Growing up, I remember my dad carrying around a huge, double-decker VCR, battery pack, and what looked like today's newsroom cameras just to put together some family video for the grandparents. Today, it's so much easier.
For the last few weeks, I've been playing with my iPhone camera and learning a little bit about YouTube. I'm kicking myself for not doing this earlier! I think everyone should have a YouTube channel of their own for family videos.
Here's mine: http://www.youtube.com/user/stokedfamily. I'm using it to learn more about video and have some stuff to show the kids years from now. Oh yeah, and the grandparents will love it too.
I know what you're thinking... "Edit and upload a video? That's for 'tech' people."
Not anymore. It's easier than you think!
Today I put together a short tutorial to show you how you can use your iPhone and Windows Live Movie Maker to easily edit and create your own videos. Sorry for the audio quality (I told you, I just started learning).
Easy, right? Do you have a YouTube channel? If so, link it up in the comments!
OK... now for the entrepreneurs among us: There's a more to this than just putting together videos of my kids. Have you heard about Shaycarl? The dude has over a million subscribers and a 100 million views. He's making serious money doing this stuff. I love his Twitter profile:
Shhhhhh I'm slowly but surely building a small army of people who believe that happy families are the answer to 73% of our worlds problems.
Why can't we do the same thing with business? Why can't we use video to show people how being in business can be fun? I'm learning about YouTube and video because I think there's a great opportunity to communicate company culture, branding, and fun like never before.
A few weeks ago, we started doing company hangouts via Google+ once a week. They have been a blast! Since our team includes members from 4 countries and 6 timezones, this is the only way we can see each other on a regular basis.
We even did a public hangout yesterday with some of our customers. Circle us on Google+ if you want to get in on the next one. We'll probably be doing some Google Hangout On Air events in the future as well.
Video is a game changer. It's a tool we as entrepreneurs need to be familiar with, or we'll be left behind.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope this post gets you encouraged to give it a try. If you do, please link to your videos in the comments!
Side note: I just noticed the BeStoked blog has over 10,000 views. Wow. Thank you. :) Now go tell your friends, because they might like it too.
