SPEAKER 1 00:00.2 Welcome to the Grit Reapers, the podcast for aspiring online entrepreneurs that cut through all the crap in the online business world and dishes out the raw and real truth about what it really takes to have a successful online business. No sugar coating, no get rich quick schemes, just honest advice with a healthy dose of humor and hope.
SPEAKER 2 00:23.8 We're your hosts, Gayle and Candice, two online entrepreneurs who've been there, done that, and lived together. Tell the tale. So if you're looking for straight talk, practical tips, and the occasional reality check to get your online business moving, you're in the right place. Let's get down to business.
SPEAKER 1 00:46.6 Welcome back to another episode of the Grit Reapers. We so happy to have you here and listening and we always want to share valuable stuff with you guys. And today. Hello, Gail.
SPEAKER 2 00:57.3 Hey, Cands. How are you?
SPEAKER 1 00:59.1 Good, how are you?
SPEAKER 2 01:00.6 Good, thanks. Just had a really nice break being the Easter weekend, but yeah, even though it's Monday, it's still a public holiday, but we thought we would come on and just do a little bit more information. So let's go.
SPEAKER 1 01:16.7 Exactly. So, yes, we love sharing valuable stuff with you guys. Today we are talking about the tools that we use in our businesses, like, specifically when it comes to anything like creative or content kind of stuff.
SPEAKER 1 01:34.5 So Gailey, kick us off with what is the first kind of tool on your list that you could not live without?
SPEAKER 2 01:42.1 Okay, thanks so much, Cands. So the first tool that I absolutely could not live without is canva. And it was probably one of the tools that I got onto right in the beginning, one of the tools I've actually been using for the longest and I've gone through from using it just as a free tool, they have a really good free plan.
SPEAKER 2 02:08.4 And this is how I would definitely suggest, you know, for any listeners out there who are kind of just starting out and getting things together, you do not need to go onto these paid plans straight away. The Canva free plan gives you a lot of really great features.
SPEAKER 2 02:27.3 And then as you grow and as you start earning your own income from what you're doing, you know, then you can choose which plans to go onto and pay. Canva just. I use Canva cands like you, I'm sure pretty much for everything from images on our websites to icons to thumbnails to social posts.
SPEAKER 2 02:53.0 And, you know, Canva just keep on bringing out more and more features. And so there is a whole host. I know they've just had another big update, which I haven't had too much of a chance to dive into, but I use a lot of their features and yeah, it's just definitely one that I couldn't.
SPEAKER 2 03:11.5 Couldn't do without.
SPEAKER 1 03:12.9 Yeah, I think. I mean, I feel like it's a tool most people know about if there is anyone who happens to be like, I mean, I don't feel like you almost would be an alien if you didn't know what Canva was. But yeah, I even use it for, like, my proposals, invoices, you know, contracts.
SPEAKER 1 03:37.2 And I created like, almost like a template of my contract and then I just will create a copy and then put in the client's details. But it's amazing. Like, as you say, the Latest. I mean, I feel like as soon as you're wrapping your head around it and using all the features, they update and come out.
SPEAKER 1 03:55.5 But I don't know if you've seen Gail, and they've now got this little, like, I don't know if it's a feature, whatever you call it, but it's called Magic media and you can create images with AI, actually. So. Okay. Yeah, I think it's still quite like, almost in its, like, beginning phases.
SPEAKER 1 04:13.9 I've had a few hit and miss, but I created some incredible graphics with it. And just today I was creating, like, a funny reel and I needed an image. Sorry, Daily. One second.
SPEAKER 1 04:30.0 I'm filming something. Please can you close the door? Ask Daddy. Sorry, Dale.
SPEAKER 1 04:41.7 Thank you. Sorry. I've had her standing at the door here since you started speaking about Canva.
SPEAKER 2 04:50.1 That is so funny, because I saw. I saw this on the screen and I was like, was that me? Then it was gone.
SPEAKER 1 05:03.2 My lighting is all weird. Okay, there we go. So let me say. So, yeah, just today I was creating a funny reel and. Which actually will bring us on to the next tool. So I needed a little bit of stock video. And Canva, by the way, has incredible stock video as well.
SPEAKER 1 05:23.5 And if anyone's like, what the hell is stock video? But it's basically like if you were trying to create a reel and let's say you needed video of a ship, you know, a beautiful, like, cruise ship, you could find video of a cruise ship with a sunset. So it's like, you know, that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER 1 05:40.1 So almost like a little.
SPEAKER 2 05:42.0 A little bit like, be real. Is that what we know? Yeah, exactly. So not. Not actually you in it, but just something that.
SPEAKER 1 05:52.6 Crap. Gail.
SPEAKER 1 05:56.6 Oh, my God. This is. Oh, this is a comedy of errors.
SPEAKER 1 06:05.3 Oh, Lord. Okay, I think my battery's dead. I've, thank goodness, been charging my other one. No, this is just ridiculous. Sorry, guys. Jesus.
SPEAKER 2 06:16.9 Folder.
SPEAKER 1 06:18.7 This needs to be a bloop.
SPEAKER 2 06:20.1 But, yeah, let's do a blooper.
SPEAKER 1 06:23.6 Gail, you are gonna hose yourself when I tell you. Salon now. I was just happened to pull up the video of our episode on, you know, double down or burn it down. Yeah, I was looking for, like, something to repurpose.
SPEAKER 1 06:43.7 So I'm like going through the video all of a sudden. I'm like, what? There's a part that I was supposed to have edited out that I did it. And it is hilarious.
SPEAKER 1 07:00.6 It is like you see us both stop and then you're like, hold on, Cands. I think your camera just cut out. And then you see me pick up my vape and I'm vaping. Oh, I was mortified. I was like, this has been out there.
SPEAKER 1 07:16.8 Which means no one's actually watched it. Okay. Because no one has said anything back anyway. Okay, let's get.
SPEAKER 2 07:23.0 Well, they've watched it and just laughed.
SPEAKER 1 07:24.9 No, it was like ridiculous. I was just. I need to actually make a little note when I download the videos, like needs to be edited. There's a mistake in it or something. Yeah, okay, sorry. Where were we? Okay, start from.
SPEAKER 1 07:40.4 So is stock video like B roll?
SPEAKER 2 07:42.9 Okay. All right. Okay, Cands. So is stock video kind of a little bit like B roll? Like you're not actually there, but you need something that. Okay. That's relevant to the video.
SPEAKER 1 07:57.2 So I found the first two in Canva, which were. Were fantastic. But because I needed something like quite specific, I was creating this reel on like, which you and I laugh about all the time. What you think your life is an online business owner. It's like all this tropical, like a cocktail.
SPEAKER 1 08:14.8 And then you see this plane taking off into the sunset. And then I wanted a video of someone like chained to their death with like their laptop, you know. And so obviously like I couldn't find it.
SPEAKER 1 08:31.4 So I just thought, let me try Canvas New Magic Media. Cuz you can create images, you can create video, and I think even audio. But so I typed in what I wanted and you cannot believe the video. It's like unbelievable.
SPEAKER 1 08:47.2 It was amazing.
SPEAKER 2 08:48.0 Amazing.
SPEAKER 1 08:48.6 Yeah. So Canva is also on my. I mean, if I'm not you. It's not even that. I just use it once a day. It is like permanently up on my second screen here with a tab open to Canva. Because it's like. Yeah, all. All the time.
SPEAKER 2 09:03.4 All the time.
SPEAKER 1 09:04.3 It brings me to the next tool, which was. And which is a tool that I also use for stock video, which I find really, it's like quality and it is called In Stories.
SPEAKER 1 09:19.6 In Stories also you can have a free account with them to use stock video. It's not watermarked and it's fantastic. And for stock images too, so they look really professional.
SPEAKER 1 09:35.3 And I find the variety is like, you know how sometimes if you're creating something, even if it's like a mock up, you almost want an image, but then you want another image, but you. You wished it was like the same person.
SPEAKER 2 09:49.4 Yeah, exactly. So it kind of keeps the consistency correct.
SPEAKER 1 09:54.4 So I've noticed a big overlap between In Stories and another tool called Pexels, which is a. You can get again, free stock video. Free photograph stock images.
SPEAKER 1 10:10.2 And I feel like the quality on Pixels is really good. It's like actually like photographers who have loaded up their professional photos. It's not like, you know, it's just good quality. And I've seen a big overlap so on. In Stories you often will see the same names of creators and that you'll.
SPEAKER 2 10:29.0 See on Pixels and can. So Canva is a desktop and you can get the app on your phone in Stories and Pexels.
SPEAKER 1 10:38.9 Okay. I know in Stories is an app. I don't think there's a desktop version. And Pel. I'm almost certain they would have an app, but I actually just have so funny lack. Two years ago I did all my editing on my cell phone.
SPEAKER 1 10:57.0 Like everything for clients with now I.
SPEAKER 2 11:00.8 Feel like I need like more something bigger. Yes.
SPEAKER 1 11:06.0 So I'm actually hardly ever on my cell phone creating stuff. It's only within Stories because that is an app.
SPEAKER 2 11:13.2 Okay. Okay. Awesome. And then going on from that is our next tool because we were just talking about the editing and you know, needing more space and Candice and I both use an editing software called VEED that's V E E D IO and for me, video editing was one of those things that just seemed really, really hard.
SPEAKER 2 11:46.3 And I was, you can ask Candace. I was very resistant to doing video. Not so much because of being on video or knowing what to say or whatever, but just the thought of trying to learn how to do all the editing used to just really like.
SPEAKER 2 12:05.5 Yeah, it used to just give me anxiety and I just thought this is just one step too far to go. So cans introduced me to VEED and I must say I absolutely love it. I have found it to be incredibly user friendly.
SPEAKER 2 12:23.1 There wasn't a really steep learning curve, which I was amazed because most of the times there really is. It has a fairly. I mean it has an easy user interface. You know, the features are very easily laid out and whenever I've needed some support or had any questions, it's always been really, really good.
SPEAKER 2 12:45.7 And so yeah, VEED has been a game changer for me for video creation 100 and.
SPEAKER 1 12:53.3 And it's like I said like, you know, a couple two years ago I was doing all my editing on my phone so I was using like in shot a lot. And it's quite like finickety when you like you use your big fingerprint, but it's like those little scroll bars are like so.
SPEAKER 1 13:15.1 Oh my. It was driving me crazy. But I loved it because it was really intuitive. Like it. I just felt it. I Found it so user friendly and then when I found VEED, it was like user friendly on another level. So I absolutely love it.
SPEAKER 1 13:32.9 I also love, which a lot of people don't know this about Vid, it has a built in teleprompter. So like if you want to create a video like let's say for YouTube and like you're really trying to follow a specific, specific kind of like formula versus the intro, then I'm gonna say this, but like your brain just can't absorb all that info, which I'm sure is all of us.
SPEAKER 1 13:55.4 You pop your script into bead and you can record yourself as if you were talking and your script comes up so you still looking like at your screen, which I also really like. It's not like you're looking up there at a phone with a teleprompter.
SPEAKER 1 14:11.0 You're looking at your screen. It's got a teleprompter. You can do so much more than just edit your videos, you know. And absolutely. With Canva, the same with VEED is because things are changing so rapidly, they also update the software often.
SPEAKER 1 14:27.9 So it's like they've come out with like you can load up, for example, a landscape YouTube video and then you can click a button and it resizes it and breaks it up into like clips for you, for your socials or so.
SPEAKER 1 14:43.3 Yeah, VEED, VEED and Canva are pretty much open on my second screen every day.
SPEAKER 2 14:50.2 Yeah, absolutely. And I love, I love with VEED because you can do your captions, you can do all the editing and you can record. It's almost got like a recording studio as well as the teleprompter. Yes, put.
SPEAKER 2 15:05.5 Yeah, just face to, to camera. You can share screen, you can share your screen with it sort of down here. So there's a number of different options. So it, it really is a very versatile platform. And one of the cheaper ones, you know, one of the, for me, like really, really good value for the money that you spend.
SPEAKER 1 15:27.5 I agree, I agree. I think now that we're speaking about, like you mentioned, with VEED, you could, you can like record your screen. So like a lot of people ask Gail, like, but like how do you record videos for like an online course? Like what Literally the logistics.
SPEAKER 1 15:44.4 So like VEED would be one tool you could use because it would have you in your rectangle and then if you wanted to share your screen, you would pop up in that like little circle. But another tool that you can do that with or another two tools that we wanted to speak about.
SPEAKER 1 16:00.5 Today were Loom and Zoom. Yep. Tell everybody like, because I think again, like Canva, you'd have to be an alien if you did not know what Zoom is that. What the hell is Loom?
SPEAKER 2 16:16.3 Okay, so Loom is another screen recording or recording platform. And what I love about Loom is that it's kind of become synonymous with almost like helping people with a tutorial or a tip.
SPEAKER 2 16:34.0 So my clients, I'll often say to them, you know, I'm going to send you a loom. And they know that what that will be is a video of me sharing my screen and taking them through step by step of where they're getting like stuck or the challenge.
SPEAKER 2 16:50.7 So it really is just another screen sharing type of, of platform, but very, again, very user friendly. I just click it from my Chrome extension so you can use it as a Chrome extension.
SPEAKER 2 17:06.6 It opens up and you can also do a number of things, you know, sharing screen, just, just with Gino, just you recording and it comes with like a summary. And I think if you pay for the upgraded plan.
SPEAKER 2 17:22.1 But I do pay for Loom, but I pay to have storage because what I also do is any of those how to videos I store in a little library and then if other people ask about it, you know, it's already there.
SPEAKER 2 17:37.7 So it's also really good. Like if you're going to have a resource library, you know, if you're not on something like Kajabi, which stores all your videos for you, you could have a resource library just stored on Loom. And, and, and so I think with the next upgrade you also get all the AI tools.
SPEAKER 2 17:56.4 But I haven't gone that deeply into it.
SPEAKER 1 17:59.7 Yeah. And the two things I love about Loom is number one, it creates an automatic transcript of whatever it is that you've recorded. And the other thing that I really love about it is like, let's say someone says, I don't know, like I don't know where to find my.
SPEAKER 1 18:21.2 I don't know where are settings in Kajabi. I can't find it. So I would say like Gael is saying, okay, I'll just film a loom for you to show you. So basically I would then go into my Kajabi and talk through like, okay, so this is what you're going to see on the left and the person is literally watching me do it.
SPEAKER 1 18:40.8 Okay. But the best thing about it is that if I then want to send it to someone, I just send a link. I just send the link. I don't send a video, I send a link. A Loom link that then opens up. It's almost like YouTube. You know, you would send a video via a link and then it opens into YouTube.
SPEAKER 1 18:59.4 It's the same with Loom. So that for me is a big one. I don't have to download the videos. I don't have to worry about sending the video to someone. I just grab the link of the video and pop it off to them. And like Gail's saying, I think you're so right on that. It's become almost the slack.
SPEAKER 1 19:15.3 I'm gonna help you. Let me just show you. I'll send you a tutorial. And you can do that with Loom. Yeah. Oh, the other thing, I don't know if people know, because I know most people know Loom is about sharing, like your screen, you know, while you're recording, but you can also just film yourself.
SPEAKER 1 19:34.7 So, like, again, if you want to do create your course videos, you could do that in Loom. And I really, up until recently, didn't have a professional camera. Like, I just used what I had.
SPEAKER 1 19:51.3 Now I have one. And I must say that I find the quality of your Loom videos when you are connecting to an external camera is much better than what I find with Zoom.
SPEAKER 2 20:07.4 Okay.
SPEAKER 1 20:08.4 Yeah.
SPEAKER 2 20:08.8 Okay. So again, so Cands, this is. This is a good place because we were going to chat about Zoom. So I was finding. So I record a lot in Zoom as well. And so I loom for people to kind of help them and give them tutorials.
SPEAKER 2 20:25.4 But I zoom my own videos. And it's quite funny why I do that. I'm not sure. I think it's just because that's how I started off doing it. And what I've also found is I no longer record in Zoom meetings.
SPEAKER 2 20:43.3 I record everything in Zoom clips. And what I did was for that exact reason, Cands, what I did was I got hold of Zoom support and I asked them to increase my bandwidth inside of clips.
SPEAKER 2 20:59.3 Because inside your meetings, I think you can't get the 1080. You can only get 720 or something like that. And you have to ask them to give you the 720 inside of Zoom clips. You can get that 180, which is like a much higher resolution and a much better quality of videos.
SPEAKER 2 21:23.0 And so initially I didn't like Zoom clips. I found. I guess I had worked a way of. Of recording inside Zoom meetings, you know, like how you pause it when you make a mistake or you pause it when you need to think about something.
SPEAKER 2 21:38.2 And you can stop. You can stop the recording in A zoom meeting without the whole thing closing, you know, and then you could start again. So you ended up with two different videos if you'd made a mistake in the first video or whatever. But anyway, I've worked out a really nice system within clips.
SPEAKER 2 21:54.5 So clips, you've got a pause button as well, but you've also got a restart. So if you are in the zoom clips and you just really not feeling the first bit of the recording you make, you can actually restart it and it will take that all away.
SPEAKER 2 22:10.8 Or you can pause it and then you can, you know, gather your thoughts and then carry on. So I've also sort of. We were chatting about it earlier. I've also taken to when I am recording, especially if I'm recording longer recordings, like for my course material or for a YouTube channel, if I do pause, if I have made a mistake, I always have a little notebook next to me and I just jot down, you know, the time stamp that I made the mistake.
SPEAKER 2 22:38.9 I've also taken to giving quite a long pause after I restart because then when you upload it to VEED, you can see those pause areas. There's no, you know, there's no audio. So then you can go back and you're like, why did I pause there?
SPEAKER 2 22:55.3 Then you can go back if you've forgotten to write it down or whatever. It just. It just helps with editing. So that's why I've taken to recording in clips. And you can also choose to have your head in a round circle. You can choose the colors of the round circle.
SPEAKER 2 23:10.5 You can have a rectangle. You can have a square. You can have a big one, you can have a small one. So there's a few more customizations as well. Inside of clips. So I record everything mostly now inside of zoom clips.
SPEAKER 1 23:23.1 That is amazing. So I actually didn't know that. That's really helpful. I'm gonna go and check that out. It's always bothered me, like, the quality looks so terrible when you download from a zoom meeting.
SPEAKER 2 23:35.8 Yes, absolutely. And so that's why I changed to clips, because you can get a higher that bandwidth and then cans. I guess so. So I say that I do recording clips. And you know what? I. I've even started recording. And I know this might sound a bit vain, but I'm sure people listening will completely understand.
SPEAKER 2 23:56.8 I love zoom, and I use zoom more than like the meeting room, the. The recording room and VEED and stuff, because you have zoom filters and it can take all your wrinkles away or just some of your wrinkles. Away. And so you can do that still in clips as well.
SPEAKER 1 24:14.8 Oh, man. Okay, so that's now going to be on my to do list. Go check out clips. Okay, awesome. Well, I think those kind of would cover for me the. The main kind of creative tools.
SPEAKER 2 24:26.8 Is it.
SPEAKER 1 24:27.3 Are there any others, Gail, that you think of? Or these, like, these are the main ones.
SPEAKER 2 24:32.1 So these are definitely the main ones. And Candice and I were just chatting when we kind of thought about this, and we actually. We've got a couple of different tech stacks or stacks of. Of resources that we use. So just keep an eye because we're going to do another couple of episodes.
SPEAKER 2 24:48.0 We're going to do some AI ones, some business ones. So this is. But this, I think for our creative. Our kind of video editing, I think that for me is. Is what we use.
SPEAKER 1 24:59.8 Awesome. Definitely keep an eye open for those. And we will link to the things we spoke about so that you can go check them out. And yeah, I mean, I'm always keen to learn. Like, if you've got something guys that you use for like stock video or creative graphics, just please let us know because I'm always looking for good stuff.
SPEAKER 1 25:24.3 So.
SPEAKER 2 25:24.7 Yeah, yeah. The easier to use, the better.
SPEAKER 1 25:29.9 Correct. All about user friendliness, right?
SPEAKER 2 25:33.9 Absolutely.
SPEAKER 1 25:34.9 Amazing. Okay, cool, guys. We'll catch you next week. Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER 2 25:38.9 Okay, thanks, everybody. Bye