Initial Basic Planning for a Community online TV Station

Hi Guys. 
Thanks for your interest in this blog. I really appreciate you reading, and I hope that you are finding it interesting. Most of all I hope you are taking action. I'm going to try and answer Gina's question about how do you start to put together a community TV station? This is a difficult one to answer without more information but I'll give it a shot. 

Lets assume that you want to put together an online station that will be become self-funding because whatever you do there will be some costs and you may have a bagful of

volunteers but that isn't enough. 

So first of all you need to write down your objectives, assets and resources and the type of station you want. These are the 3 circles that you need to complete and have overlapping to see if the venture is credible.

 So list out your Assets and Resources. So this will include what equipment you have, what facilities and space, the people you can rely on, and any finances. Now this can be what you have or what you need. Be ambitious and write down what you need then you can look for it. Don't limit this to what you have. Include, for example, local college or university students studying acting or film making because you can gather a team here. I have worked with several successfully and am now partnering some projects with a friend whom I met through his studies and is now doing his masters in Film making and TV

What are your objectives? Do you want to provide a local information service, entertainment, news, local music? Do you want to provide training to local unemployed people, those retired, maybe disabled people. Do you want to provide a live station or pre-recorded that is available on demand? Do you want to get funding or will you look for local sponsors and advertisers? Will you want to have a large space station or just a desk and have most outside recording? Think about other questions and answer them here.

And finally, what type of station are you planning? Will it be in your home? I do a lot of filming in my bedroom, standing in front of the camera and away from the wall with a couple of daylight bulb lamps, one on an umbrella reflector and the other a light pointing on the back wall. I could put in a small desk and be a news reader. You might have a large lounge/living room that you could use. How about a double garage. You may be able to afford space. Maybe you have an office or can use an office evenings or weekends. I even had a large empty warehouse at one time. In the UK if an empty property is used by a charity or social enterprise then the owner doesn't pay business rates, or at least has an 80% reduction. So it helps you and the owner. The only problem is that you have no certainty and can have to move at any time, if the property is sold or rented out. A friend of mine who ran a charity and needed loads of space for his outdoor equipment had free space but moved about 4 times in 3 years. Keith Chegwin, a British actor and TV presenter ran an online show back in about 2003 for 2 months from his bed, two hours every day. He was a forerunner and it was successful. He had 5 cameras and ran it as webcams. I think I remember him having guests who went to his home and sat on or in his bed.

So you may have an intimate studio or something bigger. Here we are looking at what you have and also what you would like. But I seriously recommend you start with what you have and get going. Then when you get funding, sponsors or advertisers you just move up. At least you will have started and have a track record and viewers.

NEXT STEP
 Now you have this information see if it all overlaps as in the diagram below. If there is a big mix in the centre you are probably ready to go. If the central mix is small you need to see what you can do to increase it.

 Now you need to take all that information and write a business plan. You can make it elaborate if you wish but I'd keep it down to bullet points. The elaborate plan is when you want to involve funding or sponsors. The bullet point plan becomes a working model and should be looked at and updated daily. It will help and inspire you towards your goal.

Include a programme schedule section where you write out the programmes you want to include, details and length. This will help you focus.  If you can produce a very short video of yourself, or someone helping you, talking about your venture and expectations this can be put up on YouTube and Facebook etc to spread the word. It can be used to promote what you are doing. The main thing is to do it. No matter how good or bad it doesn't matter. All that matters is you take that first step. You can and will get better with experience. And your confidence will grow too. Be passionate because that is contagious.

This is just an outline but I hope you find it interesting and encouraging. I truly feel that the future for small independent local online TV channels is very bright. Take a look at the top YouTube channels and you will see that many are really individual TV channels, usually of one person. You will take this to the next level. So there are my thoughts for planning your online TV channel.

PLEASE NOTE. My new online course "How to set up and produce an online TV station" will be available soon. Click here to become an early bird   You can make a really exciting project out of online TV and I'm here to help you and answer any queries. Leave a comment below. Also please look at the right side of this blog and like my Facebook page. And SHARE

Better Selfie Videos

Talking Heads are a great way to tell viewers about whats on, what's coming, your thoughts, describing events, greetings for your family when you are out and about, places of interests, greetings and much more.

Talking heads are easy to make, just need a smartphone, so you can take yourself. But you need to think what you are going to say first so you can give a clear straight presentation without stuttering or pausing or worse, saying um or er. None of us re perfect but we can all take some simple steps to make it as good as we can.

Watch these mistakes in action.

So here are my top tips:

•  Think about what you are going to say before you start to avoid stumbling over your words
• Try to have something interesting to say to keep the interest. 
• Look at the lens and not the screen.
• Have an interesting background, but one that isn't too distracting
• Try to link the background with what you want to say.
• Have the sun to the side if possible, certainly not shining into your face so you have to screw up your eyes
• If the sun is shining brightly get in the shade if you can
• A cloudy day is best
• Check out for wind and background noises before you start. We have become programmed to ignore background noises but th camera doesn't
• Look happy and not miserable. So smile if its appropriate
• Be consistent if you are running a series
• Talk loud and clear, don't mumble
• Remember nobody is perfect and we all learn from our experiences. The more experience we have then the better we will get.

This list is not exhausted. If you can think of other ways to improve selfie video then please make a comment. Your input is most valuable. It's by making a contribution that everybody learns and improves.

Keep your arm steady and extended. If you are too close to the camera your nose ill looker bigger and out of proportion to he rest of your face.

Use these videos on Facebook and Twitter. It's not coincidence that I just talked to a local grooming parlour owner just 30 minutes ago and asked her about her website. I wasn't looking to design one for her but just curious, she had just opened after working from home. She said she just used Facebook and I asked her if she had any video there. "No" she said. and went onto tell me that she had photographs. I told her about very short video testimonials mde on a phone and her face lit up. She thought it was a great idea. Just then a customer came along to have his dog groomed. Even before I had moved on she asked him if he was happy with the service and whether i would do a testimonial. He said he would and I left. I hadn't met this woman before and it was just my usual chat that I always told people about, but it inspired her to take action. You could do the same.

I'll even give a critique to anyone who sends me a link to any video made as a result of reading this. This offer is free and valid until the end of the year.

Now just grab your phone and try it out. Practise and you will soon be good, maybe not perfect, that will come. But if you don't stat you wont even be good.