In the world of video marketing and live streaming, fall is the time of year when we all start attending lots of conferences and events. You know, when the pictures and videos start popping up to give us all FOMO? There’s VidSummit, VidCon, Video Marketing World, Leap Into Live Streaming Bootcamp (shameless plug) … and a ton of other amazing events geared to help you succeed in video.
As you’re thinking about and planning for next year, we figured we’d share some insights from our time at People of Video in Albany, NY. You may not have heard of POV yet. It’s a newer, smaller conference and unlike VidSummit and VidCon, it’s held on the east coast. One of the best parts and biggest takeaways we had from attending this event is that a smaller conference allows you to really focus on the relationships with other content creators, video professionals, and even speakers and brands. This event felt like summer camp and we were so sad when it rolled to an end.
But if you weren’t able to make it to People of Video this year, don’t worry! In this post, we’re sharing all of our notes from the event so you can step up your video and content creation (and hopefully join us next year!)
Here are the six most important things we learned at People of Video.
#1 – Just start. Seriously. You have what you need.
Let’s be real for a moment. None of this is easy. A lot of getting started with video marketing and live streaming is a mindset.
We give ourselves a lot of excuses of why we can’t start – I don’t have the right gear, I’m not the right person to say this, no one will show up, I hate how I look on camera…
Do your best to turn those thoughts off and just start. Start ugly and start stupid. Be okay with that. Instead of focusing on all of the reasons why you can’t do this, focus on getting 1% better every day. Focus on helping the people watching the videos. The rest will come with time and practice.
This line really resonated with me: “if you’re serious about it, you need to be serious about it.”
#2 – Gear is not everything.
At Ecamm, we get a LOT of questions about gear. Everyone in our Ecamm Community wants to know what camera, what microphone… should I get a teleprompter? What’s a Rodecaster Pro?
Gear is just plain cool and it definitely can make your video look and sound incredible, but…
… spending all of the money in the world on fancy, new gear isn’t going to make you into a professional overnight. Your day 1 is not the same as someone’s day 300.
So start with what you have and work your way up. Make updates and upgrades as you go.
Start in this order:
- Microphone
- Lighting
- Camera
And while you’re working your way up, please stop looking at videos from the pros and wondering why your webcam doesn’t have the same clarity as a $800 camera.
Finally, remember to practice with your gear. Diana Gladney says that when you buy a new piece of gear, you should spend 30 days with it making content. Even if you don’t share those videos, you’ll learn how to use your gear better and your videos will be better for it.
#3 – Don’t do it alone. Video is better with a community.
Almost every speaker at People of Video said over and over again that to be successful in video, you need to know how to network and you need to find a core community who believes in you. To win, you just need 1,000 people to care (wise words from Roberto Blake).
So how do you get to 1,000 people? You get real. Build relationships. Make time and space for people and you help them succeed. As Doc Rock says, you educate, empower, and involve.
Without community, you’re never going to grow a channel.
And on this point, I should also mention that all of the best creators and professionals out there also have a network. They have a core group of people who they can go to with questions, ideas, and frustrations. Find your Jedi Counsel. That group will help you along the way.
#4 – Focus on always being helpful.
One of the main principles of SEO (search engine optimization) is creating content optimized around a search term or keyword. For example: you could write a blog post all about the best camera for live streaming. And then when someone is looking for a new live streaming camera and searches “best camera for live streaming,” Google delivers your content to a potential new customer.
That’s a simplified explanation, but you get the drift. Google’s users have questions. They need information. The content that answers those questions and delivers that information wins. Being helpful wins.
No matter what your industry or why you want to get into video, start with the questions, concerns, and pain points of the people you want to reach. What do they need to know? Create short, helpful videos to answer those questions.
Doc Rock always says, “stop thinking about it as a side hustle and start calling it your side helpful.”
#5 – Become an Amazon Influencer.
One of the creators of People of Video, Dan Currier, gave us a deep dive into the world of Amazon and we wanted to add a few insights on this topic into this post.
Did you know that Amazon has over 12 million products online?
If you’ve been wondering how to best take advantage of Amazon as a video creator, Dan suggests getting started as an Amazon Influencer and focusing on video. Amazon Influencers can create short, helpful videos that give potential Amazon customers an inside look at the product that they’re interested in buying. And Amazon pays a commission for these videos.
We’ve been pretty focused lately on Amazon live streaming and it was really interesting to hear Dan speak instead on the power and potential of Amazon videos. If you’re a creator with a following (even a small following), do some research and get in touch with Dan to learn how you can use the Amazon products you already have at home to make a pretty substantial profit.
#6 – It’s time to learn LinkedIn.
We’ll admit to being a bit eye-rolly about LinkedIn. We’ve heard time and time again that it’s a platform packed with potential, but it also feels like a really tough nut to crack. Seems like every time we try to do something impactful on this platform, we just don’t see results. (Even when we tried out LinkedIn Live).
But Judi Fox (#foxrocks) hit the stage and changed our minds in a matter of moments. If you don’t know Judi yet, follow her on LinkedIn.
Here are the three things you need to know:
- Your LinkedIn profile is a website not a resume. Build it to sell you.
- There are 9 billion views per week on content posted on LinkedIn, but only 1% of LinkedIn users post weekly
- Post and comment on LinkedIn in ways that help LinkedIn users look incredible if they answer or engage with you (after all, their boss is watching!)
There are a million more things we could add, but the best thing you can do is follow Judi and take a look at how she’s commenting and posting on this platform. Take some of these tactics for yourself and test them out.
Well, we did it! We hope you feel like you’ve been able to experience a bit of the magic of People of Video with us even if you weren’t able to attend.
And if you want to grab all of the content and hear from the speakers in their own words, you can grab a behind-the-scenes virtual pass today. Fun fact: our very own ana gil and Fuljens Henry co-hosted the entire virtual event.
