to you to find the easiest and most effective platform for you and your business. Once you find that “sweet spot,” you’ll be much more likely to create your style of video more consistently.

Download Lou Bortone’s
Top 10 Video Marketing Tips

4. Keep It Simple! Closely related to finding your sweet spot is to also find the fastest and easiest route to a finished video. Simplify and streamline the process whenever possible, and stick with a system that makes it simple and stress-free for you to create video.

5. Find Video Hacks! You may notice a theme developing here because it’s all about systems and shortcuts. Video Hacks are tools and resources that make video easier on you. Tools like the video screen capture software Jing, or video recording and conferencing software like zoom.us, make life easier when it comes to video. Being able to go live and record video from your smartphone, whether it’s on Facebook, Instagram or Periscope, put the power of video at your fingertips. Find and use these shortcuts whenever possible.

6. Use Cool Tools! When it comes to video creation, there are plenty of bright, shiny objects out there, but some of them are real gems! Simple and affordable tools like Stupeflix or VideoMaker FX are user-friendly and feature rich. Other cool tools include Prezi for putting your PowerPoint videos on steroids, and Adobe Spark, a free video storytelling software for the iPad. Use these cool tools to get an extra edge on your competition!

7. Explore Off-Camera Options! Many business owners are camera shy or simply don’t like being on-camera. If that’s the case, or perhaps if you’re just having a bad hair day, there are plenty of “off-camera” video options you can try. The beauty of off-camera solutions like explainer videos, animation or screencasting is that they’re often quicker. easier and less hassle than traditional on camera videos. Don’t let a bad hair day keep you from making a good video!

8. Phone It In! The video camera functions on today’s smartphones are so good that there’s no longer any excuse for not doing video. iPhones and Androids mean you have a great video camera right in your pocket, always at the ready to create video anytime.

Today’s smartphones are so good that there’s no longer any excuse for not doing video. Click to Tweet

9. V-Mail is the new E-Mail! Video email is a simple, but often overlooked way to use video to connect and engage with your prospects, colleagues, and clients. Services like MailVu and BombBomb.com make it quick and easy to make a more personal and impactful impression.

10. Don’t Go It Alone! If you’ve tried some of the tips and tricks above, but still want more guidance and support, then reach out to a video marketing expert (like me!) “Video Coaching” is a great way to take your video marketing efforts to a more professional level and have the biggest impact with online video! 

Get the “expanded” version of these video tips… more details and recommendations… click the button below.  😀 

Download Lou Bortone’s
Top 10 Video Marketing Tips

RECOMMENDED:

Advanced Video Marketing Strategies for Social Media

Using Short Form Video to Get Your Message Out

“Sweet Lou” Bortone is known as The Video Godfather. I’m not exactly sure why and, frankly, I’m a little afraid to ask. What we do know is that Lou Bortone has been a pioneer and thought leader in the video space since the launch of YouTube in 2005. He’s helped thousands of entrepreneurs and companies create and leverage online video to build their brands and dramatically grow their revenues.

Prior to his industry-leading work in online video marketing, Lou spent over 20 years as a marketing executive in the television and entertainment industries, including stints as National Promotion Manager for E! Entertainment Television and Senior Vice President of Marketing for Fox Family Worldwide in Los Angeles.

The post The Video Godfather’s Top 10 Proven Video Marketing Tips appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.