Shoestring Budget Recording Studio
Here you are, you have an incredible idea for what you know will be the best online course on your subject ever produced. Your excited you have created your framework for your course, you have a plan, and your ready to work that plan it is time to put the rubber to the road and build your course. BAM!!! you are stopped dead in your tracks with fear, as if you are going to drown in the overwhelming feelings you get when you think about recording videos. Before you know it your dreams of teaching your special skill online are dead and gone before you even get a chance to start.
Here are some of the most common fears that stop peoples online course development.
- I have no clue how to make good looking and sounding videos.
- I have no clue how to edit my videos or how to create the right file format.
- I have no budget to buy the gear needed to create good videos.
Dispelling The Cost Of Equipment Myth
You are going to be very happy because you can most likely get away with building your first recording studio for very little or no money at all. Yes you heard me right you can most likly get away with very little or no money and make amazing videos.If you have a smartphone that is 5 years or newer that is all you need to create a great set of videos for your course. If you don’t have a smart phone you can use a pad or laptop. Most laptop have a built in camera and microphone, and there is lots of free video creating and editing software out on the internet.
If you talk to most people that have all ready created an online course they most likely will tell you they stated with a smartphone and or a computer that they already had when they got started. And the technology has progressed so much our smartphones are better then most gear you would have purchased specifically to build a course 5 or 8 years ago. Also when you talked to people that have created a few courses they will tell you that they started with their smartphone and purchased more and better gear as they sold courses and had a steady income. So rest your fears and know for little or no money you can make amazing videos and course content.
Meet Your New Recording Studio
Do you have a smartphone? If so you have a recording studio so now you have no excuses why you can’t create an online course. If you have a teenager in the house then you already have a video expert in your home that is making and posting 50 Tik Tok videos a day. Ask your kids to teach you how to make videos on Tik Tok, and get some bonding time while you learn how to make videos.
You should not feel compelled to spend thousands of dollars on equipment and software in order to get started, you can buy tons of shiny new gear once you have sold some online courses and they are paying for all the new gear.
BUT (here is the but clause) if you have $100 or less to spend it is a great idea to buy a few things that would make it easier to video your work with. Here is a very small list of items to buy to help you make your first course BUT ARE NOT MANDATORY.
- Tripod
- Phone Mount
- Microphone
Smart Phone vBlogger Kit
Again you do not need anything but your smartphone to record a great online course, but if you did want to pick up a few things to make it much easier, and get even better quality videos I would pick up a kit like the one below. I like this kit because for one purchase I can get all the little extras I need, such as:
- Table Top Tripod
- Ball Head Mount
- Smart Phone Mount
- Extension Bracket
- 30 LED Light
- Microphone
- 3 Connector Cables including a 3/4 mini plug to lighting cable (newer iphone cable)
- And a nice carrying case to keep all your new gear in (sounds silly but makes a difference)
The only thing I would add to this kit is a regular 50 to 60 inch UBeesize tripod so you can do shots where you do not have a desk, and a Bluetooth remote to control your smartphone, but again are not needed.
The only really needed item is the microphone, as I say to my students all the time IF YOUR AUDIO SUCKS, YOUR VIDEO OR ONLINE COURSE WILL SUCK. If you can only afford one thing to start buy a cheap lavalier microphone so your audio will be good during your videos.