WELCOME to the 6-Week Video Challenge!
We’re in a whole new world when it comes to video. The wild frontier is back again, as it’s not too late to hop on the newest trends. Tasty-style videos once guaranteed a viral. Now, they barely blip the screen. So what’s working? And what type of video is the best match for your brand? This 6-Week Video Challenge will help you find out!
Designed to be both an experiment, so we can collectively see what works, over the next 6 weeks, you will receive coaching, insights and ideas to help you perfect a video program for YOUR channels. Find YOUR voice and style. Discover what works for the people who want to tune into YOU.
The next 6 weeks are about expanding your ideas of food blogger video, while testing out a variety of styles with the support of a small, dedicated group.
Join Our Facebook Group
Join the 6-Week Video Challenge Group Now. This is where all updates, livecasts, metrics reports and conversations will happen over the next 6 weeks. If you're not already in the group, make sure you join us there!
About the 6-Week Video Challenge
- By agreeing to participate, you commit to creating ONE Video per week for 6 weeks, based on the to-be-announce Video Challenge guides.
- Each weekly challenge will have 1-2 options, so you can select one that is best for your brand.
- All weekly challenges have been designed to be filmed in 2 hours or less.
- All weekly challenges have been designed to by filmed with 1 camera on a tripod, a handheld smartphone OR a front-facing laptop camera. So you can film yourself, no extra helpers needed (but if you want to get fancy with more than 1 camera, or more than 1 helper...have at it!)
- All weekly challenges have been designed to be editing in 2 hours or less.
- As part of the challenge, we will decide which channel is the best match for each of your videos. This program is designed to BOOST your video views, and we will work together to do just that.
Tech Suggestions
Take the 90-Minute Food Video Crash Course for a superquick start on making your own videos.
Consider which camera will work best. Over the next 6 weeks, you'll be creating a variety of videos. Though I prefer to create all of my videos on a DSLR (I love the quality, and am obsessed with creating a cohesive look for my brand, so use the same camera and lens for almost all of my videos), you may find a dSLR isn't the best match for your personality or preferred form of video making. In that case, any of the following may prove to be viable options for filming.
DsLR on Tripod. PROS: Great for timelapse videos, or capturing shots when you're the only one around. A DSLR on a tripod + a good lens, is generally all you need to create beautiful video. CONS: Can be pretty complicated setting your DSLR up for livecast video.
Front-facing Webcam. PROS: You can get great video from a Mac laptop or webcam camera. Ideal for webinars, livecasts, screencasts or capturing scenes where your camera doesn't have to move. You can create pretty fun first-person "vlog" style videos, pipe them straight into your computer or social channels, and . On a MAC, QuickTime makes it incredibly simple to record yourself or your screen. If you're interested in using your webcam often, or are interested in livecasting, Zoom.us offers an awesome webinar platform for about $50/mo. CONS: Not much control here. You move yourself, or move the camera. But have limited ability to cinematic effects.
Handheld Smartphone. PROS: Ready when you are, smartphones are great for on-the-go, POV and livecasting. Learn the basic rules of Smartphone Video Making and you can make some pretty banger food videos, too. CONS: Not as much control with smartphone shots as with a dSLR. But you can do a lot with a good phone.
PRE VIDEO WISH-LIST
Before you get started this week, a few things worth doing...
- FONTS. Do you have a font/style list for your website? If not, now's a good time to select them! Here's a cool style guide from ModCloth that may inspire you. As a general rule of thumb, you'll want ONE HEADER FONT (that's "Story" from Modcloth, a fancy one that looks great as a giant headline), ONE SAN SERIF (for Modcloth, that's Brandon Grotesque) and ONE SERIF (Modcloth chose Museo slab). Selecting a font list now will help you create seamless style on your blog, videos and YouTube channels. A vital part of creating a professional channel.
- LOGO. Don't have one? Need to update? Now's the time! Your logo and website should appear on every single video.
- TRAILER. With fonts & logo ready, let's get you an animated logo for your videos. Click here to see how I turned my logo into a bumper.
- YOUTUBE. If you haven't already, hop into YouTube and make a channel. Then make your channel pretty. Put up a photo. Fill in your channel description. Uupload a header, get a vanity URL if you can. Poke around and familiarize yourself with the platform if you don't already know it. You're going to be spending more time over there, so go become friends!
HOW TO LAUNCH YOUR WEEKLY VIDEOS
Part of creating a video channel is BECOMING a channel viewers want to tune into. A channel algorithms can depend on. A channel that fans look forward to watching. You put a lot of work into your videos. So let's maximize the reach, effectiveness and shareability with a few Golden Rules of Video Launching.
- PICK A LAUNCH TIME. Same bat time, Same bat channel. Select a time that you can launch EVERY WEEK. This time is sacred and holy. Weekends are ideal, evenings are awesome. Mornings work, too. Whatever it is, PICK IT & STICK WITH IT. You are training your audience to tune in. Let them learn that they can depend on you.
- FOLLOW THIS VIDEO CHECKLIST to ensure you've got all the parts and pieces lined up each week.
- Create Your Video + a 59-sec trailer of your video (for Instagram)
- Keyword Rich Descriptions, don’t back away from copy. Use descriptor words people might be searching for & don't forget to tell your story! Use this YouTube Description Template if you aren't sure where to start!
- Upload Your Video to YouTube as UNLISTED. You can do this as soon as the video is ready. It can be long before your launch by time!
- Add Endcards to Your Video. When creating your video, add your logo and let it last for 21 seconds, so you have plenty of space to add in endcards. Need to know how to add end screen elements? Click here.
- Build a Blog Post. If you'd like to create clickthroughs to your site, now's the time to build a blog post! It should introduce readers to what they'll see in your video. Don't be shy! Tell them the story, tell them what they're about to see. Share a recipe, if one is related to your image. But again here, use all the words! Get readers excited to see your video. Sell your story, let them feel excited, let them feel like "OMG! You so get what I love to watch!" Feel free to put this in drafts until you're ready to go live. I recommend pushing my blog post live 5-10 minutes BEFORE YouTube videos go public.
- Create Your Social Copy. With video unlisted and blog post ready, it's time to go live. Watch the clock! Get logged into YouTube. At at that exact, magical moment that you chose to go live every week, GO LIVE.
- Publish your video to YouTube at the EXACT same moment every week. To publish, switch to “PUBLIC” and put your video into the appropriate playlists.
- Upload to FB 1-2 days AFTER your YT video goes live. Once live on YouTube, you get a second launch day/time for Facebook. Again here, we're going to launch on Facebook at the same FACEBOOK time each week. Upload directly to FB. NOTE: There is conflicting current research about whether you should include a link-out in your post copy. Or should include a URL in the video only. I'll let you decide which feels right for your channel, and we can discuss in the group to see what the current algorithm patterns are in relation to this.
- Upload a 60-second short to Instagram the DAY AFTER FB & push to FB (to boost views). It doesn't have to be the same time here. You did it!