The Work Alchemy 30-Day Video Challenge: Marketing Your Small Business

Click here to watch the video for the launch of the 30-Day Video Challenge.

If you have video anxiety, you might see it as self-created torture. It’s certainly uncomfortable.

The thing is, for you to be successful as an entrepreneur, discomfort is inevitable. I’ll go so far as to say you need to get comfortable with discomfort!

Video has certainly made me uncomfortable in the past. So much so that I’ve largely avoided it. This time, though, I’m determined to break the hold that my fear has on me around video. And I want other small business owners who feel as I did to face that fear too. So I did what I usually do: I wrote a blog post about video anxiety.

But that didn’t feel like enough. What would help me and others with video anxiety really overcome it? At some point, being aware of your fear isn’t enough. To move through it, the only thing to do is to face it. That’s how the 30-Day Video Challenge was born.

Over these 30 days, I pledge to post 30 videos on various platforms.

After 30 days, a new habit will have kicked in. After 30 days, fear will be much diminished, if not gone altogether.

The other thing I promised was to share how the Video Challenge progresses in terms of its effect on my business and on me. It won’t be all about numbers, as many of these challenges are. I’ll be sharing how I’m moving through my fears and what pops up for me as I do this. I want this all to be available to you, so you don’t feel so alone with the whole process.

If you want to join me in facing your own video anxiety, to stop allowing fear to hold you and your business back, you can. Write a comment below this post to let me and the rest of us know that you want to move through this issue, and that you’re prepared to give it your best shot.

You don’t have to do 30 videos. Even 1 or 2 will help break the ice, and you’ll be able to celebrate that. The thing is, though, and I know this for myself too, that if you do 10 or 20 or 30 videos, you’ll end up feeling much less fearful. In fact, video will seem much easier by the end of the challenge. You may even enjoy it!

During this event, I want to offer you support, not just a challenge. So I created the Work Alchemy Video QuickStart Guide and Resource List (the link’s at the bottom of the post). It has tips for all the aspects of basic video, a list of equipment that I use. I even show you my low cost video setup.

I’ll also support you with responses to questions and comments on the Work Alchemy Facebook page. It’ll be like a group coaching session, and you can even support each other. Get ready for some big support! Sharing your own comments and challenges will help everyone else too, so I encourage you to get your questions answered during your own Video Challenge.

Does that sound like something you’d like for your business? I’d love for you to have more income and more impact. And video will help you do that.

So let’s get on with the sharing. Here are the numbers so far on Day 2:

# videos: 4 (3 Facebook Live Video Challenge videos and 1 YouTube video)

Day 0: I did a short sneak preview live video on my Facebook business page.

292 views

Post Likes: 0

Page Likes: +1

And shared it on my personal page:

Post Likes: 29

6 comments, 1 share

2 people declared participation

Day 1: the Facebook Live launch video.

Post Likes: 6

Page Likes: +3 (cumulative)

The Day 1 video when shared on my personal page had 158 views, but no likes, comments, or shares.

Uploaded to my YouTube channel, views (unpromoted): 0

Facebook ad results so far: 137 video views, 4 link clicks, CPC (cost per click) $0.02

I just did the Day 2 Challenge video and the new YouTube video this morning, so I’ll post results for those videos in my next article.

I’m seeing more engagement on my personal page, which doesn’t surprise me. That’s been the pattern. We’ll see what happens as I keep adding more content to my business page. I’m getting good engagement with the ad, so I’ll keep going.

And now for the feels. What’s surprising me? That I’m enjoying it, a little. I’m nervous before I go on camera. I feel afraid that I’ll forget something important. I’m worried I’ll embarrass myself. I even can get into a little catastrophizing and worry that no one will listen. (I’m a 4 on the enneagram, so I know when the not-so-evolved 4 part of me kicks in when I fear the worst!)

On a bigger picture level, I realized that the reason I’m enjoying it is because I know others have this fear, and I really want to help you move past it. Video is important to your business. And I want to you to get the word out so you can get more clients and have impact, to make a difference with your business.

That’s ultimately what’s inspiring me the most. And it can inspire you with your audience. Who are you helping with your business? Would you like to help more of them? Your video can do that. It can be your inspiration to move through the fear. What you say could cause a shift in someone’s thinking. It could lead them to take action. It could result in a major change that will make their world, and our world, a better place.

Monday was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day here in the US. Dr. King was only 26 years old when the Montgomery bus boycott began. He started small, and moved through challenges to change our world for the better.

You can too.

That’s the inspiration I’ll take with me into tomorrow’s video.

If you want to join the Work Alchemy 30-Day Video Challenge, like the Work Alchemy Facebook page and leave a message under today’s video to let me know. You’ll get big support!

To help you get started, click here for my Video Quickstart Guide and Resource List.