Today on the podcast we are continuing our conversation about planning and executing a course for Skillshare or another online teaching platform.

I know I’ve talked about online classes, but I want to reiterate how useful getting started in creating online course content is going to be for your creative small business. Not only is the process of putting together an online course helpful in solidifying your understanding. But it positions you as an authority. And having as many different sources of passive income as you can is never a bad thing.

So let’s talk planning - once you’ve picked your online course topic, let’s get to planning. When planning, think of the goal in mind: what do you want your student to walk away with? Think of planning your course in chapters, this will allow you to break down your content into bite sized pieces that your students can watch chapter by chapter or if they choose, all the way through.

For me and the course that I’m working on, my end goal is to give creative small business owners an overview on getting started with video and that includes three sections: first, strategies for planning and brainstorming video content, second, the equipment that I love, and finally, how to edit and share your video content. I’ll wrap up everything by giving ways that you can use all that you’ve learned in the class and put it into actionable steps.

In each of your main video lessons, try to include the following: (1) Introduce what you’ll be covering and define key concepts up front. (2) Demonstrate what you’ll be creating or doing in the lesson. (3) Share personal tips, tricks and hacks. (4) Recap key takeaways from the lesson. (6) Share what students should do or consider at the end of this lesson before moving on and let them know what the next lesson will cover.

Once I have that framework, I need to start planning out how the content is going to be delivered. For longer form videos, it will be crucial to mix up camera angles and video deliverables. You’ll want to have a couple of the following:

Today we are going to be talking about creating a course for Skillshare (try Skillshare free for 30 days, here). I’m going to be walking you through brainstorming and planning your first (or next online class).

Before we dive into today’s episode, I want to ask you to consider a question, what are your hesitations when it comes to creating online courses within your creative small business? Are you afraid that someone will take your classes and copy your business? Are you intimidated by creating all of that content? Do you feel like you’re not quite the expert on this topic and who would want to learn from you? I’m guessing that some (or all) have crossed your mind, because they’ve crossed my mind, too.

So, I would encourage you to take this week, consider these points and figure out a topic that you can teach.

When you find your topic, I hope you’ll drop me a line.

Also, I wanted to let you know about my mailing list, when you sign up (linked here), in addition to getting a weekly email from me, you’ll receive a PDF that outlines all of the things that I wish I had done differently when starting my custom art business.

Today we are going to be talking about all of the equipment and software that I use for video in my creative small business.

Like I mentioned on last week’s episode, I am still a beginner and teaching myself through YouTube and asking my friends who are more savvy in video than I am. So I’m excited to pass all of the knowledge along to all of you. In fact, I’m so thrilled with the compilation of this information - that it has inspired me to create a Skillshare class turning these two podcast episodes into a short class on using video in your creative small business. If you’re not familiar with Skillshare, here is a link for a free 30 days.

I’m going to break this episode into two parts: beginner and intermediate.

The first part we are going to talk about all of the equipment and software that you can use with your phone.

You can do so much with your phone, the camera on it is super powerful and there are some really great apps so you don’t even have to touch your computer.

Let’s dive into equipment first. If you are wanting to add more video, you need to set yourself up for success - if it takes forever to rig your phone into position, you’re going to be way less inclined to hit record.

So I would recommend getting a ring light or even better the light that I love and use everyday  - Canvas’s desktop light it has a built-in bracket for your phone, perfect for catching those timelapse videos or holding your phone when you’re talking direct to camera. The light quality is great and the built-in bracket is perfect for those impromptu shoots.

I also have an adjustable iPhone stand that sits on my desk, it’s light, portable - it doesn’t have a light, but it’s great to bring over to my shipping area to record a quick video of packing orders or folding tea towels.

External microphone for your smartphone, I use a Rode mic - it plugs right into the charging port and captures crisp audio, much better than the ambient mic on my phone, which picks up everything.

BigVu 

Splice

Canva

Cantilever Tripod

DJI Pocket 2

Small tripod 1

Small tripod 2

Loom

External Computer Mic

Today we are going to be starting a series on all things video: how to plan your video content along with some ideas to, how to capture video and how to share it.

I have to be honest with you - I’m not an expert on video, but I have learned some things the last couple of years, taught myself via youtube and asked my video savvy friends. But the silver lining of not being a full blown expert is that I still have a beginner’s mindset, and know that there are different ways to achieve great video results and everything I am going to share with you is not going to be super technical.

First, I wanted to go over the two main ways that I use video in my creative small business: social media and teaching platforms. And with Instagram’s recent announcement of moving away from being known as a photo sharing app, and  leaning into entertainment and video, more like competitors TikTok and YouTube.

I know that announcement has ruffled some feathers and instagram users are speaking out about their feelings (whether positive or negative). But the half glass full person I am, thinks it’s a great time to really dive into video.

So, back to how I use video: first social media. And when I talk about social media, I’m going to be talking about Instagram today: it’s the platform that I have the most experience with. I do have a TikTok account, but haven’t really been super active in putting content on that platform, and the same goes for YouTube.

But all of these strategies that I’ll share today, as well as the equipment I’ll link to can help you with video on all platforms.

So let’s start with planning and strategy, because all of the fancy tools and software won’t help you much if you don’t get started with it!

And you might be saying, Maizie, I don’t want to be on camera. And I get it, but I really think video is going to be a great way for your audience to get to know you. Once you start gaining new followers and subscribers, most likely, you’re not going to be able to introduce yourself in-peron, but video is a great substitute.

And it’s like a lot of new things, it gets easier the more you do it. So I’m urging you to have a good attitude and an open mind.

So let’s start brainstorming about ways you can use video on your social media; here are some great ways to start:

Virginia Kerr 

Skillshare

Today’s topic - social media content pillars, or if you’re like me, and a student of Allie Martin’s Social Media Success Shortcut - your social media talking points. (Learn more about Allie's Shortcut, here). And since I’m starting the branch of Learn with Maizie - I thought it would be helpful to walk you through the social media talking points for this account. Allie Martin explains it in her class - the way you want to introduce yourself online.

I have really enjoyed crafting the message of Learn with Maizie and figuring out what I want to say and how I want to say it - social media talking points are a great way to craft that message. In today's episode I walk you through the different buckets that contain the different messages that I want to weave through my instagram. You want this approach on social media to be multifaceted and approachable, but also part of a strategy so you can stick to it and be consistent.

I would love to see you on Instagram or on our email list. 

Today on the podcast, we are continuing with some of my favorite business books for my fellow small business creatives. We are going to be talking about a couple different categories of books including business strategy and philosophy as well as mindset as well as a wild card :)

Today we are going to be talking about my favorite business books. And as I was planning this episode, I realized this will have to be a series, because I love business books and building my library.

Before we dive into some of my most recent favorites, I wanted to talk about a pitfall when it comes to business books that sometimes we can sometimes fall into. Sometimes we get into the habit of reading a lot and taking little or no action. I am speaking from experience - in the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, I would fall into this pattern - collecting the latest and greatest in non-fiction, have great ideas and intentions and then once I finish the book, all of those great ideas and intentions turn into overwhelm. It’s like reading a bunch of recipes and cookbooks without ever baking the cake!

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read business books - I think it just means that you have to be more intentional about how you’re reading them and how you’re implementing the information that you glean. 

As you know, I can’t say too many good things about my accountant, Amy Northard and her team. She is calm, knowledgeable, and so incredibly helpful and patient. I found her from a friend who had used her for her small business accounting and bookkeeping needs. I can’t wait to share more of the contractors that I work with to make this small business run.

https://amynorthardcpa.com/

If you follow along on Instagram, you’ll see that I just rolled out a new brand that my friend Hannah at Brackish Creative created for me. My existing logo (I can’t really call it a full blown brand since it was really just a logo) is going to be moved over for the time being to my Learn with Maizie side of the business until I build up a little more revenue on that side to get a proper rebrand.

https://brackishcreative.com/

Along with a new brand, I wanted to improve my website and the ordering process on Shopify and I knew that beyond swapping out logos and the colors, it was above my paygrade. I came across a company called R+R Creative through a class I am taking about building and launching an online course. I looked at their website and scheduled some time to chat about what I was thinking for my website. They sent me two recent projects that they completed that were two Shopify websites that were very similar industries to me, which was super encouraging since I felt like they understand the space my business is in. I’m super excited about getting started with them as I know they are going to knock it out of the park.

https://www.randrcreativeco.com/

Questions? Be sure to email me at [email protected]

Also, sign up for my small business email list, here.

Today we’re going to be talking about where your first hire or outsource should be in your business. This can be an intimidating thing to do, especially if you are working on a tight budget as many small businesses are when they are starting out.

Remember from last episode, I talked about ways to identify where you might want to hire: a pain point in running your business, lack of knowledge, something to give you an edge over competition, or mentor relationship.

Keeping those in mind, we need to get more information about your day to day - if you’re anything like me, you are going to be hesitant about committing to spending money. This is an exercise that I would encourage you to complete: first, you need to record the different tasks you complete on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Don’t worry, this is not going to be a super detailed list, we simply need a list that has a general task type along with an approximate time spent on each task. For instance, if you spend two hours re-ordering shipping supplies, packing up orders and heading to the post office for drop off, simply put packing orders, 2 hours on your list.

Once you have a couple of weeks recorded (I would aim for a full month), take the tasks with the time allotted, and divide them into three columns - love, hate, indifferent. The love column is most likely going to be parts of the business that made you start the business in the first place. The hate column is going to list tasks that you know need to be done but you struggle to get through - for me, it’s accounting. Tasks in this list can also be things that you would love to do but you don’t have the skill set or the time to learn the skill set to complete: for me, it’s creating a custom website - I would love to be able to edit the code in my Shopify website to create an awesome customer experience but I don’t have time to teach myself to code. And the indifferent are tasks that you complete without any strong feelings - for me, it’s packing and shipping, I kind of like the mindlessness of it, it gives my brain a break.

From here, you’re able to identify with real data who you want to reach out to for help. You might be asking me, where on earth do I start with finding help once I identify what I need help with? I’m so glad you asked! I have a couple of suggestions: first, use your network, do you know others who run small businesses? Ask them who they love for different services. If your small business network is still growing and you don’t have friends you can ask, facebook groups that are focused on small businesses or your industry are a great place to start, too.

Today kicks off a series about bringing on contractors and hiring out different jobs in your small business. Whether you’re just starting out, or several years into running our own business, this will always be something you’ll want to keep in mind. This episode will cover the people that you want to bring on early and develop a relationship as your business grows. For me - that was an accountant who took care of my taxes, and then my bookkeeping. I knew that the numbers side of my business was something that gave me lots of anxiety, especially when it came to taxes.

Who was (or will be) your first hire in your small business? Drop me a line at [email protected]