Put Your Piece & Yourself In Startup Cuba’s Stories
As human beings, we connect best with people. Well, people and food. Definitely food. But, in reality, we are social creatures and nothing can beat the human connection. That holds true in real life and online.
One of the tools that we use to promote your articles to our audience are through “Stories” on Facebook and Instagram. Some of these stories are photos related to the story. And certainly some of the most effective stories have been Stories where Ken has stood in front of the camera and said hello and told the viewer what a piece is about.
It’s that person-to-person connection that drives our audience to want to know more.
Putting You In The Story
Now, though, we want to show faces other than just Ken’s. If you write a story about lemons —I realize that that hasn’t happened (yet), but as an example— then you’re the best person to stand in front of the camera for 30 seconds and tell everyone who you are, what the lemon story is about, and why you wrote it.
Send us that story video and we’ll share it to our audience. This will give your article and your social media accounts the attention they deserve.
Watch this video here for details and an example:
Format
We’ve created a short script for you to read, below. It’ll make things super easy and ensure that we get the right message points across. For those of you who are camera-shy we have one message: you rock and you shouldn’t worry. Plus, we’ve got a few guidelines here to help you make it great.
Length: 30-45 seconds
Portrait Mode: The camera should be vertical, like a Story is typically shot.
Audio: Make sure we can hear you.
Lighting: Make sure the light is not behind you. It should be shining on your front, not your back.
Stomach(ish) Up: So that we can see your face, fill the frame. A good rule of thumb is to put the bottom of the frame around your stomach.
Smile & Share Positive Energy: ’nuff said
Be Yourself: Just pretend you’re making a story for your family and friends. Authenticity is what sells you. If you like flan, eat flan. If you like music, do a little dance. If you like to blow kisses, blow kisses. We love you and our audience does, too.
Script:
“Hi, It’s [your name]. I just posted my latest article at Startup Cuba dot tee vee about [the subject of your article]. It’s posted now so give it a look. And, you can find me at [IG or FB handle).”
This quick message will fit the format that will connect with our audience and also get the most important points across. The style doesn’t matter – We want it to be “you.” But the message should be in line with that script. As an example, here a few different takes. The style is different in each but the message is the same.
Example 1: “Hey, what’s up guys, it’s Ken here. I just posted a new article on Startup Cuba dot tee tee about lemons. Big. Beautiful. Lemons. It’s posted now so go give it a look. Find me on Insta at @lemonlovers. Peace.”
Example 2: “Hi. I’m Ken. I posted an article on Startup Cuba dot tee vee about lemons and the trees they grow on. It’s posted now so if you have a moment, tell me what you think. And, follow me at @lemonlovers. Thanks.”
The idea is that these key points are always included:
- Who You Are
- That you just posted a new article on Startup Cuba Dot Tee Vee
- What The Article Is About
- A Call To Action To Go Read It
- Where You Can Be Found On Social Media
Don’t Do These Please:
Don’t Mention the “Link in the Bio:” We ask you not to say specifically something like “go check it out at the link in our bio” or “swipe up for more.” That’s because we’ll use your story on multiple platforms and each platform has a different call to action. Definitely tell people to go read your article! But just not the specific words “link in bio” or “swipe up” because we’ll use that one video across-platforms. We’ll add that part with text.
Try Not To Wear Sunglasses: If you can, avoid sunglasses. When people see your eyes, they connect better.
Have Fun!
The stories you create should be yours. Don’t worry about conforming to anything or any one. Just be yourself. That’s what we want. That’s what our audience wants.
And, we’ll make a few minor edits to make you pop so whatever you send us will work.
