Video Editing and design for Heather Hartman Coaching
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Video Editing and Design for Heather Hartman Coaching

When Heather Hartman first hired me, she wanted me to edit her Facebook live videos into IG TV videos.

If you ever been to a Facebook live, you know that there’s a lot of distractions when you’re live. The reason most businesses go on Facebook live is to give information to their audience. BUT, because it’s live, you also want to talk and interact with your audience.

The combination of giving the information and engaging with your audience makes the video longer than it needs to be. I was tasked with editing out all the small talk and repetitive information so that it’ll fit into the IG TV standard of 10 minutes.

Besides the usual editing of sound, lighting, and bloopers, I also had to change the video dimensions since IG TV is usually viewed on the phone.

Here’s one of the videos I edited for Heather Hartman Coaching.

 

 

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Check out Heather Hartman’s IG TV videos here.

Once we finished this project, Heather Hartman wanted to start a YouTube channel and get serious about creating content.

For this project, I’m taking on the role of her Channel Manager and creating the thumbnails for each video.

 

 

Check out Heather Hartman’s channel here.

 

Package: Video Editing

 

Video Editing and Design for SEEKAYSEE
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Video Editing and Design for SEEKAYSEE

This project is kind of a passion project. I’ve always wanted to step into the realm of beauty, fashion, and lifestyle vlogs.

I stumbled upon SeeKaySee on YouTube searching for cruelty-free beauty tutorials. I saw her doing one of her creative makeup tutorials and started stalking her on Instagram.

We messaged each other a few times and I started going to her live Twitch streams. If you haven’t been to a live Twitch stream, it’s amazing. It’s like attending a live show and interacting with the host and other people in the chat.

The downside of Twitch streams is they are long and their focus is mainly on gaming, but I think it definitely has potential (for business and other genres).

Getting back on topic, I thought it was a waste not to create shorter videos of her makeup tutorials and add them to YouTube, and that’s how this collaboration came about.

I started repurposing Chris’s 3-hour Twitch videos so they could become short makeup tutorials for YouTube. This sort of morphed into other video ideas.

Check out the video below of funny moments from SeeKaySee. I had fun editing together her funniest moments and adding graphics to match the mood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWV8Cw6PV48&t=27s

Here’s a video from Twitch to IGTV

Want to check out her live Twitch stream? Click here for her channel.

Package: Video Editing and Design

Video Editing and Design for The Virtual Savvy
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Video Editing and Design for The Virtual Savvy

I’ve been dragging my feet updating my portfolio, but I’m excited to present some of the work I’ve been doing. 

I'm the best

Bragging aside, I was excited to work with Abbey Ashley from The Virtual Savvy. The actual video was already edited, but she wanted to add graphics.

This’ll sound lame, but at first, I wasn’t going to take on the project, but I changed my mind for 2 reasons.

Number 1, I try to say yes to projects as much as possible because I think everything is an opportunity to learn and grow as a person. Number 2, I watched Abbey’s video and fell in love with Abbey’s personality.

I continued to be impressed by Abbey during this project because of her professionalism. It struck me that this must be the essence of being a VA. This excited and inspired me to go all out for this video.

For this project, I used Adobe After Effects because (this is my personal opinion) the graphics tend to have a more high-quality look. I also envisioned using text and wanted to animate them.

In the end, I loved the overall look of the video. Watch the video below to see the finished product.

 

 

Package: Video Editing

The 5 most important pages you should have on your website

The 5 most important pages you should have on your website

Before you start designing and making the copy for your website, you want to know what you should have on your website. If you’re just getting started, you should start with the basics. Here are the 5 most important pages you should have on your website.

Wait! I also want to mention this isn’t for someone who’s creating a one-page website. This is for someone who’s trying to build an empire. You want to create a blog, store your YouTube videos, create a podcast, sell services or products, etc. You’re planning on growing in the future. If that’s not you, you can just create a landing page.

Ok, back to the important information.

The 5 most important pages you should have on your website

01 Where am I?

First and foremost, you need a home page. This is the most important page on your site. Why? Because if your audience lands on your page through your blog post, video post, Pinterest, or wherever they clicked on your link in this infinite world of the web, they’ll head to your home page if they liked what they saw from the page they landed on.

Your homepage should have the most important information about your website on it. If you’re stuck on what to put on it, then here are some questions that will help you.

  • Who am I helping with this website?
  • What’s this website about?
  • What do I want my audience to know me for?
  • How do I let my audience know that they’re in the right place?
  • What do I want my audience to do next?

My homepage is called ‘Start Here’. The title is not great for SEO, but I want to make it easy for people to know where to start if they’re new to my website. On my homepage, you know that my name is Paigon (not Natasha Lane), and I help vloggers and entrepreneurs elevate their video content through design and editing so they stand out online and become THE authority in their field.

With this statement, you know that this website is for vloggers and entrepreneurs who create videos. Not only that, but they’re serious about creating videos because they want to become THE authority in their field. You also know that I do it through design and editing. Not into video or design? Then you’re in the wrong place. If you are, then welcome, take all the information I have and grow your empire with me!

If you don’t tell them what the site is about and who it’s for, then you’re confusing the people who land on your website. They just want to know that they’re in the right place. Once they know, they’ll keep coming back for more.

02 About page

I did a whole post on the feature you should have on your about page, click here to check it out. You know what happens when you assume, right! I’m going to take the risk. If you have a website, I assume that you’re doing it for profit. I mean, it cost money to have a website, so you at least want to make enough to maintain it.

There’s just one thing that you need to know if you’re a small business or doing it all alone, and that’s people buy from other people. This is your biggest weapon and that’s why your about page is so important. On this page you should answer these questions:

  • Who are you?
  • What do you do?
  • Why should I buy from you?
  • What’s so awesome about you?
  • How can you help your audience?

You don’t have to put your whole life story on your about page if you’re a private person. Just make sure you answer the most relevant questions that your audience is interested in. Read More “The 5 most important pages you should have on your website”

5 ways to develop your brand voice

5 ways to develop your brand voice

When I first started my business, finding my brand voice was the hardest part of branding for me. I wasn’t used to blogging and I never used social media. I was only used to writing term papers for class or emails for business, so my writing tone was formal/professional. Here are 5 ways to develop your brand voice. These tips are how I was able to develop my brand voice.

5 ways to develop your brand voice

01 Use what you have

If you don’t know how you want to sound, don’t let that hold you back from starting. The hardest part of anything in life is just getting started. I think of everything as a work in process. You can always learn on the go.

The only thing you have to do is start. My advice to anyone who’s on YouTube, podcasting, blogging, creating content for social media, or anything that requires your voice or writing, is to be yourself. What does that mean? Talk like you talk and write as you talk. It’s that easy.

 

Be yourself

 

Why should you be yourself? As an entrepreneur, especially if you’re a service based entrepreneur, you’re going to speak to your audience or clients on Skype, Zoom, a phone call, or whatever you use to communicate with a client,  so you want them to feel like they already know you. If you’re different in person, then people might get the wrong idea.

We’re not actors. We want to be authorities on our topic. A real, authentic person who knows about their industry. Now, there are some things you can fake and that’s confidence and a positive attitude. No one is comfortable putting themselves out there, so you have to fake it until you make it.

02 Just start

Earlier I touched on getting started and how it’s the hardest part of anything. Don’t be a wallflower. Yes, it’s fun sitting in the back and observing everything around you, BUT imagine how fun it is to be part of it.

 

Take the first step

 

Never in a million years would I have thought I’d have my own business, blog, newsletter, or be active on social media. I loved reading blog posts and watching YouTube videos, and now I make them. Before I started using social media, I hated it. I only liked to use it to stalk my family, friends, and my favorite celebrities. So for me to use it daily is jaw-dropping.

Do you know how afraid I was to launch my website? To post my first Instagram post? To hit publish on my blog post? Every time I had to post something, I felt like throwing up. But guess what? Now it’s nothing to me. You have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Why am I telling you about my fears? Because every time I wrote a blog, email, or social media post, I had to use my voice. As I kept going, my voice evolved and I became more confident. I’m not going to say that I’m 100% happy with my voice, but I have come a long way from my beginning.

That’s why the start is the biggest thing you will have to overcome.

PSSST,  let me tell you a secret if you’re starting from scratch, you’re not going to have a big audience. I’m not trying to be mean, but it’s true. I have more views on my posts now than I did when I first started. You might think it’s bad news, BUT the time to experiment is when you don’t have an audience.

If you’re someone who’s followed me since that first blog post, email newsletter, and/or social media posts, THANK YOU and I APOLOGIZE! I know that my beginning work was horrible, but thank you for supporting me so far on my journey. *bow of gratitude*

 

Thank you

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How my wrist injury helped me revamp my business
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How my wrist injury helped me revamp my business

Before I get into how my wrist injury helped me revamp my business, I want to give you a peek inside how I was living before my wrist injury happened. I was working more than 12 hours every day. Since I was working so much, my health took a back seat. I already gained like 30 lbs because I started eating foods that were more convenient to save time. Not only that, but I was exercising less. I use to exercise 4 to 5 days a week for about an hour a day, but now I was exercising for 30 minutes for 2 or 3 days a week.

I had the mindset of ‘If you’re not hustling, you’re not succeeding’. My butt was in my chair all the time and my family was definitely annoyed because I was spending less time with them. Then, one day, I was doing a wheel pose after a cool down, and I hurt my wrist. I didn’t really know until the next morning, but I brushed it off and kept working, so the pain increased. It got to a point where I couldn’t do anything. I had to quit working.

I’m a failure

Not working, made me feel like a failure. This was the lowest point in my life because I had to depend on everyone to do everything for me. Not only wasn’t I working, but I couldn’t do any household chores or cook. I was useless. All I did was sit around the house feeling depressed while watching TV. To make things worse, I gained another 20 lbs.

While I was in my depression, I realized I needed a change. I started hanging out with my family more and I was becoming more of a human being instead of a robot who was always working. I also decided to work on some courses that I bought, but hadn’t finished.

During this time, I had an epiphany. There were so many things that I wanted to do, but couldn’t because I was always busy working. What’s the point of working all day, every day if I wasn’t happy? Because of this, I decided I needed to work smarter not harder to create a balance.

How my wrist injury helped me revamp my business

It’s all over

The first thing I realized after my wrist injury was my business is nothing without me. I couldn’t do any work without my wrist. If I can’t work, I can’t make any income. This was an eye-opener for me. How can I take days off, have sick days, and so on if my business can’t survive without me?

At this point, I can’t say that my business will survive without me, but I have systems in place so I don’t have to work as hard as I did when I first started. Read More “How my wrist injury helped me revamp my business”

How to make time to create YouTube videos when you have a crazy schedule
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How to make time to create YouTube videos when you have a crazy schedule

About a month ago, someone on Facebook asked how they could create videos consistently when their schedule was out of control. This person was a student who was juggling classes and work, but this pertains to entrepreneurs too. I gave her a short, simple answer, but I wanted to go into more detail about it here. Here’s how to make time to create YouTube videos when you have a crazy schedule.

How to make time to create YouTube videos when you have a crazy schedule

The easiest way to create videos consistently for YouTube is to have batch days. If you don’t know what batch days are, it’s when you group similar tasks together so that you’ll get things done faster and more efficiently.

Even though I haven’t created videos in a while, I want to share how I batch tasks. This even works for when I’m working on my client’s videos. Pay attention, because if you want to save a lot of time and be more efficient this is for you.

Planning

Before you hit record, plan your videos in advance. If I’m creating a video or even a blog post, I already have a list of titles to choose from. In fact, I have a list of a year’s worth of blog posts and video ideas (I thought I was going to start creating videos, so I already started planning them).

Preparation is the key to everything. Here’s the easiest way to create a list of video content ideas.

 

Planning

 

01 Braindump everything

If you just start out making a list of ideas, it can be too much. Before you start brain dumping all the things you want to create, first start with categories. Come up with 3 to 6 categories that you want to stick to for your videos. For example, if you’re a coach for entrepreneurs maybe you want to stick to motivation, productivity, and planning. If you’re a fitness vlogger you could create videos that pertain to food, fitness, and motivation.

Once you create your categories, then start listing ideas for each category. Let’s use the fitness vlogger as an example. Under the category of fitness, you can list:

  • 5 ways to a smaller waist
  • My gym routine
  • Get rid of those chicken wings
  • How to stretch before you exercise

The fewer categories you have, the more you have to braindump because you’re creating a year’s worth of content. If you only have 3 categories, and you’re making 1 video a week, then you would have to create 13 ideas for each category. 6 categories would make 9 ideas for each category.

02 Create an editorial calendar

Now that your list is ready, you can create an editorial calendar. You can write out which video you want to create for each week. If you don’t have time to plan out too far in advance, then at least do a month. 1 month should equal 4 or 5 videos if you’re creating 1 per week.

You can also look at your schedule and find a 2-hour time block so you can start recording. If you’re creating short videos, you should be able to record 4 videos back to back. I’ll get into this more after we finish planning. Read More “How to make time to create YouTube videos when you have a crazy schedule”

Am I ready for a Web Designer?

Am I ready for a Web Designer?

Am I ready for a web designer? If you’re wondering if you should hire a web designer, there are a lot of things to consider. If you’re doing things on a whim because everyone has a website, just know there are things web designers have to consider before they even start designing your site. In this post, I’m going to cover everything you need to prepare before you hire a web designer. If you don’t have this stuff ready, then it could put your website launch on hold.

Everything you need to prepare before you hire a web designer

It’s mine!

I want to hope that you’re not starting a business on a whim, but you probably don’t want to hear that from me right now. Before you start a website, you should already have a foundation for your business. Here is a list of questions that you should have an answer to before you start your web design project.

  • Do you have a business name?
  • Can you tell me who your target audience is?
  • Do you have a host and domain ready for your website?

Once you’ve cleared this first level, then it’s on to the next.

Have your copy ready

Now it’s time to think about the copy (aka the words and what/how you want to convey them) for your website. You can hire someone to do this for you or you can do it yourself. I write the copy myself for my website, but if I had to do it all over again or if I get a chance to rebuild my website, I would definitely hire someone to do it for me. I find writing copywriting very time-consuming. Not only that, but I’m sure a copywriter would do a way better job than I’m doing.

If you’re going the DIY route, then I suggest doing everything in a Google Doc. You can create a separate document for each page. Here’s a list of pages that you will need on your website:

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Services
  • Each individual service
  • Products
  • Each individual product
  • FAQ

Once you have all the copy written for your pages, then organize them into a folder.  When you hire a web designer, you can just share the folder with them.

On Wednesdays We Go Rogue

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How to brand your Instagram feed

How to brand your Instagram feed

If you have an Instagram account, you know how important it is to have a great feed. It’s like the homepage of your Instagram account now. For me, Instagram was the hardest part to brand for my business especially since I always wanted to try something new. If you’ve been following since the beginning, you’ll see how much my Instagram has evolved. I’m going to tell you my secret on how to brand your Instagram feed so that you can have more time to focus on other aspects of your business.

How to brand your Instagram feed

First, I’m going to tell you about my struggles with Instagram. As a graphic designer, I thought I had to showcase my skills, so it started off as an account for my business. I was using my brand colors as overlays on my images, but I wasn’t satisfied with the overall look of my feed.

Then I started using my brand colors as backgrounds and then added pictures of myself because no one wants to buy from someone they know nothing about. Also, I started showcasing my portfolio, but those portfolio pieces didn’t fit my own business brand.

In the end, I hated the way my Instagram feed looked, so I started experimenting with photo images only. I totally went rogue because I still couldn’t find what I wanted, but it helped a lot in knowing what I liked and didn’t like. Just posting on Instagram itself helped me develop my style and voice, but having less time made me really buckle down and create a theme for my feed.

You can check out my Instagram here.

Paigon's Instagram

Voice

Like with everything in life, it took a lot of practice for me to find my voice. Just like with my blog posts, I had to reprogram myself to write in a more casual style. Basically, I try to write the way I talk to people in real life vs how I write an essay for a school or work project.

It’s hard, but I pushed myself to create an Instagram post every day, well now every weekday. If you’re having trouble finding your brand voice, just write the way you talk. You shouldn’t try to pretend to be someone else in real life anyway.

Images

Your image style should be consistent. I never had an issue with this because I Photoshop all my images to have the same style, even the photos I take of myself. When I photoshop my images, I like to brighten up my images, add contrast, and lower the saturation a little. I also like to stick to black, white, and the teal-ish color I use for my brand.

As long as you stick to a style, your theme will look professional. For example, Boryana Kolf likes to use a color theme for her feed. I love the images she chooses for her colors. If you’re not following her on Instagram, you should because she gives great Instagram tips.

 

Another way to stay consistent is by content. Jackie Kossoff is based in L.A., so she likes to use photos from L.A. in her feed. The one thing that always stands out for me in her feed is her ‘Food for Thought’ posts. They are always pictures of food and include tips on upping your social media game.

 

 

Instagram templates are the easiest way to brand your feed

I had to take like 3 weeks off from Instagram because I became too busy with client projects and my own business projects. Even though I really disliked Instagram when I first started, I fell in love with interacting with people. Who knew I would have so much fun with it?

On Wednesdays We Go Rogue

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What should you put in your YouTube description?

What should you put in your YouTube description?

Are you typing in a description for your YouTube videos? If not, you definitely should be. Why? Because it’s important for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It helps your videos get in front of your target audience. As an added bonus, you can also add important links and information to your description.  So what should you put in your YouTube description?  Keep reading to find out and I’ll also show you the easy way to add all the information you want to put in your description and never have to think about it again.

What should you put in your YouTube description

The #1 thing

The first 2 sentences in your description should be relevant to your video. These sentences are important for SEO. Because of this, you should create sentences that include the keywords that your target audience is searching for. For example, if I was creating a video on branding specifically for YouTube, I would write something like:

Are you an entrepreneur who wants to attract their target audience on YouTube? Check out this video on how to brand your YouTube channel to look like the AUTHORITY in your niche.

This sentence has all the keywords I need. I’m targeting entrepreneurs and the video is about ‘how to brand your YouTube channel’. You can get even more specific than this depending on your audience and what your goals are. For example, if I’m targeting female entrepreneurs, I would add that instead of just entrepreneurs.

Utilize the default

After the first 2 sentences, you should put in other information that is helpful to your audience or links that you want your audience to click on. Here is a list of items that you can add to your description.

  • Links to your opt-in or freebie
  • Affiliate links
  • A link to your Facebook group
  • Subscribe link
  • Email newsletter link
  • Links to your social media channels
  • An about you section

If you’re going to reuse the same information in your description, then you should create a default description. This will automatically add the information to your video every time you upload a new video. This is what I do for my videos and also my clients’ videos. The first 2 sentences are the only sentences that change in the description.

Brand Your YouTube Channel opt in

Here’s an example of my default description:

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