August 29, 2025 • 20 mins
Content gear that is not sponsored, but will help you level up your content game!
Click here listen to the full debrief on the scam that took my pride along with 15 hours of my life: https://yourstruly.transistor.fm/episodes/86-did-we-just-get-scammed
Click here to view it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bINNjxirRBE&list=PLlBCxxLwC-ffe2WHY4ckPCoy3-cQ-rSAX
Segment 1: Unsponsored By (Products I Love)
• Kiehl’s Superbly Efficient Antiperspirant & Deodorant Cream
o Why it’s different from roll-ons
o Personal story of borrowing another deodorant = never again!
o Not sponsored, just a long-time loyal fan
• Lume Whole Body Deodorant
o Praise for the founder who changed the industry
o Best for people with stronger odor issues
o Applicator options (cream rub-on vs roll-on)
o Prefers unscented
Segment 2: New Tech Find
• Snaply Lens (Screen Mirroring Attachment)
o Clips/suction to back of phone for back-camera filming
o Lets you see yourself framed properly without using front camera
o Why it’s useful for creators
o Not an affiliate link — just a practical tool
Segment 3: Core Gear for Creators
• Tripods
o Sunpak + selfie stick topper → long-time staple:
o SmallRig tripods (different sizes & pros/cons)
White (discontinued), black version still available
Tilt limitations on some models
Bluetooth clicker = convenient
o Ring light + tripod combo (good for selfies, glasses wearers can bounce light off ceiling)
• Microphones
o Started with wired lavalier mic (trustworthy, simple)
o Now using Hollyland Lark M2 wireless mic
Dual transmitters for interviews
Magnetic clips for flexible placement
Works with iPhone, Android, laptop
o Audio tip: always set to mono (not stereo)
• Lighting
o Prefers natural daylight
o If shooting at night: Neewer LED panel (small, adjustable warmth & brightness)
• Extras / Nice-to-Haves
o Stylus (for editing or precision work)
o Screen mirroring tools (like Snaply)
o Stabilizers (recommend Insta360 stabilizer, not DJI Osmo — unreliable in personal experience)
Segment 4: Big Picture Reminder
• You don’t need all the gear to start creating
• Viral content often made with nothing more than a phone
• Gear can support but won’t replace good storytelling & editing skills
• Take small steps: start with one useful item, build up over time
• If you love gear & want to go “all in” at once — that’s okay too!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Helen (00:00):
Welcome to The Social Media Strategy. Happy Friday. I
am here with the craziest storyfrom this week. But instead of
telling it to you again, and I'mgonna say again because Julie
and I did an in-depthexplanation of it on our podcast
together. So I'm actually goingto suggest that if you want to
(00:20):
hear about the most insane scamand very elaborate, it's worth a
listen.
It is really worth a listen. Soreally go check out the Yours
Truly podcast, the episode thatis linked in the show notes. You
will not be sorry. And you willalso learn a lot about what to
look for in the very elaboratescams that are now appearing in
(00:43):
our world. It is unbelievablebecause I am Spidey senses when
it comes to scams and somehowended up deep in a situation
where it could have been bad.
It wasn't bad. That's the goodnews because I figured it out. I
figured out that it was a scam,but it cost me so much time and
so much energy. And I think it'sa really big learning experience
(01:08):
for me. So it was almost hardfor me to talk about it.
I was so embarrassed,devastated, felt so duped, and
all the things. So go and listento that episode of Julie and I
covering it in-depth. You willnot be sorry, and you will learn
a lot as as I did. But fortoday, we're gonna talk about
(01:30):
equipment, and I am going toshare two unsponsored by things
as I always before I start theepisode. And the first one is
Kiehl's Superbly EfficientAntiperspirant and Deodorant
Cream.
Totally different than yourtypical roll on. I use this
every day. This is my go todeodorant. I will tell you, if
you're going to try this type ofdeodorant, you need to give it a
(01:52):
week to get accustomed to it.And then you can never go back
to that roll on stuff, thesticky stuff.
I can't even one time I didn'thave it with me. Borrowed I
think I borrowed a deodorant ofJulie's or something, and it was
just horrible. Like I can't goback. I'm not going back. I'd
rather go without deodorant thannot have my Kiehl's.
I am behind this. And Kiehl'sreached out to me about sending
(02:12):
me a PR package and I was like,oh my God, I love your
deodorant. I was just soexcited. And they were like, we
don't, we're not gifting that.And I'm like, I wasn't asking
for for free.
I just was sharing my love foryour deodorant. And I also like
it because it's got this nicerounded so you don't have to put
it on your hands and rub it on.Then you have the stick you
know, cream on your hands thatyou have to wash. I love so I
love the design of theapplication. And I also have
(02:37):
done work with Lumi, and I knowLumi is an amazing product as
well.
So if you have severe body odorproblems, I don't have that
anymore due to hormonal things.I don't have the body odor I
used to have when I was younger.So for me it's the opposite.
Some people get weird body odorafter they go through menopause.
To me it was the opposite.
I don't really smell as much.Yay. But so I don't have to
(02:58):
worry about that. But if you dosmell a lot, the Gloomy is a
great brand also. And they havenot this type of applicator.
They have the you know, you putit on, you have to rub it on.
That's what I don't like. Butthey have a roll on version that
has the little hole that you cansquirt the lotion out. And so
they have an applicator similarto this. It's just that in it
looks like it's a traditionaldeodorant stick, and even though
(03:19):
it's not.
So I highly recommend that brandas well. I I can't say enough
good things about that brandbecause the founder, amazing,
genius, revolutionary woman whocame up with the idea of whole
body deodorant and literallychanged the industry because now
all the big brands have wholebody deodorant. So if you don't
wanna go with Kiehl's, I canreally get behind Lumi because I
(03:41):
know the product works. I'veused it. I just had been using
this before.
So I was already a loyal Kiehl'suser, and I didn't want to
change. I tried their deodorant.I like only the unscented one.
In terms of Lumi, I didn'treally like care for the scents.
And this is unscented as well.
That is my story for deodorant.We're getting personal. We're
getting in the armpits.Alrighty. Now I'm gonna tell you
(04:04):
about my newest piece of techequipment that I didn't know I
needed.
This is a screen mirroring thingthat you can put on the back of
your phone. It sucks to the backof your phone. So that way you
can use your back camera and youcan see yourself like a selfie.
I don't know if you can seethis. It's hard to know, but on
this screen, I can see mycamera.
I'm filming this podcast with myback camera and I can see that
(04:26):
I'm centered. I can see when I'mholding something up to you
like, oh, that's covering myface. That's not. I can, oh,
that's a little bit to the side,but not too far over. So I can
see like selfie on here and Ilove this thing.
It's cool. So I can get behindit, and I don't have affiliate
(04:46):
links. I'm not trying to sellyou products. Just telling you
that if you use your back cameraor you have any need to use your
back camera, this is a reallyhandy little tech piece of
equipment called the Snaplylens, s n a p l y. And I will
link it in the show notes.
I don't have affiliate links forany of the things, maybe a
couple of the things that I'mgonna talk about. I made
(05:08):
affiliate links ages ago, but,you know, it's not something,
I'm not doing like affiliateselling in this podcast nor am I
doing that in the newsletter.These are purely things that I
use. A couple of them might beaffiliate links, but most of
them are just me telling youwhat I like. I don't have the
energy.
I can't seem to get through tothese companies to get affiliate
links, and I'm like, I can't bebothered. So on would I go. I'll
(05:28):
just tell you what I like.Unsponsored by. That seems to be
my theme.
Okey doke. Next, besides that,we'll get into gear in general.
So why because you don't need tohave that, by the way. That's
like a little bonus. What youneed if you're trying to start
out as a content creator as at avery basic level is just a few
inexpensive things to make yourto level up your content that
(05:51):
much more.
So can you do all of thesethings without a tripod, without
a microphone, without a Snapply?Yes. Of course. You can make
great videos and with nothingexcept your phone. But it helps
to have a few things to levelyourself up, to make your life a
little easier.
I have evolved through the yearsof tripods. Meanwhile, I still
the one I'm using right now torecord, that's in front of me
right there, is the one that Ifound in Jonathan's room one
(06:14):
day. And I was like, oh, I'llput a selfie stick topper on it,
and I'll make this a tripod.That's how I started. And I'm
still using that for my tabletopvideos always and only.
That is my tabletop video thingthat has been with me for so
long. I managed to find itonline, so I was was able to get
a second one. So I have two ofthem. But it's nice because it's
tabletop height. When I put theselfie stick topper on it, it's
(06:36):
the perfect eye level.
When I use my other tripods,which are really nice, when I
put them on the tabletop,they're a little too high. So
I'm looking up at my phone, andI don't like that because it's
it's giving a weird, notauthentic look. When you're not
looking directly eye level toyour into your viewers, it does
give a different vibe eventhough it's subliminal. Okey
doke. Let me tell you myfavorite tripods.
(06:57):
So right now, I got my, what isthat one? Sunpack with my selfie
stick topper. So we got thatone. Second up is this brand
called SmallRig and they havedifferent sizes. They don't even
make this white one anymorewhich is sad because I really
like it.
What I like about this is, boop,and it looks really impressive
when you do that. You just popit and it opens. It goes up. It
(07:18):
does, it goes really tall. Thisparticular one, it goes to like
five feet, so I can be maybeeven six feet.
I have this in front of me and Ican be eye level when I'm
standing. That's what I likeabout this size. It also, you
can tilt it this way, so youhave your vertical and then you
have your horizontal. There isone drawback about this tripod,
which is when you are invertical mode, like so, you
(07:42):
can't tilt this way. It won'trotate.
So if I wanted to point a littlebit down, I can't do that. It
doesn't do that. And that is avery annoying limitation of this
tripod that I love. So I haveanother version. So I do like
this one, but it also has theBluetooth clicker so you can
start and stop your videos.
Love that. And it's reallyslick. I love that it's white
(08:04):
and of course they don't sellthe white one anymore. Bummer.
But, although it is looking alittle scratched and dirty so
maybe just as well that I have ablack one.
Looks cleaner. Black one is alittle this one's a little
shorter, has the same featurewhere it pops open. Here's what
I like about this one. It alsohas the clicker. So the little
Bluetooth clicker.
(08:25):
When this one goes up, insteadof oh boy, let's get it here,
hold on. Instead of it, thewhole thing turning so that it
gets like off kilter with theweight of the phone, this one
turns like so. So you can putyour phone in it this way. Let
me see. Why is this showing upon my phone every time?
(08:45):
I don't understand. Okay. So youcan put your phone in this way
and then you can tilt it at anylevel. So you can have it
tilting down a little, tiltingup, you know what I'm saying? So
you can tilt And I like that.
And then it works the same wayin horizontal mode. It can tilt
your phone. So that's a keyfeature that I think is
important in a tripod. So ifyou're looking for a brand, make
(09:07):
sure it does the tilt becauseyou're gonna want it. Trust me.
I have been on shoots where Iwas using this wow. Loud. Been
on shoots where I've been usingthis one and I wanna tilt it
just slightly to get an angle ofthe product and the freaking
thing doesn't tilt. So then Ialways have to pull this one
out. And this one doesn't go astall so I have to prop it on
something.
Oh my, the problems of thecontent creator. This is real
(09:28):
life. So I'm just telling youwhat the things are so you
understand. I also have this onewhich is basically selfie only
because you can't turn thecamera around in this one. If I
turn the camera and try and usemy back camera I can't access my
controls.
In these two small rig ones Ican access the controls with the
back camera or the front camera.The other thing about this one
(09:53):
that I like, hold on, let melock it so it doesn't keep
opening, is that it comes with aring light and it's separate
from this. So this isn't in themiddle of the ring light. This
is below it. So I can tilt thering light, bounce the light to
the ceiling.
So if you are a person who wearsglasses or doesn't like when the
ring light is in your pupils atnight, I see that on a lot of
people's videos, you can tiltyour ring light, bounce the
(10:14):
light to your ceiling and down.And that way you don't have the
light in your eyes. But this oneis only good for selfie and this
one only goes up to about fourfeet. So it's, I still, if I'm
going do a standing video, Itend to put it on a chair or on
a bench to get a little higher.Alrighty.
All the links for these thingsare in, like I said, they're not
affiliate links. Some of themmight be, but that's not the
(10:35):
purpose of this newsletter, notthe purpose of this podcast, not
to sell you things, just toexplain to you what kinds of
things you need and what youshould be looking for when
you're buying them. So that ifyou choose a brand or if you see
something on TikTok shop, makesure you look for the things
that I'm mentioning, like thetilting of the camera, the
height. Make sure if you'regetting a standing tripod, you
(10:56):
want it to go as tall as youare. Some of them only go to
four feet.
So look for one that's a littletaller if you want that eye
level standing type of video.Okay. Also look for being able
to shoot self front camera, backcamera. It's an important
feature I think for me. I'moftentimes shooting things and I
don't want to have to be only inselfie mode.
Okay. The next piece ofequipment that is nice to have
(11:18):
is a microphone. And I have beenthrough the gamut of
microphones. I used to use forfour straight years a wired
microphone that attached to myphone with a wire. So it would
go from here to here.
It would plug right in and Iwould put it on. And it was
pretty far, so I could travelquite a ways from my phone, but
it would always be attachedbecause I trusted that it was
(11:38):
gonna work. I knew that if itwas plugged in, it would be
working. But I finally haveupgraded to a wireless one and
that took me a lot because I'vehad, I tried many. Some of them
sound weird.
They sound like you'reunderwater if you get some cheap
ones and they don't work.They're glitchy. They're
disconnecting from the Bluetootha lot. This one is the Hollyland
(11:59):
Lark M2. It is my favorite.
I highly recommend this one. Itcomes with two. Two pieces so
that you can be interviewingsomeone and you can hear both of
your voices. It magnets on sothat you can put it anywhere on
your clothes, you can put itunder your clothes, but it
magnets like this. So there yougo.
You see? I can put it anywhereso I don't have to have a
(12:21):
certain type of collar to attachit to. I can magnet it anywhere.
I really like that feature. Ialso love that it comes with two
kinds of connectors, althoughthey should have a case, a slot
in the case for these, thatconnects to a regular iPhone or
an Android or a computer.
So you can see I'm using mylittle screen to see if I'm
(12:42):
holding these up correctly. Ah,too high. Okay. So it has the
iPhone and it has the Android orlaptop computer so that I can
use it with those. So I reallylike the double whammy of that.
Okey doke. It can change thegame for your videos because
some people go far away fromtheir phone to show an outfit
(13:03):
and then they're shouting attheir phone and it sounds
absurd. You also look like anamateur when you do that. And
I've noticed a lot of people inads do that. The other thing to
note that if you have amicrophone like this and it's
not this one, if it's anotherbrand and yours has a switch on
the bottom that you can slide tostereo or mono.
(13:25):
Some of them have switches. Makesure you're in mono. Mono, mono,
mono. It is not a sickness whenit comes to a microphone. It's a
good thing because mono willmake sure that your sound is
coming out of both headphones.
This is very important. Bothheadphones. Okay? Because when
(13:47):
you put it on stereo, it assumesthat you're going to be going
back and forth to the speakersor something. It does something
in the world of audio where youwill hear sometimes when you're
wearing headphones and you'rewatching an ad on TikTok, you'll
hear only sound in oneheadphone.
That's because they had theirmicrophone set wrong. They had
their microphone set on stereo.So now that you know that, if
(14:08):
you see an ad like that, feelfree to drop a comment. Oh,
sound only coming out of oneheadphone. Please adjust your
microphone to mono and you canlook like a real smarty in the
comments.
A little bit of a troll, but areal smarty. I've wanted to do
that so many times, like pleaseput the microphone on mono. But
I just decide to be nice and Idon't say it. Although I want
(14:30):
to. And if it's somebody I know,I write to them personally.
I don't like to drop a commentpublicly. That's going to diss
somebody. But you can gently letthe person know. Alright? For
sure.
The next thing I think islighting, Important. And I don't
use light a lot. I like naturallight. I try to keep my filming
in the daytime just for my ownbrain. It's more pleasant for me
(14:52):
to film in the daytime and notbe stressed out at night trying
to make videos.
That's just the time that Ihave. I'll do it in the middle
of my work, take a break, makemy videos, end of my workday,
whatever, whenever isconvenient, but I tend to look
for the light out a window. Ifyou cannot do that, you can do a
ring light. You can also getthis nice, inexpensive, little
LED light called the Neewer, n ee, Neewer, n e e w a r. It's a
(15:17):
tiny little square.
I don't even have it herebecause I rarely use a light.
Tiny little square LED panelwhere you can just adjust the
settings, make it really bright,make it dimmer. You can make the
light warmer or cooler and itreally will make your videos
look better. So if you'reshooting at night, get yourself
a light for sure. I do thinkit's important unless you can
have a nice lamp that you canplace exactly in a good spot and
(15:41):
make sure that you're lit well.
Okay? That's important. And someof the other recommendations,
which we can say you can yay ornay to, if you are somebody who
finds that your fat fingers aremultiply pressing the wrong
buttons on your phone, you knowI always use my stylus when I'm
teaching the lessons. So you canget yourself any old stylus.
(16:02):
That way you can, you know, be alittle precise.
I don't really use the stylus toedit. I actually just use it to
teach the lessons. But you maywant it to edit. You may find
that it helps your precision inyour editing. Feel free to use a
stylus.
This other recommendation, whichis this back camera lens,
there's many of them. I'mrecommending this brand mainly
(16:22):
because I like that it connectswith a screen mirroring and not
a Bluetooth. This way it's, Ican still use my microphone in
my phone because nothing'staking up the port. Okay? That's
why I like this one.
And then another thing you mightwant to consider is a Steady Rig
thing. Like one of those, oh mygod, what are they? Like a step
(16:42):
stabilizer type of thing whereif you're doing a lot of moving
videos. I'm gonna be honest withyou. I do not recommend DJI.
Every time I've purchased one ofthose, I'd be shooting,
shooting, and then flump, mycamera disconnects from the
Bluetooth and flumps down. And Iend up not shooting with the
thing. I've had two of them.I've tried with an older phone,
a newer phone, ah, bah, bah,bah. Every time I try these DJI
(17:06):
Osmo things, they do not workfor me.
And that is just my honestopinion because I don't want to
tell somebody go get one ofthose and then you're stuck like
me with the thing flopping andmessing up your videos every
time and making you look like afool because I always do this
with clients. I'm at a shoot andall of sudden, boom, my phone
just flops. So I ended upwalking around with it like this
because, okay. So don't I don'twanna put you in that position.
(17:28):
I am told that Insta360 has astabilizer that is really good.
I'm told from one of our, studiomembers who uses it religiously,
she said it's her most usedpiece of equipment. So I'm going
to put it here so that you cango and look at it for yourself
and see if it's something thatwill work for you. I don't have
an eye through Insta threesixty, but this is a stabilizing
(17:51):
tool, not the camera itself. I'mtold she she said this is a
Insta360, whatever, this prosomething stabilizer. So I
should have looked it up beforeI started recording, but here I
am.
Not prepared. Anyway, I will putthat in there. Our our studio
member, Regina, swears by it.She said it's amazing. And I
trust her because she's a avidcreator who is doing a lot of
(18:13):
video content of all sorts.
So you can go and investigatethat for yourself. Now let me
just say, and the takeaway ofthis whole thing, you don't need
to buy every single thing I justrecommended. Start with what you
feel like you can handle. Startwith, okay, I need a tripod. I'm
gonna talk on my videos.
Maybe I need a microphone. Juststart with something simple and
work your way up. I did not goout and buy all this stuff. I
(18:36):
didn't. I would one tripod forlike a year.
And then, oh, maybe I'll try anew tripod. Oh, maybe I'll try a
microphone. Like, I little babystepped my way into the gear
that I have. And if you're aperson that feels like, oh, if
I'm going to take up tennis, Ihave to have the whole outfit,
the racket, the bag, the thing,thing. If you're that person, go
get it all.
Go ahead. Go ahead. You can. I'mnot going to judge you because
(18:57):
you're a person that's liketaking it on and that's okay. So
if you wanna do it, go for it.
And then take your time figuringout how each piece of equipment
is gonna work for you and makeyour content better. But don't
get so lost in the forest forthe trees that the the key thing
is that some of the most viralvideos, nobody's using
equipment. The guy on askateboard, he's holding up his
phone. And he wasn't using astabilizer. He was holding the
(19:19):
phone on the ocean spray guy.
It goes back to, you know,here's the woman who the We Do
Not Care Club probably just sather phone down and leaned it on
her coffee cup or something. Youyou don't need I just hate to I
don't wanna say go get all thisstuff because you don't need it
to have successful videos. Youneed to know how to create good
content, and these tools cansupport you. But in the studio,
(19:42):
I'm teaching you how to createcreate good content. If you
don't wanna do it with a tripod,it's still gonna work if you
hold up your phone and you makea a loop video with a good hook.
You're gonna have a good videowith or without a tripod and a
microphone. Okay? So that's mytake for that. And, again, scam
alert. Please go listen to theYours Truly podcast for this
(20:02):
most elaborate insane situationthat I can't even relive here
right now because I just wasexhausted from having that
podcast with we recordedyesterday together, and it was
hilarious.
But I also, at the same time,was tired from just reliving
what I had gone through withthis elaborate scam situation
that happened over like a fiveday period. You can't make it
(20:26):
up. The mothership, I wasrenaming my my grandma nickname
to cuckoo. That's where I'm at.So you can call me cuckoo.
I'll see you next week.
Welcome to The Social Media Strategy. Happy Friday. I
am here with the craziest storyfrom this week. But instead of
telling it to you again, and I'mgonna say again because Julie
and I did an in-depthexplanation of it on our podcast
together. So I'm actually goingto suggest that if you want to
(00:20):
hear about the most insane scamand very elaborate, it's worth a
listen.
It is really worth a listen. Soreally go check out the Yours
Truly podcast, the episode thatis linked in the show notes. You
will not be sorry. And you willalso learn a lot about what to
look for in the very elaboratescams that are now appearing in
(00:43):
our world. It is unbelievablebecause I am Spidey senses when
it comes to scams and somehowended up deep in a situation
where it could have been bad.
It wasn't bad. That's the goodnews because I figured it out. I
figured out that it was a scam,but it cost me so much time and
so much energy. And I think it'sa really big learning experience
(01:08):
for me. So it was almost hardfor me to talk about it.
I was so embarrassed,devastated, felt so duped, and
all the things. So go and listento that episode of Julie and I
covering it in-depth. You willnot be sorry, and you will learn
a lot as as I did. But fortoday, we're gonna talk about
(01:30):
equipment, and I am going toshare two unsponsored by things
as I always before I start theepisode. And the first one is
Kiehl's Superbly EfficientAntiperspirant and Deodorant
Cream.
Totally different than yourtypical roll on. I use this
every day. This is my go todeodorant. I will tell you, if
you're going to try this type ofdeodorant, you need to give it a
(01:52):
week to get accustomed to it.And then you can never go back
to that roll on stuff, thesticky stuff.
I can't even one time I didn'thave it with me. Borrowed I
think I borrowed a deodorant ofJulie's or something, and it was
just horrible. Like I can't goback. I'm not going back. I'd
rather go without deodorant thannot have my Kiehl's.
I am behind this. And Kiehl'sreached out to me about sending
(02:12):
me a PR package and I was like,oh my God, I love your
deodorant. I was just soexcited. And they were like, we
don't, we're not gifting that.And I'm like, I wasn't asking
for for free.
I just was sharing my love foryour deodorant. And I also like
it because it's got this nicerounded so you don't have to put
it on your hands and rub it on.Then you have the stick you
know, cream on your hands thatyou have to wash. I love so I
love the design of theapplication. And I also have
(02:37):
done work with Lumi, and I knowLumi is an amazing product as
well.
So if you have severe body odorproblems, I don't have that
anymore due to hormonal things.I don't have the body odor I
used to have when I was younger.So for me it's the opposite.
Some people get weird body odorafter they go through menopause.
To me it was the opposite.
I don't really smell as much.Yay. But so I don't have to
(02:58):
worry about that. But if you dosmell a lot, the Gloomy is a
great brand also. And they havenot this type of applicator.
They have the you know, you putit on, you have to rub it on.
That's what I don't like. Butthey have a roll on version that
has the little hole that you cansquirt the lotion out. And so
they have an applicator similarto this. It's just that in it
looks like it's a traditionaldeodorant stick, and even though
(03:19):
it's not.
So I highly recommend that brandas well. I I can't say enough
good things about that brandbecause the founder, amazing,
genius, revolutionary woman whocame up with the idea of whole
body deodorant and literallychanged the industry because now
all the big brands have wholebody deodorant. So if you don't
wanna go with Kiehl's, I canreally get behind Lumi because I
(03:41):
know the product works. I'veused it. I just had been using
this before.
So I was already a loyal Kiehl'suser, and I didn't want to
change. I tried their deodorant.I like only the unscented one.
In terms of Lumi, I didn'treally like care for the scents.
And this is unscented as well.
That is my story for deodorant.We're getting personal. We're
getting in the armpits.Alrighty. Now I'm gonna tell you
(04:04):
about my newest piece of techequipment that I didn't know I
needed.
This is a screen mirroring thingthat you can put on the back of
your phone. It sucks to the backof your phone. So that way you
can use your back camera and youcan see yourself like a selfie.
I don't know if you can seethis. It's hard to know, but on
this screen, I can see mycamera.
I'm filming this podcast with myback camera and I can see that
(04:26):
I'm centered. I can see when I'mholding something up to you
like, oh, that's covering myface. That's not. I can, oh,
that's a little bit to the side,but not too far over. So I can
see like selfie on here and Ilove this thing.
It's cool. So I can get behindit, and I don't have affiliate
(04:46):
links. I'm not trying to sellyou products. Just telling you
that if you use your back cameraor you have any need to use your
back camera, this is a reallyhandy little tech piece of
equipment called the Snaplylens, s n a p l y. And I will
link it in the show notes.
I don't have affiliate links forany of the things, maybe a
couple of the things that I'mgonna talk about. I made
(05:08):
affiliate links ages ago, but,you know, it's not something,
I'm not doing like affiliateselling in this podcast nor am I
doing that in the newsletter.These are purely things that I
use. A couple of them might beaffiliate links, but most of
them are just me telling youwhat I like. I don't have the
energy.
I can't seem to get through tothese companies to get affiliate
links, and I'm like, I can't bebothered. So on would I go. I'll
(05:28):
just tell you what I like.Unsponsored by. That seems to be
my theme.
Okey doke. Next, besides that,we'll get into gear in general.
So why because you don't need tohave that, by the way. That's
like a little bonus. What youneed if you're trying to start
out as a content creator as at avery basic level is just a few
inexpensive things to make yourto level up your content that
(05:51):
much more.
So can you do all of thesethings without a tripod, without
a microphone, without a Snapply?Yes. Of course. You can make
great videos and with nothingexcept your phone. But it helps
to have a few things to levelyourself up, to make your life a
little easier.
I have evolved through the yearsof tripods. Meanwhile, I still
the one I'm using right now torecord, that's in front of me
right there, is the one that Ifound in Jonathan's room one
(06:14):
day. And I was like, oh, I'llput a selfie stick topper on it,
and I'll make this a tripod.That's how I started. And I'm
still using that for my tabletopvideos always and only.
That is my tabletop video thingthat has been with me for so
long. I managed to find itonline, so I was was able to get
a second one. So I have two ofthem. But it's nice because it's
tabletop height. When I put theselfie stick topper on it, it's
(06:36):
the perfect eye level.
When I use my other tripods,which are really nice, when I
put them on the tabletop,they're a little too high. So
I'm looking up at my phone, andI don't like that because it's
it's giving a weird, notauthentic look. When you're not
looking directly eye level toyour into your viewers, it does
give a different vibe eventhough it's subliminal. Okey
doke. Let me tell you myfavorite tripods.
(06:57):
So right now, I got my, what isthat one? Sunpack with my selfie
stick topper. So we got thatone. Second up is this brand
called SmallRig and they havedifferent sizes. They don't even
make this white one anymorewhich is sad because I really
like it.
What I like about this is, boop,and it looks really impressive
when you do that. You just popit and it opens. It goes up. It
(07:18):
does, it goes really tall. Thisparticular one, it goes to like
five feet, so I can be maybeeven six feet.
I have this in front of me and Ican be eye level when I'm
standing. That's what I likeabout this size. It also, you
can tilt it this way, so youhave your vertical and then you
have your horizontal. There isone drawback about this tripod,
which is when you are invertical mode, like so, you
(07:42):
can't tilt this way. It won'trotate.
So if I wanted to point a littlebit down, I can't do that. It
doesn't do that. And that is avery annoying limitation of this
tripod that I love. So I haveanother version. So I do like
this one, but it also has theBluetooth clicker so you can
start and stop your videos.
Love that. And it's reallyslick. I love that it's white
(08:04):
and of course they don't sellthe white one anymore. Bummer.
But, although it is looking alittle scratched and dirty so
maybe just as well that I have ablack one.
Looks cleaner. Black one is alittle this one's a little
shorter, has the same featurewhere it pops open. Here's what
I like about this one. It alsohas the clicker. So the little
Bluetooth clicker.
(08:25):
When this one goes up, insteadof oh boy, let's get it here,
hold on. Instead of it, thewhole thing turning so that it
gets like off kilter with theweight of the phone, this one
turns like so. So you can putyour phone in it this way. Let
me see. Why is this showing upon my phone every time?
(08:45):
I don't understand. Okay. So youcan put your phone in this way
and then you can tilt it at anylevel. So you can have it
tilting down a little, tiltingup, you know what I'm saying? So
you can tilt And I like that.
And then it works the same wayin horizontal mode. It can tilt
your phone. So that's a keyfeature that I think is
important in a tripod. So ifyou're looking for a brand, make
(09:07):
sure it does the tilt becauseyou're gonna want it. Trust me.
I have been on shoots where Iwas using this wow. Loud. Been
on shoots where I've been usingthis one and I wanna tilt it
just slightly to get an angle ofthe product and the freaking
thing doesn't tilt. So then Ialways have to pull this one
out. And this one doesn't go astall so I have to prop it on
something.
Oh my, the problems of thecontent creator. This is real
(09:28):
life. So I'm just telling youwhat the things are so you
understand. I also have this onewhich is basically selfie only
because you can't turn thecamera around in this one. If I
turn the camera and try and usemy back camera I can't access my
controls.
In these two small rig ones Ican access the controls with the
back camera or the front camera.The other thing about this one
(09:53):
that I like, hold on, let melock it so it doesn't keep
opening, is that it comes with aring light and it's separate
from this. So this isn't in themiddle of the ring light. This
is below it. So I can tilt thering light, bounce the light to
the ceiling.
So if you are a person who wearsglasses or doesn't like when the
ring light is in your pupils atnight, I see that on a lot of
people's videos, you can tiltyour ring light, bounce the
(10:14):
light to your ceiling and down.And that way you don't have the
light in your eyes. But this oneis only good for selfie and this
one only goes up to about fourfeet. So it's, I still, if I'm
going do a standing video, Itend to put it on a chair or on
a bench to get a little higher.Alrighty.
All the links for these thingsare in, like I said, they're not
affiliate links. Some of themmight be, but that's not the
(10:35):
purpose of this newsletter, notthe purpose of this podcast, not
to sell you things, just toexplain to you what kinds of
things you need and what youshould be looking for when
you're buying them. So that ifyou choose a brand or if you see
something on TikTok shop, makesure you look for the things
that I'm mentioning, like thetilting of the camera, the
height. Make sure if you'regetting a standing tripod, you
(10:56):
want it to go as tall as youare. Some of them only go to
four feet.
So look for one that's a littletaller if you want that eye
level standing type of video.Okay. Also look for being able
to shoot self front camera, backcamera. It's an important
feature I think for me. I'moftentimes shooting things and I
don't want to have to be only inselfie mode.
Okay. The next piece ofequipment that is nice to have
(11:18):
is a microphone. And I have beenthrough the gamut of
microphones. I used to use forfour straight years a wired
microphone that attached to myphone with a wire. So it would
go from here to here.
It would plug right in and Iwould put it on. And it was
pretty far, so I could travelquite a ways from my phone, but
it would always be attachedbecause I trusted that it was
(11:38):
gonna work. I knew that if itwas plugged in, it would be
working. But I finally haveupgraded to a wireless one and
that took me a lot because I'vehad, I tried many. Some of them
sound weird.
They sound like you'reunderwater if you get some cheap
ones and they don't work.They're glitchy. They're
disconnecting from the Bluetootha lot. This one is the Hollyland
(11:59):
Lark M2. It is my favorite.
I highly recommend this one. Itcomes with two. Two pieces so
that you can be interviewingsomeone and you can hear both of
your voices. It magnets on sothat you can put it anywhere on
your clothes, you can put itunder your clothes, but it
magnets like this. So there yougo.
You see? I can put it anywhereso I don't have to have a
(12:21):
certain type of collar to attachit to. I can magnet it anywhere.
I really like that feature. Ialso love that it comes with two
kinds of connectors, althoughthey should have a case, a slot
in the case for these, thatconnects to a regular iPhone or
an Android or a computer.
So you can see I'm using mylittle screen to see if I'm
(12:42):
holding these up correctly. Ah,too high. Okay. So it has the
iPhone and it has the Android orlaptop computer so that I can
use it with those. So I reallylike the double whammy of that.
Okey doke. It can change thegame for your videos because
some people go far away fromtheir phone to show an outfit
(13:03):
and then they're shouting attheir phone and it sounds
absurd. You also look like anamateur when you do that. And
I've noticed a lot of people inads do that. The other thing to
note that if you have amicrophone like this and it's
not this one, if it's anotherbrand and yours has a switch on
the bottom that you can slide tostereo or mono.
(13:25):
Some of them have switches. Makesure you're in mono. Mono, mono,
mono. It is not a sickness whenit comes to a microphone. It's a
good thing because mono willmake sure that your sound is
coming out of both headphones.
This is very important. Bothheadphones. Okay? Because when
(13:47):
you put it on stereo, it assumesthat you're going to be going
back and forth to the speakersor something. It does something
in the world of audio where youwill hear sometimes when you're
wearing headphones and you'rewatching an ad on TikTok, you'll
hear only sound in oneheadphone.
That's because they had theirmicrophone set wrong. They had
their microphone set on stereo.So now that you know that, if
(14:08):
you see an ad like that, feelfree to drop a comment. Oh,
sound only coming out of oneheadphone. Please adjust your
microphone to mono and you canlook like a real smarty in the
comments.
A little bit of a troll, but areal smarty. I've wanted to do
that so many times, like pleaseput the microphone on mono. But
I just decide to be nice and Idon't say it. Although I want
(14:30):
to. And if it's somebody I know,I write to them personally.
I don't like to drop a commentpublicly. That's going to diss
somebody. But you can gently letthe person know. Alright? For
sure.
The next thing I think islighting, Important. And I don't
use light a lot. I like naturallight. I try to keep my filming
in the daytime just for my ownbrain. It's more pleasant for me
(14:52):
to film in the daytime and notbe stressed out at night trying
to make videos.
That's just the time that Ihave. I'll do it in the middle
of my work, take a break, makemy videos, end of my workday,
whatever, whenever isconvenient, but I tend to look
for the light out a window. Ifyou cannot do that, you can do a
ring light. You can also getthis nice, inexpensive, little
LED light called the Neewer, n ee, Neewer, n e e w a r. It's a
(15:17):
tiny little square.
I don't even have it herebecause I rarely use a light.
Tiny little square LED panelwhere you can just adjust the
settings, make it really bright,make it dimmer. You can make the
light warmer or cooler and itreally will make your videos
look better. So if you'reshooting at night, get yourself
a light for sure. I do thinkit's important unless you can
have a nice lamp that you canplace exactly in a good spot and
(15:41):
make sure that you're lit well.
Okay? That's important. And someof the other recommendations,
which we can say you can yay ornay to, if you are somebody who
finds that your fat fingers aremultiply pressing the wrong
buttons on your phone, you knowI always use my stylus when I'm
teaching the lessons. So you canget yourself any old stylus.
(16:02):
That way you can, you know, be alittle precise.
I don't really use the stylus toedit. I actually just use it to
teach the lessons. But you maywant it to edit. You may find
that it helps your precision inyour editing. Feel free to use a
stylus.
This other recommendation, whichis this back camera lens,
there's many of them. I'mrecommending this brand mainly
(16:22):
because I like that it connectswith a screen mirroring and not
a Bluetooth. This way it's, Ican still use my microphone in
my phone because nothing'staking up the port. Okay? That's
why I like this one.
And then another thing you mightwant to consider is a Steady Rig
thing. Like one of those, oh mygod, what are they? Like a step
(16:42):
stabilizer type of thing whereif you're doing a lot of moving
videos. I'm gonna be honest withyou. I do not recommend DJI.
Every time I've purchased one ofthose, I'd be shooting,
shooting, and then flump, mycamera disconnects from the
Bluetooth and flumps down. And Iend up not shooting with the
thing. I've had two of them.I've tried with an older phone,
a newer phone, ah, bah, bah,bah. Every time I try these DJI
(17:06):
Osmo things, they do not workfor me.
And that is just my honestopinion because I don't want to
tell somebody go get one ofthose and then you're stuck like
me with the thing flopping andmessing up your videos every
time and making you look like afool because I always do this
with clients. I'm at a shoot andall of sudden, boom, my phone
just flops. So I ended upwalking around with it like this
because, okay. So don't I don'twanna put you in that position.
(17:28):
I am told that Insta360 has astabilizer that is really good.
I'm told from one of our, studiomembers who uses it religiously,
she said it's her most usedpiece of equipment. So I'm going
to put it here so that you cango and look at it for yourself
and see if it's something thatwill work for you. I don't have
an eye through Insta threesixty, but this is a stabilizing
(17:51):
tool, not the camera itself. I'mtold she she said this is a
Insta360, whatever, this prosomething stabilizer. So I
should have looked it up beforeI started recording, but here I
am.
Not prepared. Anyway, I will putthat in there. Our our studio
member, Regina, swears by it.She said it's amazing. And I
trust her because she's a avidcreator who is doing a lot of
(18:13):
video content of all sorts.
So you can go and investigatethat for yourself. Now let me
just say, and the takeaway ofthis whole thing, you don't need
to buy every single thing I justrecommended. Start with what you
feel like you can handle. Startwith, okay, I need a tripod. I'm
gonna talk on my videos.
Maybe I need a microphone. Juststart with something simple and
work your way up. I did not goout and buy all this stuff. I
(18:36):
didn't. I would one tripod forlike a year.
And then, oh, maybe I'll try anew tripod. Oh, maybe I'll try a
microphone. Like, I little babystepped my way into the gear
that I have. And if you're aperson that feels like, oh, if
I'm going to take up tennis, Ihave to have the whole outfit,
the racket, the bag, the thing,thing. If you're that person, go
get it all.
Go ahead. Go ahead. You can. I'mnot going to judge you because
(18:57):
you're a person that's liketaking it on and that's okay. So
if you wanna do it, go for it.
And then take your time figuringout how each piece of equipment
is gonna work for you and makeyour content better. But don't
get so lost in the forest forthe trees that the the key thing
is that some of the most viralvideos, nobody's using
equipment. The guy on askateboard, he's holding up his
phone. And he wasn't using astabilizer. He was holding the
(19:19):
phone on the ocean spray guy.
It goes back to, you know,here's the woman who the We Do
Not Care Club probably just sather phone down and leaned it on
her coffee cup or something. Youyou don't need I just hate to I
don't wanna say go get all thisstuff because you don't need it
to have successful videos. Youneed to know how to create good
content, and these tools cansupport you. But in the studio,
(19:42):
I'm teaching you how to createcreate good content. If you
don't wanna do it with a tripod,it's still gonna work if you
hold up your phone and you makea a loop video with a good hook.
You're gonna have a good videowith or without a tripod and a
microphone. Okay? So that's mytake for that. And, again, scam
alert. Please go listen to theYours Truly podcast for this
(20:02):
most elaborate insane situationthat I can't even relive here
right now because I just wasexhausted from having that
podcast with we recordedyesterday together, and it was
hilarious.
But I also, at the same time,was tired from just reliving
what I had gone through withthis elaborate scam situation
that happened over like a fiveday period. You can't make it
(20:26):
up. The mothership, I wasrenaming my my grandma nickname
to cuckoo. That's where I'm at.So you can call me cuckoo.
I'll see you next week.
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