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Creating How-To Videos

June 3rd, 2010, 10:03 pm | Posted in Product Creation | 11 Comments

Today Mashable posted a … post… called HOW TO: Make a Great How-To Video. It seems that they interviewed VideoJug.com CEO Tom Laidlaw about some do’s and don’ts for creating instructional video.  VideoJug.com is pretty interesting it’s like a YouTube meets eHow.com type of website. I’ll be sure to explore that later.  For now, I’m going to summarize Laidlaw’s advice, and of course provide my own comments and feedback.

Here are his recommended steps (let’s keep in mind that we’re creating instructional videos as informational products for our customers as we review the steps):

1. Do Your Research. As internet marketers and online business owners, we know about this! Basically he reiterates what we already know – find out what people want to know how to do, and create a video to teach them how to do it.  From keyword research, to SEO, to Google Analytics, this type of stuff is ingrained in us.

2. Get an Expert View. Laidlaw suggests that if we’re not the expert then hire an expert for the video or to consult. I agree with this.  But more than likely, because we’re creating these products from our own expertise – we are indeed the experts.  I recommend running your video script or storyboard by someone who is not an expert so that you can find out what confusing concepts you may have included, or what language you are using that may be too advanced.  I have plenty of comments about the sample video itself, but I will save that for later to keep this post fairly short.

3. Write a Great Script. Now, Laidlaw says to be sure to write a script. I agree 100%  But I want to add in PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!  It’s more than having what you want to say written down on paper, you want your narration to be as fluid and fluent as possible.  There are some words that I just can’t pronounce - I may want to type them all the time, but when it’s time to read them aloud, they come out garbled and I’m repeating them over and over. Practice speed, intonation, pauses. You will recognize your trouble areas that may need to be re-written because they just don’t flow well.  Our videos will most likely be sold so we need to make them as clear as possible.

4. Shoot It and Test It. His advice is right on.  I’m sure if you do any type of video where you are actually recording yourself doing something, like playing the guitar, you probably wont go full out and hire a production crew. But people will need to really see what you are doing. So proper lighting, tripods to minimize vibrations, a decent microphone are within your reach. I just want to add once again PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!  Even if you’re doing a Camtasia video, do a dry-run or two or three first to prevent those  ”oh I didnt mean to click that button, hold on for a second” moments.

5. Promote It. Once again we know about this!  They mention Google and blogging about it and promoting on social sites, of course, but that pertains to the one video you’re upload to a video service like VideoJug.com.   Your promotion may be creating a teaser video or a “leaked chapter” video or something to help promote your full video product that you want to sell. In that case, you want to focus on uploading to all major video sites, SEO, keywords, backlinks, opt-ins, all that good stuff leading back to your sales page.  You know what to do!

Of course these tips apply to any type of video product, not just “how tos” – inspirational, motivational, lecture. Planning and practice is always best.

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11 Responses to “Creating How-To Videos”

  1. Follow me on Twitter:

    Terrific post (again- gee this is getting boring telling you how great you are…LOL – just kidding)

    I always learn from you even when it’s a topic I think I know.

    Thanks for teaching us the quick way to do things again

    Terrie

  2. Follow me on Twitter:

    In response to Terrie’s comment:

    Hi Terrie,

    I appreciate your support as always Terrie!

    Thanks for visiting,
    Gwen

  3. Follow me on Twitter:

    This is an awesome post! And the timing is perfect for me because I have been working on a new video to project too! Valuable tips I can use! Thanks for posting!

  4. Follow me on Twitter:

    Gwen ~

    I read and re-read all 5 Tips because I don’t know much at all about creating videos, let alone creating “instructional” videos. Sounds like good advice to me.

    I want to thank you, especially, for keeping up with all this stuff. I keep promising myself I’m going to take some time to read articles on sites like Mashable, but I don’t ever get around to it.

    You are definitely our Go-To Gal and resource expert!
    Melanie
    #blog30
    Melanie Kissell´s last blog ..Men are Welcome My ComLuv Profile

  5. Follow me on Twitter:

    In response to Melanie’s comment:

    Hi Melanie,

    Don’t worry it will all make sense once you take out your video camera! Personally, I don’t do many videos of people, mostly software training.

    Thanks for visiting,
    Gwen

  6. Follow me on Twitter:

    In response to Danna’s comment:

    Hi Danna,

    That’s great to hear, I hope you share your video!

    Thanks for visiting,
    Gwen

  7. Follow me on Twitter:

    Great timing with these tips! Thank you! I’m in the process now of creating two minute or less videos once per week related to the keywords in my niche.
    Jeff´s last blog ..Tips To Improve Hitting Baseball My ComLuv Profile

  8. Follow me on Twitter:

    Hi Gwen,

    Thanks for this summation. I’d probably never have found that article or website on my own so I appreciate your summary and also your additional pointers, which help to really round out the picture. I’ll save this post for reference as I’m at the point where I’m ready to include videos and I need to become good at it if I’m going to teach others how to use it as a marketing tool.

    Excellent post and thank you.
    Yvonne
    Yvonne A Jones´s last blog ..What Motivates You? Is Your Motivation From Within? My ComLuv Profile

  9. Follow me on Twitter:

    Hi Gwen,

    This is very timely because I am just starting to want to make my own videos. A simple process for doing this will make it much easier. I am a non-tech person who finds anything more complicated than a keyboard overwhelming; in fact my cellphone can do 50 things but all I ever use it for is to make and receive calls! It’s like that. . . I really really need simple instructions :-)

    You have a wealth of information here and I will definitely be back to read as much as I can. Thanks for a great blog and being part of the #blog30.

    Nancy
    Nancy Boyd´s last blog ..Why I Hate Videos My ComLuv Profile

  10. Follow me on Twitter:

    In response to Jeff’s comment:

    Hi Jeff,

    That’s excellent!! I cant wait to see your videos!

    Thanks for visiting,
    Gwen

  11. Follow me on Twitter:

    In response to Yvonne’s comment:

    Hi Yvonne,

    Always nice to have you comment on my posts! I hope I can find more interesting stuff for you :)

    Thanks for visiting,
    Gwen

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