This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Very practical question today. It affects anybody who's making video or hoping to share on Instagram, TikTok, pretty much any other channel, YouTube as well. I should mention that right up front, but there are other platforms as well. Should you record your videos in portrait or landscape mode? And this is tricky because some platforms are native to one format, others to another.
So how do you do it? Is there a way to record once and use the content everywhere? I love practical questions. I'm going to give you a straight answer. We'll hear the question from Rachel.
Then my answer, the best practices for video formats, how to repurpose efficiently across multiple channels, because you're just one person. You can't be in more than one place at once. Or can you? That's what we'll talk about Rachel's question and my answer coming right up. Hi everyone, this is Rachel calling from Vancouver.
I'm creating videos for my side hustle and trying to figure out the best way to record. Should I be shooting in portrait mode or landscape, depending on the platform? And is there a way to record once and use the video everywhere? Or do I need to create separate versions for each platform? I feel a little overwhelmed.
Okay, so yesterday we talked about how many paid programs can you have? Where can you focus your efforts and such? This is a little bit more practical and specific because it's about video formats. But in other ways it relates to that question because you know, should you be making videos for each platform? Should you be making both vertical and portrait mode landscape modes?
Well let's start by saying, where do you want to focus? What kind of impact do you want to have? I would say first of all, YouTube. If you want to go all in on YouTube, you need to be YouTube first. That is something that I have learned and noticed in particular in recent years, past year or two.
YouTube is just a universe of its own unless you are specifically focusing on YouTube shorts. So that's YouTube, of course, TikTok and Instagram more vertical. That's the first thing to think about. Where are you posting? Other platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, those are secondary.
So I think you decide first, am I going to go forward on YouTube or am I focused more on TikTok and/or Instagram? That might give you the answer you need. And then now the question of, can I record once for all platforms? Yes, sort of. Yes, but with some adjustments, like you can record in horizontal 16 by 9 landscape format and then use editing tools to crop it for vertical.
It doesn't always work as well if your goal is to be native on a platform like TikTok or Instagram, which is how people tend to succeed the most unless you have a huge base of followers already. So a couple of different ways to do it. You can record once and use it elsewhere, but usually it's going to be, I'm going to record this in vertical or horizontal and then I can use that a few places, but by doing so I'm going to exclude some other platforms. So what are we trying to do? What are you hoping to accomplish?
That's what everything always comes back to here on Side Hustle School, and I hope you are trying to accomplish something for yourself, however it shakes out. Thank you so much for listening today. This is episode 2,895, tomorrow a home gym affiliate. Next week, hardest side hustles, TV installs, mobile massage, and more. Always lots of stuff in the mix, and I'm grateful for you.
My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
