Hi all,

I’m bringing you another ‘Stay Creative on Substack’ post. There are a couple of others here in my Substack Growth Tips tag if you fancy a read. I ran out of head space to write them because Substack moves SO quickly so there’ll be more seasonal now I think.

I’m testing the inbuilt video feature today. There’s also a transcript for this video if you’d prefer to read?

I’ve had the video function for a while but didn’t use it as it was too tricky to set previews. I currently don’t share any video in-front of the paywall. I set that creative boundary for myself so I could feel more relaxed here. Make of that what you will… 🙉

This video was recorded on zoom because I trust it 98% and when you run your business in school hours trust on tech is important. So many times I’ve been wrapping up a video when my husband David Venus is headed back from the school run. Little footsteps skip up the stairs, I press upload to youtube and we’re done!

Once I have my videos saved in zoom I pop them into YouTube as unlisted links so I can share with my guests more easily. YouTube also plugs in captions. Substack does not. If you want to watch this video with captions, email me and I’ll send you the link.

Today, I also uploaded my zoom video into the Substack video player/ editor as a test for you!

The video uploaded FAST and I also switched on the transcript button so you can read our chat if you prefer.

Video - it’s not new, what’s the fuss?

There have been some fair and tricky chats in Notes about video and how we all feel regarding Substack’s announcement of video.

Some conversations about why we feel the way we do, our nervous systems and permission. Some conversations about the broader intention of Substack… growth and style.

I’m going to link a couple here if you want to join in… the concern is (mainly) about autoplay.

And one lovely one for balance from the lovely guys at Feasts and Fables

My thoughts are nuanced. I will say; I do not do well with autoplay and it is BAD for the environment, it’s bad for our nervous systems and it changes our user experience.

Long term, we’ve gone from being able to sit with words in our own space and at our own pace to being utterly bombarded with video across multiple platforms. Remember we are still inherently tribal, we just want to connect.

Here on Substack we got chance to remember what it was like to be able to sit with words again. Have thoughts, join gentle conversations round the camp fire.

The choice we make to use Substack is one of our own and I hope you will make space to consider what’s right for you when it comes to video and not be influenced by what others are doing.

So to our video test!

I recorded with my friend and podcast host over at Company of Two Laura.

You can head to Laura’s Substack over at Destination: Balance?

We delve into Laura’s decision to rebrand and re-title her Substack, her content overview, ideas for going paid and providing paid for content and her new podcast. It’s very exciting. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Here are the options the video editor gave me.

NB you can opt out of pulling your video through your RSS podcast feed. Thanks Sarah Fay for confirming how; it’s just before you hit post! I can’t remember who was asking but there you go…

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So video, what do you think? Will you use it? Do you think it will bring more creators over?

I’d love to chat to you about it.

Claire x

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