Do you wonder how you can get started with online video if you're an introvert? The mindset in video performance plays an important role. In this blog post, we'll discover the obstacles that pull back your mindset in video performance.
I, Michele Osorio, with Dare to Dream School, was recently a guest on Paola Rosser's Fearless Female Podcast talking about my journey from being a very very shy young kid who had stage fright, all the way up into being a teenager and an adult who was able to go on to become a stage performer, an actor, a filmmaker and eventually a YouTuber.
I went from being very awkward on camera and not wanting to be in the spotlight, to learning to embrace that. So if you want to get some tips on how perhaps you can go from being an introvert to still being comfortable on camera and in online videos then check this out.
Some Rad Tips for Confidence on Camera
Question: Tell us a little bit about how you got started on YouTube. What made you start a YouTube channel? What was your first intention for the YouTube channel?
So I started on YouTube in about 2007. I got the idea from some other people who had done a show somewhere else, it wasn't on YouTube. At that time, I was working for a corporation making online videos for them.
So I was already a filmmaker, I loved filmmaking and I found out oh you can make a show on the Internet?What? This is crazy!
YouTube Vs. The Real World
I'm just old enough. I actually did the real film festival circuit and I went to film school, although I didn't finish. But I went to most of the film school for three years and I took and I ran with it. So I was used to making videos and then showing them in public in theaters. If people don't like it then they don't laugh and you are embarrassed. You have to look at all those people after the show. It's really awkward. That has happened to me. But also, you get that wonderful feeling when you're sitting in the theater and they do laugh when they're supposed to laugh. It's one of the best feelings in the world.
I discovered in 2007 that there's this whole audience of people online that I can tell that story to and you don't get to hear them laugh in person but they'll leave you comments!
That was so thrilling to me at the time that I could take these stories I had already made, and then share them with people online.
As a creative person, somebody who's been creative since I was a little kid, whether it was drawing or singing. I was always doing something creative and I always wanted to express myself. The internet was just this huge gift especially to somebody socially awkward – which was me.
So I get to hide behind a computer screen and still get to tell my stories. This was the best thing ever.
Early Years
Question: So when you started in 2007 how long had YouTube already been out?
A year. Only a year. I was right on the very first bandwagon. Going like I am gonna get on this, I'm gonna like do my creative stuff, I am gonna like share what I wanted to share.
It's been stuck inside me. At the time I don't think anybody really knew what YouTube would become. It was just a place to host your videos for free. But that was huge because it was very expensive to put your videos online.
In the past as a teenager, I had made these action figure movies. With little action figures and I still have a copy somewhere. It looks terrible because it is the size of a postage stamp! Because I believe at the time I was using Yahoo Geocities and I hosted my website back then. On the site, I had videos that were the size of postage stamps because that was all the space you were allowed. At the time, that was all you could get unless you had lots of money which I didn't when I was in film school student.
So later when YouTube came around that was a big deal.
Mindset is a Key Factor in Determining Your Success in Videos Online
Mindset plays a really important role for confidence on camera whether you're an introvert or not so make sure you check out this next clip also from this podcast where I talk about pushing out negative thoughts and how to be positive, so that you can not only appear confident on camera but you can eventually genuinely gain that confidence as well.
Are negative thoughts keeping you from taking the spotlight you deserve?
Well then make sure that you check this out.
Question: What negative thoughts did you have when you started?
You can get stuck in this script or this idea and negative thoughts can keep you from taking the spotlight you deserve. Whether that's being on stage or being on camera, it's really important to be in the right mindset.
I can look back and realize there were many times when I was pushed to realize my talent. But for some reason I was not listening to those voices, I was focusing on the negative voices.
The negative voices are there. They're permanent and they are daunting sometimes. They can almost paralyze you from stepping into your true self.
Mean Comments?
A lot of times people, nowadays, are afraid to get on camera because they're afraid of the mean comments they're gonna get. Even a big YouTuber or a famous person will tell you, that they'll never come to a point where you are just numb to comments. Every once in a while, something will get through and it'll it will hurt your feelings. It's hard to absorb. The trolls are out there. It's human nature that no matter how much praise you get, it only takes one mean comment or one negative comment. And then we fixate on it. It bothers us for days.
That's how it was, just feeling like I don't deserve the spotlight growing up. But now I can look back and realize there were people rooting for me. I had a choir teacher and she gave me a solo that was meant for
like an older kid. It was just like one of the scariest moments of my life. Yet when I was ever feeling a lack of confidence as an adult, did I remember that time?
No, I always thought about the time I was a teenager and I had a choir director make fun of me in front of the whole class and tell me I was slow. He said it as a quote-unquote joke. But it always stuck with me. I think he was frustrated with me at the time.
Just one negative comment can literally pierce your soul forever and ever.
That's when Self Doubt Ticks In
I mean I don't want to say my age but I obviously haven't been in school for years and it's like I still
remember that, and I can still picture my standing in the middle of the classroom and being made fun of in front of the entire class.
It's in the past and I didn't realize how much I was holding on to the past. But also how I had painted this narrative in my head, the story I told myself was: people don't think I'm any good. I'm not any good. I don't
deserve to take the spotlight, but I'm creative so let's find another way to be creative.
Question: So, why you thought you are going to be behind the camera?
Yes, I decided I'll stay behind the camera. It's not to say I don't love film. I love being a filmmaker I love telling stories. I knew and I'm so glad I learned these very valuable and lucrative skills, but I didn't realize
when I was learning them in my earlier YouTube years. I didn't realize it was a way for me to continue hiding.
Is it just the Mentality?
It's not just negative thoughts and negative mentality, it can also be fear that keeps you from hiding from the camera or from the spotlight.
So make sure you check out this last clip from the Fearless Female Podcast where I talk about learning to
face your fears and how I actually hid behind the camera as a filmmaker. A lot of people don't know that and how I was able to overcome that, so make sure you check out that video.
Do you really want to be in the spotlight and tackle online video but you have these fears that perhaps you haven't addressed or overcome?
If you have some fears, whether you can acknowledge what they are or not, when it comes to taking the spotlight learning that you deserve to be on camera is the key.
Question: How you overcame your fears to go from behind the camera as a filmmaker, to finally acknowledging that you deserve that spotlight and tackling online video?
Paola Rosser:As you're sitting there and you're singing, literally singing from your soul and someone says “Oh my god you sound just like Ariel!” And even listening to the lyrics of the words of that song, like
I want to be where the people are…
You were in your house alone with this creative bug inside of you this beautiful gift that you were gifted with, it's bringing tears to my eyes. Because it's honest. It's like you wanted to be where the people were, yet you were stuck at home aching to show your creativity.
And then YouTube comes into your life.
My Family's Role
I did study, I did go to choir. My family wasn't totally supportive, so they didn't pay for singing lessons. They'd let me do it but they weren't crazy about it. So I grew up in a mixed family.
Question: What was your mix?
My Dad is Mexican and my Mom is Vietnamese. So my Mexican side was always saying “You're so talented, you're the best you can do anything.”
But on the Asian side, it was mostly like “Okay, well that's interesting, how are your grades?”
You know it was all about my grades.
You know it's interesting because I still hold on to some of that baggage as an adult. I always was listening to this voice from my past saying “Mmm that's not realistic Michelle, you know the creative thing”
It's funny because for a long time, even when it came to YouTube, I was hiding behind the camera. There was a reason I hid behind the camera, even though I did choir and I did do stage stuff as a kid but it was very hard. But there was always this voice in my head saying you don't deserve the spotlight.
Do You Know What Your Fears Are?
So do you know what your fears are? Let me know and let me know your requests, maybe I can help you with them. Remember I'm not just a YouTuber, I was an actor for many years on stage even though I had terrible stage fright and was an introvert and was very shy. I also have been a Director for many years and I've learned how to make people feel comfortable on camera and eliciting genuine performances.
So I want to know what are your questions? Until next time, Dare to Dreamers never give up.
What equipment do I need to start with if I want to get on video?
I heard video is so important for business but oh my gosh where do I start?
How much money do I need to invest?
How much is one of these things and why is this lens so big and why does this microphone have a big fuzzy thing on it?!
And why are these microphones so big?
Okay, well I'm gonna help you out today. I'm condensing 20 years of film-making experience and 25 years of theatre performing experience, to help you, Dare to Dreamers, and Entrepreneurs step into the spotlight.
I've been making a bunch of videos live this week and right now I will address one of the biggest questions I get which is “What equipment do I need to buy to start?”
What equipment do I need for video making? Reality Check
The answer is not gonna be what you expect. People think that equipment is this magic bullet. If you just spend X amount of money in this fancy equipment you're gonna have these amazing videos that everybody's gonna watch.
And that those people are gonna buy merchandise or services from you. You're gonna go viral. All this wonderful stuffs gonna happen as long as you spend X amount of money.
Well, that is not how it works actually.
Once upon a time… when there were no fancy cameras
So let me tell you a quick story about something I learned when I went to film school many years ago.
A lot of people find this hard to believe but I went to school back when there was no easy access to things like HD cameras. If you wanted to work your way up to a fancy camera you had to learn how to shoot on actual film, which was very expensive.
That was the stuff people made major motion pictures with. So when you went to film school at that time, you had to use really cheap video cameras until you could work your way up to that.
So at my school, it was very frustrating because they wouldn't let us access the fancy expensive cameras. You could liken them to red cameras today, those are the fancier cameras videographers can buy but are very expensive.
It's kind of like if we wanted to shoot on film or a red camera today, we had to work our way up to it. If you were in the 101 class they are not going to give you access to these really expensive cameras because you don't know how to use them and at the time oh! That's frustrating!
But you know what? I'm really glad you didn't because they told us we had to focus on the craft.
Things to learn before buying a fancy camera
Learning the craft of telling stories on video first. You didn't need the fancy camera to do that so they gave us these junky little Sony Handycams (no offense Sony, I actually loved Sony cameras and I have a Sony camera now).
But compared to these big fancy film cameras we were like why are you giving us these little home movie camcorders?
They were really hot at the time but they were for home movies. They made us use those because they weren't as expensive. As new film students, we could break them and it wouldn't be that big a deal.
On the brighter side, we learned all the things that you can apply, whether you have something cheap or you have something expensive for your filming device. And we learned everything. We learned the importance of acting, the importance of staging the person in the right place, we learned the audio, the importance of audio.
We learned that the movement of the camera what you do when you move the camera or how close the camera is to the subject and how that affects the viewer psychologically. How that changes the pacing of your story.
We learned how to edit that footage and how that changes how people react to it. We learned the basics of lighting.
You can still learn that with a cheap camera versus an expensive camera.
We learned everything we had to know so that by the time we worked our way up to the fancy cameras, we were solid and we knew what we were doing and were ready and well prepared.
What camera do you need to buy?
So how does this translate to you?
Why am I telling you this story?
Because I know you're not going to film school and you're not asking a film department to give you equipment, but you're thinking about what do you make an investment on and usually the first thing people ask is what camera do I need to buy?
I want you to learn the lesson I learned going to film school, which is you don't need anything fancy.
If you're just starting out, and if you own a smartphone, you have the camera that you need right here. As long as it is a newer smartphone and it's not a razor phone from 2005, you're gonna get good enough quality.
You're ready to go. You can shoot your Instagram stories. You can turn it sideways and shoot your YouTube videos. You have what you need and, therefore, you don't need a camera yet.
Learn the craft first
So this probably not the answer you wanted, but you should be relieved.
I think people might be disappointed because you thought I'm gonna give you the magic bullet camera recommendation.
Again, if you're just starting out you need to learn that craft first. You need to learn the difference between a close-up and a wide shot and how moving the camera can be great or it can be terrible for the story you're trying to tell, for the emotion you're trying to elicit in your viewer or your customer.
You can work on your scripts. That's really the most important part. You got to be focusing on your scripts, and your delivery. Those are all things you can work on and get good at, hammer away at and build a solid foundation of knowledge and skill without spending any money.
What is the first thing you should buy in your video equipment?
So having said that, I did want to give you a recommendation for the first thing that you should buy.
The first piece of equipment you should buy is actually not a camera. The first thing you should buy is a microphone.
I know that's hard to believe because we're saying video, video is supposed to be painting with light. It's just light hitting our eyes, it's a visual thing.
So why am I saying a microphone is the first thing you need to buy?
We don't realize it, we are very visual creatures but audio plays a huge part in a piece of art. It plays a huge part in our psychology.
People will actually forgive low-quality visuals, much more quickly than they will forgive bad audio.
Have you ever watched a video and somebody's in their kitchen and there's so much echo in the room that it's hard to even understand what they're saying?
And for me, I don't even want to watch anymore because I'm having to work too hard.
You never want to make your viewer work too hard because they have way too many options out there for videos to watch. You want to make it easy and the easiest way to do that is to give them an enjoyable audio experience, give them nice clean audio.
Recommendations
You can find mics that go on top of your camera. If you use a real camera you can find one for pretty cheap. It can cost you anywhere from $30 to $100 or something but I'm not going to recommend this right now because I had told you you should start with your phone.
Lapel Microphones
Because you should start with your phone you actually only have to make a very small investment. I think the first thing you should buy is a lapel mic. It's a mic that fits on your lapel that's why it's it's called a lapel mic.
It's also known as a Lavalier Microphone. You may have heard it called a Lav before because that's short for Lavalier.
I actually don't know what that means because I've learned that in film school 15 to 17 years ago.
Anyways, you can start out with a really cheap one.
Mine are very fancy. Around $600 a pop, but you don't need something like that, These are wireless, they're Sennheiser and they're really nice. I actually got good deals by buying them used from a Hollywood Audio guy.
He hooked me up with his used kit he was upgrading.
For all you beginners, you can get mic for real cheap. It's only 13 US Dollars and that's just to start.
Once again you can upgrade your microphone later, but for now, I think you just start small. When you're ready to improve the audio on your cell phone/smartphone videos, buy a lapel mic.
But if you already own an actual camera then you can get one of these.
Shotgun Microphones
It's called shotgun because it's pointy and it's pointing in one direction and so the audio is picking up things in that direction. It's also called a directional microphone.
Not what you would expect as it's not a magic bullet. It will, though, help remove some of the sounds from far away and improve the quality because the mic is closer to your mouth. It'll be a little bit better quality than the cellphone.
iPhone Users
Now if you own an iPhone, with the newer connection, you will have to buy a cheap adapter. They're not expensive and they work just fine. I've used them for major live streams. No problem.
I can make recommendations at certain price tiers so be sure to check out my next video/blog post on that.
Want to learn more about the craft?
You know you don't have to go to film school nowadays because you have access to all this amazing information online. So I'm giving you my 20 years of experience here. Trust me when I tell you you don't need to invest in thousands of dollars on video equipment especially when you're getting started.
Learn the craft itself, like the writing which is free by the way! Writing is one of the best things you could ever learn because it doesn't cost you anything as long as you have a place to write things down.
Learn Beyond the Basics
I hope that you take some of this information and go out and at least by that lapel mic and start shooting videos for your business.
Let me know how it goes. Let me know on social media or leave me a comment with #daretodreamer and let me know if that's working out for you.
So remember, you dared to dream. That's what business owners do, that's what artists do, that's what creators do.
There will be people all the time all around you saying “You need to be more practical, you need to grow up, you need to be realistic, play it safe.”
Don't listen to them, never give up on your dreams always be a Dare to Dreamer.
For those of you don't know me I'm a YouTuber. I'm happy to say I've had millions and millions of views and I also have a film-making background, a theater background, and I'm a musician.
Today I wanted to talk today about camera confidence. A lot of people have a hard time believing my story about how I used to be a very shy kid, and I've been able to go from that to today. I actually direct my own videos. Sometimes some pretty elaborate videos. Some go viral, some don't, a lot don't! But I've had great success with being on camera.
Some people have a hard time believing that all this included a journey. I want to share some tips I learned from that journey.
A lot of those tips I actually learned from working in Hollywood, as well as directing my own films, my own web series, as well as Hollywood workshops I took as a director and as an actor. That I think a lot of people could apply to regular online videos – simple things like if you wanted to do Facebook lives or you wanted to get on YouTube those same Hollywood techniques work the same.
What holds you back?
Have you ever watched yourself on video and you cringe at the sound of your own voice? Some of us have been there? I have been there.
I hated the sound of my own voice. It didn't sound the way I was used to and sometimes I didn't like how I looked on camera. I would be embarrassed. Kind of like you ever not liked a picture of yourself that somebody tagged you in, maybe on Facebook it's that kind of feeling but on a video. So some people are afraid to start on video because of that.
They're afraid of what people will say, they're afraid of how they look, and then some people they might have the camera confidence in terms of how they look but they have other fears regarding video. They might be afraid of what people think in terms of if these people are professional enough to be on camera, old enough, young enough to be on camera. Or maybe you don't have the authority to be on camera for something you do, something you love or a business you run.
You feel like it's for other people to be on video. So there's this common kind of Impostor Syndrome. People have trouble getting the courage to be on camera or when they're on camera they struggle with being confident and thus being authentic.
I know a lot of people struggle with that so I thought I would share some tips. I'm going to be doing a live every day this week to promote this upcoming course that I'm doing. It's a beta course so this is like a one-time chance to work with me live every week in a very small group setting for a very discounted price.
This course will help you with not only camera confidence but how to tell a story as a filmmaker does. You can use it in your own small online videos. So that you can grow your business and can grow your brand.
How to feel confident on camera?
First of all, if you feel uncomfortable being on camera, I want you to know first off that I've been there. That used to be me when I was a kid. I was afraid to be on camera. I was afraid to be on stage even though I loved performing. And I loved to sing; I had a talent for singing. I had a gift but I was afraid to share that gift because I had such terrible stage fright.
And so some people they either don't start on camera or when they're on camera they look nervous or they don't seem like themselves. They seem a little bit uptight and stiff.
Relive a Moment
First of all, when you are on stage, it's because you're internalizing everything. You're turning everything in on yourself. Your mindset is on “how am I performing” and “oh my gosh everybody's looking at me”. Or if it's on the camera it's: everybody's going to look at me and you're fixating on the camera on the situation and it's getting to you in your own mind. Whereas when you speak to your friend you look very natural. If somebody secretly filmed you would look completely authentic because you're having a real conversation.
The key to looking authentic and feeling confident on camera is to put yourself back in that original situation. You need to use your imagination a little bit. This is why actors appear so talented. This is why actors look so good because they're not performing, they're being authentic.
One technique is you can try to access your memories of a conversation you had with a real person you knew and then if you can channel that your “performance” is gonna look really natural.
So as an actor, a tool that I could use potentially, is let's say there was a scene where I had to be really sad or I could fit a sad memory and I could channel that. I could close my eyes before the scene and think okay what happened right before the scene? And then think was there a time in my life where I felt that way where I was unhappy or sad and I can channel that memory and then I can kind of relive it.
Have a conversation
Now you have to be willing to be vulnerable. If you can remember that in your performance, it's gonna look authentic because you're remembering a real time when you are sad. So that is a trick sometimes that actors use they channel a real memory so that their performance looks authentic. Because they're actually remembering a time when they were in that kind of situation. They're not acting, they're reliving.
Let's say you had a business and you wanted to talk about your product or solve your customer's problem on a video you could use the same technique. Before you record, or even when you record because you can edit it later, close your eyes and remember a time, when you needed to solve a problem for your customer.
What was the conversation you had? What were the things that your customer was asking you? Once you remember that person's face, now you can open your eyes and start recording. Act like you're having a conversation with that person. Act like the camera lens is that person.
Try to Act
So instead of trying to perform and trying to act the way you think everything is supposed to act, turn it or to act. Turn it around to focus on the other person instead of internalizing it. Focus on solving their problems, and if you can do that it will take away some of your nervousness. You will focus your attention on the other person. It's even better as it compounds the benefits because you're also going to appear authentic since you're helping another person. Even if it's just a person from your memory.
And if you've never helped people like that before you might want to invent a persona. Find a photograph of a friend and put that near the camera.
Use an Actual Person
Another trick I tell people is can you have a friend stand behind the camera?
That allows it to appear authentic as well because you are having a conversation with the person behind the camera. But try to look into the lens. That's a common mistake I see people do.
So look into the lens and make sure that you're just imagining that that's a person and if you do have a person behind the camera don't look at the person look at the lens. But imagine that that's a person.
It takes time
Finally I also just want you to remember that this takes the time and it takes practice. Just make sure that you're not too hard on yourself.
Those are my little tidbits of camera confidence tricks for you. I hope they helped you. Just remember those things close your eyes, access a memory of a time you've helped someone with that question, whatever it is that your video is about. If it's an informational video, then think about a time somebody asks you that question. Or If you've never had somebody asks you that question imagine you're trying to help people in new business.
If you have a hard time imagining them use a photograph of somebody you actually know. Then if you're still having a hard time, have a real person stand behind the camera and maybe be your moral support but you got to always make sure you look into the camera lens.
Don't look at your friend who's standing above the camera don't look at the screen to the side because. Remember you're kind of in a time capsule, you're a time traveler. You're speaking to somebody in the future who will watch your video. If it's a live, you might be doing it now but people will watch the replay too right?
Just pick one imaginary person or one person you've worked with in the past that's how you're gonna get authentic.
Focus less on self
My fourth tip is to turn it around. Don't focus so much on yourself. That's how you get nervous, that's how you start to appear unauthentic. That's how you appear disingenuous. You have to allow yourself to just be yourself allow yourself to be vulnerable. I know that's scary, but if you can allow yourself to be vulnerable. If you can love yourself enough to tell yourself ‘people will love me just the way I am, I don't have to be professional, I don't have to be this idea of who I think people need to be.
I just need to be myself and focus on that person and give them my gift. Whether that is singing or it's education, focus on that person, that invisible person who is behind the camera. They need you and so remember that if you can take it from a point of serving others, that's how you can have a beautiful authentic performance on camera, that won't even feel like a performance.
Just like many actors will be very humble if you compliment them on their talent because it's not a performance to them. They are just very good at being vulnerable enough to channel their internal memories and their emotions so that they can be emotionally raw with people. That's all they're doing they're not actually performing.
Learn More in my Beta Course
I am doing a live beta course, you will have the ability to meet with me live twice a week, this one time only. After this, the videos will be pre-recorded when I teach the more expensive final class a few months from now. So this summer is the only chance you're gonna have at one-third of the final price if you want to help me make a great product and join in my beta course and be part of this tiny little small group.
I'm teaching people how to create a video strategy before they ever film something, lots of tips that I learned as a director and an actor that you can use. Just like the tips I just told you for your performance. How to craft a good story both as a filmmaker and videographer and as the person on camera who is the person delivering the message. We delve into the technical part of how to post a video and how to promote it.
How you can repurpose your content so you can use the same videos over and over again on all your other social media so that you're not making a million videos for all the platforms out there. Because you do need to focus if you want to grow. My talent is growing audiences and telling stories and that's how I've been able to grow 134,000 Livestream followers, it's how I've got 24 million YouTube views. If you want access to me every week in this live six-week course, just check out this link.
Are you feeling overwhelmed? With this? The idea of being on camera?
You think you want to be on camera, maybe you've started doing some live but you feel overwhelmed because you don't know where to start.
You have all these ideas about videos that are powerful.
You've heard that by 2020 eighty percent of Internet traffic is gonna be videos.
You've heard that video gets customers to trust you and you need to do videos for your business.
You hear about these YouTube stars, you see all these amazing Facebook videos that are growing people's business but you just you don't know where to begin.
Do you know what I'm talking about? Cos I've heard it from a lot of people it's overwhelming as there are so many options out there.
What do I use for a camera? What software am I supposed to use?
What's the difference between live streaming and recorded video?
Which one should I do?
Should I be on Facebook?
Should I be on YouTube?
What should I be doing?
What's a playlist?
I know it's overwhelming, it is.
There's a lot to think about. So I'm Michelle Osorio, I'm a YouTuber and a live streamer I've been doing it for many years and I wanted to give you some tips if you're feeling overwhelmed because there are too many options out there.
I can give you a few tips to get started. I recorded a video for this blog post which was a live recording.
The Overwhelm on Camera is Real
If you're overwhelmed and you don't know where to start, usually people ask me things about gear or platforms, such as should I do YouTube or Facebook? or Medium. Should I be doing live stream or pre-recorded video? What kind of camera do I need? What is the gear what software do I need? Those are all the questions I get when people are just starting out and it's almost like it's a curse that we have too much information because there are so many options out there that if you're just getting started. If you're trying to get your business online or start tackling online video for your business, there are just too many things that you can choose from.
Where to Start?
So my advice, having been on YouTube for 12 years, having 134,000 Livestream followers, is you need to actually take a step back for a moment, first breathe and do a little thinking and a little writing first.
I know everybody just wants to hit the ground running. They just want to go and take off, but if you take the time to do a little bit of research and a little bit of working on yourself thinking about what it is you want to accomplish, you are going to be light years ahead of the people who just start trying to do everything. People who are on every platform everywhere. People who buy thousands of dollars worth of equipment and they're not ready.
Identify Your Ideal Client
So the first thing you need to do is to identify your ideal client or your target audience. A lot of people have already done this for their business but if you have not identified your ideal client you need to imagine that ideal client.
It all starts with that so hopefully, you've already done that. If not I have other videos and blog posts about identifying the ideal client that you can check out and just make sure you follow my page or my channel dare to dream school with Michelle Osorio.
Where are they?
Once you know your ideal client, what you should do is figure out where they hang out. That's how you're gonna answer the question what platform should I start with and you should start with just one platform my friend because there's a lot to learn.
So trying to be on Facebook and Instagram and YouTube and Snapchat and Musically Tik-Tok is gonna be even more overwhelming. So choose one platform and it needs to be where your ideal client hangs out most often.
That's it in terms of choosing the platform.
How to find your ideal audience?
So your next question might be okay but what if I don't know where my ideal client hangs out? That's totally fine because you need to ask them. If your business already has existing clients then just ask them.
Call him up on the phone, email them, if you have in-person meetings just do a quick assessment, do a quick survey. Say hey, where you hang out the most Facebook? YouTube? Where do you go? How did you find me? Where do you go when you need to ask your questions related to my business and where do you go to learn where do you go to consume content?
And that's where you want to be making your videos If your customer says oh I mostly look for tutorials on YouTube, you need to be on YouTube. If they say oh mostly I watch so-and-so's Live Facebook show every Friday and that's where I get all the tips and tricks for the industry then maybe you should consider Facebook.
Ask them are they in Facebook groups? Do you know what do they do online? What are their activities?
If you don't have clients that you can ask that's totally fine you can run surveys. So, what I did for my new business Dare to Dream School trying to figure out where people hang out, is I went in Facebook groups that were related to my business and I just asked them more for information.
You know obviously they're on Facebook already but I was able to send out actual surveys. You can do surveys for free with Google Forms, Survey Monkey and Type Form and those kinds of services. Just ask the main questions you need like what do you need to learn?
That's how you're gonna find out what to make. One of the key questions you need to ask there is where do you hang out.
It was helpful for me because I was able to see my audience learns mostly from YouTube. They watch lots of YouTube tutorials, which is great because YouTube is my wheelhouse. So I knew I was on the right track but it's very helpful to do surveys.
Don't have any clients yet?
Okay, finally if you're having trouble with surveys or you don't have clients to ask, the last thing you do is just do an internet search. If you think they might be on YouTube go look up YouTube videos of questions your ideal client might be asking or information they might be searching for. Then go see how popular are those videos? What are the questions people are asking in the comments? Are people really engaged in the comments?
Or check out Facebook, check out Instagram go scope out other people, who have business models that are maybe similar to yours or in a similar industry and just do some reconnaissance. If you do this work ahead of time you're gonna be so much more well off in terms of being prepared before you tackle it, so once again this answers the question I'm overwhelmed I don't know where to start?
Where you need to start is one, identify your ideal client, two find out where your ideal client hangs out.
If you don't have clients, run surveys and then if you're still having trouble getting people to your surveys, just start looking around the internet. Start hanging out in those platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. And then watch how popular that stuff is. It doesn't have to be hugely popular it just has to be enough where you think you can gather leads from that platform.
How to choose your Equipment?
Then you're should choose one platform to start. Once you have chosen, I highly recommend that you just stick with what you got in terms of equipment. That will also help you feel less overwhelmed.
Make sure you just start with your phone. If you have a smartphone or maybe you do have a camera but you think you need to buy the latest camera, DON'T. I wouldn't. I would start with the phone. Start simple and first just stack. The first basic thing is making videos that people want.
Starting to gather an audience
Understanding that you're not gonna get a lot of views at the beginning is important. That's okay. But people overwhelming themselves because of this are just trying to do too much. If you just practice the basics for a few months, that is, making videos or making the live stream, you'll survive big.
If you've decided that your ideal client prefers live streams just do that. Very simple first and then can you start thinking about upgrading your equipment. But try only to learn a few things at a time.
Just work on your strategy, just work on your scripts for a while, don't try to do too much because in that you'll feel overwhelmed. Don't try to learn equipment, gear in media, editing software all at once, it's too much.
You don't want to set yourself up to fail.
You want to set yourself up for success.
Give yourself some quick wins, shooting phone videos or phone live streams, and then work your way up.
So that's how you set yourself up to not feel overwhelmed and build your confidence on camera. Do one thing at a time, one platform at a time, master that platform, only stacks the equipment and software complication on top a little bit later, when you feel good about the strategy, the scripts, and you've started to build an audience.
If you just learn a few things at a time, that's really what you want and make sure when you're ready for the equipment and the gear and you're ready to step up, make sure that you start with your audio.
As for what equipment you need and when you should make an upgrade, stay tuned for that is coming soon. Subscribe so you get the email to the blog and the video right into your inbox. Stay motivated and Dare to Dream!
Does it really work if you don't have other people to harmonize with you?
In this post we're tackling, what should I make my videos about?
What should I talk about?
That's a very common question that I get from people.
What if you run out of ideas?
Well, I have to tell you, I promise you, with this strategy I'm giving in this video, you're never going to run out of ideas.
Don't give them commercials
So you're thinking of starting a YouTube channel where you need to have videos. What should they be about? A lot of people make a big mistake, they just think they're supposed to make a bunch of commercials to sell their product. And they might even invest a bunch of money into making really fancy commercials. They even hire a videographer. But to be honest, people aren't looking for commercials. Commercials can be good for ads. You might want to do Facebook ads with those commercials or YouTube ads to get a lead, to get somebody to sign up for some service.
Give them Value
You offer some product, that's great, but when we talk about content marketing, that weekly video you put out or that twice a week video you put out, you're supposed to just be giving value. You're just going to help out your ideal client with these videos to get them to keep coming back to you and to grow what's called the “know Like and Trust Factor”.
They're going to get to know you, they'll like you, and they'll come to trust you because you're giving them such great advice for free. And that's the value of content marketing. Video is proven again and again to be the best way and the fastest way to grow trust.
The more videos you make using this strategy I tell you about, the more your videos are just going to work as a sales team for you while you sleep. They're going to work for you overnight. And just like what happens for me, people are going to come to you who you have never even heard of. And they're going to say, I watched all your videos. How do I sign up? And you didn't even have to talk to them because they watched your videos and you made them about the right thing.
What do I make the videos about?
I know, I know. It seems hard and it seems like you're going to run out of ideas, but all you have to do is think. Let's say your business is established and you have clients, just start thinking about what are the questions that your clients constantly ask you.
In addition to that, even if they don't ask you because people don't know what they don't know, what are things you end up having? To teach them or to school them constantly about things they weren't even aware they needed to learn. That is what you make your videos about. Don't worry about giving away the farm. A lot of people keep asking, oh what if I give away too much information and will they hire me?
It's just not true. If you give lots of value and information that answers the questions that your clients tend to ask, yes, some people are just going to take the free information and run and they'll never hire you, but look, they're not your ideal clients. They're the type of person that's out there looking for free content anyway, so they're not going to hire you. They weren't going to hire anyone. They're just that person that would rather spend tons and tons of time, maybe years to learn something for free, but you are going to get the people who see you're an expert.
You provided some value by answering some questions, but they don't have time for that. You know, they might be running their own business, they might be doing their own thing, but they trust you. So they're gonna pay you for the services because you already answered some of their beginning questions.
So that's what you do.
What New Businesses can do
Now let's say it's a new business or it's not a business where you talk to clients a lot. That's okay. You don't have to. Let's say you want to teach something that you know a lot about. Maybe you don't have a business for it yet or you're just starting your business. Let's say it's about, almond farming or almond trees. You've got an almond orchard and you decided to go into business. Maybe you don't have a business yet so you don't know what people ask in terms of clients because you haven't sold your almonds to anybody yet.
You know lots and lots and lots about almonds. So just go based off of what of your friends asked you you can make content on that. Or what's something you think everybody has to know about almonds that they didn't know such as Oh, it's a source of calcium or source of protein.
No clients yet? No Problem
So you can make videos about that even if you don't have any clients yet. You know, people need to know that. So you can make videos providing free education, free value, and then people who come watch those videos come to trust you. And when the time comes that they see that you're selling omens or almond milk, you're already top of mind to them.
So who are they going to trust?
Who are they going to buy from some random stranger?
Or are they going to buy from the person they've been watching all those almond videos about while they were doing research about whether they should start drinking almond milk?
So, that's how it works if you don't have any clients.
And finally, if you're still out of options, if you're still having trouble figuring out what to make your videos about, you have the Internet, my friends.
Use online tools. I'm going to tell you about three real quick.
Quora
One is Quora and you probably have run into it. Maybe you didn't remember the name but have you ever run a Google search for a really long-tail, really long-winded question like “How do I sew sleeves onto a shirt when I have really big arms?”. I know this sounds random, but I did an exercise the other day with somebody about sewing and we were trying to figure out how to like really niche that down and apparently, that's a thing people asked for.
People want to know how to sew arms into shirts when you have really big arms and you need big arm holes. So you, you might do a search on Google for something really obscure like that and Quora often pops up. It's a website where people can ask really specific questions and then human beings respond to those questions and give their answers and then they get upvoted.
Quora has questions from all industries
So you can look on Quora, see what are the most common questions in your industry, like what's better for protein, cashews, or almonds, or where is the best place to buy almonds from in California. Those are the kinds of questions you probably get to find on Quora. And then the great thing is all of those questions that you find, you can make a video about every single one of those and provide value by providing information.
And if you really, really want to have an impact and gain exposure, if you see somebody ask that something in Quora, you could make a video answering that question and then you could answer their question on Quora linking to your video. That might show up on other people's Google searches. Ha! You see. So we got a little hack there.
And a lot of people don't take advantage of Quora. I can tell you some people they're killing it on Quora they're answering people's questions. And then at the bottom, they have a link to their website or they mentioned they do services and they do get leads that way.
Keywords Everywhere
So the second tool I want to tell you about is a plugin called Keywords Everywhere. It's free and when you run Google searches, it will give you more information. It will give you information on the volume of searches, how competitive that is, that search you just did.
And it will also show you suggested or recommended or similar searches. So for instance, when I was showing someone Keywords Everywhere, I put in “how to sew armholes”. That was how I discovered, through the other suggested one, entries on the side of the Keywords Everywhere plugin in Google search. It shows up on the side of your Google search. It showed me that apparently people also search for how to sew big arm holes for fat arms. I never would've thought of that. That's like not something that would've come to mind. And so you know that might be a small audience, but it's a very niche audience.
If you have a sewing YouTube channel or a sewing blog and you're going to start making videos for your blog, man, you're going to get some traffic, you're going to get some very specific traffic.
Your Business or your service might be different, but Keywords Everywhere is really helpful and it's free. Just run a search for Keywords Everywhere on Google you will find a free plugin.
Answer the Public
My final tool I'm going to give you is Answer the Public. Answer the Public is kind of like a more robust version of Keywords Everywhere. You can put in a question or you can even put in just a topic and it will show you related things.
People are asking around that topic and it's very dense. You have to pay for the longer report, but you'll still get plenty of information. So you could say “ballet shoes” and then you can see all the questions people are asking about ballet shoes and it shows it in a really cool visual chart kind of way. It organizes by who, what, when, and that sort of thing. It's very visually stimulating.
It might get you to think outside the box in terms of ballet shoes, in terms of anything you search. It's going to give you some new ideas for videos. Just go try it. Ignore the scary looking guy that's on the cover of it. There's a weird video of a guy just standing there. It looks like he's waiting for you to ask a question. It's a weird video that's on the website. I said, don't let him intimidate you. Try Answer The Public.
To recap, one, you talk about what your clients ask you.
Two, if you don't have any clients yet, what do your friends ask you?
What are things you talk about over and over again about this subject you know so much about?
Three, use the tools that I talked to you about. They're free to start with Quora, Keywords Everywhere and Answer The Public.
The Script
Next, I will talk to you about the script itself.
What should you put in your video script?
What should you actually say in this specific video? So that you can have more impact.
You can provide more value and turn those viewers into raving fans and customers.
So check out that video and remember never give up, never let anyone talk you out of your dreams.
And Yeah, and don't forget I have my Beta course. This will be the only time, my friends, that it will be available for this cheap is that My Course and I'm teaching it live. It's like a live mastermind. We will be doing video calls twice a week and normally group consulting is going to cost like three times as much. It's only because it's a Beta course. You're going to help me perfect this prototype so that we can together make the most amazing video marketing course ever, to help businesses grow with only video and show them where to start.
What's included?
You'll walk away with an entire video strategy. You'll walk away with how to have confidence on both sides of the camera. You'll understand how to use the technology, the gear, the software and you'll know how to use those videos for other social media.
Start with YouTube and then post them to other places like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. And you're going to have your own little community. You'll have me giving you feedback every week on your videos, which normally cost a lot more money.
So it's like a great deal. And then you'll also have this small group of people who you'll have to leave comments on your videos and give you live feedback. So it's really valuable. If you're reading this post later, I'm sorry, the cart is closed. That's why you want to turn on notifications for me so that you catch me whenever I'm offering a deal. And you should still sign up on the waiting list because I'm always going to set it up so that early bird people get the best price. So you're going to want to sign up for my newsletter so you'll know when I'm teaching this course again, and you can get the best price.
