HOW TO: Enhance Your Online Presence with Video
Posted by Zachary Sniderman at 1:56 pm
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Video is a tricky spot for most blogs and personal sites, especially when that video is meant to represent you. While everyone likes to watch videos (just look at the exponential growth and popularity of YouTube), it’s a little more difficult to create, edit and host your own videos. This isn’t to say incorporating a video into your online presence is an impossible feat, but to do it properly requires some digital finesse and forethought.
Technically speaking, simply making a video is pretty easy. Hit the record button, stand in front of the camera, turn the lights on and say something. Instant video. Unfortunately, that alone won’t make it a good video.
Video is about content and production: What’s in it, and how it’s presented. For most personal blogs, it’s more important to provide great content (some of the most popular viral videos have some of the shoddiest production values), but much depends on what you want your video to accomplish. Is it an online resume? Clips of your work? Or just something funny for your audience to chew on?
Below we’ve got some quick tips on how to enhance your online presence with video.
Utilize Video Resumes and Introductions
Using video resumes and introductions is a great way to make a first impression. It’s also a great way to shoot yourself in the foot. You could be (and probably are) intelligent, charismatic, ambitious, and attractive, and thankfully, a good video will help you stand out. But beware, a bad video could hide your best characteristics.
Most sites give general, but useful tips on how to set yourself up for success if you’re going to create a video resume. Be organized, dress professionally, speak clearly — all things your parents told you to do and all things you would do in a real interview. The tips are general because you need to tailor your resume, and video, for each job application.
A video introduction, a brief video embedded into your homepage, uses many of the same concepts. It is intended, however, to give a general impression of who you are: Your motivations, passions, and what readers can expect from your site. If someone clicks on your video, it’s because they want to see you, the person behind the site.
Some of the most important tips for these personal videos are: Keep your video to no more than two minutes, find a space where you feel comfortable filming, and avoid having too much clutter in the shot — we want to see you. Lastly, know what you’re going to say and what you want your audience to get out of the video.
Supply Sample Clips
Adding clips of your previous work is perhaps most useful if you have a profession that requires you to be in front of or behind a video camera. Including these clips can be a good way to connect with your readers by showing them real samples of what you do.
The biggest obstacle is usually getting over the fear that people will hate your work. It’s a legitimate, but often unwarranted concern. If you’re a pro, odds are you’ve already built out a video section on your site. For amateurs, think of your clips as a great way to get crowdsourced feedback.
Add a comments section below your videos, and encourage responses to your work. You’ll find that readers will often give good criticism if you ask for it in a courteous and honest way. Of course, there will always be trolls. But odds are high that you’ll get more useful feedback than people calling you a n00b.
Curate Videos from around the Web
Aggregating videos can show your expertise or interest in a specific field, in much the same way that aggregating news stories can. Posting a selection of videos from the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, for example, can show readers your interest in classical music, collaborative arts, or the intersection between classic arts and new technologies. However, if those are your interests and you post random fail vids and cute cats, your readers might not get a good sense of who you are.
Anything you post on your blog or personal site is a representation of who you are. Video’s can be a great way to show your personality, previous work, or interests, but require the same patience as any other medium (you wouldn’t post a blurry or embarrassing profile pic, right?).
Your best bet is to think of video as an extension of your portfolio, a video cover letter where you can share a little bit of who you are. It’s certainly not required, but a video done well can do a lot to enhance your online presence.
Let us know how you are using online video to showcase your work or interests in the comments below.
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