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What do you think is one of the most underrated tools for building your personal brand, your business, and making sales? Vlogging. And that's what we're talking about today. Welcome to the Muthership Creator Strategy. I think that if you think about vlogging and that old school YouTuber I always think of my son Jonathan because he's like, hi, guys.
Helen:He always says the hi, guys, and don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the button and all the stuff at the end. But it's like the OG YouTuber knows what the value of vlogging is. And the way social media is evolving now, stories are becoming way more important. The connection and the authenticity and the trust you're building with your audience is becoming so much more valuable to brands. It's true.
Helen:Brands are preferring to work with smaller creators who have a loyal following versus these big mega creators. And there was an article where one of them, they paid so much money for this one influencer to post something and they made like three sales. It was some ridiculous, extreme number. And that is really speaking volumes to where social media is headed. So if you think, oh, I have a small audience.
Helen:No brand is gonna be interested. Think again. Because people wanna connect with people. They don't necessarily just want tips or quotes or things that can't that you're recycling from what you've heard. They want realness and real moments.
Helen:And this is proven again and again. What's happening when you do vlogging and you do that storytelling type of content is you're removing the filter between you and your audience. And I'm gonna use a personal example of how this really made a difference for me. I was teaching TikTok tutorials, well, before that I was doing baking content, and then I was getting into the tutorials. And I was at really at the at a really good place doing tutorials and teaching TikTok and technology and editing.
Helen:And then in 2022, when I started to go blind, I just, by nature of who I am, started recording my experience on my phone as my own vlog just for my own. I didn't even know if I'd post it, but I was recording it just for my own documentation of what was happening to me. And what happened for me is those moments that I decided to post became the the glue that really kept my audience sticking around and made the viewers feel way more connected to me as a real person going through something very, very raw. And I literally took the filter off. I mean, was almost to a scary degree.
Helen:When sometimes I look at those videos, I'm thinking, oh my god, Helen, you posted that. I literally just dropped dropped the screen and took people with me to chemo and, you know, cried when I was devastated about something and I shared the truth about what I was going through and I laughed a lot and I made jokes a lot because that's just how I deal with things. But that has created a bond for me with my audience that cannot be matched by any tutorial that I would teach, no matter how viral the tutorials might be. So it's proven, and I see it again and again with creators. It's the way to build trust.
Helen:I will say that it definitely works in any niche. And when I say when I say build trust, I don't necessarily mean you have to share your medical crisis if that's not if that's not what you're comfortable sharing. It's just a way of doing something more real that provides a connection to your viewer that that really makes them become invested in who you are, and then the trust is built. That's a huge piece of this the puzzle. And vlogging is really authentic already by you know how everybody's talking about, oh, we need authenticity.
Helen:I have clients all the time. That's all they talk about. Like, we just wanted to feel authentic. It's like they're writing scripts, they want it to feel authentic and all of that. But it's true that when you're vlogging and you're sharing something, a day in the life or event that you're going to or something you experienced or something you're going through, By by nature, it's authentic because you're telling a real story.
Helen:And that's why I kind of love my day job when I get to work on documentary style content, when I can actually interview people and make the stories come from them instead of a script. Just what I prefer if I had to choose what I was shooting, I would definitely choose more of that and less of the scripted stuff. You know, I don't always get to choose. But that's what really makes it more more interesting for me because the story writes itself. So it's not dependent on a writer trying to think of a clever line.
Helen:It's dependent on what questions I ask of this person who I'm interviewing and then what stories they tell. I just love it. And I think that's why I'm so passionate about this month's topic in the studio, which is vlogging and why I'm teaching it so heavily and leaning into it for people. I want to in the next studio meeting, I'm well, actually, it'll be behind it'll be the previous one by the time you're listening to this. I am actually reviewing vlog content of my studio members.
Helen:So I'm going to ask I've already asked them to send me your vlogs. Let me give you a review how what I might have done differently. In some of in some cases, I actually had one of my members send me some footage because she was complaining that her footage was terrible, and then I made a vlog from her footage just to prove. You think the footage is terrible? No.
Helen:No. No. No. It's how you edit the vlog that's gonna make it amazing. So that's I what I love to do.
Helen:I'm so, I'm so into it. And I just people I think people need to know that your story is gonna write itself. When you start doing it and you feel comfortable doing it and you turn that back camera around and you're like blah, your stories are gonna come out. It's just so cool, especially if you're not in the selfie camera. If you flip it around, I don't know, there's something for me that when I'm not seeing my face, I feel more connected with someone that I'm picturing on the other side of the screen.
Helen:And I think a lot of people struggle when they see themselves in the selfie camera. They're always looking at themselves. That's one of my biggest kind of pet peeves and things that I tell new creators. Please don't do that. Don't look at yourself because it's really obvious to the viewer that you're looking at yourself.
Helen:So the back camera really helps that. But, anyway, as as I explain vlogging to my studio members this month and we go through the things, I want to make sure that there's a few clear bullet points that you can keep in mind. So if you're not in the studio, you can just keep these in mind. But if you're in the studio, you're gonna get way more information about this. It doesn't mean you have to film yourself twenty four seven and share every nuance of what you're doing.
Helen:And, you know, I put my glasses on. I took my glasses off. I plugged my eye I charged my iWatch. I turned it off. You know, we don't need the minutiae.
Helen:Although, I always tell creators your boring day could be interesting to someone else. So picking the moments cleverly and making something funny that is boring, that's another story. Like, you could almost do a spoof of a vlog the way I just said it. Okay. I put my phone in the charger.
Helen:I put my watch in the charger. I made sure my keys were in my bag. You know? You can make funny vlogs as well if you're a comedian, which I am not. But the whole vlog thing is more about documenting your process.
Helen:And that can be for me, it can be before I go into a workshop with my studio members, I could get up, pick up my phone, and say, I'm about to get on a workshop with my studio. This is how I do it. This is what I'm set up for, and here's how we're go here's how I set up my camera. Here's how I set up my whatever. You know?
Helen:I'm just sharing behind the scene. So you have to think about what's your behind the scenes process. What things can you share? And there's a difference between daily vlogging and strategic vlogging, so I'm gonna address that now just so we understand. If you're doing a daily vlog and it's just like a day in the life, here's how my process is every single day, my mundane, you know, experience of getting to work or whatever, here's where I stop to pick up my coffee, that kind of thing.
Helen:That that's interesting. Daily vlog. Okay. Fine. But if you're a business, you can do strategic vlogs where you show how you pack your products and why you pack them this way.
Helen:You can show I mean, I always think of, when I get products from if I place an order I'm gonna give you a couple of examples. But for example, Tina, Fable Cosmetics. Tina has, you know, a very cool because it's a storybook. Like, you open up her, her makeup palette. It's a storybook, and it's just so cool the way she has it packaged.
Helen:You feel like you're experiencing something magical when you get her products, and it's all beautifully branded. When you have a process that you do to get your products in the package and it's personal like that, that would be a really cool thing to show. Tina, if you're listening, You know, show how you put the handwritten note in there or how you why you chose the branding that you chose. And talking about that process could be really interesting to someone who might be launching a brand or a business and be inspired by how you thought about yours. I think that's a really cool I mean, just like dropping the curtain and sharing.
Helen:If you are a coach or a creative or an artist and even a product person, showing vlogs about your coaching sessions, talking about, in today's session, I did such and such. Your creative process, you're an artist. Here's the type of canvases I like to work with and here's why. If you're make you have skin care, makeup, whatever, how here's how to use my products. I mean, this is like logical, almost almost inevitable vlogging.
Helen:Like, here's how to use the products, and here's why we packaged it the way we did because it's so much nicer to the feel of the the glass versus the thing, whatever. You know, you have to think of what the thing is and why you chose the things. You could vlog your workspace. I could talk about like how my office here is set up. You could vlog let's see, what else did I write down here?
Helen:Oh, your let's say your fitness, like what's your fitness routine and then how do you advise your clients? You can vlog I mean, of course, I'm gonna use h two pro, the protein water, as an example because she now can vlog how she decided to come up with this protein water, what her what was her process for getting it to market? It might be interesting to someone who's maybe building a business, needs some inspiration, know wants to understand the process. I'm not saying you have to give away your company secrets because, you know, a lot of people feel I don't wanna say the word proprietary because that doesn't sound like the right word, but they just feel that they shouldn't give away all their quotes, Frayed secrets for free. And I get that.
Helen:I absolutely get that. And the engagement comes from you and what you're doing, not necessarily your production value. Although, I'm gonna still say, if you are a fitness person and you're, you know, a distance from your phone when you're recording, please get a microphone. This is like basic one zero one. Does it have to be polished and well lit in a fancy studio?
Helen:No. It can be right in your house, the spot where you work out. But little things you can do to increase your quality would be beneficial because it's gonna make you seem more legit. If especially if you're looking to get brands to wake up and notice. They're gonna hear someone shouting at the camera and they're gonna think, oh, she's a beginner.
Helen:Right? These are the type of things that we notice are beginners. I can't believe I just said right, but I mean it. Like, I want you to agree with me. You will look like a beginner if you are shouting at your phone, for example.
Helen:So it's a good idea to know the certain basics that I'm helping creators with in my program to make sure they look legit and that they look like they are quality creators. Because all of them are interested in monetizing and potentially working with brands, leveling up, potentially starting their own businesses, and all of that comes from you not looking like an amateur. But that doesn't mean your vlog has to be filmically, you know, with a cinematic lens. I don't even put a microphone on when I'm vlogging because I'm usually out in the street. Out in the street, I sound like I'm a like a stray.
Helen:When I'm walking around New York and I'm vlogging and I'm holding up my phone like this and I'm doing it, I don't have a microphone because it's pretty close to me. So and then I can use that noise reduction thing that I did a tutorial on to to reduce the city noise and that if I'm near the water, the water noise. So you can there's tips and tricks that I teach that can help you so that you don't have to think that you're walking around the New York City with a microphone like this, like carrying my podcasting microphone around. That's a look. That's a vibe.
Helen:I could surely do that for fun. But it's not how I roll. When I'm vlogging, I'm picking up my phone quickly, and I'm showing people where I am. Alright. So the difference between quality and still being raw enough is can be curated carefully.
Helen:If if I'm in my space and I'm here, I'm using a microphone. If I'm out there and I'm bopping around, I'm not. I'm not saying you have to then carry a microphone with you everywhere, but a lot of people do, and that's not a bad thing. I actually I hats off to them. I should do that more.
Helen:But I pick and choose my quality things just like you're gonna pick and choose your quality things. Pick and choose the things that you care about and you want to make sure your qual your content is leveled up too. And then other things, let it go. Make it real. Like, we're in the moment.
Helen:The camera's a little shaky. Okay. You don't have a a stabilizer, and your hand's a little shaky. Try and practice being a little more steady, but don't worry about it so much. I always say, like, pick what you're gonna worry about.
Helen:Pick what you're gonna be a stickler about, and let the other things just roll. Because the it's really about what you're doing, not how if it looks slick like a a professional videographer shot it. So funny. One of my studio members, Alicia, Alicia with an a, she did a beautiful vlog about and she's done a couple of them, actually, about places in Ecuador. And that one was a a dog shelter that this woman had set up for taking in the stray dogs and making sure that they were healthy.
Helen:And it was just a beautiful vlog. It was a beautiful story. And the way she told it and what she learned in the studio about vlogging that helped her maybe level it up a little more. I said it almost looks professional, I think. You know?
Helen:So it's not hard to learn, and I I'm teaching it every single week, especially this month. We're leaning on it. Okay. So that's some of the things that I wanted to talk about about how to use vlogs in your niche. But my main thing is just to say to you is that be efficient about it and think, okay.
Helen:I'm already doing the work. So now just take the extra step and put the camera on the tripod and film it. So you're doing the work. I should probably do it right now. I should put this other camera up here and film myself recording the podcast, which would be really funny.
Helen:You know, I'm gonna do it just for shits and giggles. Hold on. We're gonna put the camera up here. I'm the podcast. Okay.
Helen:And this is me recording the podcast. I have the whole thing set up. Now I'm doing a little documentary behind the scenes. There's my camera. I have my notes, and here I am in my NYX my NYX gear.
Helen:Go, NYX. And I'm oh, I just tipped the tripod over. And that's how it goes. You just pick up your phone, and you think, now's the time. I'm just gonna record something.
Helen:This podcast for this other camera is about vlogging, and I'm teaching how quick and easy it is for you to just pick up your camera when you're doing something, some of your daily routine, things that you do for your business. Just pick up the camera, set it up, and film it just like I'm doing right now. Alright. Cut. So in this case, in a way, you become the product.
Helen:You are your own content, which is kinda cool. Instead of your product being the content or your coaching and you would you know, you're you're you're becoming the product yourself, which is is so cool. And that's when we have that complete integration of you as a person, you as whatever you are for your business, it just really changes the game. And people will make a connection. And they'll feel like they are got a little window into what you do.
Helen:I don't know. Show how you do things. Don't just tell people buy this, buy this, this is why you're gonna like this. You know, think about stepping outside of that a little bit and be more authentic about it. I gotta say that word.
Helen:Just by being you, you will be authentic. Trust me. It just takes takes some time to get your your brain in that in that space. Okay. Lastly, the challenge for this week is pick a thing that you are doing this week and film it.
Helen:Pick something that you wouldn't normally film. Like, I would not normally film the podcast. I don't know why. I never really think about it. I just gotta get it done, and I know what I have to talk about every week.
Helen:I never think to film it. So I just did my own challenge. I popped my camera up here on the tripod, and I filmed it. I think we're gonna really find that vlogging in general could be game changing. And I did a tutorial today, which is probably released by the time you're seeing this podcast, about a new feature on TikTok called highlights, where you can put things in a highlight at the top of your page and and it pins it there.
Helen:I am challenging myself with creating an intentional highlight about my Creator Studio. I'm saying it here and now because I hope by the time that you are listening to this, I have the highlight up there. But that is my goal. I'm gonna make some stories about the studio. I'm just gonna post them.
Helen:And then once they are up there, I'm gonna add them all to a highlight. And then I'm gonna have a place where some people can go click. Oh, let's see what her studio is about. And they're gonna see my stories talking about it. So I'm challenging myself with vlogging my own thing, vlogging my own brand over here.
Helen:I don't you know, I vlog about things in the city. I vlog about places I go. I go to a wedding or a bridal shower. I do a vlog for those people. I do that.
Helen:Okay? I need to take my own challenge on myself and vlog about my program because I'm teaching everyone else how to do it, and now I can talk about how I'm doing that myself for the members. So that's my challenge. Now what's your challenge? You're gonna think of something that you're gonna do this week, and you're gonna vlog about it.
Helen:What is it gonna be? Drop it in the comments, reply to the newsletter, or tell me in the studio. See you next week.