A New Chapter
Almost exactly three years ago, right before I turned 25, I quit my corporate job.
I left it to go work with Corbett Barr at what was then called Think Traffic, and what eventually became Fizzle. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my entire life.
It enabled my wife and I to travel, move to San Diego, meet hundreds of entrepreneurs working on businesses they care about, and I got to help build an amazing (and profitable) company from the inside.
Through these past three years, and even before that I've continued to do what I can "on the side" to build a business. Blogging, podcasting, freelancing and launching digital products is definitely not easy when you have a full-time gig. That being said, it is possible. Especially to get you closer to potentially working full-time for yourself or at least closer to finding a better job for you.
All that being said, we publicly announced today that I'll be leaving Fizzle in just over a month. (Hear the whole story on today's episode of The Fizzle Show.)
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Which Studio Monitor Speakers Should You Buy?
As you build out your video (or audio) editing studio, one important piece is a solid pair of studio monitor speakers.
Up until this week I've just simply edited any video or audio I've produced while wearing over the ear headphones. But there are a few reasons why you wouldn't want to exclusively edit only wearing headphones.
- Not everyone that consumes what you make will be wearing headphones.
- To properly mix the audio you'll want to hear it on different devices/set-ups.
- You'll often have more than one other person at a time watch or listen to what you're working on.
In this post I'll walk through which speakers you should be looking at buying and if you can't afford them, what headphones to go with in the meantime.
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5 Best Places Online to Learn DIY Video Production
When I got my first DSLR camera I loved learning as much as I possibly could making videos. I searched everywhere for the best places to learn the basics.
Now, while I'm working hard to build this into the single place you can learn everything you need to know about DIY video (including the upcoming audio podcast I'm working on, which launches August 4th), there is always more to learn.
Here are the top five places online that have helped me learn how to make better videos.
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Which Camera Lens Should I Buy?
One of the most common gear questions I get from people is: "What camera should I buy?" Honestly, this is the wrong question to ask.
What usually matters more than the camera is the lens that you attach to it.
A great lens can increase the quality of the image, create a nice blurred "bokeh" background effect, and completely change the mood of a given video or picture if used differently.
In this post I'm going to help you answer:
- Should I get a zoom or fixed lens?
- Which focal length should I get?
- How low of an aperture do I need?
- How much I should spend?
- What specific DLSR lens should I buy?
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What I Learned About Online Video at Wistiafest 2014
I just got back home last night from Boston after attending Wistiafest, an online video conference hosted by Wistia, the awesome company we use to host all our private videos over at Fizzle.co and what I use to host the videos in the DIY Video Guide.
One of the biggest problems with attending most conferences is that sometimes you can't really take home much of what you heard or did (except for perhaps hangovers and some new friends on Twitter).
In this post I share with you what I learned if you weren't there. I'll break down each of the main stage talks, the panel I was on, the roundtable lunch discussion I led, and the three workshops I attended.
Let's get started.
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Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Review & Podcasting Setup
The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 is a 2 input, 2 output XLR mixer that plugs into via USB to a computer. I upgraded to using it about 4 months ago and I'm glad I did.
If you're using an XLR microphone or instrument to record onto a computer, this is a perfect entry level pro amp to start with. In this post I share my favorite features of it and detail how to set it up for podcasting.
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Do the Edges First
When I was a kid my mom used to love doing puzzles.
If it was raining during the weekend or we had a snow day from school, she’d set up a foldable card table in the living and dump out a thousand piece puzzle to pass the day.
Now I don’t know about you, but my strategy was always to start with the edge pieces first. It was easier to find the edges, match pieces up, and see progress being made in the beginning (which was key to not getting bored and finding something else to do).
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A First Look at the DIY Video Guide
I'm super excited for tomorrow and it isn't because I need to start packing for my move next weekend. I've been working like mad the past couple weeks to put the final touches on the DIY Video Guide for the launch tomorrow.
And I wanted to take a quick break from all the prep to share with you what you can expect when the guide drops tomorrow.
Below is a complete list of what the book entails, what video tutorials, video case studies, and video interviews are a part of it too.
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Shoot Better Videos of Yourself (#NMX Talk)
About a month ago I had the pleasure of speaking and leading a 75-minute workshop at New Media Expo in Las Vegas all about DIY video.
In it I had on hand a bunch of the actual gear I use to shoot videos and cover proper lighting, recording great audio, where to frame yourself in camera, how to deliver a written script without a teleprompter, how to get a "blurred background", and more.
Watch the full video here.
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How to Record HD Skype Calls & Interviews
(Above is one of the 15 video tutorials & case studies from my upcoming book: DIY Video Guide. If you can't see it, watch it on YouTube.)
Doing interviews over Skype seems like all the rage these days. It can be an incredibly easy to use tool when all you need is audio, but getting good video out of Skype can be a pain in the rear.
In this video I walkthrough how to record high quality Skype calls and interviews.
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Gear Doesn't Matter
This is an excerpt from my upcoming book: DIY Video Guide. Coming February 11th, 2014.
My wife and I have spent over $20,000 on photography and videography gear over the past two years.
We have a closet full of cameras, lenses, memory cards, film, microphones, lights, tripods, monopods, flashes, bags, audio recorders, and more.
And I want to tell you why you don't need any of it to make your videos
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2013 Year in Review
January is one of my favorite months because I love looking back and planning forward.
And I'm not sure why most people spend December doing this. I like to work right up till the ball drops and really close out the year strong.
I don't do traditional "resolutions"... but here are my highs, lows, and lessons learned this year.
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240 Mornings
Now that we’re coming to the end of the year everyone is doing their annual planning and review (us included). The biggest problem I’ve had doing these in the past is that I overcommit myself to what can actually be accomplished.
I expect myself to be able to create too much content every week, when realistically I can usually only complete one shippable piece of written, audio, or video content a day (if that).
In this essay I share why you need to be deliberate with both what you spend your most focused time doing and how you make sure it happens everyday.
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What if you unfollowed everyone?
Let me know if this sounds like you. The alarm on your cell phone goes off and you roll over to hit snooze.
You grab your phone, open your email, open Twitter, open Facebook, open Instagram, open Pinterest, and your alarm goes off several more times while doing so.
What did you get out of the time you just spent scrolling through your various “streams”?
What if there was no “stream” for you to scroll through?
What if you unfollowed everyone for just one week?
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Goodbye Internet #Unplug
Today I turn 27 years old and I'm saying goodbye to something that has given me more joy, freedom, and meaning than any other non-living thing in my life. Heck, I even met my wife through it. Today I'm saying goodbye to the Internet for two weeks.
In this essay I'll explain why I'm unplugging, how I'm going to make sure my life doesn't fall apart while I do, and why you should unplug soon too.
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5 Reasons Why I Unbranded My 30 Month Old Blog
I’m proud to announce something big I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. As of today, PocketChanged.com is now CalebWojcik.com.
This change is bigger than just a simple URL change. It is pivot closer to what I want to be doing and towards a future for all my personal online projects.
In this post I’ll explain why I’ve been wanting to do it, what I plan to create and teach about now, and what it means to you.
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Surround Yourself: Takeaways from #WDS2013
I’ve written a few times about my biggest takeaways from a particular conference that Chris Guillebeau puts on in Portland each year, but this time I wanted to share with you one of the few things in life I know to be true. Surrounding yourself with awesome people is the best way to grow individually and as an entrepreneur.
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Is this the end of creative focus?
How deleting social media apps and turning off notifications gave me my life back... It stemmed from a feeling of overwhelm. You know the days where work starts to pile up, you keep getting interrupted, and every task you try to do take three times longer than you thought? The last thing you need to be doing on days like this is scrolling through or responding to social media or email.
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