The last few blog posts that I’ve created have been more focused on travel, and contented related to life on the road. So I thought that I’d share a few business tools for those that are interested in the next few weeks. I’ve also provided an update on a few of the projects that I’m working on.
Photography and Videography.
A few years ago while travelling through Sri Lanka I started my journey in photography. I bought a camera and taught myself (using YouTube) to capture and edit photos. I loved it. The process has changed the way that I travel and how I see the world. Photography forces me to look for beauty in the world around me and, as with most things, you can almost always find something if you go looking for it. Along the way, I have also experimented with videography as another medium to share content. I made some pretty average videos over the last few years and while I enjoyed the process I found it time-consuming and the final product very “vanilla”.
Then in Guatemala last year, my Nikon camera, GoPro and a few other items got stolen. I saw it as the universe signalling me to upgrade my camera and get the new GoPro Hero6 Black edition. Which I duly did. The Sony A7Sii mirrorless upgrade is a great photo camera (although perhaps not as good as my Nikon D750 that I had before) however, it’s a beast for video, especially in low light conditions. So, I made the decision to keep on taking still photos which I love, but to also spend some time capturing more video content. The two-step process of capturing good footage and then editing video has been the same painful process I went through when I learnt photography a few years ago. Learning video composition, audio and smoothness vs movement, are all new elements that don’t need to be considered in still photography. Then, the editing suites are also completely different.
What I’ve realised is that the capturing and editing skills can be learnt and practised but, to make truly great content, what needs the most focus is my ability to tell a story. So I’ve decided to work on a theme for each of my travel videos and represent each city or country in a single day. Here are my first 2 videos in this new format. “A Day in Georgia“, “A day in Cappadocia” (Cappadocia is the first video I’ve made using Premiere Pro after watching the tutorial I mention below).
A few people in my network are using video more and more to create content. The standard video editing suite is Adobe’s Premiere Pro. It’s powerful and can do a lot but the learning curve is pretty steep. I took a few hours and a few of my own media clips and then worked through this amazing tutorial and within a few hours, I managed to create my first PP project – “A day in Cappadocia”. If you’re looking to learn Premiere Pro this is a great place to start.
Business projects.
You may have already seen I recently compiled my best travel tips and hacks into a free e-book, called “The Long-Term Traveler’s Playbook”. I get asked so many travel-related questions that I decided to put them all together into an easy to read ebook. So whether you’re a long-term traveller or just enjoy getting away for the odd weekend I’m sure that you’ll find something of value in the book. Click here to have a copy sent directly to your Facebook messenger inbox.
My business partner, Alex and I, have recently opened the applications for “Ignite”. A 6-month masterclass that helps people set up and launch a business on the internet. You can see more about Ignite on our website, and over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be sharing some tools that we use to create content and build some of the websites that I’m involved in. I’m also going to share some resources that we feel are valuable to scope, build, launch and market your online business.
Two resources that I’d like to share with you today are the following:
A business naming tool. This free tool from Shopify is a great name generator. You input some keywords related to your new business idea and it comes up with possible names for your company. It also lets you know if the domains for your business are available, all in one place. It’s a great resource for anyone in the early / startup stages of an online project.
The next is a book that I’ve just finished reading. If you’ve not yet heard of Gary Vaynerchuk, and you’re interested in building a modern business and personal brand, look him up. The first few times you listen to him or watch his content online you may find him a bit abrasive. Don’t let that put you off. Listen to what he says, he’s very humble and approaches life and his businesses with a large amount of empathy. His new book, “Crushing It” talks about the best ways to build your personal branding by creating content and building an audience. Even if you have no plans to start a business of your own any time soon, his ideas about personal branding building can be used by anyone. I gave this book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’d love to know what you think about the tools I’ve shared above so please leave a comment below. Also if you have any resources, books or tools that you recommend please share them in the comments below.
Till next time.