Should I Do my own business marketing videos?
I mentioned this in my other post about Video Marketing for Small Businesses. Unless you are already knowledgeable about shooting videos you probably should hire someone to shoot or at least help you get started. However, if you insist on doing it yourself, there are some things to consider before you get started.
Getting Started with Basic Camera Equipment
If you’re doing a one-off video, you could use a cell phone camera and probably edit your video from an app. However, the videos you see in commercials that are shot with phones are probably done by seasoned video production specialists, with thousands of dollars of postproduction software at their disposal. So, you might not get the results you may think you can with a phone.
If you do want to get started making videos with a dedicated camera, this post is meant to help. To start, you’ll need a camera. You can grab a decent Lumix or Sony micro four-thirds camera for about or even less than $1k. You can find better deals if you search for used.
I’ll provide some links to help you with the basic equipment I’ve used in the past. Although I’ve had good experiences with some of this equipment, there is no guarantee of the end result for everyone.
Camera Gear to Invest In When Shooting Your Own Marketing Videos
Some of the camera gear you should also plan to invest in:
- Memory
- Microphones and preamps
- A stand
- Lenses & ND (neutral density) filters
- A teleprompter
- Lighting
- A modern computer with a powerful processor for editing
- And possibly more depending on your needs.
You might be able to skip the super-fast computer if you send your footage off to a postproduction company like us or a freelancer. Something to keep in mind though, if you send them subpar video or audio, your results probably won’t be that great.
Video Audio Quality
There is also the task of recording audio. This is one of the most important things. Honestly, almost every aspect of shooting a video is important but audio is doubly so. If you have a great video and your audio sucks, people are going to quickly get tired of the subpar sound and move on to something else.
When shooting a video people usually stick to the 2 main types of setups:
- A boom and a shotgun microphone
- Lavalier microphone
Just to make this part quick, if you want decent audio that won’t break the bank, here are some links to a decent budget audio setup.
Links to Budget Audio Equipment
- Wireless setup: Alvoxcon Wireless Lav Setup I wouldn’t recommend using the microphones that come with the wireless set. There is also a downside to this setup, the batteries will need to be charged a lot if you make long videos.
- Lav Mic: JK MIC-J 044 Lavalier Lapel Omni-directional Condenser Microphone Make sure to buy one compatible with your camera or wireless setup. Your mileage may vary but this should work. You may also want something like this lavalier mount setup if you don’t want to use the clip or you simply want to conceal the microphone better. Bubblebee Industries Lav Concealer
These aren’t the nicest options. You’ll still need to clean up background noise in the post and the transmission quality isn’t as good as say a Sennheiser or other more expensive equipment. However, it will get the job done if you just need something that you can plug into your camera to get decent-quality audio without a preamp.
Also, be sure to check out YouTube and the Googs (Google) often as newer and maybe better and affordable options are being released all the time. There could definitely be newer equipment that may be better than this by the time you read this post.
The point with audio is, to get the best possible audio quality first. Then worry about improving it in the post. Fixing things in audio isn’t as easy as you might think. Editing out simple mistakes that seem fine while filming could take hours or require reshoots if you don’t take the time and care to do them right.
Editing and Postproduction Process
A freeware program like Shotcut can be a great option but there may be a lot of work involved to get it to the point of running more like a full featured editing suite. There are also a lot of newer options for free editing software, but they all seem to have restrictions you might not have to deal with in Shotcut. So, this is something you will have to pick your battle on.
I would recommend rather than freeware you just set yourself up with something reputable to edit in like Adobe Premiere, Final Cut, DaVinci Resolve, or any other reputable editing software you take a liking to. Even some DAWs (digital audio work stations) like Reaper can edit video to some capacity. However, I wouldn’t recommend starting with Reaper if you are not familiar with it.
You don’t need to get caught up on the brand since all the applications I mentioned pretty much do the same thing. They will probably do the job you are planning on and much more. You should focus more on research and possibly testing them out to find what you like the best.
Conclusions on Shooting Your Own Video for Your Small Business
With as much as I’ve already included in this post, there is still a mountain of information and techniques I could mention. This is mainly meant for beginners and I’m sure there are plenty of other resources out there with a LOT more information than I could provide.
I think to wrap this up, if you want to make a video, you can do it on your own if you’re clever. If you don’t think you can do it yourself, you should definitely hire a professional or even just someone more familiar with making videos than you.
The most important thing to getting started is to actually start. You’ll never get better until you start doing it. If you need help with business marketing videos or video marketing, contact us today.
Read about why you should use video marketing for your small business.
Matthew is the President of Infront Webworks and is a New England native now calling Colorado Springs home. Matt attended The University of NH where he pursued a BS in Natural Resource Economics & Business Administration. Aside from Infront; Matthew has owned and managed two other online agencies based on the seacoast of New Hampshire and been a key player in multiple technology mergers & acquisitions. When he’s not bathing in technology, online marketing & business; he’s probably spending time with his wife and daughter, boating, skiing the trees, hiking or cooking..he is a foodie for sure!
