Liz:

when the visuals of your brand are quite established.

Liz:

I think it makes it easier to make decorating decisions in your space

Liz:

means that your videos look on brand and that just really helps build

Liz:

up that trust and it helps people recognize your brand really quickly.

Liz:

I think one of the things that I struggle with, especially in the design industry,

Liz:

is there's like a lot of, maybe now become visual cliches, so I've noticed that a

Liz:

lot of designers will have a really dark studio and they'll use colored lights

Liz:

to get in their sort of brand color

Liz:

Sometimes we look at what other people are doing and think, I don't

Liz:

have the right setup, this isn't gonna be slick enough, but actually,

Liz:

psychologically, people respond better if you don't have all of that.

Liz:

Welcome to the Confident Live Marketing Podcast with Ian Anderson Gray.

Liz:

Helping you level up your impact, authority, and profits through

Liz:

the power of confident live video.

Liz:

Optimize your mindset and communication.

Liz:

And increase your confidence in front of the camera.

Liz:

Get confident with the tech and gear.

Liz:

And get confident with the content and marketing.

Liz:

Together, we can go live!

Ian:

Hello and welcome to episode 225 of the confident live marketing podcast.

Ian:

Wow.

Ian:

it's exciting today because we're going behind the scenes

Ian:

with another special guest.

Ian:

And my guest today is the fabulous Liz Mosley, who is a graphic designer

Ian:

with over 15 years experience and now specializes in creating.

Ian:

Creative branding and websites for small business owners.

Ian:

She also hosts a podcast called building your brand and teaches

Ian:

courses showing people how to create their own branding and gifts if they

Ian:

don't have the budget to outsource it.

Ian:

Her goal for her clients and students is for them to come away with branding that

Ian:

they love that helps them feel so proud and confident promoting their businesses

Ian:

and showing what they do in the world.

Ian:

Welcome to the show, Liz.

Ian:

How are you doing?

Liz:

Good, thanks.

Liz:

Thanks for having me.

Ian:

It's been great.

Ian:

Great to have you.

Ian:

We've not known each other for that long.

Ian:

Actually.

Ian:

we, I'm trying to think how we've, we, met in person at Adobe max.

Ian:

I think that was the first time.

Liz:

Yeah.

Ian:

and,

Liz:

We've met each other twice since getting to know each other,

Liz:

which was like about five months ago.

Ian:

I know.

Ian:

And then, it was a tummy con.

Ian:

Wasn't it?

Ian:

I think.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

so yeah, so we're both, Adobe, your Adobe ambassadors or Adobe express ambassador.

Ian:

Tell us a little bit more about what you do with Adobe.

Ian:

Cause I know you do a lot of stuff.

Ian:

Yeah.

Liz:

I'm an Adobe Express ambassador as well, but I also have been roped

Liz:

into doing all sorts of other things with them, which has been really fun.

Liz:

I've done, Some live streaming for them on Adobe Live.

Liz:

I've, spoken at Adobe Max for part of their virtual

Liz:

conference a couple of times.

Liz:

I create content for them outside of the Express Ambassadorship as well.

Liz:

So yeah, a bunch of different things.

Liz:

I also do training for them.

Liz:

teaching their clients how to use Adobe Express as well.

Ian:

Awesome.

Ian:

I love the way you say roped in.

Ian:

I'm sure

Liz:

I know, roped in.

Liz:

it's really fun because basically they, people like recommend

Liz:

me to different teams and then I get drawn into other areas.

Liz:

So yeah, roped in probably isn't the right word, but it feels like I get drawn in

Ian:

drawn in.

Ian:

Yeah, that.

Liz:

Yeah.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

And it's been similar.

Ian:

It's similar with me.

Ian:

I think I've, it's been really interesting to, to work on a few,

Ian:

kind of projects and stuff like that.

Ian:

So you've done a lot of live, a lot of stuff.

Ian:

You do stuff with Adobe.

Ian:

You do stuff yourself.

Ian:

You've got your own podcast.

Ian:

tell us a little bit more about your, we know a little bit about your background

Ian:

because we talked about your, I gave you a bio, but what makes your studio

Ian:

setup unique in terms of what you do as a designer and all the other stuff that you

Ian:

do for Adobe and also for your business?

Liz:

Oh, what makes my studio setup unique?

Liz:

I don't think anything in particular.

Liz:

I feel like I've had to, I've been very slowly improving it as we go.

Liz:

So when I first started live streaming for Adobe, I was actually, I still

Liz:

had a desk set up in my bedroom, which wasn't the most professional look, but

Liz:

they were like really chilled about it.

Liz:

But I was like, here's my bed in the background.

Liz:

But yeah, basically converted like a box room in our house into a

Liz:

office or studio And then I've just slowly been adding Things to it.

Liz:

So like for example, the lighting wasn't great because there's a window behind me.

Liz:

So then I've got some lights I always had the microphone because

Liz:

I was like doing the podcast.

Liz:

So I guess as I've needed to improve things I've invested In little bits

Liz:

here and there, which has been good because it means I've spread out the

Liz:

cost over the last couple of years.

Ian:

I think that's, I think that's such a good answer because there's a couple of

Ian:

things that I want to go back to on that.

Ian:

And the first thing is like.

Ian:

When you first started doing live streams with Adobe, like Adobe is

Ian:

it's a big name and you probably felt quite a bit of pressure.

Ian:

I'm assuming like this is Adobe.

Ian:

I'm doing live streaming, like my, I need to have the top mega

Ian:

professional kit, like background and but they were chilled out about it.

Ian:

And I, and the thing often, I don't know about you, but for

Ian:

me, I've, the, a lot of my.

Ian:

Concerns for having professional setup is all been in my head.

Ian:

I've not always needed that.

Ian:

I think it helps with the, obviously the production value, but it

Ian:

doesn't matter so much, does it?

Ian:

and then the second thing is, I think you're so right that for most of us,

Ian:

unless you are totally committed right from the start, you know that Your video

Ian:

live video podcasting is absolutely paramount to your business success And

Ian:

you've got the money right at the start fine invest ten thousand twenty thousand

Ian:

pounds or dollars into it but for most of us like It's a case of bootstrapping

Ian:

your live your studio, isn't it over time and investing in the gear and

Ian:

quite often We're going to buy gear that isn't that great to begin with.

Ian:

It takes time, doesn't it?

Ian:

So yeah, any thoughts on that?

Liz:

Yeah, definitely.

Liz:

And I think that's it.

Liz:

Like, when I started live streaming with Adobe, actually, that was the first

Liz:

time I'd done any live streaming before.

Liz:

And so I didn't know how long it was gonna last.

Liz:

I ended up actually doing it for a year and I had a weekly show.

Liz:

And so I did do, I think I did like well over 50 live streams.

Liz:

and yeah.

Liz:

But, yeah, I feel like it wouldn't have made sense, and I wasn't really

Liz:

in a position that I could invest in everything, right there at the beginning.

Liz:

yeah, it was a case of doing it bit by bit, and I think you're so right

Liz:

as well, actually, about not always getting, Like the right thing or the

Liz:

best thing right from the beginning.

Liz:

So for example, Like I had a light that sort of suckered onto the top of my

Liz:

computer and it worked okay for a bit, but it, it was very, yeah, it wasn't great

Liz:

and now I've invested in the like, Elgato lights and those are like much bigger and

Liz:

much better and I think It's there's an element of upgrading as well as you like

Liz:

improve and grow and I guess as you said as I proved Myself that this is something

Liz:

that i'm gonna keep doing and so it's worth investing in because it was exactly

Liz:

the same with my podcast I started it.

Liz:

I did a season of 12 episodes just to see If it was something that

Liz:

I wanted to do, if I enjoyed it.

Liz:

At the beginning, I wasn't recording video.

Liz:

I was just recording audio.

Liz:

like the sort of needs have changed over time.

Liz:

And now that I've committed to it for three years, like it feels a lot

Liz:

more worthwhile investing in that tech, because I know that I'm going

Liz:

to get plenty of use out of it.

Ian:

That makes total sense.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

And three years, that's a long time because most podcasters, they, I

Ian:

don't know what the stats are on this, but it's like the, something

Ian:

like the 10th they give up.

Ian:

And so if you've been doing this for three years, I think that's a

Ian:

pretty good indicator that you're

Liz:

yeah, I'm committed.

Liz:

yeah, totally.

Ian:

which is great.

Ian:

So let's dive into your studio.

Ian:

And the first one that I always like to, Ask about is audio and microphones.

Ian:

Cause I don't know what you, so this is interesting.

Ian:

Obviously you're a designer and visuals is a huge amount of what you do.

Ian:

But, would you agree like audio is pretty important?

Ian:

Like I would say it's the most important if your audio doesn't sound great, then

Ian:

it's not, and particularly for podcasting.

Ian:

So tell us about your microphone and audio setup and why you

Ian:

invested in that particular setup.

Liz:

I've got a blue Yeti microphone.

Liz:

And interestingly, someone asked me the other day if I would recommend it.

Liz:

And I would say that I'm happy with it, and I'm happy with the quality.

Liz:

But, I'm not, obsessed with it, if that makes sense.

Liz:

So I would totally be open.

Liz:

If I had my time again, I think I would consider other brands.

Liz:

I think at the beginning, Blue Yeti is one of those ones where people

Liz:

really like the aesthetic look of it.

Liz:

You can get it in different colors.

Liz:

you can usually find a version of a Blue Yeti that sort of,

Liz:

fits with your aesthetics.

Liz:

I just went for a brand, a black one, so it didn't really do that for me.

Liz:

But, I think I just saw loads of people using it, and That's why I got it.

Liz:

So I didn't really, I knew it was a decent microphone, but I didn't really do that

Liz:

much research into what was out there.

Liz:

So yeah, I think potentially down the line, I would upgrade.

Liz:

I do agree with you.

Liz:

I think the audio is really important, but I also think I, and you might

Liz:

disagree with me on this, but I also don't think it has to be totally perfect.

Liz:

I think, people who are listening There's a certain amount that they're forgiving

Liz:

of, I think often you can have like audio issues that are really annoying

Liz:

and it will completely put people off listening, but I think there's, yeah.

Liz:

I don't think it has to be totally perfect is what I'm

Ian:

No, I wouldn't disagree with that at all.

Ian:

Like I, so I suppose.

Ian:

I think if you're not, if you're, for example, if you're using a laptop

Ian:

microphone, that's not going to be great.

Ian:

And you're probably going to get a lot of, echo and reverb and,

Ian:

fan noises from your computer.

Ian:

That's not great, but you don't have to spend hundreds

Ian:

of pounds or dollars on this.

Ian:

you can, the blue Yeti isn't particularly cheap.

Ian:

It's about a hundred.

Ian:

It's about the hundred range, I think, isn't it?

Ian:

But, you can get even cheaper microphone line that the one I really like is

Ian:

the Samsung QTU, which is about.

Ian:

60 pounds 60 dollars and it's really good.

Ian:

so I agree with you I think just start off with something simple

Ian:

But just if you go for a dynamic microphone, that's going to be much

Ian:

better than your laptop microphone.

Ian:

So you've already upgraded and it's funny You obviously seem a little bit.

Ian:

I don't know apologetic about the the blue yeti

Ian:

I started off with that and I got to the same point when I think

Ian:

there are a lot of people out there that are almost quite judgmental,

Liz:

Yeah.

Ian:

you've got the blue Yeti.

Ian:

Oh, and you know what?

Ian:

I think the blue Yeti is a really good microphone.

Ian:

It's really

Liz:

solid.

Liz:

Yeah.

Liz:

It's solid.

Liz:

And it's served me really well, but yeah, I think maybe that's it.

Liz:

Is that I've, as I've moved more into podcasting and live streaming

Liz:

circles, I've started to experience the snobbery of Blue Yeti.

Liz:

so now I'm a bit like, Oh, I know it's not necessarily the best one.

Ian:

Yeah, it is funny, but I think the snobbery probably comes from the fact

Ian:

that the Blue Yeti is often used badly.

Ian:

Like I can definitely tell that Yeti correctly.

Ian:

You've got it close to you.

Ian:

A lot of people use the Blue Yeti and it's like halfway down the garden, it's

Ian:

because they want it out of shot, which I get from an aesthetics point of view.

Ian:

but you're not going to get the best quality.

Ian:

and the other thing about the Blue Yeti, which is great is it's USB.

Ian:

So you just plug it into your computer.

Ian:

You don't have to worry about any other technical stuff.

Ian:

So that's

Liz:

yeah.

Ian:

Cool.

Ian:

So I'm interested in your camera setup because like you've got

Ian:

your current camera setup.

Ian:

And just before we, I pressed record, you were talking about what you're thinking of

Ian:

getting actually fairly soon, apparently.

Ian:

So tell us more about your current setup and what you're

Ian:

thinking of doing in the future.

Liz:

So my current setup I feel embarrassed about as well,

Liz:

but I'm basically just using the camera on my computer.

Liz:

So I've got an iMac.

Liz:

yeah.

Liz:

I like, one of those I never know the right names.

Liz:

like a big iMac desktop.

Liz:

it's like one of those 27 inch ones.

Liz:

It's a really good computer.

Liz:

Really nice.

Liz:

I think, the camera is good enough.

Liz:

And it, it has served me for the last few years, but I think

Liz:

the same with everything else.

Liz:

Now that I've proved to myself that I'm committed to the podcasting, live

Liz:

streaming, all that sort of thing, I think it is really time to invest in, an

Liz:

external camera, not the computer camera.

Liz:

So I've decided that I'm going to get the Sony ZV 10.

Liz:

Is that?

Liz:

I've got already.

Liz:

Yeah.

Liz:

Yeah.

Ian:

they need to, do you know what, they need to come up with some more snazzy

Ian:

names because it's really confusing.

Ian:

It's the, I think it's the ZVE10, but I always get that wrong.

Ian:

And of course, if you're, and if you're American, of course, it's the ZVE10.

Ian:

so

Liz:

Yeah.

Liz:

Yeah.

Liz:

So I'm planning to buy that.

Liz:

it's basically all sitting in my cart online and I just need to press

Liz:

send because obviously that is a bit more of a, like a bit of a bigger

Liz:

investment, but I've got the lens in there and then I've got like a stand

Liz:

that will clamp onto the computer.

Liz:

so it's all there ready to go.

Liz:

So basically after this I just need to press order and actually do it.

Ian:

do you know what, thank you for coming on because if that was

Ian:

me, I'd be like so eager to get it.

Ian:

Oh no, I've got this interview I have to do.

Ian:

I just want to

Liz:

Oh no.

Liz:

No, I'm like stalling because I'm like, oh, it's a lot of money.

Liz:

So I, yeah, I need to just do it.

Liz:

I think it's one of those ones where, like it feels like a big chunk of money

Liz:

will come out of my account, but I really know that it's like worth the investment.

Liz:

And it feels like definitely the next thing to level up and invest in for sure.

Ian:

yeah, definitely.

Ian:

And yeah, so that's actually the camera and lens that I've got as

Ian:

well, and presumably with that, so the thing about that is you can't plug

Ian:

it directly into your computer, you need to get Something like, the one

Ian:

that people tend to recommend, the one I've got is the Elgato Cam Link 4K.

Ian:

It'd be great if, Elgato sponsored this podcast, the amount of

Liz:

Yeah, I know we've mentioned this So, often.

Ian:

so yeah, that converts the HDMI output of your camera into, signal

Ian:

that your computer can use that you so you can use it as a webcam.

Ian:

so yeah, so I think, you've got all that set up.

Ian:

That's going to come very soon and yeah, we'll have to see what things look like.

Ian:

It's going to be

Liz:

and thanks to you, I'm probably going to put the teleprompter

Liz:

in there as well, so I'll go and add that to my car afterwards.

Liz:

It's getting more and more expensive as the day goes

Ian:

I know it's not good.

Ian:

it's, it is good.

Ian:

It is good.

Ian:

So that's your camera set up.

Ian:

the next thing, so this, the next question is the area that I personally

Ian:

really struggled with cameras.

Ian:

It can be quite complicated, I think, but it doesn't have to be.

Ian:

But the thing I find a bit more complicated, because we're now

Ian:

veering into the art and science, type of thing and aesthetics.

Ian:

I'm interested to hear from you about this, because obviously you're

Ian:

a designer and you're very visual.

Ian:

How have you got on with lighting?

Ian:

What's your lighting setup?

Ian:

And how has that, how have you set that up to create the right mood and the right

Ian:

kind of, the way it looks, on camera?

Ian:

So tell us a bit more about that.

Liz:

Oh, see, I don't think I'm that good at that either.

Liz:

So basically I When I had my desk in my room as I talked about before I

Liz:

was right in front of a big window And that actually worked, served me really

Liz:

well And the light was really good.

Liz:

Apart from I did some nighttime live streams I'm not joking.

Liz:

Like it was the first one I ever did for Adobe was in the evening

Liz:

and it was Like two hours long.

Liz:

It started when it was light outside and by the end of the

Liz:

stream, it was like pitch black.

Liz:

And basically I just got like everything just got darker and darker.

Liz:

so I didn't have a great setup then but i've now invested in two Elgato

Liz:

lights because I don't I so i'm in a very small box room and I don't have

Liz:

space For big lights behind the desk so they sit on the desk on either

Liz:

side, and I'm really pleased with them, and they've worked really well.

Liz:

I think, ultimately, I am doing the best that I can with the space

Liz:

that I've got, which is small.

Liz:

and so I think, aesthetically, things aren't quite where I'd like them to be.

Liz:

the dream would be to have a slightly bigger space, where I

Liz:

can have, quite a lot of space.

Liz:

set up behind the desk.

Liz:

But for now, I'm just working with what I've got.

Liz:

And it keeps getting, it gradually keeps getting better

Liz:

and better, but quite slowly.

Ian:

I think this is, I'm not a kind of jealous person, but when I have

Ian:

some of my American friends on the show, they always seem to have a

Ian:

lot more space than us in the UK.

Ian:

so I think that's part of it, but I think we can still make

Ian:

do with a fairly small space.

Ian:

my, my space is pretty small.

Ian:

It's a box room as well.

Ian:

but it's I think what's really important and it sounds like you've got this is

Ian:

you at least have a dedicated space.

Ian:

So this is for your content creation on your work, which is I think

Ian:

really makes a big difference.

Ian:

So lighting.

Ian:

Now let's get onto your computer.

Ian:

So you mentioned you've got an iMac.

Ian:

So I'm just interested in terms of your podcasts, your videos, presumably

Ian:

you use your phone quite a lot in some of that creation as well.

Ian:

So tell us a bit more about your computers and devices that you

Ian:

use and any kind of special stuff that you've got going on there.

Liz:

Yeah.

Liz:

So I guess for the podcast, I do just use, like we're doing now, I use the

Liz:

camera on the computer, but for my content, and I know that I could.

Liz:

I could set this up to do it for the podcast as well, but for my content

Liz:

I do use my phone a lot and actually i've got an iphone 14 and the camera

Liz:

is so impressive and I'm, definitely like a believer in starting with

Liz:

what you've got and not, my, no, deep down what I want to do is spend

Liz:

all the money and get all the gear.

Liz:

my husband always makes fun of me because I am like, a walking, the walking epitome

Liz:

of like, all the gear and no idea.

Liz:

So if I could, I would like, start a new hobby or start a new

Liz:

interest and I would just do it.

Liz:

Bile, but obviously there's like limitations and I can't do that So i'm

Liz:

definitely like trying to be that person who starts with what they got they've

Liz:

got and like i've recorded quite a few like youtube videos just using the Camera

Liz:

on my phone all of my courses like the videos i've created from that I've done

Liz:

with my phone and as I said, I am gonna invest in a camera now because I'm just

Liz:

creating so much more video content.

Liz:

It absolutely makes sense.

Liz:

But yeah, I've been really impressed with what I've been able to do with my phone.

Liz:

And I've, I've recorded content for brands and collaborations, like I've

Liz:

created so many, reels and TikTok videos for Adobe using my phone

Liz:

and it's served me really well.

Ian:

I think it's a bit like the matrix when the, Neo wants to fly a

Ian:

helicopter and he just downloads the program to, to fly the helicopter.

Ian:

And I think sometimes we can feel like that with.

Ian:

gear, like we just buy the gear and that's going to fix all our problems.

Ian:

we're suddenly going to be able to be an amazing podcaster,

Ian:

an amazing live streamer, just because we've invested in that.

Ian:

We've downloaded the program.

Ian:

but it's not, it's never as simple as that, unfortunately.

Ian:

software.

Ian:

So we've had a chat about software, haven't we?

Ian:

So about, different software that you use.

Ian:

So I'm just trying to say like for your podcasting, for your

Ian:

video, what kind of software do you use in your content creation?

Liz:

For my podcast, I use Riverside.

Liz:

So I recently moved over to Riverside and I'm really enjoying using it.

Liz:

I, so when I, was doing a lives with Adobe, like they did all the

Liz:

production, so I didn't need to have any software for the live streaming.

Liz:

Like I'd have a.

Liz:

I don't know what you'd call him, like a live producer, I guess he was, so

Liz:

a guy in my ear who's telling me what to do and he's managing everything.

Liz:

So I literally just had to do the live, perform basically and

Liz:

he was doing all the tech stuff.

Liz:

But now I'm not doing that and we actually had a chat about this.

Liz:

I'm gonna start live streaming myself and I'm gonna use Ecamm for that.

Liz:

and then what else do I use?

Liz:

I guess in terms of like video editing and stuff like that, I tend to use

Liz:

Premiere Pro mainly, which I love.

Liz:

I really enjoy using that.

Liz:

If it's like very light editing, I'll use an app or Adobe Express as well.

Liz:

So it depends what I need.

Liz:

Like sometimes I just I do quite a lot of tutorials actually that are screen

Liz:

recorded and I use loom for that.

Liz:

So yeah, there's all sorts of different things that I bring

Liz:

together to piece my content together.

Ian:

No, that sounds cool.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

And so a lot of people don't realize that Adobe Express can do a lot of

Ian:

editing as well as we know, particularly if it's for the short form side

Ian:

of things, which is really cool.

Ian:

So definitely check that out.

Ian:

I want to move on to your workspace and how you've personalized it.

Ian:

And I, and again, We're all on a journey, so I'm sure, like me, and

Ian:

you've already mentioned this, that there are frustrations, there are

Ian:

things that are not quite there yet.

Ian:

you've talked about you would like to have a bigger space, but how have you,

Ian:

right now, how have you made your space somewhere that is a place that is uniquely

Ian:

yours to help with two things, really, to foster that creativity in your day

Ian:

to day work, but also Productivity.

Liz:

Yeah, so I would say, and again, this is like evolved slowly over

Liz:

time, I've tried to make decorating decisions that feel on brand for me.

Liz:

So for example, you can't say, see it, but in front of me, there's a big green wall.

Liz:

So I tend to record content with, like in this corner.

Liz:

So there's like a green wall and a white wall.

Liz:

And then I've got cool things, stuck up.

Liz:

and I've got a bookshelf that's got all my design, books on.

Liz:

So because I don't have a small, a big space, what I've done is I've curated

Liz:

corners so that then, like thinking about, The angles that I would use to

Liz:

film so like the window's facing me.

Liz:

So then I've got light from there i'm not like totally happy with my background

Liz:

at the moment, but again, it's just Making the best I can with the space

Liz:

that i've got at the moment like the ultimate goal I think and i'm not sure

Liz:

this will work But I should try it would be to have the desk switched around

Liz:

and have the green wall behind me But yeah, I need to play around a bit more.

Liz:

But yeah, I think when you know when the visuals of your

Liz:

brand are quite established.

Liz:

I think it makes it easier to make almost like decorating decisions in

Liz:

your space means that your videos look on brand and that just really helps

Liz:

build up that trust and it helps people recognize your brand like really quickly.

Liz:

so yeah, I think those are the sort of like little things that I've done.

Liz:

Again, there's still so much more that I want to do and I feel like

Liz:

I've had to, compromise and just, do what I can with the space that I've

Liz:

got and the budget that I've got.

Liz:

But just some simple things like painting a wall green has made a big difference.

Ian:

Yeah, that's all I wanted to ask you a little bit more about that.

Ian:

So quite often what I asked my guests on this in this season about studio

Ian:

set up is what is their dream set up?

Ian:

Or what would you invest in?

Ian:

But I want to make it slightly different for you because

Ian:

obviously, you're a designer.

Ian:

And so you've you tend to think about things in a ball.

Ian:

designery way.

Ian:

how would you, in terms of the look and feel of your, your camera set up

Ian:

and the look and feel, your background, the lighting, how would you, thinking

Ian:

about, no, there's no budget here, sorry, there's, sorry, there is a

Ian:

budget here, to invest in and the next stage for you, what would that be?

Ian:

how would you, How, change what you've currently got to have a more memorable

Ian:

brands than you've currently got.

Ian:

what would you think?

Liz:

Oh, that's such a good question.

Liz:

I think, I think one of the things that I struggle with, so I guess I,

Liz:

something that I've considered is getting a studio outside of the home.

Liz:

And I like the idea of that in terms of had it having a dedicated studio.

Liz:

space to work, like to record content.

Liz:

But I actually really love working from home.

Liz:

So I think I would probably have to like still live it myself.

Liz:

I'd still have the space issue, but I think what I would do is yeah, move the

Liz:

room around, have the green wall behind me and then really curate that wall.

Liz:

I think.

Liz:

I think it's about adding personality and showing, having elements

Liz:

that help people get to know you.

Liz:

And your unique personality, and I think you can do that,

Liz:

with the prints that you choose.

Liz:

So I've got an Aaron Draplin print, who's like a very well known designer up here.

Liz:

yeah, I think you can bring those things in and I've seen lots of

Liz:

people do it in really brilliant ways where their setups all look really

Liz:

different, but it really shows their personality and what their brand is like.

Liz:

And so I think it's, yeah, it's about curating that sort of

Liz:

like aesthetic of your brand.

Liz:

I think one of the things that I struggle with, especially in the sort of like

Liz:

design industry, is there's like a lot of, I guess what of, maybe now become

Liz:

visual cliches, where, so I've noticed that a lot of designers will have a

Liz:

really dark, studio and they'll use like colored lights to get in their sort of

Liz:

brand color and it's really effective and it works really well, but I don't think

Liz:

it's really like my vibe or aesthetic, but I find myself getting sucked into it

Liz:

because I see everybody else doing it.

Liz:

I'm like, oh, maybe I just need to like make it all really dark and have, like

Liz:

one of those long stick lights that's like putting out this green glow.

Liz:

But yeah, that's not really, that's not really the vibe I want to go to.

Liz:

Another one that a lot of designs do, and this is like no shade on them because

Liz:

the aesthetics are perfect for them, but like another one is they, quite a lot of

Liz:

them have neon signs in their background.

Liz:

And so then I feel myself getting sucked in and I'm like,

Liz:

oh, I need to have a neon sign.

Liz:

am I really a designer content creator unless I've got a

Liz:

neon sign in the background?

Liz:

But again, I have to remind myself that's not really my aesthetic, Like I need to

Liz:

find my own way and I think sometimes we can't see what everybody else is

Liz:

doing and get sucked Into that so I think yeah I'm in the process of trying

Liz:

to curate a space that reflects me and isn't just what everyone else is doing

Ian:

I love that curator space.

Ian:

That's, I think that's a good nugget that, that we can think about.

Ian:

And.

Ian:

I think you're so right.

Ian:

we, I feel the same thing.

Ian:

Like I get sucked in.

Ian:

I think, Oh, like maybe if I had this dark background with the, the led and neon

Ian:

lights, that would solve all my problems.

Ian:

And it made me look really cool.

Ian:

But I think one thing that I've been thinking a lot about is.

Ian:

I want to be so it depends on your brand and like the kind of clients

Ian:

that you work with, but one of the big words, but big things for

Ian:

me is I want to be approachable.

Ian:

And I've found sometimes that the more professional your background

Ian:

is and your setup that can actually almost put up a bit of a barrier.

Ian:

and I've had to work at that because I spend a lot of time, recommending

Ian:

gear and setups and things like that.

Ian:

But I found that.

Ian:

when I started talking about more kind of high tech setups, it was actually a

Ian:

barrier to people working with me because they thought, Oh, I could never do that.

Ian:

And the point is I can help you do that.

Ian:

that's what I was trying to say.

Ian:

But, so I think there's a balance and assume that's the same with you.

Ian:

You want to be approachable.

Ian:

You want people, you want to say, look, I'm.

Ian:

I'm a person you can work with and if there's all the, if you almost look too

Ian:

professional, that can be a barrier.

Ian:

I don't know what you think about that.

Liz:

I think you're totally spot on and I've got some

Liz:

interesting insight into this.

Liz:

So my husband is actually like an online education sort of expert.

Liz:

Like his whole thing is advising people about online courses.

Liz:

And I remember when I created my courses, he gave me this really

Liz:

interesting bit of information, which was that actually, Students respond

Liz:

better if your recording setup isn't super, super slick and polished.

Liz:

If it's a bit more, yeah, I guess like you say, approachable, friendly, I want

Liz:

to say a bit more lo fi, so it's still good, like the audio is still good,

Liz:

the video's clear, the lighting's good.

Liz:

but it, it doesn't have to be this like super slick in a studio

Liz:

with a professional videographer, it doesn't have to be that.

Liz:

Actually people respond better when it's not.

Liz:

And him telling me that was so helpful because I realized, and I think

Liz:

this comes back to Branding so well, when you're clear on what your brand

Liz:

values are and how you want people to feel when they work with you.

Liz:

for some people, they're, they're trying to attract massive corporate

Liz:

companies and that slickness is going to be really important.

Liz:

But for me, I'm working with small businesses.

Liz:

I want to come across, I, not in a fake way, but I want to come across friendly

Liz:

and approachable and I want them to, yeah, Feel like not feel overwhelmed like

Liz:

I think exactly like you described and so I think you know that this has been

Liz:

talked about a lot on Instagram as well like one of the biggest sort of like

Liz:

content creators on Instagram basically came Out and said that he thought the

Liz:

time of really slick well edited videos is over and actually What people are

Liz:

looking for now is more authentic, scrappy, I don't know if that's the

Liz:

right word to use, but more scrappy content, where it's not as polished.

Liz:

And I think sometimes we look at what other people are doing and think, oh,

Liz:

what, I don't have the right setup, this isn't gonna be slick enough, but

Liz:

actually, psychologically, people respond better if you don't have all of that.

Liz:

And yeah, I think that's a, I think that's really interesting to think about.

Liz:

I love, I love considering that and I think, a part of my setup is more

Liz:

based on, what I've got available and the budget, but it's always

Liz:

encouraging to be reminded that actually you can do, create content

Liz:

and do really effective work without it being this, like huge production.

Liz:

Yeah.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

And I would agree.

Ian:

I'm not a massive Instagram person, but I find that thing that puts me off

Ian:

Instagram is the overly slickness quality.

Ian:

Like I prefer the raw stuff.

Ian:

I quite like stories when they're just basic stories, just

Ian:

people talking to the camera.

Ian:

I prefer that.

Ian:

And yeah, I think what I've realized, what I want to invest in my studio

Ian:

setup is actually, I want to get rid of barriers that, That I want to remove

Ian:

any friction in the creation of content.

Ian:

So I want to just plug a switch, put a switch on and I can create my

Ian:

podcast on my video straight away.

Ian:

there's no friction because it's already difficult enough.

Ian:

So sometimes to get motivated, to create that content.

Ian:

So like having my microphone here, my camera all ready to go.

Ian:

That's I think a good way to invest, but it doesn't have to necessarily be like

Ian:

make a professional other than that.

Ian:

I'm just aware of time, with this has been such an interesting

Ian:

conversation, but, we've actually, actually a little bit longer than we

Ian:

normally do, which is absolutely cool.

Ian:

Cause we've had some really good, interesting conversations,

Ian:

but I do want to get onto the.

Ian:

the famous quickfire round, which I know you're looking forward to.

Ian:

So I'm going to ask you a series of questions, you need to answer

Ian:

them as quickly as possible.

Ian:

So no pressure.

Ian:

Let's do it now.

Ian:

So the question number one, Is microphone in or out of shot?

Liz:

In.

Liz:

I like it in.

Ian:

Awesome.

Ian:

okay.

Ian:

Acoustic panels.

Ian:

Are these an aesthetic choice or acoustic essential?

Liz:

Oh, I feel like they're probably an acoustic essential, but I don't

Liz:

have them, and I feel like quite often they're an aesthetic choice.

Ian:

Okay, I don't think you need them.

Ian:

Teleprompter, yes or no?

Ian:

Webcam or fancy camera?

Liz:

in an ideal world, fancy camera, but I currently have a webcam.

Ian:

Okay, to create content sitting or standing.

Liz:

Sitting.

Ian:

Ring lights, good or bad?

Liz:

Oh, I think they're good in some situations, but I'm not a massive fan.

Ian:

One big monitor or dual monitors, or even triple?

Liz:

Oh, the dream would be dual, but I currently have one big one.

Ian:

Green screen or natural background?

Liz:

Natural background.

Ian:

What's best, going solo or with guests?

Liz:

With guests.

Liz:

I love chatting to people.

Ian:

Awesome, you've got nine there, that's pretty good.

Ian:

It's difficult though, isn't it?

Ian:

Because you want to say, Yeah, but

Liz:

Qualify!

Liz:

I know, yeah, I wanted to give a little explanation with all of my decisions.

Ian:

We're just worried about getting judged, for saying things like,

Liz:

I know, yeah.

Ian:

like ring lights, like I personally don't like them, but

Ian:

I'm also like completely aware that for some people they're perfect.

Ian:

So just because I don't like them doesn't mean that, so there we go.

Ian:

Anyway, thank you so much, Liz.

Ian:

It's been great to have you on the show.

Ian:

You are back in the next season talking about confidence and communication.

Ian:

Really excited about having you back then, but, We are almost out of time.

Ian:

tell people how they can find out more about you, connect with you and

Ian:

what are you currently working on?

Liz:

Yeah, sure.

Liz:

you can find out more about me on my website, which is lizmosley.

Liz:

net.

Liz:

And I also have a new website for my podcast, which I'm very excited

Liz:

about, which is buildingyourbrand.

Liz:

net.

Liz:

and the main place I hang out online is Instagram and my

Liz:

handle is at lizmmosley there.

Liz:

So yeah, if you want to find me, that's the best place to go.

Liz:

Oh, and what am I working on now?

Liz:

Oh, I'm always working on the podcast.

Liz:

So there's like weekly episodes that come out with that, where I interview

Liz:

people about branding and marketing.

Liz:

I guess the other work is more behind the scenes.

Liz:

So doing lots of branding projects for clients, doing some content

Liz:

creation for clients as well.

Liz:

but yeah, I guess the podcast is the main place where you can

Liz:

see regular content from me.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

And it is a really cool website.

Ian:

You need to check that out.

Ian:

All of those links will be in the show notes.

Ian:

and, let me just, I can't even remember what we're on now.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

IAG.

Ian:

me forward slash 225.

Ian:

That's where they'll all be.

Ian:

Thanks so much, Liz.

Ian:

It's been great to have you on.

Liz:

you.

Ian:

we are out of time.

Ian:

do check out the podcast, website.

Ian:

Iag.

Ian:

me forward slash podcast, where you can connect with us and you

Ian:

can subscribe and listen in all your favorite podcasting apps.

Ian:

And of course we're on YouTube as well.

Ian:

yeah, that's it from me.

Ian:

And until next time I encourage you to level up your impact authority and profits

Ian:

to the power of confident live video.

Ian:

See you soon.

Ian:

Bye.

Ian:

Thanks for listening to the Confident Live Marketing Podcast with Ian Anderson Gray.

Ian:

Make sure you subscribe at iag.me/podcast so you can continue to level up

Ian:

your impact, authority and profits through the power of live video.

Ian:

And until next time, Toodle