How to Keep Your Videos Organized
I received this question from my long-time client Marcia of Smart in the Kitchen. We shoot regularly together, and she also shoots a lot of quick videos on her phone, so she needs a system that enables her to quickly find the files she needs for posting to Instagram, newsletter, her website and more.
Storage: Video Subscription clients receive a lot of video files from me on a regular basis, so the first suggestion I always give to them is to invest in a dedicated external hard drive for all video files. If you are shooting a lot of your own videos, then I would recommend the same for you. This allows you to keep all videos in one place without taking up memory on your computer AND acts as backup storage if you follow my next suggestion. In addition to the hard drive, my second recommendation is to store all of your videos on the cloud, whether iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. I keep all of my client and in-house videos in Dropbox, so I can easily access them on different computers when I don’t have my hard drives on me. And just as important I can access them on my phone via the app for posting on social media.
Organization: This is the key to making your life easier!! All of your video files need to be organized according to a naming and folder system that makes sense for you. For instance, I keep all of my final client videos in Dropbox with the following folder sequence: Client Name > Project Name. Within the Project folder, I have each video named according to the client, type of film, date, and aspect ratio (ex: Smart in the Kitchen_Branded Film_3.10.21_16x9). This allows me to quickly see what the video is, if it is the latest version, and what size it is. For me, all of this information is super important. For you, it may be different. You may want to categorize your videos chronologically or by subject matter or professional video versus phone video. I would pick 2-3 categories that make sense for you and organize in folders and naming systems accordingly. If you need help with this, please feel free to reach out!
Transferring Files for Use: If you are using a cloud-based storage system, the easiest way to transfer a video to your phone to post on social media is to export the file via the app. Be sure you have the app on your phone, easily navigate to the file you need (because of your awesome organization system), and either “save” or “export” the file onto your phone. After you post the video to the social media site of your choice, be sure to delete the file from your phone. No need to keep it and take up precious storage, since it is already saved to the cloud and your hard drive.
For the opposite workflow (transferring a video you just shot on your phone to the cloud), simply upload it via the app. Then rename and place it in the correct location.
For those of you using enough video that you need an organizational system, bravo! Video is an important tool for your business and I am so happy that you are taking advantage. Please let me know if you have any additional questions on video storage and access. If you’re interested in regularly incorporating video into your brand strategy, then reach out and I’d love to chat with you about it!