The engine: your daily talking videos

Your show needs a steady supply of you talking: what you think, what happened today, what you are working on. We call it yapping. Short videos of you talking straight to the camera, filmed at home and in the car.

It is the engine for three reasons:

• It gives you something to post every day without a crew.
• It trains you to talk on camera, which makes every shoot easier.
• Viewers who watch you talk start to feel they know you. That feeling is what turns into buying.

Set up three places once, then film without thinking about it.

• The car. A phone mount on the dash or window at eye level, facing you. Park somewhere safe. Never film while driving.
• Home. A chair facing a window, or one key light at a 45 degree angle. A small clip-on mic. A plain or tidy background.
• On the move. A handheld grip or small gimbal and a wireless mic.

Buy the mic first. People forgive a soft picture. They leave when they cannot hear you.

Weeks 1 and 2. Answer one question a day on camera. Short, honest, one take. For example: What did you get wrong when you started? What do people always ask you? What would you tell yourself five years ago?

Weeks 3 and 4. Tell one story a day in five steps:

1. Where I was.
2. What went wrong.
3. What I tried.
4. What worked.
5. What it means for you.

By week 4 you will have forty clips and you will be comfortable on camera. That is when the real shoots start to look good.

Post every day on the two apps your customers use. Each clip gets one line on screen and one question in the caption.

Follow the path every time: the clip makes people curious, the episode shows the work, your site tells your story, and your offer gives them a way in.

Count three numbers each week: clips posted, people who visited your site, people who took your free offer. Raise the one that is lowest.