For this week’s Deep Dive Series, we’re interviewing live video strategist and content creator, @videoforbosses.
@videoforbosses is constantly sharing advice for going live and building your audience. She helps creators new and old boost their confidence on screen and get their unique message to a wider audience. And her tips are so good they even blew us away! In this interview we talked about the mistakes she made, what she thinks is the most important aspect of content creation, her advice for new creators, and more!
Keep reading this Deep Dive to follow this creator’s inspiring story. Make sure to tune in every Thursday at 5pm CT on our @ClapperCreator account to listen to the bonus questions that will only be available on our live radio show: Clapper Talks.
Tell us a little bit more about yourself! What does a day in your life look like?
First thing I do, as a Christian, I spend time getting myself aligned. I read my Bible, I listen to worship music, and I spent a lot of time journaling through my prayers, my day to day stuff. I’m an avid long-distance runner, so I’ll go for a run or go to the gym. Then get myself ready and see what I’ve got on my agenda. I’m very much a morning person, that’s where my energy and creativity flows. A lot of creators speak about the power of batch-recording, but a big batch can feel overwhelming. I put that into bite-sized chunks and try to get all my content done as early as possible. Afternoons tend to be where I’m working with clients, having my meetings. If I have scheduled Lives I tend to do them later on in the day, where most people are going to be able to connect. And I get up around 4:30 every morning, so by 7 o’clock I’m done! Then I’ll just finish up my day. Whether it’s reading, watching a lot of YouTube videos, consuming content. So that’s pretty much how I roll!
What inspired you to work with content creators and influencers? How did you get started?
I’ve been in the social media space since 2015. I was on a livestreaming app called Periscope, and around that time, L’Oréal were running a Women of Worth campaign. I loved the concept about empowering women to make a difference in the world and wanted to do something similar! I’d go live and tag a woman in the community that stood out to me. The women that were tagged would see it and they kind of adopted the challenge themselves. It quickly grew legs, so I started a Facebook group. It all about just helping these women go live, share their message. I grew that community to over 5,000 women and had a following of 22,000. In 2017 I thought, there’s really something special about livestreaming. I’d seen how transformative it’d been in my life and I’d seen how transformative it was in the community I’d built just as a hobby. So I quit my job and I haven’t looked back.
When it comes to video strategy or content creation, what aspect (consistency, brand, style, etc) is most important to you?
The most important thing that any creator should pay attention to is understanding the power of your voice. One of the things that’s really important for me is helping the client to actually find their unique voice. Every single one of us has a story that has lead us to where we are today. What I teach my clients is that there is power in your story. When you share your story, you become very relatable to the people you’re trying to help and serve. I encourage anyone listening regardless of where they are, that when you step forward and share, remember that the power of our story is our experience. And that experience that we’ve had, we are the very best experts at it. So however we present, we’re going to speak as an authority.
So that’s the foundation of what I try to convey in my content. There’s a lot of different ways I present content. And it shouldn’t be that you feel like you need to fit into a box. Every single one of us has the ability to create outside of the lines. And my job is to help everybody (whether you become a client or not!) to really feel that and walk in that.
What are some tips you can give to creators on developing a social media strategy?
I know there’s this whole thing around the anti-niche, but what is your unique message? Ultimately, when we’re talking to everybody and essentially throwing a bunch of mud at the wall and seeing what sticks, you talk to nobody. It is very difficult to find that thing and stick with it, but it’s really important to have your unique message. Be very clear about who you are, what you do, who you serve. We should be trying to build a community of like minded individuals who are interested in the same topic we’re talking about. I encourage every single person under the sound of my voice to really press into that. Don’t get distracted by needing to go viral, by comparison, or anything else that stops creators from being who they are.
So, when did you join Clapper?
I jumped onto Clapper I think at the end of March. I heard about it through another creator in the platform – CreatorsbyCass. She was talking about Clapper on a livestream and sharing the opportunity to be part of a new space and a new community. One of the things that I will say is that there seemed like there was a lot of push back to the kind of content I was creating. If I’m honest I found it a little bit intimidating, even for me. I was still pushing through, honing in like I said earlier on, just sharing my message and hoping to connect with those that could learn something. I’ve grown quite quickly, and I’m excited to see what happens going forward. Seeing how the platform evolves and how I can participate in that positively in whatever way, shape, or form. And get my blue check!
You share a lot of tips and tricks to help creators improve their content. What are some mistakes you made in the beginning of your social media journey that you now warn people about?
In the very beginning I was just focused on growth. Whilst I had created the Women of Worth movement, I had fallen into the trap of just trying to get more people into my community. I did get the numbers, but when it came to my unique message and wanting to move into the business side, it was very difficult to convert. When I had my first launch of an ebook, and I could not sell that ebook to the extent of my fingers and both thumbs on 2 hands! It was a struggle, and I was surprised because I had a powerful community. So stay true to your message so that you build an impactful community. It will mean that growth is a bit slower, but the audience you create is going to be so much richer.
Also anything can happen on these platforms. You have to make sure you’re protecting the community you’re building. Make sure that you are moving those people to another space. So for example, there’s a lot of people on Clapper that have created their Groups. That’s great, but you should make sure that you’re still able to speak with them even if Clapper was to go away. And that’s for any platform. Just protect the communities you’re building.
What do you enjoy most about Clapper? In what ways do you feel like Clapper needs improvement?
One of the things I do love about Clapper is the opportunity to build a community, and it feels right now that the opportunity is open to anyone. Other platforms are very algorithm heavy and it’s quite difficult to grow because they’ve been around a lot longer. But here, this is an equal opportunity platform and you’ve created a number of channels for people to be able to grow and monetize. So you’re not holding creators back. I think right now the only thing holding a creator back on this platform is themselves. We’ve got livestreaming, we’ve got the rooms, you can set up your own shops. On other platforms you have to get to a certain number before you can do that.
Now, I think what I’ll say is not anything you haven’t heard already. In regards to creating content on the platform – I’m just going to be honest, I’ve never recorded a video in the app and posted it. I’ve done a couple of videos where I’ve added audio and I’ve seen a few glitches with the synchronization of my voice and mouth. So I think the in-built recording tools, that needs to be worked on. Another thing is the curation of people’s feeds and people seeing content they’re not interested in. And Clapbacks! The whole video has to be play before you can do your Clapback, and it would be nice to trim and clip. I do still respect the fact that you’re working on stuff and you’re very responsive in that respect, so I look forward to seeing the updates as things progress!
What are some common mistakes you see new (or even seasoned) creators making?
For those that are new, utilize the platform. Optimize the platform, get on, be active, don’t be somebody who is a viewer. If you want your profile to stand out, think about if somebody were to come across your content. You want them to take action, to click and find out more about you. So you want to make sure your profile is very clear about who you are, what you do, and how you are able to help them. Make sure that your handle is something aligned with your brand, your business, something that is memorable. Also, think about your images, like with mine. The hot pink might not be your color, but it stands out – and you want to think about how you’ll visually stand out.
Remember you have a short window of time to create an impression, so manage the objections well. We hear a lot about shortform content having that hook and that you have to get people interested in 3-seconds. Clip out those obvious pauses in the beginning. When you’re sharing your video content, you’ve got to speak the message powerfully to the person who’s listening. And also making sure that if you’re doing lives as well, you’re getting to the point, you’re adding that hook. It’s really important to understand these as a key fundamental if you want to grow and want people to be attracted to what you’re saying. It’s our job to make our content as yummy for them as possible.
What advice would you give new users that want to be successful on Clapper?
Utilize all of the tools that are available. I would really push for livestreams. Not just because I am a livestream expert, but social media is all about relationship building. We want to create opportunities for our audiences to be able to speak to us in real-time. Yes, you can do it via Radios, but the thing about livestreaming is that people can see you. They can see your expression, they can see your response to them specifically in real time. Get yourself on a schedule, get passed your own blocks and fears, and go for it. And on platform that’s giving you more visibility and is opening you up to more audiences and people, that’s the #1 thing that should be on everyone’s list.
We hope you enjoyed getting to know @videoforbosses – and got some insight into your own content creation. If you haven’t already, go give her a follow! To read our Mental Health Panel with @NisaaRobinson and @OG_PAPAW, check out last week’s Deep Dive.