Lots of people seem to think that because we can all talk in real life, we should instantly be able to do the same thing on camera and feel 100% natural while doing it.

But it doesn’t quite work that way...

Presenting on camera is NOT a skill we scooted out of the womb knowing how to do. It’s something we all have to learn. (Heck, even Oprah had to start somewhere!)

And though it might not seem like it, the people in your newsfeed who do a great job of creating real, raw, natural-looking videos have actually learned a bunch of these skills and techniques, which is why they’re so good at getting their message across and putting their ‘best foot forward’...

… but because they’re so good at it — and because their videos are so natural — we don’t even notice.

So if you’ve been beating yourself up about how awkward you feel, know this: it’s not because you don’t have some magical ‘x’ factor, it’s because you don’t yet have those ‘hidden techniques’ in your arsenal.

And even just a handful can make a huge difference to your confidence.

I get it.

It feels like every minute, we’re being told about some new tool or platform we “should” be using to build our businesses. It can get overwhelming… and very frustrating.

So why should you believe all the buzz about video?

Well, in amongst all the noise and chatter, video is basically the only thing that all schools of online marketing can agree on.

That’s in large part because the science showing how people respond to it is overwhelmingly strong.

It’s overtaken all other forms of marketing, and is now the #1 type of content that audiences WANT to consume online. This remains true no matter how the data is broken down — for age group, gender, location, income level, industry, all of it... Video comes first.

It doesn’t stop there, of course. Studies show that video gets:

• More space in the news feed — In a 2017 report, Facebook said that their algorithm was heavily weighted in favour of video. (Source: Facebook)
• More shares — Social video generates 1,200% more shares than text and images combined. (Source: Brightcove)
• Better SEO — Web pages with videos on them are 52 times more likely to rank on the first page of a Google search than those without. (Source: Unbounce)
• More leads — Using video on a landing page can increase conversions by 80%. (Source: EyeView)
• More sales — People are 64-85% more likely to buy from a business after watching a video. (Source: Kissmetrics)

I absolutely do not want to load you down with statistics, so I’ll stop there!

But let’s just say that a few years ago, there were a number of good answers to the question “What’s the best way to build an audience and attract customers?”

Today?

According to the data, video’s the clear winner.

It’s easy to see why this issue is such a huge roadblock… especially for us women.

After all, our whole lives, all the women we’ve seen on screen — in tv shows, movies, the news, whatever — have been primped and polished to the nth degree.

They’re also usually turfed out the door the second they show the slightest sign of age or imperfection. (Meanwhile, a man is totally allowed to become a “silver fox”... ?)

There is so much to unpack here, and we could talk about it forever.

But the way I see it is this:

In this online world, where smoke and mirrors are everywhere, being able to show up and value yourself exactly as you are, is a truly rebellious act.

And turns out, I love being rebellious. And your audience will love YOU for it too.

If you look in my inbox or DM folder on any given day, I guarantee that you’ll see a certain type of message, without fail. A woman I’ve never met will have reached out, saying some variation of: “Thank you for being real, it makes me feel so much better about my own life. I feel like I know you already.”

Now, a business coach might get excited about how great this is for list-building or whatever..

But for me, it’s so much bigger than that. And it breaks my heart that showing up as I am is somehow seen as ‘revolutionary’ and out of the ordinary.

But I’m more than happy to continue being me, showing up, connecting on a heart-and-gut level, and getting to serve people who are seeking help that I can give.

I can’t promise you that you’ll ever love the way you look on camera (I’m still my own harshest critic, though I’m getting better).

But I can promise you two things about showing up as your full, true self:

The people that are meant for you will be SO grateful they found you.

And you will never, ever regret honouring your truth.

Tech stuff not your zone of genius?

Not keen on having to fork out $$ for expensive equipment, or spend hours fiddling around with software?

Yeah, me neither.

So it was a total relief to realise that I could create and share videos using nothing but the thing we all carry around in our pockets — a smartphone.

Sure, there are some people who opt for the expensive camera or the fancy software.

But lots of people don’t realise that you can do an ENTIRE video marketing campaign using just your phone (and a laptop, if you find it easier on a bigger screen).

So there’s literally zero need to stress about becoming a black-belt ninja in tech.

Because that video you saw at the top of the page? The one that took 3 minutes to make and resulted in 50 people saying ‘yes’ to joining our signature program?

… nothin’ but a phone, baby.

When time is your most precious resource, it becomes even MORE important to focus on the strategies that have a good ‘ROE’ (return on effort), where you can make ‘x’ amount of work lead to a 2x, 5x, even 10x result.

When I first started experimenting with video, my idea of what constituted a ‘good’ ROE was flipped on its head completely.

I would sit there, after posting a clip, and watch my engagement numbers climb faster than they ever had, and I’d pretty much be in a state of disbelief.

I’d think to myself, Here is a tool that gets such good results, yet takes so much less time and effort than what I’ve been doing…. WTF?!! How does that even make sense?!

I could film and share a video in less than ten minutes, then see hundreds of interactions within the first hour it was posted (which sure beat what I was used to with blog posts!)

And now that I use video in my launches, I can spend 5 minutes planning out a “script”, 3 minutes filming it, and it will make more sales than an email that took me a whole day to write.

All things considered, this might be the biggest reason I love video...

Because while I love all the super impressive stats and facts, at the end of the day, in my business, it always comes down to me — a living, breathing human — trying to find time for what’s important, trying to overcome resistance and procrastination, and trying to get shit done...

…. and in this respect, video has helped me more than anything else.

The scattergun approach to marketing is pretty stressful.

You start out trying to do “all the things” at once, only to...

… get bogged down in the weeds.

… get completely overwhelmed.

…. and end up feeling defeated.

Lots of people feel this way when they start out with video marketing in particular — trying to navigate which type of videos, on which platforms, when to post them, how to sequence them, where to use them in their launches…

It can be overwhelming, when you’re trying to figure it out for yourself.

Which is why you need a system — a clear, step-by-step approach that tells you what to focus on first, what to do next, and what to ignore completely.

That way, you remove all the guessing and stressing, and your whole marketing strategy goes from “scattergun” to laser-focused.

Having a system also gives you the confidence and motivation to follow through, because you know that what you’re doing is proven to work, and all you’ve got to do is keep stacking up those small wins to eventually see big results...