How I Create Weekly Videos On LinkedIn

For over a year, I thought about creating videos on LinkedIn. Emphasis on the thought. I did nothing other than come up with good ideas, and then never do anything with them because the thought of editing freaked me out.

Not being on camera. Not coming up with content. But editing. Slicing and dicing videos was such a foreign concept to me.

Let's face it: I'm no Scorsese. But now that I've forced myself to get over my fear of editing, I'm cranking out videos each and every week.

And editing isn't even necessary! So many people are engaging audiences with off the cuff videos and zero editing. It's about creating the content and putting it out there, not perfection.

So in this post, I'm going to break down each step I take for each video I create, and the tech I use.

1. Write a Script

Since my videos are content rich, yet also aim to be less than 4 minutes a piece, I have to write scripts. This keeps me focused while I'm recording, and helps me flesh out anything that might not make sense before I record.

Tech: Word and Comments app on my iPhone

2. Wait for Decent Lighting

I'm not joking. Light is everything in video. If you've seen videos that are hazy or dark, it's because the lighting sucks.

Tech: The Sun

3. Record!

Thanks to my script, I record my videos in one shot. I keep the camera running no matter how many retakes I need. Editing can clean that up later.

Tech: iPhone camera and sometimes Blue Yeti Microphone for audio

4. Create Thumbnails

To grab the attention of eyeballs while they're scrolling through the newsfeed, I create eye-catching thumbnails. I'm not a believer in taking a screen capture from the video and transforming it into a thumbnail. I take a separate picture.

Then I add brand colors and the video title to the visual I create, using Canva.

Tech: iPhone camera to take the photo. Canva for graphic design

5. Get the Video File onto my PC

Editing videos on the mobile version of iMovie or in Clips is the biggest pain in the ass. It takes forever, and they're both really limited in what they can do. I recommend using your computer instead.

Tech: USB cable to to move the video from my phone, to PC, or if I have space on my iCloud (HA! yeah right), I'll download it directly from there.

6. Edit!

This is where the real work is. I'll spend a couple hours editing each video.

Editing software is the only place I've spent actual money to create my videos.

Tech: Camtasia

7. Add Personality

People love my videos because I add little features that pull back the curtain on my quirks. Be true to you, and put your personal mark on your videos.

Tech: Camtasia and stuff from Google

8. Add Subtitles...Manually

This may sound time consuming, but when you think of where people are when they're watching your videos, it's highly likely they're somewhere that they can't have sound on full blast. Do them a solid and include subtitles.

I manually enter mine because of the software I use. You don't always have to, depending on the software you use, but when entering them by hand, you will have the greatest amount of accuracy.

Tech: Camtasia and my fingers

9. Create a Post

I use a combination of video with long-form posts. I don't care if this could possibly prevent people from watching the video. If they spend time reading what I've written, that's OK too. I write all my important points in the post, include a call to action, and add related hashtags. I do this before I load my video.

Tech: Word

10. Post the Video!

Since I edit the videos on my computer, I post from my computer, loading the video file and copying and pasting in the post I created in step #9.

Tech: LinkedIn Desktop

That's it! There are many steps above that you can omit for yourself. This is the process that works for me.

I post new #TuesdayTen videos every Tuesday! I cover topics related to resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn, and job searching.

If you want to make sure you see them...

 1. Connect with me here on LinkedIn

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3. Follow me on Instagram at @kamaratoffolo