A friend of mine in real estate decided she wanted to start making video walk-through tours of her homes to post on YouTube. Since she knew nothing about video – and assumed video is “kind of like” photography – she thought I could help her buy some equipment. While I’m no video expert, I agreed.

After an hour shopping on Amazon, I realized she was right. If you’re a professional photographer, you already own everything you need to start making videos. I’m not talking about wedding videography – I’m talking about the low-res 2-3 minute videos made popular on YouTube. Here’s a great example.

Which leads to my point: since you already have the equipment, have you made a video yet? I think you should. Here’s why.

Videos on your website are powerful advertising tools. Sales are about relationships, and a video of you working begins to build a relationship with a potential customer. Instead of telling a senior what their portrait shoot will be like, show them a video. Instead of telling a potential client how much you like children, show them a video of you interacting with a happy child.

People watch videos. According to industry research, in August 2010, the average online video viewer watched 14 hours of online video during the month. Lady GaGa’s videos have over one billion viewings on YouTube. Chances are, a senior or a bride would be more likely to watch your video online than a commercial on TV.

Videos build website SEO. Once you make a video, you can put it on your studio’s YouTube account, then link to it from your website and Facebook. Then you can link to it from your Google Places account. All these links will help push your website to the front page of Google.

Tools you will need

1. Camera that takes video – any resolution although 1,280x720p is common
2. 25-28mm lens
3. Tripod with fluid head – minimizes jerky motion when panning
4. Soft-white light boxes on stands
5. Software – Sony Vegas is highly rated for PC, iMovie for Mac. Included in the software are instructions for uploading your videos to YouTube

Since you already know how to shoot, here’s a nice article that tells you what you should put in your video.

Have you made a movie yet? Send us a link and we’ll post it here.

Tags: video

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 26th, 2010 at 8:31 pm and is filed under marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.