Most of us are nosy and like to know more about the person behind the blog or website we’re reading.

There are several ways we can do this: check out their About Page, look for photos of the person so we feel a little more connected, and then there’s a welcome video.

My Husband’s Sony F3

When I visit a new blog, I’ll always click on their welcome video first if I see one.  It makes me feel more connected to the person when I know who’s writing the blog, plus I get to hear their voice.

We all like videos and Gideon Shalwick , an expert on online video marketing, offers these tips on how to make a video at home.

Let me share what I went through to help you avoid the mistakes I made.

Unless you’re an experienced actor (which I’m not) it takes tons of practice to:

• Be yourself
• Know what you want to say
• Make it look easy

Then there’s the question of equipment and lighting. My husband, Duke, has a professional Sony F3 camera (see photo above) and lighting.  In his spare time he shoots movies and is editing one right now. I’m promoting his website Green Sign Media to thank him for putting up with the number of times I forgot my lines and messed up.

The more you practice, the better you sound. Unfortunately in my case it took forever.  I practiced 4 hours for video # 1 and another 5 hours to make my own video #2 with my Flip camera.

It’s difficult to feel natural when your spouse is watching you, so I decided to try my own version in our 95F degree sauna (garage) without ventilation. After several takes, I noticed how drenched I looked and had to cover up my face with more powder. A fan was out of the question: too noisy.
Video #1

Video #2

Now for some reason, uploading video # 2 to YouTube, shows a mug shot distorted picture  and despite the 3 options YouTube offers, I have no idea why I can’t get the video to start with a different photo.

Please let me know if you prefer Video #1, Video #2, or should I try again?

Have you made a welcome video for your blog? Are you interested in making one?

On July 8th, Bob Lowry from Satisfying Retirement is posting my guest interview called: “Into the Unknown: A Gutsy Lady tells her Story.”  I hope you join Bob and me on his blog so we can interact.

Bob has a wonderful free e-book called, “Countdown to Retirement.” Whether you are several years from retirement, or the big day is just around the corner, the 23 pages of useful and insightful information will help you make the smoothest transition.