Meant to inspire... CREATE THE LIFE YOU WANT WITH THE NEXT BEST STEP! I know it's hard to let go. Often times it takes more strength to let go then it does to hold on. I've always struggled from pay day to pay day, so I always stayed at a job longer then I should have for the financial security. Once I 'let go' and moved on to another job or career, I wondered why I held on so long. The next step was either a great stepping stone, or it was way better than the job/career I left. Then I finally had created my own salon business and after 20 years, I was afraid to 'let go'. Don't get me wrong, the salon business was very good to me. It allowed me to build many relationships with folks I am still very close to, and it allowed me to build a retirement income by investing in the salon buildings and some residential real estate. But even then, I had a hard time letting go when it was time for me to retire. I was definitely in my 'comfort zone'. Just like back in high school... would I keep in touch with my favorite people like I promised? Would I have enough to do to keep busy? Would the income from the rentals sustain me? After learning to put some basic systems in place to run my business from anywhere in the world with WiFi... I finally made the leap! A year later we have a lake house in Sandusky, Ohio and tiny house in Zephyrhills, Florida and many friends in both areas as well as our besties back home. I'm still learning to 'let go' of what I think is security and to trust the systems I have in place. I can now experience what this world has to offer. One has to practice one's faith that 'everything is the way it should be'. So don't be afraid to 'keep your nose to the grindstone' as my father used to say, and don't be afraid to 'let go' when you know it's time. Next month we're off to Amsterdam, Netherlands where both my ancestors and Marc's left through Rotterdam to come to America during the mid 1700's. I can hardly wait to explore the next best step!

💕

#simplystart

~Kathy Binner, Passive Income Coach, Health and Wealth Educator

1. Decide what you will be blogging about. Will you simply be ranting? Or, do you have a specific theme in mind, such as music or sports? I've decided on health, wealth and travel for mine.

2. Identify your target audience. This can help you decide how to speak and dress for your videos. I concentrate on psychographics, not demographics. You can Google the difference. Demographics is quantitative. Psychographics is qualitative

3. Buy or sort out your video production gear. Some "professional" video bloggers spend hundreds on cameras and microphones, while many people use nothing more than the video recorder function on their digital cameras. Use what you have, especially in the beginning. Here's what I just bought to get started. 

A Yeti Microphone to use with my laptop. 

4. Write out a script of sorts for your first video. The script shouldn't be set in stone - feel free to improvise a bit while recording. Also, you should know your material well enough that the script is for learning, not for reading from on camera. 

STEPS 5-8 COMING TOMORROW...

#FreestyleLivingToday

5. Prepare your video recording area. Make adjustments on lighting and the background. Some people use no background for their vlogs, while others put up a solid colored sheet to keep attention on themselves. Here's the light ring and camera holder I just bought to get started. Then I added a green screen backdrop and support system kit for the backdrop.

6. Dress for your audience. Most people don't want to see you in your holey sweats and sweaty t-shirt.

7. Begin recording. If you have a lot of gear to run, it may be necessary to ask a friend or two for help. Record several takes.

8. Run your recording material through a movie editing program. Although this is an optional step, it can greatly improve the look of your vlog. Titles, credits, music, and random effects can be added with even simple software such a the Windows Movie Maker or the Moon Valley Soft Video Blog Pack. If you have a Mac, iMovie is a great starter video editing program (it comes on every new Mac, so most people should already have it). When you're ready to go more professional and willing to spend more money, programs like Final Cut Pro are out there as well. 

#HappyVlogging

#FreeStyleLivingToday

Accessing the Camera

Click "Start" to open the Start menu and click inside the search box near the bottom of the menu.

Type "webcam" but do not hit "Enter." Look at the suggested matches that appear above the search box. If nothing like "Webcam application" appears, replace "webcam" with "web camera" or "camera."

Select the camera application that appears in the search results. This will launch the camera software, and may automatically turn on the camera.

Adjust your laptop until the camera picks up the image you want to capture, such as your face or a specific area of the room. You will see the image on a preview screen on your laptop, much as you would on a digital camera. Most laptop cameras automatically attempt to focus on faces within the camera frame. If this feature is not enabled on your camera, it may focus on the object closest to the center of its range, or it may focus on an area of bright light or color.

Adjust the camera's settings until the image on your screen appears the way you want. The settings button may be labeled "Settings," have a wrench icon or an icon that looks like a series of sliding switches. Setting may include the focus, as well as color contrast, brightness and sharpness. Adjust these by sliding the markers on your screen to the right or left to increase or decrease each setting. Follow the on-screen directions to save your settings.

Recording Video

Choose a brightly lit area for your video recording. If you are recording a close-up of your face, such as a video blog, shine light onto your face from behind the laptop, so it angles down toward you to highlight your features. For larger room video capture, such as recording a home skit or capturing your kids at play, try to get diffused general lighting without having any light fixture inside the video area, as this will cause focus problems.

Set the laptop on a stable desk or platform and adjust it until you see the area where you want to capture video in the preview screen. If possible, watch the preview screen as you run through the motions you want to record. This lets you see if the image you will capture is what you had intended. If not, adjust the laptop position or the lighting and try again.

Record video by clicking the record button, either a red dot or a movie camera icon on most software. Stop the recording by clicking the button again. This video will save to a file on your computer, usually in the default "Videos" folder. If it does not save there, check the "Pictures" and "Documents" folders, or any folder labeled with the same name as your camera application.

Launch any movie editing software installed on your computer, such as Windows Live Movie Maker. Choose the option to import or open an existing video from the menu at the top of your screen, and then browse to the file you recorded in the "Videos" or other folder.

Add the file to your movie editing software's current project following the on-screen instructions or information in the program's "Help" file, and then edit your movie as desired.

Video Chat

Close any applications using the camera and connect your computer to a high-speed Internet connection, such as DSL, cable or Wi-Fi.

Launch any Windows-compatible video chat software, such as Skype, Windows Live Messenger or AIM video messenger chats. The software will turn your camera on and allow you to video chat with contacts who use the same or compatible video chat software. You will see a preview screen similar to your camera application's screen, so you can adjust your settings and the image area you capture the same way you did in your initial setup.

Follow the software's on-screen instructions to add contacts and make video calls. Click the "Help" button if the method for doing this is not obvious. The "Help" button is often a small question mark inside a blue circle. If you do not have video chat software installed, you can download and install compatible software quickly and easily over a high-speed Internet connection.

Tips

Add your camera's software icon to your desktop for easy access. Right-click the application instead of clicking to open it, and then choose "Send to" and "Desktop" from the menus that appear.

Exit completely out of your camera application for privacy when your camera is not in use. To do this, right-click the program icon in your task bar and choose "Close" or "Exit."

#HappyVlogging

#FreeStyleLivingToday

I taught session 3 of a 5 week series on 'Work From Home'. Today's session was about creating an actual money making blog.  So many want to start a money making blog, but don't know where to start. In today's class I showed everyone just how easy it was… and inexpensive to start a blog.  If you're posting on any social media, you might as well get paid for it. 

💕💕💕

#WorkFromHome

#GetPaid

#simplystart

For all you peeps that are wanting to Vlog. (For those that don't know, a vlog is a video blog) My back drop arrived for my video taping... I sprayed and dried with a hair dryer... still full of wrinkles... I'll try the dryer next. All this came from Amazon for under $100. 

❤❤❤

#Vlogging

#simplystart

One of the ways I make passive income is from our residential B&B guest house.  We're full most weekends! Book Early!

❤️❤️❤️

#CarrawayGuestHouse