Hello again; This time, I’m not writing to tell you about a new or used ride. And I’m not writing to share a sale or pending one. Instead I’m writing to tell you about my progress at recording videos.
My Big Dream
To start with I thought I should tell you why I want to record videos. It has to do with a dream I have had for a while now. You see one of the biggest problems I have with helping people sell their equipment is the lack of quality photos and or videos. And this is true of both New and Used equipment. So, my plan is to visit my clients at their home or winter quarters or at events they are working. I want to work with them to arrange having their items set up so proper photos and videos can be taken. I would also interview the owners and their key employees. And I would round this out with trips to sites of local interest. In addition to the owners of equipment there would also be shows spotlighting manufacturers, vendors, and industry leaders. And if time permits there would also be visits to well known amusement based businesses like amusement parks, circuses, museums, etc. i believe the show could be helpful in educating people about the amusement industry as well as portray it to the public in a better light. And most importantly I believe it would help sell the equipment people have entrusted to me.
My First Step
My first step was to figure out how to use the built in camera on my laptop. I am almost totally blind, so my primary concern was how to set the camera so my face would appear in the middle of the screen. My good friend Robin Hallett helped me with that. She is one of my closest friends and one of the few people I shared this dream with early on. She offered to talk with me via skype and help me figure out how to place the computer’s monitor so i would know roughly where to set it when I needed to record a video. She helped me figure out the settings for when I was sitting down or lying down. She also helped me figure out how to use the call recording software. This was the end of June. So, now I thought I was ready to record my first video.
Getting The Volume Right
So, I wrote myself a script and prepared to record my first video. I sat down and gave it a try. Only to find that when I played it back that I could hardly hear my own voice. I tried to raise the volume but Quick Time and Imovie are not the most accessible programs for a blind user. I asked on the email list for blind Mac users with no success. I discussed it with my brother Patrick, and he told me the best answer would be to wait until I could purchase a quality headset microphone. Since by this time it was already thanksgiving, I told the family I wanted one for Christmas. And sure enough it was there Christmas morning. So, now I can finally get started.
My First Video
And on December 27th I recorded my first video. It was a Christmas message. I will include the link to it below, but I should warn you that I recorded it lying down. I did this because my bedroom is the only place I can count on having quiet and privacy. I love my family, but like all real families we are sometimes loud noisy and messy. But I didn’t figure my viewers would want to see that. If you can get past the weird camera angle, I think it is a very good first try. And I’m going to leave it up so people can see where I started and so I can always look back at the beginning. Well, enough stalling, here it is.
I hope you will leave comments on this one and my future videos.
My Second Video
I received a few helpful comments on my first video. My friends told me to sit up for future videos. They also suggested adding photos and links. I don’t yet know how to add links or images, but I did record my second video sitting up. And I think I am making some good progress. This second video tells people a little about myself, the website, standard commission fees, and introduces a special offer for people wanting to sell their equipment on the site. I will explain the offer in the next section. But I want you to check out the video first. At least I hope you will. I am looking forward to hearing what you think of the video, my progress, and the offer itself. The video can be seen here.
The Offer
The point of making the videos was to get some practice being in front of the camera. In high school i had some problems with stage fright. I was horrible when I had to do anything solo. Now that I know I can make videos, the question is how to make my dream come true. And as it is with a lot of things the issue is money. The question is how to fund the show. I had a good year. I made more sales than ever before, but I still haven’t generated enough money to go out on the road. So, here is the offer. If someone would help with the costs of recording the first show, then I would be willing to take half my usual commission or charge the expenses back against future sales. Obviously, this would only interest someone who has several items for sale and who could also use the publicity. I believe I would need a driver who owns or has use of a car, someone to operate the camera and assist with editing; and the usual transportation and living expenses. I should mention that I have travelled with a small family carnival, so I’m not looking to live like a rock star. Please feel free to call or text me at 979-215-1770. Or you can email me at maxwell@midwaymarketplace.com with any questions or just to discuss the idea further.
I hope you enjoy the post and the videos included with it. If you do, then please leave me a comment either on youtube, the blog, or both. I promise to reply promptly to all of them. Your comments on the blog do get you back links to your website, twitter profile, and most recent post if you are also a blogger. And I really hope you share this post with your friends and family. I think the offer is a good opportunity for the right person or company, but it is only good if it gets to someone who sees the possibilities.
Thanks for taking the time to read my posts. I know everyone is busy and you have lots of other people calling for your attention. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make these posts better or easier to read. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks and take care out there, Max
Hi Max
For the first 2 videos you have made they have turned out very well. My first and only one was pretty bad. Your lighting looks great and the sound comes through just find.
With your account of how your year has gone it seems like you are doing very well. With being a very unique industry I am sure helps, not too much competition and you seem to be a much needed service for those in the amusement business.
Wishing you much success in 2014.
Mary
Mary Stephenson recently posted…Just Another Day
Hi mary; Thanks so much for taking the time to watch the videos, read the post, and leave a generous comment. If i did well its because I had lots of help. Robin Hallett helped me figure out how to place the camera, and great friends like you encouraged me to go for it and chase the big dreams. I’m sure your video wasn’t that bad. We all think our own work is worse than it is. Even I fell pray to a negative nelly who almost talked me into taking my first video down until some good friends told me better. So, you know my big dream for 2014, what is yours? thanks again and take care my friend. xoxo max
My big dream for 2014….hmm. Well, I shall continue to study psychology and do some posts. But the one I so wish is that I can fix the house up and move before the year is over. Shall have to wait and see on that. Spent sometime last year throwing stuff out and that makes room for the change…at least I hope.
Take care and have a wonderful week.
Mary
Mary Stephenson recently posted…Just Another Day
Hi Mary; Well, I for one am looking forward to more of your insightful posts. And your goal of the new home sounds great. I’m glad to hear you have already made progress. Sometimes the big goals take a long time and sometimes we never achieve them but we can be proud of ourselves as long as we continue to take steps towards the goal. have a blessed 2014, max
Hi Max – congratulations on your first two videos. I think you come across very well – very relaxed and natural, and easy to listen to. The camera angle is definitely better on the second one. It’s a great offer you’re making, and I hope someone comes forward to take you up on it.
Here’s wishing you every success in the months ahead 🙂
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Hi Sue; You are so sweet. I’m glad to hear the first two videos came out so good and that I come across so well in them. Glad you like the sound of my voice. and appearing natural sounds like a high complement. I know they can be better especially if i can get someone to operate th camera so the image is focused more closely on my face. I also need to add photos and links and have been asking around the web for pointers on how to do that. I’m hoping one of my friends in the blogging world will help me out once again. smile So far people agree that it is a good offer. I don’t know if it will be good enough, but I do know some of the more established companies would charge their clients for their time and expenses to do a video presentation that is if they thought about offering one in the first place. Thanks again for your encouragement and take care my friend, max
I think it’s great that you’re doing videos. As you know I have already offered my suggestions and I so look forward to what you do next. I know this will be a great year for you Max. 🙂
Susan Cooper recently posted…Bucket List: Story
hi susan; Thanks for checking out both the videos. Yes you have given me som good suggestions. I think I managed one of them by recording the second video sitting up. And I have reached out to the net to ask for help with your other suggestions. I want the videos to be as powerful and effective as possible. After all the goal is to build up the site and promote the equipment for sale. I believe this year will be exciting for me, you, and my other great friends in the blogging community. Feel free to send me more suggestions. My next thing is to hopefully get someone to do an interview via Skype or in person as the text interview I did last month got such great response. And if no one takes me up on my offer in the post then eventually I will make that sale or find that sponsor that allows me to start the youtube show i want. So, what is your big dream for 2014 and beyond? Take care sweety, max
I know you’ll find a way to make it work Max. That I have no doubt.
What are my big dreams for 2014? Gosh, to have a break-even website and publish two more books. :-), Susan
Susan Cooper recently posted…Slow Cooker Chicken Stock: Recipe
Hi susan; Thanks for having confidence in me. It means a lot. I wil do my best not to let you or myself down. And I think you will easily do better than break even on the blog. And I’ll be looking forward to your next book. Have a blessed 2014, max
Hi Max – I think it is great that you have two videos under your belt. You did just fine. The great thing about videos is that it will help with SEO, which in the long run will bring you more business.
I would put your question of getting help out there to your Linkedin groups. When I was looking for web developer I joined a web developing group. I am sure there are video groups.
Hope it works for you. Have a Happy Healthy New Year
Arleen recently posted…Super Bowl Advertising: You Don’t Need a Commercial Just Some Creativity
Hi Arleen; Thanks so much for checking out my videos. Being a blind blogger I am always concerned about how well something comes across visually. I hope th videos do help with SEO. I need to find out how to add links though. putting my website url in the description doesn’t seem to be doing it. But it is all a learning process. And I don’t know why I didn’t think of using linked in groups. After all that is where i have met a lot of great bloggrs and exchanged posts with them. I will definitely do that. Thanks so much for that reminder. I hope the videos work for me too. I have invested a lot of thought time and energy into them. I understand that there is value in just doing some things to prove to yourself that you can, but in this case; videos aren’t like running a marathon or climbing a mountain. Its all about whether or not it helps with my business. Thanks so much for all your help and encouragement. Take care my friend, max
Hi Max,
Congratulations on your first videos. You can sing pretty well. Sorry I didn’t come see this earlier.
By the way, I don’t know if you know this, but you en embed your video in your content on your post, unless you purposely chose to only include the link.
I understand that you might not be able to do this as well because of your limited vision. But if you need help with this, you can let me know.
Very happy new year to you!
Sylviane Nuccio recently posted…7 Tips To Keep Those Goals And Resolutions Once For All
Hi Sylviane; I’m so glad you liked it. When i was a kid i got teased over my singing because i had limited vision and mistakenly thought the singers on tv didn’t move their lips. so i’ve been a little self conscious about it over the years. Don’t know why i thought recording the video was the big news heck singing in public is a big step too. Thanks for reminding me. And I did it because i noticed every other podcast has music and i couldn’t think of an easy way to include some. Maybe I should make recording my own opening a goal too i mean a more professional one that could be part of every video. I’m open to suggestions. And I didn’t embed the video because sometimes embedded videos don’t load. Or let’s say that sometimes I copy and paste the code and do everything right but when some people click on the video they get the html code instead of the movie. The other problem is there is no way that I know of to have a video auto play when it has been embedded. I would appreciate your help changing this as embedding is supposed to be what they call best practices. Thanks for being such a good friend and take care, max
Hi Max,
For you to be able to achieve this and upload the two videos; I’m now confident that I can do the same.
Honestly, I have never created a video before and the fear of starting is drawing back.
The two videos are quite good, and the suggestions offered by sylvianne by embedding the videos on your blog will be an added advantage in increasing engagement and at the same time help reduce bounce rate.
Do have a nice day, and I wish you a prosperous new year.
James recently posted…Modern SEO: The end of social bookmarking websites
Hi james; Thanks for your kind words. I had a lot of help and encouragement from other bloggers. I hope I have inspired you. That would b so cool. I’m sure you can do it. Just write down some thoughts, find a quiet place, turn on the camera, and go for it. I just tried embedding the links. I can’t tell where they are or if they are still there. Its one of the fun things about using a computer with speech. Please check the post and let me know if any videos are there now. Would hate to lose people because I did it wrong and didn’t know about it. Send me the link to your youtube page so i can subscribe to you when you start doing videos. take care my new friend, max
Hi Max,
I’m impressed with all you’ve accomplished thus far, especially since you’re near blind! Well done!
I agree with the other comments, the second video angle was much better. I like that you sing, it sets the video apart and makes it personable. In the future, I’d recommend that you put the camera up even higher so you can look straight at it or even look up at it a little. You may be interested in learning from Gary Vaynerchuk tv.winelibrary.com. He’s been creating video wine reviews for several years and has archives available for many of the videos he made. I’m familiar with making videos with imovie, so if you ever want to bounce ideas around about that, let me know. skype name: jen.eitzen.
Jen Weaver recently posted…My Husband Doesn’t Make Me Happy
Hi Jen; So glad you liked the videos. And I hadn’t thought that singing would make my videos unique, but now that you mention it; I don’t know of any other podcasters who open with them singing. So, I will keep that up. And thanks to the complements I’ve gotten I will have more confidence in my voice next time. Its all a learning experience. I appreciate your kind offer to help and I will send you a connection request on Skype. I’m actually recording in quick time because i find it much simpler. That’s my problem with iMovie, audacity, sound flower, etc. They are all too big for me. I eventually want to find someone to work my video camera or get a desk so the laptop camera sits up higher. be sure and send me the link to your youtube feed. Thanks again and take care my new friend, max
Hi Max,
So as you know I watched your videos and then we talked via email but you did a wonderful job for these being your first.
I agree, sitting up is much better because we get to see you. I heard you perfectly and you have a very nice voice my friend. Thanks for the song intro!
Adding pictures or links isn’t as difficult as it sounds and I’m not sure if your brother can help you with the software or not. I know with Windows comes a free program called Windows Movie Maker and I’m pretty sure the Mac has one as well. They have some pretty decent instructions with the new version so adding those both will probably work well for you.
I’m excited for what this year will bring Max because look how far you’ve already come. You made more sales last year then ever before and your blog is getting better, you’re getting more traffic, the advertising will appear, you’ll get to do your videos and it’s just up from here my friend.
Congratulations on your accomplishments Max, I’m so very proud of you.
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted…The Good, The Bad And The New Year
Hi Adrienne; I’m glad you liked the video and surprisingly people like my singing too. I was just doing it because i wanted some music and singing was easier than anything else i could think of. And I imagine it is a good feeling to know you had a roll in all this good stuff. You have been one of my biggest cheer leaders along the way. Thanks to your encouragement i became more active in the blogging community and that lead to even more help. Ashley Faulkes has been helping whip the website into shape. And jen Weaver offered to help me figure out some of the iMovie stuff. she sent me her Skype info and I plan to get together with her. I may even decide to take one of those apple one to one courses on video. You mentioned that adding photos and links probably isn’t as hard as it sounds. You are probably right. Forever I couldn’t figure out how to change my links drop down menu to old style links. Ashley showed me his technique and it turned out to be very simple just not something widely known. I’m hoping that it will be the same with adding extras to the videos. And all the traffic and rankings increases are a direct result of blog commenting post sharing and of course adding comment love pro. some of the best money i ever spent. I agree with you I have come so far and the rest will happen more sales better commissions ad revenue more interviews and of course the videos. I now have a second idea for a show we would find an old run down attraction and show people the renewal process all the way hopefully to a sale kind of like flip this house carnival style. haha well this is a very long comment. Just know I love and appreciate you. Take care, max
I love making videos, but it’s hard to find the time. Windows comes with a great video editor that is pretty straight forward to use. You should check it out. Does your computer have a video camera on it? You might be able to record yourself sitting down in front of it that way. The angle would be good too.
Jeri recently posted…JeriWB Blog Resolutions 2014
Hi Jeri; So glad you stopped by. I use a mac and as a blind computer user that means using their screen reader called voiceover. Its pretty good at helping me use most software, but iMovie and quick time are challenging for me. I wish there was something simpler for the mac. I’ve even thought of installing boot camp or fusion so i could run windows on my mac but that would involve also purchasing an expensive 3rd party screen reading program. I use the camera built in to my mac. I also have a regular video camera but don’t have anyone readily available to help me record them but i am looking and hope i will be blessed to meet such a person soon. Thanks again and take care, max
YouTube does offer a few editing features. I’ve not used them, but from what I’ve glanced out, they’re tools look pretty straightforward as well.
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Hi Jeri; Which tools are you referring to? The bottom line with all of this stuff is learning how to use the various features with a computer using speech. I am learning all the time, but there are still a lot of things that allude or confuse me. thanks for trying to help. Take care, max
When you go into your video manager on YouTube, look for “Creation Tools.” That is where the audio library and video editor are located.
thanks Jeri; I’ll have to check that section out. sometime tomorrow I’ll let you know what i found there. right now the two things I want to learn about as it applies to video is how to add photos or links. thanks so much, max
Good for you for jumping in to the videos, Max! I do agree that the sound is great! Way better than I’ve done in any of my videos. The lighting is also great as well. My family is also loud and I’ve had to rerecord videos over and over! Glad you had a place to record that didn’t require you to do that.
Also, I’m still amazed about the weight loss. It’s wonderful that you are so healthy now!
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Hi Carla; Thanks for the kind words. It isn’t as hard as before the surgery but it still takes a regular attention to diet exercise and positive motivation. But it helps that so many people have followed my progress and cheered me on. Basically at this point i just don’t want to disappoint anyone including myself. and now that i’m healthier i have more confidence which is required for doing videos and whatever else comes along. I hope to travel the world and start a youtube show based on the amusement industry; and I couldn’t do that at 500 pounds. Thanks so much and take care, max
Well I’ve already seen the out come to this, the benefit of being late. I did want to see how you started so came back to take a look. Great work Max. Videos are tough and the part that people usually forget in their haste to get the images just right is the sound. Yours is excellent, no weird ambient noises, no echo, just crisp sound and I’m listening with my headphones. Did you know that sound is more likely to turn people off of a video than the visuals? Nicely done.
Debra Yearwood recently posted…Making A Profit With Charity – Cause Marketing
Hi Debra; Thanks for this comment. I was hoping more people would comment on the process from the first two videos to the first show video. And I didn’t know this about bad audio turning more people off than poor video. I just know what I like and don’t like. I’m almost totally blind, so I hate sites where the audio is two loud, has echoes, or has lots of interruptions and extraneous noise. So, I waited until i could get the audio right before doing my first video. I then made sure to lock the door and record late in the evening so there wouldn’t be interruptions. And even though the sound was good in the first video I have made it a habit to do a test recording and make sure the audio is set right before starting the next video. I do think its funny that only a couple of people mentioned that my head is out of center in the calliope corner episode. smile I just wish I had lined up more stuff so i wouldn’t have to go a week without a second video. Just like my goal of two blog posts a week which I’m behind on because of trying to get the videos going I want to do at least one show a week, and I’d like to eventually get to about an hour per show. By the way as a professional blogger I wanted your opinion on how i handled the video in the post. Since the goal is to sell equipment, I’m thinking giving them the option of watching the whole show or just watching the parts they think will be relevant to them was the way to go. It may mean fewer views of the whole video, but I thought it was best for my purposes. Let me know what you think. Thanks so much and take care, max
The options are good Max. I find that with social media the more options you give the better. If you notice when Susan from “Finding Our Way Now” posts a video, she also gives us the option of reading the post. There have been times when I had just a few minutes to look at a blog but could not listen to a video because of where I was. Without the option, I couldn’t leave a comment or couldn’t take the time to learn. If your visitors are on their cell phones in a public setting like a waiting room and just want to have a peek, they should have the option.
Debra Yearwood recently posted…Making A Profit With Charity – Cause Marketing
thanks debra; it never hurts to get a second opinion. I was pleased to notice that the whole video has gotten twice as many views as the carousel even if most people didn’t watch the whole thing. take care, max
Hi ashley; thanks for the track backs. before this week i had never got one, now i’ve had five counting these three from you. and thanks for watching my videos too. people should check out your site especially the podcast since you will be featuring me on it. take care, max