Enhance Your Mom Blog with Video

By Wendy Piersall from Mom Blogging For Dummies

Danielle Smith started her career as a television anchorwoman and has always been at ease in front of a camera. She also has been creating video content for three of the three-and-a-half years she’s been blogging. She has worked hard to establish herself as an expert on video content, and that work has paid off.

In 2010, Proctor & Gamble hired her to be a videoblogging correspondent for the Vancouver Olympics. She has also created video content for clients such as ConAgra, Fisher-Price, Huggies, and Kraft Foods.

Danielle refers to videoblogging as “storytelling” or “show and tell.” She notes that brands pay very close attention to how moms create content and communicate online — and (as Kelly says about podcasting) they’re aware that video can absolutely help you stand out from the crowd.

She also says that viewers get to know you better than when they just read your content. Your mannerisms, tone, style, and appearance allow people to understand you and your message more completely than via the written word.

Danielle’s tips for videoblogging success follow:

Pay attention to video quality. She says you don’t have to have an expensive camera, but it helps. Lighting and sound quality are really critical components that can make or break a video.
Pretend you’re talking to a friend. When you look into the camera, don’t talk into it as if you’re talking to an audience; talk like you would talk to a friend. It’s okay to look away from the camera momentarily, like you would in a normal conversation, but keep eye contact as much as possible.
Watch yourself and get critiqued. You may not realize that your speaking or presenting habits could use some freshening up until you actually see yourself in action. For example: um, ah, so, and okay are fine now and then, but can quickly become irritating if you say them too frequently. Have friends watch your videos before you put them online and give you feedback on the points you may miss on your own.
You don’t have to be on camera all the time. For those of you who are nervous in front of a camera, Danielle suggests starting out by filming the things around you and doing a voiceover instead. This gets you comfortable with the editing-and-production process and builds your confidence to get in front of the camera.
Tap the power of YouTube. Use YouTube to market your videos the way you’d market your blog to other bloggers. Comment on others’ videos, title and tag your videos with appropriate keywords and descriptive text, and use YouTube’s video-response feature to interact with other videobloggers.
Use the best free or low-cost videoblogging tools. Danielle recommends the easiest, free tools that already are on your computer: Windows Movie Maker for Windows machines and iMovie for Mac machines.
How to find advertisers. Because of her expertise, Danielle mostly does custom video for clients and doesn’t work with many advertisers in her video work. But on YouTube, she says that if you can build up enough video views, you can apply to join the AdSense for Video program.