This is Socialcam in action with a black and white filter called ‘noire’ on display. You can swipe your viewing screen to work through the filters after your first click of the red Record button. On the second click, you are filming. The third click stops the show.

So, you are interested in shooting some video for your online marketing but don’t feel confident with a camera?

This is where your smartphone and Socialcam can come to the rescue.

Socialcam is a free app for iPhone and Android phones that makes it easy to:

• Shoot video
• Apply styles
• Add music and titles
• Share video online

I would argue that before you take your ‘real’ video camera out its case, you spend some time shooting scenes with your phone in your office, at home with your family, or when you’re out at the beach or markets or national park.

This is one of the best ways to learn quickly about what works and what doesn’t work because you can shoot, package and review your work quickly – and then learn from your ‘mistakes’.

I have a few sample videos to show you but first some key points about my mission with the Lights, Camera, Blog series. It is about:

• empowering you to create interesting social media content without having to spend big dollars on a professional crew. However, there will be some times when you DO choose to go down that route.
• understanding that this is not about training you up in a completely different field but rather just sharing some basic tips and pointers so that if you get some ideas for simple messages to share, the technology and technique will not be an obstacle.
• realising that many of your customers and potential customers are likely to be fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes at your business, as part of their assessment process in deciding to choose you or a competitor, or just as part of their growing awareness that they need a product or service like yours.

So, on with a few quick videos and some pointers before you start.

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