Video production for your business can be an anxiety producing task. Whether you do this on your own, like what I do, or you hire a video production company to make them for you, you still need to know a few things in order to “get it right.”

Add to that: There is a lot of advice out there about how to make video. Some will say it is OK to look amateurish, at least at first, and others will say doing this is the death of your business. I can only tell you what my opinion and experience is.

First, I believe that whatever you do in marketing, especially for a small one-person (or at least a branded to one person) business, needs to be authentic to the brand. Sometimes a slick video just rings false to your audience, sometimes it is exactly what is needed.

So here are some ideas I have to help you reduce anxiety around video production for your business:

“Home-Made” Video Production

First, you need to know that you can always edit! If you’ve forgotten to shoot something, shoot it and edit it in. Did you make a blooper? Edit it out!

NOTE: I recommend saving your bloopers. You can add them to the end of your videos, which can create an incentive for people to watch all the way through to view your funny antics. And I know of at least one entrepreneur that posts blooper-only videos as part of his relationship building efforts.

Editing is the one of the best features of video marketing. You get to have all the fun of making the video. And then you can cut out every bit you don’t like, or tighten up the “script,” if there’s a point where what you’re saying on screen seems to drag.

And these days, editing video has become much easier. “At one time editing and other processes were completed only by high end editing systems,” says Tetra Films, a Vancouver video production company based in Vancouver, Canada, “now video post-production equipment has become more accessible with the advances of video processing software.” If you have a Mac, you’ve got iMovie at your fingertips and its pretty easy to use. There are also several video editing software packages you can purchase for both PC and Mac.

How Editing Enhances Video Production

Let’s say you’re creating videos for visual learners. Try inserting mini-videos within the overall video. These are short demonstrations of what you’ve been explaining. You can use these mini-videos in picture-in-picture format or as B-roll behind the audio from the main video. (B-roll is is alternative footage inter cut with the main shot.)

Tips for Inserting Missing Information

If you’ve forgotten to include some key point in your video, it’s easy to go back and insert it. Just shoot the “missing bit” and drag and drop it into your story line.

If it’s something as simple as forgetting your URL at the end of the video, this is easy to take care of using overlaid text. However, if what’s missing is you explaining a key point in your “How To” video, you’ll need to make it look as if the new section wasn’t thrown in later as an afterthought. Or, if the blunder isn’t too bad, you can edit in an “Oh! I almost forgot!” section, like I did in this video review of a product.

Of course, you don’t want this insertion to look too much like a mistake, so be consistent by wearing the same clothes, shooting in the same location, and wearing your hair in the same way.

And, if you’re really savvy, make sure your lighting is identical. If you shot your video outdoors, it means waiting for the same sort of weather, and shooting the “fill in” segment at the same time of day. If you shot the original video indoors and there is any source of natural light coming into the room at all, the “same time of day” rule also applies — but you shouldn’t have to worry about weather (unless your video was shot on a bright day, and there’s an abnormally dark thunderstorm rolling in).

Working with a Video Production Company or Professional

Of course, there will be times when you need to have a more polished video. This is the time to hire a professional. When doing so, you’ll want to make sure that the company provides the results you’re looking for. Watch some of the videos from their portfolio so you can see if you like their style.

Tetra Films, which I mentioned earlier, provides a video portfolio here. Their focus is creating emotionally engaging videos that communicate your company’s message. If you’d like to learn more about them, visit www.tetrafilms.ca. Although based at 1511 Salsbury Dr Vancouver V5L 4B7, they will work with companies based in the US, too.

If you want to work with a local production company, simply type in “video production [your city]” into your favorite search engine (e.g. “video production long beach, ca“).

Conclusions

Video production for your business doesn’t need to raise your blood pressure with anxiety. You have options. Editing in-house created video may be time-consuming, but its not difficult. Hiring a production company may cost more, but if you hire a good company they’ll make sure your video is effective in communicating your message.

Deciding which direction to go is simply a matter of understanding your audience, your budget and your resources, and then making a choice that best leverages the three together.