Key points
- Your phone is enough. What a beginner lacks is never equipment. It is a precise subject and the habit of publishing.
- Pick a subject you already know: your trade, your shop, the thing people keep asking you.
- The first video will be average, and that is normal. It is there to teach you, not to be perfect.
- Ten simple videos teach more than one video prepared for a month.
What really holds beginners back
When you have never made a video, you believe a camera, a microphone or some software is missing. In truth three things block nearly everyone: not knowing what to talk about, fearing what others will think, and wanting the first video to look good already.
None of the three is solved by buying equipment. They are solved by publishing a first short video, then another. The discomfort drops with each one, and watching your own videos is how you see what to improve.
Choosing a subject you can keep up
A good first subject is not the fashionable one. It is the one on which you could make twenty videos without searching. Ask yourself a simple question: what do people ask me all the time?
- Your trade. A hairdresser, an accountant, a mechanic answer the same questions every day. Each question is a video.
- Your shop. What you sell, how you make it, how to choose it.
- What you have just learned. Someone who learned yesterday often explains better than the expert, because they remember what was hard.
Three ways to make a video, from simplest to most demanding
| Way of working | What you need | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Talking to your phone | A phone, a window, one minute | People who are comfortable speaking and want their face to be recognised |
| Showing your hands or your screen | A phone on a stand, or a screen recording, and your voice | People who make, repair, cook or use software |
| An animated video with a voice | A text of a few sentences | People who would rather not film themselves, or who explain an idea |
None of these is better than the others. Take the one that asks the least of you today: that is the one you will keep up. If you do not want to appear, read our guide to making videos without showing your face.
Your first video, step by step
Take one question
A question someone really asked you. Write it the way it was said: it will be your first sentence.
Write the answer in five sentences
The question, the short answer, the reason, an example, then what the viewer can do. Read them aloud: if you run out of breath, cut the sentence in two.
Film vertically, near a window
The phone at eye level, the light in front of you, a quiet place. Do three takes and keep the most natural one, not the most perfect.
Trim the start and the end
Remove the second where you press the button and the one where you stop it. That is the only editing you need at first.
Add subtitles
Many people watch with the sound off. A few words at a time are enough: see our guide to subtitles people actually read.
Publish, then note one thing to change
Only one. The light, the length, the first sentence. The next video fixes that one thing, and nothing else.
A florist’s first video, 40 seconds
- The question: “Why do my tulips droop after two days?”
- The short answer: “Because they keep growing in the vase.”
- The reason: “The stem gets longer and reaches for the light.”
- The example: we see her trim the stem and turn the vase.
- The ending: “Cut one centimetre every two days.”
Keeping the pace without wearing yourself out
The beginner who publishes seven videos in the first week often stops in the second. Choose a pace you can hold for three months: one or two videos a week are enough to learn. What counts is regularity, not quantity.
Keep a list of questions on your phone. Each time a customer, a friend or a colleague asks you something, write it down. After a month you will have more subjects than time. Film two or three videos in the same sitting and publish them one by one.
The most common beginner mistakes
- Waiting until you are ready. You do not become ready by waiting. You become ready around the tenth video.
- Buying before publishing. A microphone does not fix a video with no subject. Buy only what you missed.
- Talking about everything. An account that changes subject with every video holds no one.
- Going on too long. One idea, under a minute. If you have two ideas, make two videos.
- Copying a star. Their way of speaking suits them, not you. Speak the way you speak to a customer.
- Checking the numbers every hour. First videos get few views, for everybody. Compare yourself to your previous video.
Before you publish your first video
- The video answers one question.
- The first sentence says what it is about.
- You can be heard clearly, with no noise behind.
- The video lasts less than a minute.
- It makes sense with the sound off, thanks to the subtitles.
- You know what the next video will be.
Frequently asked questions
What equipment do I need to begin?
A phone and a window. Daylight in front of you gives a clean picture, and the phone’s microphone is enough in a quiet room. The rest can be bought later, once you know what you are missing.
How long does it take to make a video?
Allow about an hour for the first one, between the writing, the takes and the subtitles. That time drops with habit, especially if you film several videos on the same day.
Which platform should I publish on first?
The one your customers or readers already use. The same vertical video can then be published on several platforms. Start with one to build the habit.
What if nobody watches?
That is how nearly everyone starts. Nobody can predict how many views a video will get. What you control is the subject, the first sentence and the regularity: work on those three.
With Meratek
How Meratek helps you get started
If you do not want to film yourself, write your idea in a few lines: Meratek asks you a few questions, writes the story, adds the voice and builds the film. If you prefer to talk to the camera, upload your video in the Motion tab, Face motion mode: Meratek cuts the hesitations, lays the subtitles and adds pictures on your sentences.
The price in credits is shown before you start: you confirm or you do not. One hundred and forty credits are offered when you sign up. Meratek builds the video. It does not choose your subject for you and it promises no audience.
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