Do you remember the messy kid in class? The one with papers flying out of his notebook, always borrowing a pen, shoes untied, and a backpack that hadn't been cleaned out since pre-K? 

That's a little bit how you might thinking about video. Its the messy kid in class for your business. 

 It all seems like a hopeless jumble of steps and confusing gear.
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It doesn't have to be that way. Different video are used for different goals, but here are some guidelines to get you going. 

Note: This is a long post, taken from our Guide to the Ultimate System for FabVideos, Finally Done. To receive more tips and a free limited time 30 minute consultation on your videos or marketing video strategy, sign up here. You'll be taken to an easy to use calendar to choose your time. 

1. Mindset

Start working on your mindset around video. I have a separate post around this, because it’s a big deal for most women.

2. Now, get tactical:

Eventually you will want to set up a 3 - 6 month business video content strategy . For now, start with 2 steps:

• Easy peasy ‘cause you don’t have to shoot it: Ask all your happy clients to send you quick video testimonials about specific outcome they had with you, directly related to your secret sauce. Ask them to tell a quick story about it. Then use it in a short blog post to highlight THEIR achievements or business. With their permission, of course.
• If you don't know what videos you want to create, outline a basic script for 1 - 3 core SHORT marketing videos every business needs - for most businesses this your personal introduction, and a video or two about your main product or service. Your goal is finished length, Max 2 minutes each. 60 seconds if you are going to post on Instagram.

IMPORTANT>>>>>>Don't forget a call to action that reflects your conversion goal for the video.

​Have a podcast?  You still need some video. Create a monthly video about upcoming speakers, or the best highlights from the month before. Do a “behind the scenes” video of your podcast set up. I know a woman with a podcast for working moms, she podcasts in her closet to hide from her kids. I totally want to see that - from her kids POV. Have them shoot it, maybe even interview her in her closet. Brilliant, right? 

Once you have your list of videos you want to create, here is the key: 

3. Batch those suckers. 

Set up a day to do your script outlines. Set up a day to practice. Maybe you don't need a day, choose what works for you. Tell us what is different about you and your product. Who is it for? Do not use the same glittering generalities that everyone else in your space is using.

Set up one day to record all of your videos. Get some sleep the night before. Get a buddy to help you. 

This is introducing you to the idea of batching your videos, which is the key to eventually creating lots of videos, efficiently.

Success mentor Darren Hardy’s Darren Daily is a genius example. Every single weekday, he sends a short, inspirational video to his email list. He is in the same chair, wearing the same blue shirt in almost every video.

He must have shot a couple of hundred videos over the course of a few days. He has leveraged that to build a huge following online in just a couple of years. ​Good video content is the definition of a good investment. Shoot once, use a gillion times. 

Whatever your flow, ideally you are shooting 10 days before you need the videos to give you time for the edit. (more on the edit, below)

Tips for scripts and shooting: 

• ​Unless you are a 14 year old YouTuber, do not open your video with “Hi guys! Whats up?" Or  “Hello, my name is…” Open your video with an unexpected comment or “hook”. Sometimes it can lead to a story. See this video 1 minute quick tip below (and subscribe to our channel to receive more Quick Tips!)

Here is a screenshot of yours truly, obviously NOT a beauty blogger. lol.

There are practical reasons why we ask you to get closer. 

The first one is that about 50% of videos are viewed on mobile phones or tablets, your viewers are watching you on a very small screen. We want them to see your face clearly. ​

The second reason we ask you to get close to the camera is because the closer you are, the less you have to worry about your background. You only have to have an unclutter one corner of the room, not the whole room. You don’t have to worry about that load of unfolded laundry on the chair behind you.  (or am I the only one who has chairs that are really glorified laundry baskets?)

​Try to find out if most of your audience is viewing videos on their mobile phone. If so, consider formatting the video with a square in the edit - talk with your editor ahead of time or contact us for advice. Its not hard but its a bit technical to get into in this post. 

Bottom line is, we ask you to get close to the camera because if you are filling most of the screen, it makes it easy to reformat your video and retain decent quality.

Are you coveting the softly lit, muted uncluttered artsy background of some YouTube gurus?  Just keep in mind once again that people are watching videos more often on their phone than a computer. Small details in your shot will get lost and unnecessary clutter in the background will add visual confusion. Just start with this system. It will save you at least a day of futzing around with your background and lighting. 

You can always upgrade the environment of your mini studio later if you like. 

Step THREE:

Start Batching.

Try not to write and shoot one video at a time if you can help it. Shoot for (ha!) a minimum of 3 videos at a time. 

Once you have your content outlined, order your equipment for your shoot, if you need to.  

While you wait, you can write your scripts. 

Write at least 3 scripts all at one time. Then, set up your ministudio and practice your scripts. Shoot all three videos on the same day. 

As you get more practice you can bump that number up. I have shot up to 15 videos all at one time in an afternoon. 

Marketing videos in general should not be longer than 5 minutes,  the optimum length is 1 to 2 minutes, so this is the perfect project for batching.

We have much more detail about all of this and more, including lighting tips, where to set up your mini-studio, how to set up your shoot, how to frame your shot, camera confidence and much more in our Ultimate Guide to Fab Videos, Finally Done, part of our complete system to help entrepreneurs transform their business with video.  Looking for furrther ideas about where to get started? Check out this blog post on the 3 essential videos every business needs (including scripts!)
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No excuses! This is the number one type of video you can start working on today!

Testimonials: These are golden, do you know why? 

1. ROI is fantastic - there is almost no production expense - because you are not shooting them.
2. There is no excuse not to start on them - because you are not shooting them.
3. They give your business “social proof”  - potential clients trust word of mouth from peers more than they do your marketing. Makes sense, no?
4. They are highly effective, especially when done right. This is how you do them right. Ask your happy clients to shoot a simple video with their smart phone, using this outline: 
   
   State problem they had before they came to you
   Transformation they achieved from working with you.
   Favorite part of what you did for them. 
   This is their script, but don’t tell them that. Script makes it sound like scary work for them. 
   
   Tell them you will send them suggestions for what to say using a helpful outline. That sounds like you are doing the work for them! Much better. 
   
   Notice how they don’t start with Hi, I’m Jane Smith, owner of Cuties Cupcakes.
   
   Why? You only have 3 - 5 seconds to grab attention. Unless Jane Smith is a celebrity (and if that is the case they will know who she is anyway) your audience DOES NOT CARE about her name and company in the first 5 seconds. In the middle of the video, yes, at which time they will naturally learn about her at the exact time they start to care about that info. 
   
   Besides that, viewers will already know who she is because you have identified her outside of the video footage - on your website, and in the title for the video, or the blog post, etc.
   
   So how many testimonials videos will you ask for this month? 

If you have any questions, we are here for you.

Next check out Essential Video #2 - Your company profile video.