How to Step Up Your Marketing by Batching the Work
I’ve been choosing ‘themes’ for the marketing of the month during the month before. In November the theme ‘What did I promise myself I would do in 2019 that I haven’t done yet and can I do those things in December 2019?’ emerged. I realized it feels much better to experiment with doing these things in December than making a bunch of resolutions in January that I’ll just feel guilty about.
So far, I have been able to complete what I said I would do. Amazing how the year running out motivated me. Plus I’ve advised other people to do the things I promised myself I would do. You know—"Take my advice…but I’m not using it." Taking my own advice seemed like a good idea.
One of the promises I made to myself this year was that I would do one or two videos a week to share on social media. I can confirm with 100% certainty I did not keep this promise.
What was this thing called batching, and would it help me?
I decided the way to break through the procrastination and fear was to shoot a bunch of videos in one sitting, effectively batching the work into chunks. Would that be easier?
Surprise! It was.
Here are the steps I took when batching my video work. You can take them, too.
- Pick a theme.
- Outline what you want to say. Writing it helped me remember it when the camera was on.
- Practice a few times, recording yourself.
- If you can stand it, review your practice recordings and learn from what you didn’t like.
- Shoot the video. Keep it under three minutes unless you’re the Dalai Lama.
- Upload it somewhere (YouTube, DropBox, Vimeo, Google Drive, etc.)
- Change your location and your shirt.
- Repeat.
I shot 4 videos in one sitting. I’m going to upload them to Vimeo next, get the links, then insert the links into newsletters and blog posts.
Don't get bogged down in the details
I am not going to look at the videos. In this case perfect is the enemy of DONE. I know they aren’t horrible since I recorded them myself and was watching. But they aren’t perfect. They do have ahs and ums, and my hair might be sticking up in the back. But the message is there. Right now, that’s all I can let myself care about.
As I do more video batches (now I know how much easier they are, I will), I’ll get more exacting about the process.
Will batching help you with your marketing efforts?
What are you procrastinating? Could doing the work in batches make it more manageable? (If you'd like to learn more about batching, I found this short article informative.) And, could you start doing any of it now, and be on a roll by January?
If you need to brainstorm, book a 15-minute chat with me. Two heads are better than one in this game.