Seven easy ways to make a video

There are many ways to make a video. For small businesses, the best ways are those that are relatively easy to create, while still looking professional and having a strong impact.

Here are examples of formats you could try. You can use just one format for all your videos, or mix things up to keep things interesting for your audience.

A (real, not virtual) whiteboard

Go old school and stand in front of a whiteboard. Simply present your material, then write out notes on the whiteboard as you talk.  You can speed up the video when editing to whiz through some of the more complex or slow writing.

Make sure you look into the camera for the majority of the presentation and not at the whiteboard, though.

Prezi animation

Prezi is a popular video animation program that’s very easy to use. It allows you to zoom in and out of images and create very cool transitions.

The basic version of Prezi is free. You can use Prezi to create highly professional and visually stunning presentations. Learning the software shouldn’t take more than a few hours.

You on camera

Yes, you could just get your face in front of a camera! Talk passionately about your topic as you look straight at your audience.

You could also be on camera with someone else. This person could be interviewing you, you could be interviewing them or you could take it in turns to present the material. You don’t even have to be on the same continent as you can record you both having a conversation using Skype plus recording software.

PowerPoint Presentations

If you already know PowerPoint, then one of the easiest ways to make a video is to simply turn your PowerPoint presentation into a video. You can create some very good-looking presentations using just PowerPoint – no additional software needed. All you need to do is create your slideshow, add transitions and record your narration, then export the file to video.

Screencasts

A screencast, or a screen capture video, is a great way to do videos in technical markets or when you have something you can demonstrate on screen. I also use Camtasia to make screencast videos using PowerPoint slides as I find it gives me more features and flexibility than using PowerPoint alone.

It shows people you know what you’re talking about. It also allows you to clearly illustrate concepts and techniques in real time.

Get someone else to do it!

There are loads of skilled freelancers on sites such as People Per Hour, UpWork and even Fiverr who will make you an animated video. To make it more personal you could record the narration and have them fit the animation to your voice. This needn’t be expensive and would save you the time needed to learn animation software yourself.

Buy video PLR

Well, I’m a little biaised because I actually make video PLR! But seriously, what’s the point in buying videos such as software tutorials when someone has already made them and is selling them at a fraction of the cost you would pay to have them made yourself? Here’s what I have to offer if you’d like to take a look 🙂

So there are your seven different ways you can make a video. Some work better for specific topics. For example, you might sell a piece of software with a screencast while selling the consulting for that software with a whiteboard presentation. Talk to your audience to get a better sense for which format(s) would work best for your videos.