Last week I mentioned my first ever course, online marketing for yoga teachers - and its demise, sadly.

Still, this week I realised I have been creating online courses for now shy of 9 years.

I started with my ex boyfriend's journo microphone AND a setof Keynote slides recorded somehow with a 3rd party screen recording tool on my old laptop with worn-out keys.

The lessons were long, slides aplenty, and the font choices were questionable. 25+ courses later (of my own) and a far share of client courses along the line, and yet in the last 3 weeks I learned more about the future of educational video content thatn probably I have in the past (almost) decade.

You may be wondering, dear reader.

Well, I was accepted as a Skillshare teacher and I started working with a 1:1 coach on our first ever class, Introduction to positive impact marketing.

Fab Giovanetti ✌ @fabgiovanetti When you work 3 weeks on something and realise it comes down to 40 minutes of content! Creating video content is teaching me a lot about becoming a student once again. I learned SO MUCH thanks to our new Skillshare @altmarkschool class and working with a coach! pic.twitter.com/6t9bP9hMOv March 7th 2023 0 Retweets 0 Likes

Let's dive into some of the key takeaways.

In summary

• Use pattern-interrupts and keep audience attention every 8 seconds to maintain engagement.
• Incorporate consistent branding which includes the choice of background colours, T-shirts, mockups, video elements and background music.
• Start with what you have and strive to improve one thing at a time to build upon existing work.
• Leverage free tools such as CapCut, Pexels and Shots.so for visuals.

From my Notion Dashboard

You can create yours here!

• How haveyou consumed news recently? Honestly, I struggle most days. I am definitely obsessed with The Pudding. Think about it as a digital publication that explains ideas in a easy and digestible way.
• This invaluable guide for effective delegation covers expectations, feedback, retrospectives and removing ambiguity.
• Are you feeling overwhelmed by your email inbox? Check out Meco and created your unique newsletter Zen home built for mindful reading while giving your inbox space to breathe.

Three ways you can make your video content more engaging

When, in doubt switch it up.

No matter how engaging I thought the video was, my coach always pushed me to add more pattern-interrupts in the form of the role, stock videos, changes in camera angle.

Steph told me recently that we need to regain the watches attention every eight seconds.

Not 30, not 45. Eight seconds.

Funny enough rewatching my videos for Skillshare after I implemented this suggestion from my coach I realise how naturally I was also more engaged by doing that.

Create consistency with your branding.

A few minor changes that made all the difference were the choice of background colours which are achieved with some coloured lights I bought on Amazon, the branded T-shirt that I wear, the image mockups, the video glitch elements and also the background music is consistent throughout each video.

The choice of also having always an introduction of my talking head for each video to frame, the lesson was really important.

Believe it or not. All of this is part of your branding.

Start with what you have, and improve one thing every time.

It's only fair to also point out how by looking at all of these points above, it can you feel like there are so many things for you to do that it doesn't even feel worth it to get started

At least until you have everything you need to make it look professional.

I recently watched a great video on YouTube with 15 minutes of suggestions from creators and (sounds like a cliche) but MrBeast's snippet really spoke to me.

Especially on platforms like YouTube consistency is the name of the game.

So even if you start with a shitty first draft (something our certification students hear me saying all the time) if you can improve one single thing each time you release a new video or a new piece of content then you are gonna get 10 times better by the time you have created 100 of them.

That puts in perspective that a lot of what we see as a final result for a lot of creators and a lot of course teachers is really the sum of 100 shitty first drafts that just got one step better every time.

Bonus: my favourite (free or almost) tools

I used CapCut on desktop to guide me with replicating the vibe of each lesson (cannot believe it’s free for you to use the tool), Pexels for stock videos and Shots.so for mockups to create a cohesive feel. I shot my videos with my iPhone and used Riverside (only tool that is not free) to record, but you could easily use Loom.

Appreciation corner

Appreciation post IWD edition.

I love spreading the love about incredible women in my network. This week I am doing a roundup of 5 of my favourite pros out there that you should follow on Twitter STAT.

Starting with a well-known marketer we all love...

Katelyn Bourgoin @KateBour Monday motivation: If a marketer says something “doesn’t work” all that means it is that it didn’t work *for them* Ignore the hype Find what works with your audience and double-down March 6th 2023 7 Retweets 91 Likes

• Katelyn because, well, buyer psychology @KateBour ​
• Frances, aka THE Notion queen @thenotionbar ​
• Finola with her content 'N amazing human touch @FinolaHoward ​
• Christine - the only person who loves GIFs as much as I do @cgritmon
• Sue-Jan - recently came across her content at @niftyassistance and it's gold

Fab-ulous weekly highlights

1. We released a new cohort of our 3-day intensive positive impact marketing experience. It's a student-favourite cohort, so we thought we'd bring it back in a condensed form with 3 days of workshops (and optional hot seats to present your brand bible at the end). Super early bird is live and spots are limited, so check it out here.​
2. New podcast episode is a juicy one, as we explore everything AI with Tony Lewis. Tony shares the simplest way to get better answers out of your prompts, and creative ways to use ChatGPT without relying on it as a marketer. I may be biased, but it's worth a listen!

Well, that was a journey wasn't it? If you are on Skillshare, check out our Introduction to positive impact marketing. If you are not, do not fret, you can snag a month free here.​

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P.S. if you are looking for more support, these are 3 ways I can help…

1. Learn how to market with purpose and access weekly tactics here.
2. Book a power hour session and get unstuck here.
3. Reclaim time to focus your energy where it matters here.

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