Videosocials.net co-founder, Mark Bullock, talks about backgrounds in marketing videos and why you may want to avoid a full bookcase, even if you’re a lawyer!
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Transcript:
Should you use a bookshelf behind you when you’re recording videos for your own personal marketing?
Hi, I’m Mark Bullock, I’m the co-founder of Videosocials.net and phoneBlogger.net.
And, of course, the answer to that question varies tremendously on what is it that you’re presenting about, what your industry is, what people might expect to see. And so I’m going to give you a few examples.
So, I know many attorneys like to have the law library behind them and that, in and of itself, is frankly a bit cliche. And there’s a couple of things that I’ll get to in a moment, that you may reconsider that idea if you’re an attorney. And that has to do with what else is there?
So, one of the things that I guess I learned from Feng Shui is is that you don’t want to have a bookshelf full of books. And what I’m talking about is every shelf, every inch of space on those shelves being used up by books. Either… whether they be messy, you know, kind of turned on their sides or whatever, or whether they be all in a row. It just… it has an artificial feel. It’s not how people have in their homes. It’s not… it doesn’t feel comfortable and relaxed to look at, as an example.
Now that being said, you can absolutely have bookshelves and they can, and it can say something about you. It can say that you’re well studied. It can say that you’re an academic, as an example.
But think in terms of neatness and think in terms of space and the contrast of space — adding some photos that might mix in, adding some quotes or sayings, adding knickknacks that go along with and complement the books that are there.
Also, what’s the back of that bookshelf? So, as you open it up and you don’t fill it with books, you allow some space to be in between those books, is the background the same dark wood or wood shelf that’s there? Or is there some lightness? We had a… we have a member that has a wall of bookshelves behind her, and she not only doesn’t fill the space with books, she has a few clusters of books here, a few clusters of books there, a few photos here, a few knickknacks there. And… but what’s really important is the fact that the white wall or the tan-colored wall that’s behind the bookshelf sees through, so it’s not all one monolithic dark feel.
So, and again, I said that I would come back to you if you’re an attorney and you have that law library. One is — it makes you look like every other attorney that’s trying to look important and look well studied. Everybody knows you haven’t read all of those books, right? So, keep that in mind.
And think in terms of what do people see when they come to see you? In other words, when they meet with you in person, what is the background that they’re dealing with? And the more kind of comfortable that it is, the more that it’s visually broken up a little bit and gives them some contrast rather than a wall of books like you would see in a library, the more comfortable people are going to be in watching your video.
I hope you found that valuable. Again, this is Mark Bullock, the co-founder of Videosocials.net. And if you did find it valuable, you’ll find lots more at Videosocials.net/Academy. Take care.