One of the biggest fears people face when starting this type of business is the fear of social media and the digital world. It’s understandably scary to put yourself out there, the world’s stage. But for myself, I just couldn’t wait. Although I was a little nervous about it, the problem I had was a lack of knowledge with programs and experience when it came to social media, but it didn’t take me too long to figure it all out.
I wanted so badly to find a way to reach a much larger audience in the digital world. I was already producing my own events, but at the time, no one in this field was doing videos, or wanted to be on video for that matter. I knew inside my heart that the digital world was going to change drastically, and I wanted to be part of that.
Digging around to learn more about video applications, I soon learned that I couldn’t find anything at all that would record a video longer than 2 minutes. Through my research, I met a wonderful man by the name of John, who had developed a video program for a celebrity friend of his who didn’t like to write to his wife when working abroad. He felt the need to pre-record a video and email it to his family as a way of keeping a visual connection to his family and because he had no access to Skype.
John offered me use of the program, which at that time, captured up to ½ hour of video. Excited, I started a business called “Video Psychic Advice” using that very program, as I felt it was important for people to experience a visual reading rather than an audio recorded one. The client would email me a question or two when ordering the service, and I would video tape the reading and email it to them. No one else was offering that service ,and it was a high demand item because of the visual experience.
This inspired me to start reaching out to people on social media. My thought was to reach as many people as I could with the messages that I had; I felt that I had so much to share.
I started a Facebook Page, an Instagram and Twitter account, and posted my video readings on these platforms. I would record them using John’s program and upload them to YouTube so that I could share them on my social media platforms. I was lucky enough to start doing live shows early on, however, Facebook’s video program didn’t allow me to have live guests. So my quest to find a program to do this began.
Since then, I have used many different video programs and apps which feed into various social media feeds at once, making it easier to reach a larger audience.
I enjoy connecting with my followers through my “Lives” on social media. One of my favourite programs I enjoy using is Streamyard because I’m able to invite up to 10 guests at once, and the system allows me to pre-record my material. From this material, I form my blogs. What better way to connect with people! I can also interact with my viewers and can broadcast out to many platforms at once, saving me time and money.
I encourage everyone to get their toes wet and start small like I did. Everyone has access to a cell phone, and a camera of some kind. If you’re just starting out, that’s all you really need. There are so many creative apps out there and it’s really quite amazing where those baby steps will lead you to. The video material you record will serve you for years to come and you will be able to use it for marketing campaigns.
So go ahead and have fun, experiment with all of the resources you have available to you. There are free programs such as Clips, and Movie Maker. It’s so simple to edit your videos.
In today’s digital world, there is no better way to be able to connect with your audience. So for those who say, I don’t want to be on social media, you may want to rethink your plan. You know what your purpose is and what you need to do, and besides, practice makes perfect! Not only will you be making some amazing connections, you will be driving traffic to your site and gaining more followers, which means increased revenues for you.
Read my Interview on the Digital Age with Markos Papadatos, NYC
Founding Member, The Psychic Associates
Professional Psychic Medium, Vlogger, Writer, Inspirational Speaker, Brand & Social Media Expert