How To Become A Video Publisher & Grow Your Website
How To Become A Video Publisher & Grow Your Website
The good news is that [video recording and editing tools](https://www.ezoic.com/tips-tools-and-gear-for-creating-great-video-content/) have are better and more easy to work with than at any time in history, and you don’t need much more than a good, modern smartphone or laptop to get started! In fact, there are plenty of people who are using their iPhone, Galaxy S8 or similar to not just record and edit video content, but to go live on Facebook or Periscope/Twitter.
Below, I’ll share some secrets that publishers are using to grow their brand, visitors, and digital revenue using video.
Gear for video publishers
Making a quality video
Lighting is often underrated
When I first started recording commercial video, I had no idea about how to do much of anything and learned as I went along. Sometimes with disastrous results, like when I recorded a video where I was sitting on my couch with a bright, sunny backyard behind me.
You can imagine what happened, it ended up with just a silhouette of me and looked like I was in the witness protection program. Many people get the lighting wrong, though, so it’s smart to spend some time and think about light sources and reflective sources.
I like to have at least two light sources so I can either eliminate or minimize shadows behind me. Since we all tend to move as we talk, your shadow can end up being quite distracting! Also, a handy tip: If you have an oily face, the oils on your face can “gleam” too, which isn’t entirely attractive on camera.
You can see that I have built a mini-recording set in my front hallway. All that matters is what’s on camera, so the wood panel background is actually just a prop I have leaning against the wall.
And for lights, I bought a set of three lights from Amazon for under $100 and place them approximately on the 30-degree marks from me, and a third I use as what’s called a “hair” light, illuminating _behind_ me and lighting up the very edge of the back of my head. Particularly when against a background that’s a similar color to your hair, this can be a really important light.
There’s more to talk about, including camera options (don’t forget your late model Canon or Nikon DSLR can also double as a high-quality HD video camera, for example) and basics of editing, along with what to do once you’ve finished your video, but we’ll get to those topics soon!