6 ways to use instagram video

6 Ways To Use Instagram Video For Your Business

If you’re thinking- “Great! Another platform that I don’t have time for!”

Don’t worry this one won’t take too much of your time..it only involves 15 seconds!

If you’ve already been using pictures for your business, why not add a little video?

If the thought of getting in front of the camera makes you squeamish, here are 6 ways you can use video and not all of them involve you being in front of the camera and don’t involve jumping back on the content hamster wheel.

Why Should I Use Instagram Video?

It’s tough as business owners to *always* be thinking about creating content but the reality is an era of competing for eyeballs, it’s another way to stand-out and build a connection with your existing and potential customers. Not to mention, if you aren’t big on writing, you can create blog posts with your short Instagram videos and talk about them.

It’s also a lot easier than creating and producing a 2-3 minute vlog post.

Use what you have: Most of us are armed with smartphones these days so no equipment costs and no editing required!
And you’re probably doing a lot of the things below anyways..now you just have to remember to take 15 seconds to record!

6 Ways To Use Instagram Video For Your Business

1- Behind The Scenes

Show the behind the scenes of how you can use your product or even something that is coming soon:

In this example, Natalie Sisson shares her excitement about receiving her upcoming book gift certificates:

2- Show And Tell

This one pretty much speaks for itself! Why not show how to do something?

If you’re a fitness instructor show us how to do a specific stretch. If you’re a makeup artist demo how to get that perfect smokey eye (help!) or if you are regularly share recipes show us how to make something! The possibilities are endless!

 

3- Live Events

Share live coverage: If you do live workshops, conferences, retreats, classes..grab 15 seconds of video and share what’s going on (and maybe even tap into people’s FOMO for next time!)

4- Answer FAQs

You can jump in front of the camera and answer frequently asked questions. Or do a quick walk-through like I do below.

5 Review Products

If you like to review products on your blog whether it is books, gadgets, tools..why not jump on camera and talk about it?

6- Engage your community

Talk to them. Plain and simple!

You can do a LOT in 15 seconds!

And it doesn’t have to end there. You can embed your freshly created vids on your blog (I’ll cover that in another post). Woohoo! More yummy content to share. Win!

So what will you be creating? Let me know in the comments below!

creating your first online product

Creating A Minimal Viable Product Part 3: A Look At Thrive Hive

In the series, “Creating A Cupcake: Instead of the Whole Cake”, I’m taking at look at how to create a smaller version of your digital product before going all out with the full version. This approach, known as a minimal viable product, allows you to focus on delivering a very specific feature without all the bells and whistles and build on it as you incorporate feedback and learn.

I see it as the K.I.S.S approach to product development (keep it short and simple) and can be applied to pretty much anything. For example- starting out with social media? Instead of trying to DO IT ALL- start small, join a few key platforms and then take it from there!

In this post, we will look at an example of a minimal viable product and the tools that were used to create it.

As a techy who loves to try every tool out there, I definitely have to reign myself in more often than not!

Creating A Minimal Viable Product

For instance, when launching Thrive Hive, an online community for women entrepreneurs, we could have chosen anyone of the following options:

($ no to low cost, $$ moderate, $$$ high)

  • Option 1: Set up a custom white-label network using Ning which starts at $25/month not to mention the setup time involved. $$
  • Option 2: Set up a new WordPress site with a membership plugin- costs: hosting, domain, membership plugin, development time $$$
  • Option 3: Use our existing websites + private Facebook or Google+ group $

Choosing The Tech

Cost was not the only deciding factor when we decided to go the direction we did (which was option 3) but rather what was it that we were trying to accomplish and who were we trying to serve.

We could have easily spent months developing a custom site and then promote it and share it with our communities. This would mean more time developing and less time learning what worked and what didn’t work. It also meant getting people in the habit of spending time on yet another site.

Removing Barriers To Increase Engagement

The same would apply to using Ning, while the development cost would be less we would still have to encourage people to spend time on another site.

However, our target market is already on Facebook (sorry, Google+) and spending tons of time there. Did we really want to add the barrier of having to go somewhere else to engage? Probably not.

Our goal is to connect women entrepreneurs in different stages in their business, share each other’s content and organize online events such as chats and hangouts.

After surveying our audience and getting clear on what was missing in the groups they were currently participating in, we were able to narrow in on our focus and priorities.

Now that’s not to say we would never consider the other options and we could re-evalulate if we outgrew the existing setup, but it was out of scope for our minimal viable product.

Thrive Hive: A Look At The Solution

Sales page: Landing pages on existing sites Amp and Pivot and SidekickPM.

Payment: Paypal recurring payments for subscriptions

Community: Private Facebook group

Communication: Google group for social media posts + Aweber (for sign up + autoresponders)

Group activities: Twitter chats (#thrivechat) and Google Hangouts

Because we used our existing websites and free platforms we were able to keep the actual cost down and the only expense was our time.

Time to development: From idea to launch we were able to execute on this in only 4 weeks (between 2 businesses).

As you can see, when creating your minimal viable product, it helps to look at what solutions already exist but to choose based on what you are trying to accomplish. And as you learn and grow, you can make changes to the technology that you are using.

In the comments below, I’d like to hear what you are launching and if you are considering the “cupcake” approach!

In the final post in this series, we’ll look at some tools you can use to easily create and launch your first digital product.

 I like to practice what I preach..check out the new live online-workshop I am running in beta on August 30th.

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Sign up below to get the entire series delivered in ebook format (for free*).

*does not include cupcakes

Episode 25: Exploding Into Action With Michelle Of Bombchelle

In this interview I had the pleasure of speaking to Michelle of Bombchelle where she helps creatives explode into action. She shared how she got started with her business and what made her take a creative approach to systems and productivity and how to use a CRM (customer relationship management) for your business.

Click play to listen.  [heads up: there were a few fbombs that were dropped..just in case :)]

 Key Takeaways:

  • Using the right tools will help you manage your customer relationships
  • Systems help you focus on the right things to get done
  • Productivity + Systems = More Joy and Less Frustration! click to tweet

         CHECK OUT THE DON’T LOSE YOUR SHIT SALE ends August 9th

Details here.

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Resources/People Mentioned 

About Michelle

Michelle - Founder of Bombchelle

Founder of Bombchelle, Michelle makes systems/productivity/organization/all that incredibly boring sounding stuff incredibly NOT boring so that you + your biz can reap the rewards. Connect with her online @_chelleschock and get her weekly Systems 101 on the Dispatch over at www.bombchelle.com.

 

Three keys to online product launch.

How To Create Your First Online Product Part 2

In the last post, I talked about getting started with your online product and compared the process to creating a cupcake vs the whole cake.

Now we’ll look at how to decide which product to develop (because you have tons of ideas, right?)

To be successful, your product really only needs three things:

  • Solve a problem
  • People who want it
  • A way to get paid

Before we get into the actual tools that you can use to develop your minimal viable product, it’s important to figure out who you’ve created this product for. So how do you figure that out?

Step 1: Identify The Problem   Things to consider to launch a new digital product

  • What areas do people generally ask you questions about?
  • What pain-point can you solve for people?

Think in terms of problem and solution

Step 2: Who has this problem?

  • Talk to people: Both online (in Facebook/LinkedIn and Google+ groups) and offline at networking events
  • Pick up the phone and talk to key customers- it helps to have structured questions to start the conversation and to let them know how much of their time you will need.
  • Survey your audience using a poll on Facebook, or using a survey tool like Survey Monkey or by creating a Google form.
  • Use tools like Google Keyword Search to see how people are searching for problems that you are hoping to solve

STEP 2 is critical. It’s better to start with an interest list then creating a product that no one wants. And by surveying customers and talking to your audience you will get additional insights as to what problems your ideal customer is struggling with.

In the next post, we’ll start looking at easy low-cost ways to produce and deliver your online product.

Your turn:
Start investigating and figuring out who you would create your first online product for…Leave me a comment below and share the results of a survey you’ve done / or share a link to your survey!

Sign up below to get the entire series delivered in ebook format (for free*).

*does not include cupcakes

World Domination Summit: Connecting, Finding Your Joy & Fear Of Failure

I just came back from the World Domination Summit in Portland and it took me a few days before I could put in to words what it meant for me.

For those of you unfamiliar with the event, it is organized by Chris Guillebeau who blogs about un-conformity and living an unconventional life. I first came across him  a few years ago when a friend told me about his book, “The Art of Non-Conformity” and have been hooked ever since.

Clearly, I’m not the only one as nearly 3000 other people from around the world descended on Portland to partake in this summit.

Chris organized a stellar event and there was so much to do with the organized sessions, meetups and other activities going on. FOMO (fear of missing out) was definitely a thing but you just needed to roll with it and be present wherever you were.

It was like the Internet had come to life…all these people who I’ve been following were right there. What I absolutely loved was meeting people who I’ve been connecting with online,  giving them a hug IRL and deepening existing friendships. For me this alone made the event worth it!

women mastermind online networking group

WEMastermind ladies!

My 3 Big Takeaways:

1 Find Your Peeps

Magic happens when you surround yourself with people who take action..whether it is this particular summit, a networking event ..things super-charge when you connect with doers, movers and shakers. Find your people- get to those events and make things happen!

2 Find Your Joy And Do More Of That

In a packed house (rather church), Danielle Laporte answered people’s burning questions and there were oh so many tweetables! Amongst my favorites- “Imprint your cells with your victories”. “Joy is a birthright”  “You need to listen to the muse when she shows up or she won’t show up as much.” “You have to be on purpose.”

3 Start. Experiment. Failure is Okay

I absolutely loved Jia Jiang’s talk on fear and rejection. Too often we hold ourselves back from actually starting because we’re afraid of  failing. But what is the cost of not trying and actually succeeding? A LOT. You might actually exceed your expectations and blow your mind!

If you haven’t heard his story check out his TEDX Talk and his surprising lessons from 100 Days of Rejection:

There was a line that singer/song-writer Clare Bowditch shared that grabbed my attention, particularly when you are feeling overwhelmed and not sure which direction to take:

 You don’t have to do just one thing, but you have to start something. ~ Clare Bowditch

And finally,

You can’t dream your way to success. Action trumps everything.

And this happened. Apparently there is a slight difference between 80’s dance party and “costume” party. But really, could you do it any other way?

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Even if you couldn’t make it to WDS, I’d love to hear in the comments below something that you plan on taking action that is outside of your comfort zone but you’ve been itching to do!

 

Featured Image Photo Credit: Armosa Studios