To Video or Not To Video...That Is the Question

Welcome to The Spark Show! In this episode, I’m going to be talking about if you should use video or not as one of your platforms. If you’re like me, you’ve been hearing this a lot. 

“You’ve gotta use video.”

“Video is where it’s at.”

“Video is the future.”

And I get it, video is awesome and it’s everywhere and it seems like everyone is doing it. 

But I also see blogs still out there. I still have a blog and do research online through blogs. And I also see a lot of people doing podcasts. I've got one as well! 

The problem is, someone is always going to be saying something and you don’t really know who to listen to and what to do. And maybe you’re like me where you’ve tried to do everything - the Youtube, blog, podcast, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and all the things and you get so overwhelmed that you don’t end up doing anything. 

I don’t want you to stay stuck in that overwhelm and indecision so I’m going to give you some guidelines so you can decide once and for all if you’re gonna do video or not. 

The first question I’m gonna ask you is - do you like being on video? For some, it comes naturally and they actually like being on camera. Now if your answer is no it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be on video either - maybe you just need to practice. I mean nothing is ever comfortable at first when you first start doing it - like driving or riding a bike. It’s scary and uncomfortable, but the more you do it - the better you get at it. 

Now if you’ve been doing video for a while and you don’t like it - then there’s your answer. Don’t do video. A lot of us are trying to listen to others when we should be listening to ourselves first. Listening to our gut and our intuition. It knows the way, trust me! 

If you don’t like doing video, then you should figure out what you do like to do - writing? Podcasting? Photos? You have to figure that out. It’s not up to whoever you’re listening to. 

Now another question is - how are you going to show up consistently? Can you do a live video every single week and have fun with it? Great, do that! If you won’t be able to do it consistently, then you have the find the mode of content where you will show up consistently. There’s no other way to it. There’s no shortcut in creating content - it must happen if you want to serve your audience and you want them to get to know you. That’s part of this life, this industry that you’ve chosen. 

So those are the two questions - do you like it and can you do it consistently? Those should be the only two things that guide that decision if you’re going to do video or not. 

Now once you do, you can decide where you’ll be doing your videos. Some post it on YouTube then embed it into their blog. Or some people do it on their Facebook page shared to their group then embedded to their blog and some do both. Now we’re getting into content strategy and distribution! You can go even further and create social media posts and break it down into even more content. 

If you do decide to do video, know that they key is to continue to practice which will build your confidence and you’ll get more and more comfortable with it. You don’t need a fancy camera to start, you can start with your smartphone or your computer camera - what matters is that you are delivering content that provides value. 

So I hope that helps you out when deciding if you should be doing video or not! In the last episode, Episode 41, I talked to my friend and YouTube expert Erika Viera about how to grow on YouTube if that is what you decide to do - so definitely go listen to that one. Thanks for listening to The Spark Show and I’ll see you in the next one! 

Listen to the full episode here:

Book a call with Gwen: 

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Listen to Previous Episodes: 

How to Grow on YouTube featuring Erika Vieira

How to Create an Influencer Business Plan

How to Launch Your First Digital Project featuring Danielle Prahl

Answering the Question: What Do you Do?

Passion to Paycheck featuring Erika De La Cruz

How to Avoid Burnout

The CEO Mindset featuring Ali Daniel

                      Connect with Gwen Lane

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