Feeling overwhelmed by your virtual studio now that you’re getting classes up and running at your physical location? Maintaining an in-studio class schedule, a virtual class schedule and keeping your community engaged is a lot of work. Or maybe you’ve had to shut your doors again and are back to an all virtual schedule.
Live streaming your in-studio classes may seem like the easiest way, but it’s harder than it sounds. You can have technological difficulty. Members at the studio might not like seeing all your filming equipment. They might add to the noise or confuse virtual students.
Truth → Livestreaming your physical class creates a lot of variables.
In most cases, live streaming during a physical class isn’t the best way to go. It’s tempting because filming a class every day, while teaching in-studio classes isn’t really the best method either. That’s where batching your virtual content comes in.
Batching content is the most efficient way for you to create massive amounts of content. You can streamline the process and build up your library in a way that works around your schedule. Batching content is a very powerful tool to build your virtual studio.
Brainstorm your virtual studio content
The first step to creating good virtual content is to brainstorm what you need. Having a big picture approach takes the guesswork out of your filming days. Otherwise you’ll end up wasting mental calories trying to figure out what to film – while your team is waiting around ready to go.
Consider a variety of content types:
- Full length classes
- Shorter length classes
- Quick stretching guides
- Posture tutorials
You can also include alternative education tutorials on breathing, nutrition, philosophy and other topics that will round out your member’s yoga practice. The goal is to create a library that showcases what your studio is about. Create a list of your key topics and you’ll always know what to film.
Determine what the foundation of your virtual studio library will be, and batch content for it. It’s not about quantity, it’s about covering your foundational bases. If you have 10-15 videos that really capture what your students most want to learn, you’ll be ready to start. The rest will grow over time.
Schedule time for each phase of content creation
There are three phases for creating yoga content. First, planning and preparation, then filming and creation, and finally editing and distribution. It’s not as simple as scheduling a Saturday for filming. You have to block out time for each of the three phases.
Phase 1: Planning and Preparation – Decide on a video topic and envision what you want the finished video to look like – where it is, what it’s about, and the framing. Your plans don’t need to be hyper-detailed, just enough to keep you on track.
- Make a bullet-point list of everything you want to cover in the video.
- Prep and list all the gear you need to film – don’t forget extension cords!
- Pick a place to film and test out the framing and sound quality.
- Write your intro and outro for each piece of content.
- Define your vision and how the video will be used (members only, advertising).
- Decide what action you want your viewer to take afterwards and write a call to action.
- Finalize the schedule with all participants.
Phase 2: Filming and Creation – Schedule a day specifically for filming and make the most of it. Once you have your gear set up, take the time to film several classes or tutorials. Before you start TEST EVERYTHING! Now is the time to find out your mic isn’t working, or the camera is set up wrong. Not after you’re done filming.
- Set up your gear and test everything!
- Review your shot plan
- Film! If you make any mistakes, record the clip # and time in a notebook and keep going.
- Download, upload and back up all videos with clear labels – don’t rely on your memory.
Phase 3: Editing and Distribution – Now is your chance to remove any mess-ups and put in the final touches. Once everything is branded and looking the way you planned, schedule it’s launch. Keep a calendar to plan your release dates and drip out new content over time, so there’s always something new!
- Edit your video – add your logo, take out any mess-ups and get it looking great.
- Upload your new videos to your virtual studio or social media scheduler.
- Edit any final assets like thumbnails, descriptions and tags.
- Schedule your video launch and record it in your planning calendar.
Take your impact to the next level.
Don’t stop at creating quality content, make sure everyone sees it! At the minimum you’ll need to write and schedule an email and social media post. Let your members know there’s fresh content in your virtual studio so they can get pumped up!
If you want to take it a step further, atomize the video. You can leverage your content in new ways by editing a shorter video out of it, writing a blog post, additional social media posts, or even creating a supplemental checklist or download. Expand the way members and new clients find out about the great stuff your virtual studio has to offer!
