Sheryl Plouffe shows entrepreneurs how to shoot professional marketing videos on their smartphone with cheap gear. A $15 tripod, $16 LED light, and a lavalier mic under $80 transform video quality without buying a camera. She walks through three essential categories: stability, lighting, and audio.
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Hi, this is Sheryl, and in the next 7 minutes or so, I'm going to show you how you can easily turn that little computer that you carry everywhere with you, you know, your smartphone, how you can use your smartphone to make amazing videos that are going to help to attract and engage with your ideal customers and clients. As a TV broadcaster and video marketing expert, I help entrepreneurs to get out of overwhelm and get out of that perpetual state of perfectionism that keeps so many business people stuck and going nowhere in their marketing. I can help you create videos so that you are no longer invisible online. Using your smartphone to create high-impact videos, simple, uncomplicated videos, is a great place to start because Often people ask me, what is the best camera for video marketing? And frankly, the answer is the one that you already own. So now I want to share with you how you can turn your smartphone into a mini mobile HD video kit.
Have a watch. Could you just shoot videos with your smartphone as is? Absolutely. But if we're looking at using our smartphone to really create high-quality videos to market yourself, to promote your business, it's a good idea to invest in a few little pieces of equipment that really help to elevate the quality of your video. Not to say that the quality isn't already good, but to make it better, because frankly, the microphone, for example, on a smartphone is not necessarily the best. So there are some things that you can do to really help to increase the quality and the stability of your video. So let's start with stability. On the top left-hand side of the screen is a multifunction tripod. Tripod. And this is a really great tripod that I found on Amazon that has multiple functions. So it serves as a selfie stick, a desktop or compact tripod. It also has a remote with it, that blue bar, and also the adapter that clips into your— or that your smartphone clips into so that you can use it on a tripod. So I really like this, great price point, I think $15. So you really can't beat it. This is what's going to give your videos stability when you are out shooting. The second thing is the clip-on LED light. I like this one. There are different versions. You'll see different types out there, but I have this one personally and I love it. Price point, I think $16. So again, you can't beat it. It has 3 different light functions or 3 different strengths. So you clip that onto your smartphone. And boom, you've got yourself a light that's going to help to illuminate your face. I think that's one of the biggest problems with the iPhone is, or any smartphone for that matter, is the lighting really isn't there. So this is a really quick and easy way to give yourself some beautiful lighting on your face when you're doing a video, for example. The third item is a microphone, and I've given some different options here. On the bottom left-hand side is the Rode SmartLav microphone. A lav mic means a microphone that you clip onto your lapel. It's called a lavalier microphone, and it clips onto your lapel. It's often the type that you'll see news people using. So this is a SmartLav that actually plugs into the iPhone. So a really great option. I don't recall the price point, but I want to say it was around $60 or $70. So that's one option. The other one is the Mikey Blue microphone that's in the middle, the bottom middle part here, the microphone option number 2. This one here is showing the Lightning adapter that goes with the, you know, more newer iPhones. But there's also a Mikey version that has the traditional old-fashioned adapter that goes into the smartphone. So I don't know the name of that, but I think you know what I mean. The one that came up before the Lightning one. So that Mikey microphone, I think, will run you about $80.. And it's a really great option again to be on the go and to really elevate the quality of your audio. And then the third option over on the right-hand side of the screen, I've put these two items together. One is the ATR Audio-Technica microphone. It's a lav— it's a lavalier microphone as we've learned. It's a clip-on, but this is a wired one. And it has a long, long cord. This is also the one I recommend for people who are building their home or office studios. So if you're looking to buy a microphone that's going to do double duty, so you want to use it at home or office and you also want to use it on the go, then this might be the option for you. This Audio-Technica lavalier mic I use myself. It's what I use for all my videos. And I think the price point could not be better. I think it's $30. Can you beat it? No, it's absolutely great. The only thing that I would say with this is that If you're going to use it on your phone or an iPhone in particular, you're going to need this adapter, the one that's on the top. That's a U-shape there. And that is from, I think it's called KV Connections. And this is an adapter that you can buy, I think, for $25. And you use that in conjunction with that microphone together. They plug into one another and it allows you to use the microphone on your iPhone as well. So a multifunction type of situation. I believe all of the price points of these items are very reasonable, very affordable. It's absolutely within reach to be able to create your mini mobile HD video kit with your smartphone.
If you'd like to schedule a complimentary 30-minute block of time with me to talk about video marketing and how it can be used to expand your business, it would be my absolute pleasure to do that. You can go to my website at CherylPlouffe.com, and in the bottom right-hand side, you'll see the appointment scheduler. It's called Let's Talk, and that's where you can go to book your free time with me. Thank you so much for watching, and I hope to talk to you soon.
