Today marks a year and a half since I started publishing at least one new video every day. It’s time to get a little introspective…

An Accomplishment

I realize that this is an insane accomplishment, and I’m super proud of it. But what makes me even prouder is that two years ago I wasn’t creating any videos at all. I didn’t commit to short-form video creation until September 30, 2022.

The entire process of recording and editing videos intimidated me to no end. I had no clue where to even start. But that was one of the keys: I started. And I improved my process a little bit every day and built confidence.

If you are someone who is overwhelmed by the idea of creating videos, just know that this was me just a couple of years later. Since then, I’ve published around 700 videos (I’ve lost count at this point).

It’s really difficult to get going. But creating something — anything — to get started is the most important step.

Lessons Learned

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is to ignore the vanity numbers. They can be helpful to a point because you have to measure something, but views and follower growth will come and go. Obsessing over them will drive you crazy.

There was a time when those numbers helped me. My TikTok following, in particular, was steadily increasing during that first year. But, I’ve also had a lot of slow periods. This second year has been much quieter in terms of growth than the first.

I guarantee that I would have quit multiple times if I tied accomplishment to these numbers. That’s why this streak has been so important. Not wanting to break it keeps me going more than a focus on the number of views or followers.

Why I Do This

There are other clear signs that this is something I should do. I know it’s worthwhile because I consistently get people signing up for my membership or booking a one on one and they tell me they did because of they videos.

Because of these videos, they feel as though they know me. That’s powerful.

A secondary benefit has been that this process keeps me sharp. It forces me to stay on top of things and come up with new ideas every day.

I can then leverage this content in multiple ways. I’ve even created a section of my website for these videos, and I turn them into quick blog posts like this one. This has been huge for email subscriptions and driving traffic to my website.

Not Stopping Soon!

Honestly, it’s one of the biggest reasons why it would be difficult to stop. Every day, I email a growing group of people who want to be notified when one of these video posts has been published. That’s helped provide a consistent foundation for traffic.

It’s been fun, and it’s been challenging at times. But most importantly, it’s been rewarding and 100 percent worth it.

I hope you’ve found value in my videos, and I’m not stopping any time soon. Thanks for watching!

The post A Year and a Half of Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Will TikTok get banned in the US? The rumor that just won’t die is alive again.

The Bill

US politicians passed a bill in the House of Representatives that could ban the app, and it received rare support across party lines. But, that doesn’t mean that the app is banned. Plenty more needs to happen.

The bill still needs to be approved in the Senate, and that’s far from automatic. We’ll quickly find out if politicians are serious about banning the app, or if it’s no more than posturing and tough talk for points.

If the Senate approves it, parent company ByteDance has six months to sell the app. This won’t be easy since few suitors can afford what TikTok would command.

Between the required Senate approval and the likely court challenges that will slow down the process, a resolution is likely beyond six months away.

What a Ban Means

If the app gets banned, it will be illegal for app stores to offer it and internet service providers to host it in the US. This would prevent new downloads, but it won’t prevent current users who already downloaded the app from using it.

That said, current users won’t get access to updates. That will eventually slow the app down and make it unusable. Some will find workarounds using VPNs, but the app would otherwise eventually die in the US.

Who Me, Worried?

Am I worried about a TikTok ban? Not really.

First, I’m still not convinced this will happen. I’m not an expert on the threat level that TikTok poses, but I’ll be curious to see if politicians end up backing down in the face of an inevitable backlash — both from active users and businesses who rely on it. Especially in an election year.

But if it gets banned, people will move on to something else. If you built a large following on TikTok, those same people will scramble to find those they followed on other platforms.

I’ve built a following on TikTok of more than 30k in about a year and a half. Losing that wouldn’t be great, but it’s not the end of the world either. We know that we control nothing on social platforms, and it’s just another adjustment.

Rented Land, etc…

It’s also a reminder of why you should diversify and not focus entirely on one platform. The videos I publish to TikTok also go to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and my website. I wouldn’t need to make any changes if this happens.

There have been enough reminders over the years that you shouldn’t be reliant entirely on a single platform. Twitter was the most recent example of that.

Did you learn?

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Now, you’re here because you already know about how I’m using short-form videos with custom post types. But, allow me to provide some history on what has happened.

Sharing videos in this format was never my plan. When I first started recording short-form videos, they only lived on each social platform (the logical solution). Eventually, I’d create a custom post type for video posts and I publish each one on my website (like this).

This changed everything.

Let me back up a minute. When I started publishing short-form videos, I would occasionally embed these videos at the bottom of related blog posts. This happened often because I found that publishing a video every day helped generate ideas for blog posts. When blogging, I’d steal from these videos.

Then I created this custom post type that lived separately from my blog posts. These posts allowed me to embed the YouTube video at the top and write a short blog post below.

Publishing these as a separate post type actually resulted in a bit of a challenge. Writing blog posts about the same topic I covered in a video wasn’t initially an issue. It was helpful. But then I would have blog posts and short-form videos that were very similar. Duplicate content is never great.

Eventually, I realized that I needed to have a strategy for the different types of content that would come from my short-form videos and my full blog posts. I use short-form videos to talk about something very specific. The full blog posts cover a broader and deeper discussion. I’m even experimenting with recording a longer video once per week that goes at the bottom of these full blog posts (here’s an example).

Previously, I’d write two or three blog posts per week. Now, I’m writing two blog posts, but also publishing these video posts (which include mini blog posts) every day.

The value of these short video posts has been huge, so I’m also inviting people to subscribe to daily alerts when they’re published. Otherwise, my newsletter subscribers may not have known about them. Adding these video posts to my website allows me to provide more value daily.

Long-term, this could have a major impact on my website strategy and traffic. We’re still in the beginning stages, so let’s see how it develops!

The post Videos Transformed My Website appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

I’ve seen so many people start and quit with short-form video creation. I think this tip can help…

It’s hard to get started because we’re overwhelmed by everything that is hard, that we don’t want to do, or that intimidates us. And then we start and we struggle to continue because of that same lack of confidence.

Strip away all of the things that have the potential to become excuses.

Worried about your lighting? Don’t. You don’t need the equipment yet. Find some natural lighting. Get outside. Or maybe your lighting will suck. It really doesn’t matter.

Worried about the audio? Stop. You don’t need to buy a mic yet. The sound will be imperfect at first. Don’t use it as an excuse.

Don’t know how to edit? Don’t edit.

You’re intimidated by the app and not sure what to do in it? Just come up with an idea, turn on your phone camera, and record.

There’s no reason to worry about any of these things yet. Just create videos. Make it as easy as possible for yourself to create those videos. Limit the things that become excuses. And stop being your own worst critic who prevents you from creating anything that’s less than perfect.

The more you create, the more confidence you’ll get. You’ll learn more about what you like and don’t like. You’ll get more efficient. You’ll get better. And you’ll start to figure out on your own what equipment you actually need.

Don’t worry about any of this stuff before you need to. I truly believe this is what keeps so many people from creating and continuing to create more than a handful of videos.

I can say from first-hand experience that the only reason I was able to overcome the fear, overwhelm, and intimidation of recording was that I embraced that I was going to create lots of bad and imperfect videos before I started creating some good ones.

But even today, I know that I want to create more than I’m creating now and one way to do that is to be okay with less polished videos that take less time. This video was an example of just that.

This same tip can apply to any type of content. It could be blogging or podcasting. Don’t worry about it being perfect at first. Just strip away the barriers and create. You’ll get better with experience and confidence.

The post Start and Maintain Video Creation appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Here’s how I grew my YouTube presence in 2023 by publishing at least one YouTube Short every day…

You may know that YouTube was one of five platforms I published short-form videos to on a daily basis in 2023. It was part of a strategy that created quite the impact overall. But I almost abandoned it on YouTube.

During the first few months, the daily views of my new Shorts were a mere fraction of what I was seeing on other platforms. It felt like a waste of time, and I nearly quit.

But something interesting happened.

My views increased every single month. There’s a reason why this happened that’s unique to YouTube. Even if a video doesn’t get many views at first, it might be viewed months later due to search.

And that’s exactly what happened…

Since I was adding more videos every day, I provided more options for YouTube to surface in search. More than 40% of my YouTube views were referred from search results.

I started my channel in 2012, but this was the first time I published every day. While my dedication to the platform came and went, I hadn’t touched much the past few years until I started adding Shorts.

The result? I added more than 4,600 subscribers in 2023, which is the most I’ve added in any year. I now have about 19,000 subscribers in all.

This chart shows how this daily strategy helped my channel. Pretty slow for the first 10 years, and then steady growth in 2023.

YouTube has become one of my strongest channels, and the trends get me excited about what’s possible in 2024. I’ll keep publishing every day this year, and we’ll see what happens. It feels like the sky’s the limit.

Follow along to find out!

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Here’s how publishing a video every day helped me grow on TikTok…

I first committed to short-form video with TikTok in mind in September of 2022. With a combination of a crazy number of videos and some ads during the final three months, I grew to 5,700 initial followers.

About 3,000 of those initial 5,700 followers were from ads. There’s nothing wrong with ads, but ads for top-of-the-funnel actions like followers often lead to low-quality results. We see this with Meta ads, too.

That said, my strategy of publishing a video every day in 2023 netted an additional 23,000 followers — all accumulated organically. While I published the same video on five platforms, that activity impacted audience growth the most on TikTok. It wasn’t close.

Of course, the number of followers doesn’t mean a whole lot, but it’s one way to measure impact. Views and engagement were up and down all year for me, which is kind of how TikTok goes. Some weeks I felt like a video god, and others I struggled to get 1,000 views on a video.

That said, my goal isn’t to go viral since I don’t monetize my videos. I know, only people who don’t go viral say they don’t want to go viral. But my only goal is to reach the right people who want to learn more about Meta ads so they’ll think of me when they need help later.

Amazingly, TikTok became my fastest-growing platform in 2023, and I regularly get business opportunities from DMs. This is quite the development since a year and a half ago, I never thought I’d get involved on TikTok at all.

It was a great first full year on TikTok, and I plan to keep this strategy going in 2024. It truly feels like the sky’s the limit if I continue what’s already working. I’m just getting started.

Follow along for the ride!

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So, now what?

It’s January first and I’ve completed my goal of publishing at least one video every day for a year. It feels amazing because a little over a year ago, I couldn’t create a single short-form video.

Now that that goal is complete, what’s next?

I’m going to do it again. Not because I’m a masochist, but because I’m not done yet.

Based on accounts I’ve read, it takes two to three years to truly gain traction. While I’ve gained traction, I know I haven’t gotten the most out of this yet.

My YouTube presence became viable, passing 1 Million views.

This was the first time I consistently published on Instagram. TikTok wasn’t even a thought a little over a year ago, and now it’s my fastest-growing audience.

It would be a missed opportunity to cut back now. Video may be my post impactful format now, which is crazy. For the first 12 years of my business, the central engine that made it run was my blog. While it’s still important, video may drive more results for me going forward.

I’ve learned a lot of lessons this first year, and I know I can be more efficient and smarter about it. I spent so much time refining my process and figuring out an approach that worked for me related to planning, scripting, recording, and editing. I know I can do better and publish even more without working harder.

I’m planning the following for 2024:

1. Publish at least one short-form video per day once again. I will also look to publish additional short-form videos, where possible, that require less editing. I’ve learned that we can easily provide value with rougher edits.

2. Publish at least one longer video every week.

3. Go live at least once per month.

That’s the plan, at least, and I hope you’ll follow along for the next round.

What’s your video plan for 2024?

The post My Video Plan for 2024 appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

And that’s it!

I officially committed to short-form video on September 30, 2022.

It was an important moment because the things I had been doing weren’t working. I needed to try something different.

After getting my feet wet for three very frustrating months, I set out to publish at least one video every day in 2023. This video completes that goal.

It’s been a heck of a ride. I’ve learned so much along the way, and I’m still learning something new every day.

What I can say is this: The decision to commit to video and go after this goal was absolutely the right one. I’m grateful for pushing through the fear and anxiety of doing something new that made me so uncomfortable.

While this goal is completed, I’m just getting started with short-form video. Stay tuned!

The post One Video Published Every Day of 2023 appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

The impact of short-form video is huge…

You may know the story of my journey during the past year, but it’s worth repeating. I will scream it if I have to.

Just over a year ago, I committed to short-form video because my business needed a jump-start. I had been doing many of the same things for a decade that no longer worked as well as they once did. It was a true make-or-break moment.

I recorded more than 500 videos since the day I started in late 2022, and I’m reminded on a near-daily basis of the impact. Whether I’m conducting a one-on-one session or meeting a new member of my paid community, they often tell me they’re there because of the videos.

They feel like they know me.

This was becoming a trend, so I started adding a quick survey that followed the purchase of my membership asking what led them to me. The most popular reason is my videos.

I’m also getting far more opportunities than I was a year ago. Whether it’s invitations to be a podcast guest or public speaking engagements or requests to work with me or partner with me, I wasn’t getting nearly as many of those requests a year ago. My inbox is much noisier than it once was, and that’s a good thing.

It’s because of the videos.

If you’ve considered committing to short-form video in 2024, I can’t recommend it enough. I know the prospect of everything you need to do is overwhelming. Yes, it’s a lot of hard work. But it’s worth it.

The post The Impact of Short-Form Video appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

What I’m about to tell you is semi-interesting. It definitely should not be illegal. If it were illegal anywhere, you should not live there. That would be an awful place to live…

Now, it’s true. The first few seconds of your video are important. You can’t neglect that intro or people will quickly abandon your videos.

But I refuse to use some of these tired hooks.

You’ve heard them so many times that they’ve lost meaning. If every video starts with an aggressive hook, you’re going to stop sticking around.

I get it already, I’m not going to believe the hack at the end of the video that you totally won’t underdeliver. It should be illegal. Call the police.

The reason for these aggressive hooks is to get you to stick around. They’re often a staple of popular videos. But you can’t — or maybe shouldn’t — do this with every video. It’s exhausting and your audience eventually figures out your game.

While I don’t use aggressive intros, I do use soft hooks. A soft hook isn’t misleading or aggressive. It doesn’t exaggerate the value of what I’m going to tell you.

Soft hooks are for people who want to inform without manipulating. The only purpose of a soft hook is to tell you what’s coming. No mystery.

For example, I might use a soft hook like:

“Here are three ways to flush a toilet.”

It might be boring, but you know quickly what this video is going to be about. You know what you’re getting, and I deliver it. If that topic interests you, you’ll stick around. You won’t be manipulated to believe it’s something that it’s not.

It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.

The post Use Soft Hooks for Your Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Use this strategy for coming up with video ideas…

You may know I’m publishing at least one video every day of 2023, which means I only have a few days left before I reach that goal. I won’t lie, there are times when coming up with ideas is a challenge. Organization and prioritizing a pipeline of ideas is critical.

Here’s what I do…

I keep a running list in my Notes app of ideas, and I cross them off once I script and record them. When possible, I start sketching out the script while I’m thinking about it. Otherwise, a simple title may not be enough when it’s time to get recording.

Inspiration for videos can come from client calls, questions from my community, or conversations that we have in Strategy Sessions. They come from random places and expected places, but it’s important to be ready for them when I have them.

I also use social media posts that I write, especially to Threads, as starting points for videos. I write a lot of stream-of-consciousness thoughts there which can be great topics to cover in a quick video.

The most valuable for me might be breaking up a blog post that I’ve written. An example is my 6 Priorities when Picking a Meta Ads Client post. I ended up creating four short-form videos on some of those priorities. Always repurpose when you can.

The main thing is to have a list easily accessible to record your ideas as you have them. There’s nothing more annoying than having a great idea, assuming you’ll remember it, and then completely forgetting what it was.

And, yes. This still happens to me. This is why it’s important not only to record the topic but to sketch out as much as you can while you’re inspired.

I hope that helps!

The post How to Generate New Video Ideas appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

The best way to stand out in any type of content format, whether it’s video, podcasting, or blogging, is to create more content than anyone else is willing to create.

I know because I’ve done it — both with my blog and now short-form video.

While this might sound like hustle culture nonsense, hear me out. I don’t want you creating content at all hours of the night and on weekends.

This is about a daily commitment and pushing through the times when others will quit. It’s that commitment through good times and bad that allows you to create more.

Your motivation can’t come from the success of your last video. Chasing metrics and virality will frustrate you to no end. If this is the source of your motivation, you’ll quit, just like ALMOST everyone else.

I say “almost” because those who keep going are the ones who benefit.

By maintaining steady motivation, you’ll create when things are going well and when it seems no one is consuming your stuff. This rollercoaster is a lot. You will feel great about what you’re doing when you get that instant feedback. But you will have moments when it seems no one cares about your content.

What will you do? You’ll keep going.

Because of that persistent creation, you’ll learn countless valuable lessons to help you create better content. You’ll refine your topic, your process, and your delivery.

It sounds simple, but there’s a reason most people don’t do it. It’s easy to make excuses not to create when things aren’t going your way.

I will publish at least one video every day in 2023. It was terrifying to get going. Insanely frustrating when my process was inefficient and people weren’t watching. But I’m seeing that reward.

The same thing happened with my blog more than a decade ago. I published about 600 blog posts in two years. It often felt like I was writing for myself. But it paid off and is the reason why I even have a business today.

Keep going. Keep creating. It pays off.

The post Create More Than Anyone Else appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

You should create boring content…

I realize this isn’t what we’re always hearing, but allow me to make the argument.

Every other video is about the ideal hook or the formula to get more views and go viral. Be controversial and bold. These are quick fixes to make a rapid impact.

But it’s also EXHAUSTING.

This approach doesn’t appeal to everyone. If you use a manipulative hook with every video, you’re going to eventually start turning people off — or at least you may turn off the people who are most important. They’ll tune out.

Personally, I can’t stand manipulative hooks just like I can’t stand clickbait headlines. I refuse to engage with them out of protest, and I’m surely not alone.

Boring and helpful aren’t necessarily bad. They’re trustworthy and dependable. You’re told what you’re going to get, and you get exactly that. Nothing misleading or controversial. You may sacrifice faster growth and some flashy numbers, but that approach may appeal to — and retain — your ideal audience.

I built a blog that drove more than 30 million page views, but I rarely have a post go viral. I write insanely boring titles but they are accurate and don’t mislead you.

I’m now doing the same with videos. I’m growing and I get decent views, but I don’t use manipulative hooks. I’m fine sacrificing faster growth because I’m creating for my ideal audience.

Using manipulative hooks would not be my style. So I won’t do it. And you don’t need to either.

It may actually benefit you.

The post Create Boring Content appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

This is the biggest mistake new content creators make. I have a unique perspective because I’ve succeeded as a blogger and short-form video creator. I also have the perspective of quitting at other content too soon.

From the start, new creators connect their efforts to revenue.

Well, you’re not going to immediately create a popular podcast, a high-traffic blog, or a viral video channel.

It’s not going to drive measurable revenue for quite a while. But this is how marketers measure success. If it drives revenue, it’s worth doing. If it doesn’t drive revenue, it’s time to quit.

It’s counterintuitive, but if you truly want to be successful at whatever content you create, you have to ignore metrics like revenue in the early going. And if we’re going to be realistic, you shouldn’t even worry too much about any metrics, beyond that you are consistently creating over and over.

I committed to short-form video creation more than a year ago. I hoped to see improvement and growth. But I was going to create content, no matter what. That was my focus.

You’ll want to see progress over time, but that progress may be modest. And if you’re too attached to needing that progress, it’s going to drive you crazy. But if you show up day after day, keep creating, and keep getting better, that hard work will eventually pay off.

But it could easily take one to two years to see that payoff. Are you willing to wait that long?

Most aren’t. And that’s why most quit.

The post Biggest Mistake New Creators Make appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

I don’t technically batch my videos…

I’m often asked about my routine for recording and editing. The assumption is that I batch them. In other words, I set aside a specific day to record a bunch at once.

That doesn’t work for me. I don’t set a specific day and time to record because I need flexibility.

I tried batching in the beginning, but I found that I often struggled to generate the ideas and scripts for that day. It felt like forcing inspiration. It was also exhausting!

Instead, I keep a running list of video ideas in my Notes app. I then take those ideas and turn them into scripts. When I have at least one script done and time to record, I’ll record everything that I have. That could be one video or up to three or four.

My entire process is driven by one goal: I will publish at least one video every day.

This is what motivates me to keep the topic list updated and to regularly turn those ideas into scripts. And then to ultimately record and edit those videos.

That’s what I do, and what I’ve found works best for my creativity and routine.

What about you?

The post I Don’t Batch My Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Here’s how I set up my lighting for video recording…

1. I use two Neewer 90 Watt LED lights that are mounted to each side of my desk. You can adjust the brightness and warmth for each light using a remote.

2. I have a small, 12 x 11 office space, which may be why these lights are a bit too bright, even on the lowest brightness setting. To counter that, I adjust the exposure in my recording settings.

I also purchased some filter sheets that I may attach to these lights eventually to bring down the brightness without adjusting the exposure.

3. I turn off my ceiling lights, which is super important. I didn’t do that in the beginning, and that resulted in a distracting glare above my head.

4. I also turn on a Neewer RGB light to add whatever color I want to the back wall and ceiling. I do that partially for a little flash, but also to add some variety to the look of my videos. I’m using 10 different colors at the moment that I cycle through.

Overall, my lighting setup isn’t super complicated or all that expensive.

Hope it helps!

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Here’s how I maximize video quality on an iPhone…

1. I have an iPhone 14 Pro, and I record using the rear-facing camera. I mirror my phone to my iPad so that I can center myself before recording.

2. I record in Cinematic mode, which adds that fuzziness to the background.

3. My lighting tends to be a bit bright, so I bring down the exposure. I use -1.0, but find what works for your lighting setup.

The impact of these adjustments may seem subtle, but I provided two versions to compare in this video. One shows what it looks like when I use my front-facing camera, using the normal Video mode, and without adjusting the exposure.

I feel like it washes me out, and I see that when I watch some of my old videos.

The bottom line is that you don’t need to spend a bunch of money on a camera. I don’t have a DSLR or anything crazy. It’s just my iPhone.

Another important element is the lighting, and I’ll cover exactly what I do in a separate video.

The post Video Quality on an iPhone appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

How long should it take content creators to gain traction? Probably longer than you think…

So many content creators give up because they have unreasonable expectations. You need to consistently and obsessively create content.

Not for a few weeks. Not for a few months.

In The Greatest Marketing Book Ever, Mark Schaefer estimates that it takes 18 months of consistent content creation to gain traction. Sound like a lot?

Mr. Beast, the most-viewed YouTuber on the planet, started his channel in 2012. He reached 30,000 subscribers four years later in 2016. He didn’t go viral until 2017, and that’s what shot him to more than 1 Million.

Sure, he was 13 when he started, but he was obsessed with figuring out a way to game the algorithm.

There’s a reason, as Mark Schaefer said, the biggest mistake is that people quit too soon. Whether it’s 18 months or four years, that’s a long time.

People get impatient. It’s freaking hard.

I started consistently publishing videos on TikTok one year ago yesterday. I’m about to hit 20,000 followers. I know that there’s plenty more growth possible, but only if I remain obsessively consistent.

Thanks so much for being a part of my journey during the past year. There’s so much more to come.

The post How Long Should it Take to Gain Traction? appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

“This is gonna suck, and that’s okay.”

It was one year ago today that I said this in a video on TikTok. It was my breakthrough moment.

That video did suck. But that was the whole point. I wasn’t trying to create something that sucked. I just knew that, no matter how much I tried, it was going to suck.

Embracing and accepting this was pivotal to moving forward in my commitment to short-form video.

For months, if not years, I resisted getting started. Like so many people, I was intimidated by the entire process. I didn’t know HOW to create a good video. The fear of embarrassment prevented every small attempt from happening.

When I committed to short-form video one year ago today, I embraced that the only way to create videos I’d be proud of was to first create a whole bunch of bad ones.

And that’s exactly what I did. I committed to the process. I resisted getting distracted by numbers or getting frustrated by slow progress.

Each video would get a little bit better. I’ve created close to 500 videos without fear, knowing that each time I hit PUBLISH was progress towards a goal.

I’m proud to say that my videos suck a whole lot less than they once did. Thanks so much for being a part of this journey! It’s been an AMAZING year.

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Here’s how to structure a 1-minute video…

I’ve figured out that about a minute is the perfect length of time for a short-form video. Especially when doing tutorials like I do, you need enough time to explain something. But you don’t want to go too deep, or people lose interest and move on.

To plan a 1-minute video, it starts with a script. I come up with a specific topic that I can cover in a minute. Then I script out what I’m going to say. Over time, I’ve figured out how much text should be about a minute.

There’s a visual element, but I also rely on character count. I copy the script and paste it into an online character counter. I’ve found that something around 1,000 characters should be about a minute long.

It’s not always exact since our cadence matters. Sometimes we say something slowly, and sometimes we breeze through it.

I know that over 1,200 characters, I’ll need to edit before recording. 1,000 characters may still take me over, but I’ll be close and it will be an easy edit.

That’s how I do it. How about you?

The post How to Plan a 1-Minute Video appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Here’s a quick tip to improve video quality…

You keep your phone in your pocket most of the day. For the rest of the day, it’s in your hand. That means your phone is dirty.

Most importantly, your camera lens is covered in oils, grease, and who knows what else.

Clean your lens!

It could be why your video comes out cloudy. Every time I’m going to record, I break out a lens-cleaning wipe. It’s part of my recording routine. I have a box full of them.

You don’t need to use lens-cleaning wipes like I have. Don’t go order some now, thinking like you have to have what I use. They aren’t magical. There are sprays too.

Just clean your lens, okay? It’s kind of gross otherwise.

The post Clean Your Lens! appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

I don’t have time! It’s the typical excuse for not publishing videos…

Get outta here with that nonsense.

I’ve published at least one video every day this year. Each video takes an hour, start to finish (scripting, recording, editing, scheduling, everything). I also write two blog posts every week. I hold one-on-one sessions to help clients. I host a weekly strategy session and webinar. And everything else involved with running a business.

I don’t need to spend an hour on each video, but I do. You could easily hit record and publish without editing. So, account for 10-15 minutes max just to come up with the idea.

Your problem isn’t time. There is always time.

You just won’t prioritize it. It’s an excuse because you don’t believe it will help you. You don’t know what to talk about. Or you are worried what you’ll look like. Or you know deep down that you’ll fail. Address these issues first.

You can actually do this. You need a plan first. You need to commit to it. You need to believe in it. And once you do, you’ll make time.

Now replace videos with anything else you aren’t doing that you should be. Maybe it’s blogging or a podcast or LIVING YOUR LIFE.

You have time. Make time.

The post You Have Time to Create Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Whether you’re getting started with videos or taking some other important action, there will always be limitless reasons why YOU CAN’T.

At first, your microphone isn’t good enough. Then you get a microphone, and there are too many noisy distractions. The air conditioning or furnace keeps pumping on. Your kids keep running up and down the stairs.

And then the lighting isn’t ideal. You buy new lights, but you can’t get it perfect. The lighting setup is too complicated and you can’t get it right.

There isn’t a great place to record. Every room is noisy. Your kids won’t cooperate. And you feel silly recording in public.

Pick any of these reasons to stop you from creating today. It’s all unnecessary friction.

Stop it. Embrace the chaos.

Until you’re okay with all of these little imperfections, you will never get started. And even if you get started, you’ll be unable to retain that production if you’re always battling with these friction points.

I know because I’ve been there. All of these excuses described me.

What are your excuses?

The post There Will Always Be an Excuse appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

I don’t read from a script because that would be super unnatural and uncomfortable…

But I do write out a video script.

When I first started, I just hit record and started talking. I had a general idea of what I’d talk about, but it wasn’t scripted.

That led to a more conversational tone, but it was easy to lose focus. And editing became a much bigger challenge.

These days, I script out my videos. I type out each line in my Notes app. The lines aren’t always complete sentences, but instead sentence fragments. The goal is that each line is no more than four seconds.

I look at the line… look at the camera… and say my line.

I’m conscious of my tone at the beginning and end of a line, depending on where I am in the sentence. I know I’ll be splicing it together later.

I’m not technically reading from a script, but it’s also not completely spontaneous either. This gives me more control over the message and makes the editing process a whole lot easier later.

Just a little behind the scenes!

The post Scripting Short-Form Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

I cloned my voice to create this video…

Maybe it didn’t fool you, but this stuff is only getting better.

I used Play H.T. with the high-fidelity cloning option. I uploaded 39 of my short-form videos to train it on. It took about an hour for the app to go through more than 30 minutes of audio to complete the clone.

I’m not looking to replace myself with this type of app. The primary way I might use this type of technology is for creating audio versions of my blog posts. I could submit the text of my blog posts to generate the audio file, and then embed an audio player at the top of each post.

This could be helpful as long as the cloned voice is accurate and realistic. If it’s not, it would just be distracting and lose its value.

What do you think? Is this close enough to a human voice to provide value?

The post I Cloned My Voice to Create this Video appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

You’ve got to be patient with your content…

I’m in the middle of a content audit, going back through blog posts from 11-12 years ago. What stood out to me was how I struggled.

For so long, I lacked a strong voice, a consistent style, a topic focus, and confidence.

I faked it for a while. It’s funny because I forget how difficult it was and how long it took me to truly find my footing. Going back through those old posts was humbling.

Understand that I wrote 600 blog posts during those first two years. It took until I got to the 450-500 range where I was like, ”Yeah. That looks like something I might write these days.”

My point: This takes time. You can’t blog, create videos, or start a podcast and give up in a few months because you think it doesn’t work.

You might be frustrated by your progress. You may worry that you aren’t finding that voice or content focus. But your content today is not what your content will be a year from now.

Even for me, I’d say that my content is still evolving all the time. Learning to be better every day.

Be patient, trust the process, and create a ton of content. The more you create, the faster you’ll learn.

It’ll come.

The post Content Creation Takes Time appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Ever since I started creating short-form video tutorials, the question I get more than any other is related to an effect in my videos.

The effect people ask about is where I move from a talking head to a screenshare tutorial, while my head goes into a bordered circle at the top of the screen.

I use Screenflow to edit my videos. You don’t need to use Screenflow to edit yours. But this is how I do it.

I’d love to say that there’s an easy shortcut to accomplishing this effect. But there isn’t a template that helps create this effect. Instead, it took me weeks of trial and error.

It’s not that this is hard by any means. But it’s something I had to make happen with the tools that were available to me.

The main thing is you need to understand video actions. A video action will have an initial state and a finished state. An example with my videos…

1. Initial State: The talking head video takes up the full screen
2. Finished State: The talking head shrinks and is cropped to a circle and moved to the top

Screenflow then fills in the blanks to make that action happen smoothly.

There isn’t even an obvious way to create the circle, though I may be missing something. I scale the talking head video down, crop it to a square, and then round the corners.

I then include three layers when editing:

1. The screenshot or video I’m talking about
2. The outline color file that will be around my head (usually black)
3. The base color file around my cut-out head

I create nearly identical video actions for those two image files to move from a rectangle to a circle (but slightly larger) that execute when my talking head action does.

The end result is an initial video action to discuss something on the screen and then an action to move back to the talking head.

If you’re curious, I’ve found that it’s easiest to simply take a screenshot of what I’m talking about instead of syncing a screen recording. I then use video actions and scaling to move around the screenshots to give it some movement.

If you already use Screenflow, hopefully this helps. If you don’t use Screenflow, don’t feel like you need to use it to get this effect. I’m sure you can replicate this with most video editing software.

The main thing is that you don’t need to do what I do. Imagine what it is you want your videos to look like and find a way to execute it.

Of course, it may take some trial and error and lots of patience. But it can be worth it!

The post How to Create Video Actions appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Let’s talk about Quality vs. Quantity. I know, you think you know where this is going. But I’m telling you, we have this all wrong.

I keep seeing marketers say this about content creation: QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. But their framing of it is completely misleading.

They frame it as two options:

1. Three high-quality videos
2. Or a whole bunch of TRASH

Obviously, you prefer the three high-quality videos. But, that’s not what the quality vs. quantity debate is about.

Let’s reframe it. Instead, use POLISH vs. Quantity.

We often mistake POLISH for QUALITY. But unpolished content can offer just as much value as POLISHED content.

\You can spend hours worrying about the lighting and editing and getting it perfect. What’s most important is the MESSAGE.

You shouldn’t resist publishing content due to a lack of POLISH. And it’s possible you could offer more value by worrying less about polish.

Myself included! I spend about an hour per video. But I know that I could easily cut that down to 15 to 30 minutes. I just wouldn’t mess around so much with the editing and captions.

You want to create good content. Don’t obsess over the polish. It’s QUANTITY of value over POLISH.

The post Reframing: Quantity Over Polish appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

This is the key to consistent and prolific content creation…

I’ve published at least one video each day (about 200) and two blog posts each week (about 60) in 2023. I’ve done this while not always having a lot of time to create content.

How have I maintained that focus?

It’s not a consistent content creation routine. This is the advice you’ll typically hear. Set aside specific days or times of the day when you create this content. Batching videos is an example.

This makes sense in a perfect world. The problem is that life is messy. What happens when emergencies come up? When something impacts your routine? Content creation is the first task that gets pushed aside.

Specializing like this also assumes you’ll be inspired to record multiple videos or write multiple blog posts at that designated time. It just doesn’t work.

Here’s the solution…

Instead of prioritizing when you’ll CREATE your content, prioritize when you’ll PUBLISH it.

It’s a subtle alteration of how we approach content. I know that I’m publishing a video every day. And I know that I’m publishing blog posts on Monday and Wednesday. When I create doesn’t matter as long as those things get done.

When I find inspiration and time, I might record more videos at once. If I know I’ll be out of town like I have been this past month, I prioritize creating more content for when I’ll be gone.

Why? Because I know exactly when I have committed to publishing content, and I know I won’t be able to create during the times I’m gone. The publishing date is the motivation.

But if the focus were on when I create, I simply wouldn’t create when my schedule doesn’t allow for it. Or at least, I’ve seen evidence of this more times than I’d like to admit.

This is what I do, but let me know what you think!

The post Key to Consistent Content Creation appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Your “DO THIS OR ELSE” hooks are killing your videos…

You can’t use the same sense of urgency to open every video you create. I’m sure you know the hooks I’m talking about. I even kinda did it to open this video.

Every video you create treats the content that’s coming as life or death. Or the tip you’re about to get will SAVE YOUR BUSINESS!

This may be good for attracting new viewers. But for anyone else who has seen your videos before, it’s exhausting.

After the first few, we get the trick. We know that you aren’t going to deliver.

We tune out.

So even if you have a really valuable tip coming, we assume it’s just an oversell like all the rest.

The same happens with clickbait promoting your website. Copy like “You’re not going to believe what happens next” or “The marketing world was shocked by this one tip” might work for a new visitor. But if we’ve seen it from you before, we know what you’re doing.

We tune out.

This is one reason why you shouldn’t focus too much on drop-off rate and CTR. It’s not that these metrics are meaningless, but they don’t necessarily reflect true engagement. They can reflect manipulation.

You can use tricks to enhance those metrics for new users. But you can go to that well just so many times. Eventually, you’ll need to deliver.

And maybe even deliver when your hooks are boring, too. Imagine that!

What do you think?

The post Your Hooks are Killing Your Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Here’s the metric that matters most for short-form videos…

It’s not views or likes or saves or comments. It’s not that these things don’t matter, but you can’t chase virality.

Going viral isn’t necessarily even helpful. You can create a video that appeals to a lot of people, goes viral, gets a ton of views and likes and comments, and results in a bunch of new followers.

That stuff is all nice for your ego. Your number of followers and views matters to a point. But they shouldn’t robotically direct your creation and evaluation either.

The most important metric that you can monitor on a daily basis: The number of published videos.

That’s it.

If the last video didn’t gain traction, you publish another one. If that published video got views, you… publish another one. Don’t get too high on the metrics you get or too low on the metrics you don’t.

Creating videos can be a grind. If you have a physical need for views and virality as validation, you’re never going to be happy.

Keep creating and learning from each video. That lesson could be influenced by metrics to a point, but it’s also influenced by feedback and how that video can make your next one better.

Make videos that help your target audience rather than catering to a metric. The rest will come.

The post Metric that Matters for Short-Form Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Today marks my 181st day in a row publishing a video. Not technically halfway, but six months down toward my goal.

Truthfully, this has been my most difficult time. It’s not because I’m burned out or losing inspiration. I was worried about running out of things to talk about, but that’s not it either.

It’s something that I didn’t adequately plan for…

After the next couple of weeks go by, I will have been on four family trips in two months. One was for our oldest son’s college graduation. Two are for our youngest son’s baseball tournaments. And one will be for my dad’s birthday celebration.

I worked double-time before each of these trips to make sure I stayed on track with these videos. That’s how serious I am about this commitment being “no excuses!”

The problem is how that impacts my normally fluid priorities. I put extra focus on my AI chatbot for a while. I launched one training course and have been working on a second. But that second course keeps getting delayed because of this shift in priorities.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s videos or some other format. Once you commit to a new format, it will shift your other priorities. Plan for that.

This is where you have to make a choice. You can delegate, put in extra hours, or shift your priorities.

But that’s been the most challenging part of this. I’m actually on one of these trips right now, and this video was recorded before I left!

Overall, this has been incredibly rewarding and I’ve learned so much. Thanks for joining me on this journey!

The post Celebrating 6 Months of Daily Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Here’s how I publish a video every day…

I know it sounds difficult, but I’m telling you, it’s not.

I know some people batch record once per week, but I don’t do this for a lot of reasons. Mainly it overwhelms me even thinking about it.

Typically, I’m one day ahead. I record and edit a video for the next day.

It takes me about 5 minutes to plan it, 5 minutes to record it, 30 minutes to edit it, 15 minutes to clean up captions, and 5 minutes to schedule it. About an hour in all.

If you don’t have that much time, take less time! You don’t need to do all of the things I do.

Sometimes, I don’t get that video done for the next day. That means I HAVE TO get it done before the day is over.

If I don’t want to record videos over a weekend or if we are going on vacation, I need to prioritize. I need to get those videos done before then.

Actually, I have a big month ahead of me. I know I’ll be out of town a few times (I’m out of town right now!). Because of that, I’m recording and editing two videos per day whenever I can.

Bottom line: You can publish a video per day. But you have to be committed to it. You have to prioritize it. You have to have a no-excuses approach.

When you do, it’s built into your routine and it’s not hard. You can do this!

The post How to Publish One Video Per Day appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

You should republish underperforming videos. Here’s an example…

Recently, I published a video that did surprisingly little on TikTok and Instagram Reels. A normal video has a few hundred views within a few hours. This video had close to 0 views on both platforms.

Around four hours later, I republished the video to both places. A day later, the republished versions have views that I tend to expect: More than 1300 on TikTok and over 850 on Instagram.

It was back to normal. There was nothing wrong with the original videos. They just didn’t get any views, for whatever reason.

We often hear about algorithmic preferences for unique content, especially from Meta. But that clearly didn’t impact the performance of the republished versions here.

I should also note that I scheduled both videos the way I always do: From the TikTok website and from Meta Business Suite, both on desktop. I didn’t use third-party apps to schedule them.

The Instagram performance was most out of character, especially since it didn’t even get a single view for several hours. But the TikTok performance is something I’ve seen more of recently from these scheduled videos. But when I republish, I usually get better performance the second time around.

Is scheduling these videos impacting performance? Or is it just a coincidence? It’s something I’m keeping an eye on.

But the bottom line is that you shouldn’t be afraid of republishing your videos, especially to TikTok and Instagram.

What do you think?

The post Republish Short-Form Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

This is what 150 days of videos looks like…

Beginning January 1st, I started publishing at least one video every day, with today marking Day 150.

These videos mostly covered Facebook ads topics, but also some video creation and entrepreneurship tips sprinkled in.

It’s a bit surreal seeing all of this work speed through like this. But it reminds me why I’m sticking to this goal of one video per day.

So many videos. So many opportunities to learn and get better. And so many chances to reach you.

It’s not always easy to see the improvement from video to video as you go. But I definitely saw it while I was assembling this compilation.

I don’t care if you’re creating videos, blogging, podcasting, or creating some other type of content. If you want to make an impact and get better quickly, stop worrying about making each piece of content perfect.

Make them good. Make them often. And make them consistently. But don’t let a need for perfection slow you down.

It’s been a fun first 150 days, but I’ve still got 215 to go to finish out the year. After that, who knows?

Join me on this ride, I can’t wait to see where it goes…

The post 150 Days of Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Here’s my camera setup for recording videos.

I don’t use a DSLR or another camera. I just use my iPhone 14 Pro. Here are the main things that I do…

1. I prop my phone up on a small tripod on my desk to get the proper eye level so that I’m not looking up or down at the camera.

2. I turn on Cinematic Mode to get that blurred background look.

3. I use the rear camera rather than the selfie camera since the quality is slightly better.

4. So that I can position myself while using the rear camera, I mirror my phone to my iPad. This allows me to keep it in portrait and keep the grid (which I don’t think can be done with Continuity Camera). This also allows me to have notes or do a screen recording on my main monitor at the same time.

5. All of the jump cuts and zooms are done in editing using Screenflow.

Hope this helps!

The post Camera Setup for Recording Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

So… This is a silly little thing, but it’s something to consider when recording your videos.

I often force myself to start a sentence with the word “so” or “but” while recording a video with the intent of being more natural and conversational. The problem is when you start editing.

Recently, I recorded a video where I started a sentence with the word “so” eight times. While recording, it wasn’t noticeable. But many of the most important sentences started that way. I edited out many of the sentences that didn’t.

So… Now I have all of these sentences that start with “so” that are important, but they don’t flow together. And I couldn’t edit out that “so” because it flowed into my point.

The result was a video that sounded unnatural. And that kinda defeated the whole point.

So… The lesson I’ve learned is that it’s still okay to start a sentence with “so” or “but” when recording. Just be conscious to include a brief pause before getting to your main point. This way, you can edit it out if you need to.

I know. Super silly little thing. But it’s something that I’m now conscious of when I record, and it makes the editing process a lot easier!

The post Stop Saying the Word “So” appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

This is going to be a super controversial and unpopular opinion…

Did I get carried away here?

In other words, you don’t need to follow these watchbait and clickbait trends. Not everything needs to be branded “controversial” or “unpopular.” More than likely, lots of people will agree with you… which means it’s neither controversial nor unpopular!

The post Controversial and Unpopular Opinion appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

I started sharing a short-form video on LinkedIn nearly every day starting on November 6. Here’s what happened…

First, a quick explanation. I started creating short-form videos for TikTok, then Facebook and Instagram Reels, and then YouTube Shorts in October. The next frontier was LinkedIn.

Of course, LinkedIn isn’t really a short-form video platform. In fact, the preferred video format is square. But, I’d throw it into the mix anyway.

Until then, I had begun to get active on LinkedIn during the prior year. I was a semi-regular, though I certainly wasn’t posting every day.

But once I started this experiment, I would share a 9 x 16 video there nearly every day (actually every day beginning in 2023). While I still post other occasional content there, the videos have mostly taken over my strategy.

So, would sharing short-form video content to a platform that isn’t really for short-form videos have a positive impact? And would it matter that this was the same content that I was publishing to at least four other platforms (sometimes seven platforms in all)?

Well, my impressions showed a clear improvement once I started, as did my engagement. And while my follower growth didn’t immediately show that same improvement, that changed in January. My followers are now growing more steadily than they had in the months of 2022 prior to posting short-form videos.

Admittedly, part of the impact can be attributed to simply posting every day. The type of content isn’t necessarily the reason for this improvement. But at the same time, posting short-form videos to LinkedIn isn’t a drawback either.

I should also point out that I make sure to share these videos slightly differently on LinkedIn and YouTube than I do on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. Here, I include far more commentary (like I’m doing now) with the video.

You can see a full analysis of my impact with short-form videos on five different platforms here.

What do you think about sharing short-form videos on LinkedIn?

The post Short-Form Videos on LinkedIn? appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

If you think this is easy for me, watch this. One full minute (with some edits!) of trying to say a single sentence that I wouldn’t even use in the final cut.

The final edit looks pretty good and smooth. That’s what you see. But almost every recording has moments like this.

I want you to see this because if you’re worried about being perfect and think you’re not good enough at this talking stuff, do not let that hold you back.

Just record. Know that it won’t be perfect. Have fun with it. And remember that you don’t have to keep it all. You can edit it later.

The post BLOOPERS: Words Are Hard and It’s Okay appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

My Facebook page, Jon Loomer Digital, has existed since November of 2011. There have been a whole lot of ups and downs since then.

My peak year was probably 2017. The absolute bottom? It was 2021.

That was the first (and hopefully only) year that my total number of followers actually dropped from the prior year. My reach, engagement, and overall commitment to content creation were at all-time lows.

But that changed with my commitment to short-form videos late last year. After getting started on TikTok, I’d eventually start sharing those videos to Facebook Reels — every single day.

Because of that sudden development, engagement and reach spiked during the final months of 2022. And while I haven’t maintained quite that level, reach and engagement are consistently much higher than they were.

If things continue as they’ve gone so far in 2023, this will be my page’s biggest year for reach and engagement since 2017. Considering how big that year was for me and how far things fell since then, this is a pretty big deal.

It’s the combination of a commitment to posting every day and using Reels that is the source of this improvement. And don’t forget that these Reels are the exact same videos that I’m publishing to TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and elsewhere.

This approach works.

The post Impact of Reels on My Facebook Page appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Here’s what happened after I published 250 Reels to Instagram in six months…

Up until this point, I mostly neglected Instagram. I used it as an ad placement. I still had around 5,000 followers. But I didn’t regularly add content.

In fact, I had added only 16 videos total up until that point. Most of my posts were of my kids or dog.

And then I started my short-form video journey in October of last year. From that point forward, I published more than 250 Reels to Instagram in six months.

The impact has been significant. Instagram reach, profile visits, and followers are all up exponentially. It shouldn’t be a surprise.

But what may be surprising is that this took very little effort. The reason is that I spend very little time on Instagram. Instead, I publish the same video there that I publish to six platforms in all (at least, sometimes more).

Would it be ideal if I created content exclusively for Instagram and spent a lot of time on the platform? Sure. But I don’t have that time. So the options are this approach or continuing to avoid Instagram entirely.

This is evidence that you can publish identical content to multiple platforms and make a positive impact. The result of this is that Instagram has become one of my biggest business drivers.

What do you think?

The post Impact of Reels on My Instagram Profile appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Here’s what happened once I started publishing to YouTube Shorts every day…

I’ve had a YouTube channel since 2012, but I’ve used it very inconsistently. While I recently surpassed 15,000 subscribers, much of that growth happened during the first few years.

I’ve mostly neglected the channel for much of the past several years, posting a video sporadically and getting views and subscribers from mostly old videos.

And then I started my short-form video journey last October. Beginning in November, I decided to start sharing these videos to YouTube Shorts. I didn’t do anything special to them. They were the exact same videos that also appeared on TikTok and Reels.

I admit I was underwhelmed by my early results. And even today, I get far better traction elsewhere than I do on YouTube.

But, I’ve started to notice the impact of publishing a new video to Shorts every day. It just isn’t as noticeable looking at a single video.

In the 60 days prior to starting with YouTube Shorts, my videos attracted fewer than 3,000 views and about 100 new subscribers. During the most recent 60 days, those numbers have increased to 33,000 views and close to 500 new subscribers.

While these aren’t viral numbers by any means, they come from very little effort. Yes, the videos take a lot of effort, but I don’t create them with YouTube Shorts in mind. It just ends up being one of the several places I’m publishing them.

The impact is there, and it seems to be getting better.

What results are you seeing with YouTube Shorts?

The post Impact of Shorts on My YouTube Channel appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Should you be everywhere? I used to agree that you should focus on one or two platforms. My opinion changed with short-form videos.

For years, I dedicated almost all of my social media energy to Facebook. I felt like doing otherwise would spread myself too thin. And I also felt that I’d need to create completely different content for other platforms, or it wouldn’t work — or may upset those who follow me in multiple places.

While there are threads of truth to this, I think it’s changed quite a bit due to short-form video. The reason is that the format is almost exactly the same for many of the platforms.

The potential audience may be different. But that doesn’t mean your target audience has changed. I don’t think it’s necessary to change my content for each platform.

Would it be ideal to create unique content for each platform? Sure. But then we’re back to spreading ourselves too thin. The other option is hiring a specialist for each platform. Most small businesses won’t do that.

So the option then becomes focus on one or two platforms or publish the same content to many. I’ve chosen the latter. And it works.

I could have felt that this wasn’t good enough and remained focused on a couple. Instead, I’ve built my TikTok audience from nothing to nearly 12,000 people in a very short period of time. My audience on Facebook is much more engaged. I barely used Instagram before, and now it’s grown to over 6,000 people.

This is while doing very little other than publishing the same file to multiple places. You have to make some decisions on priorities after that. But I don’t regret this one bit.

How about you?

The post Should You Be on Every Platform? appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Here is the biggest benefit to publishing a video every day.

I just hit my 100th day in a row of publishing a video, and I plan to continue this throughout 2023. I can tell you… I feel this in my bones.

You will not see noticeable improvement from day to day or even week to week. That’s frustrating. You want all of that hard work to result in immediate progress.

But if you publish every day and make this a priority, you will quickly make tiny improvements. You will see what you like and don’t like. And while one or two tiny improvements may not be obvious, they add up.

As I look back at the past six months and the 300 videos or so that I’ve created, it’s obvious. While I’m super proud of what I created during those first few months, I also know that what I’m able to create now is better.

And I also know that what I can create a month from now will be better than what I’m creating now. That’s all because of making this a priority and finding a way to publish at least one video every day.

I encourage you to take this on with me. It’s intimidating. But it’s also addicting. Start simply. Don’t create overwhelm for yourself. Just publish something.

And know that what you publish tomorrow will be better. Even if the difference is only noticeable to you. But that difference will grow with time if you keep your head down and remain stubbornly consistent.

I know you can do this!

The post Benefit of Publishing a Video Every Day appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Here’s how I create my captions…

I use CapCut, which is a free app. You can use either the mobile or desktop apps, but I use desktop because I feel like it’s easier to use. CapCut has an auto-captions feature that I find to be super accurate.

If you want your captions to look like mine, you’ll need to add a font called TheBoldFont. I got it from dafont.com.

Here are the settings that I use…

Font Size: 15
Stroke Thickness: 36
Shadow Opacity: 100%
Shadow Bluriness: 65%
Shadow Distance: 20
Shadow Angle: 43 degrees

After that, I do a lot of stuff that you really don’t need to do.

I will highlight individual words that I want to emphasize and change the color, usually to what I have as my background color for that video.

I also can be kind of weird about my captions, and I don’t really like when captions go beyond two lines (except for the intro screen). If the auto-captions push to three or four lines at a time, I’ll break that up.

The process tends to take me about 10 minutes. But if you don’t micromanage it the way I do, it could easily take about a minute.

The post The Best Settings for Captions appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

You’ve likely heard that the rear-facing camera produces higher-quality video. But can you spot the difference?

I record most of my videos with the rear-facing camera. But, it’s also kind of a hassle.

So while it may be true that the rear-facing camera produces higher-quality videos, is it worth the extra hassle?

Is the difference so obviously noticeable?

To test it out, I’m using my iPhone 14 Pro in this video. Part of it was recorded with the front-facing and part with the rear-facing camera.

Can you spot which was which?

The post Front-Facing vs. Rear-Facing Camera appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Here’s a tip to help you keep the eye level right in your videos.

This is one of those things that I’ve seen shared lots of times by videographers. It’s not original, but it’s my contribution.

Videographers say that it’s important to keep your eye level consistent so that a video isn’t jumpy. And I’ve gotta say that they’re right.

First, you should use the grid tool in your phone to set up so that your eyes are along the first horizontal line. It doesn’t need to be perfect, of course. I tilt my head and bob around a lot. No big deal.

But that only solves for the primary shot. If you add jump cuts, zooming in and out, this creates a challenge. How do you keep your eye level along that original line?

That’s where you need to add a line as a layer to your editing. This gives you a guide when you’re moving your video to keep your eye level consistent.

It’s a small thing. But these small things add up!

The post Consistent Eye Level in Your Videos appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

You do not need to maintain eye contact throughout your videos. It took me a while to figure this out, but I’m glad I did.

It’s a lot like having a conversation. Eye contact is good. But what you don’t want is someone who locks in on you and never provides a break from that eye contact.

At first, it’s uncomfortable. Eventually, it becomes creepy.

The same thing is true of talking head videos. You want to talk to your viewer and simulate eye contact. But you don’t need to stay locked in the entire time.

I’ve found that when I do look away or think briefly, it makes the video more conversational, more natural, and more relaxed. But I’d also say that doing this makes me more natural and relaxed.

Otherwise, if I’m locked in (which I have been), I’m often more uptight. And that carries through to the tone.

If you’ve found yourself to be a bit uptight during your videos, try this!

The post Eye Contact and Video Creation appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

This is the secret to success for content creators. It does not matter what type of content we’re talking about.

It could be a blog, videos, a podcast, or your social media account. The one thing that separates those who make it from those who don’t is super simple.

Stubborn consistency. They do not quit.

I know, it sounds too simple, but almost everyone’s a quitter. It’s super easy to lose motivation when you aren’t getting results.

It’s those people who believe in what they’re doing, who know it’s going to be hard, and who realize it’s a long-term strategy who are most likely to succeed with this stuff.

Yeah, I was stubbornly consistent with my blog. I wrote about 600 blog posts those first two years. I’ve had more than 30 Million page views largely due to my stubborn consistency.

But I’ve also quit on things before. And my website saw dips because I saw lags in that consistency.

Right now, I am trying to replicate this stubborn consistency with video creation. I’ve created more than 270 videos so far. The results are slow and sometimes frustrating (sometimes more frustrating, depending on the platform). But I know it’s a long-term commitment.

What are you stubbornly consistent at?

The post Secret to Success for Content Creators appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.