If you write a family history blog and want more people to read it, here’s a way to attract more readers and, potentially, discover more cousins.
I’m going to say one word, but you have to promise to keep reading.
Promise?
Here’s the word: VIDEO
I know. You think video is hard and techy and time-consuming. But I’ve found a way to create an instant video from a blog post. And it’s free. Below is an example video and under it the secret to turning a blog post into a video.
Here’s a video about my grandma I made from a blog post on my personal family history blog called Family Album Journey.
(See a behind the scenes demo of how I made the video by going to vidgen.me/L5demob to sign up.)
How did I make the video? I used a free online app called Lumen5.
Here’s a link to the original blog post so you can see what I started with.
All you do is enter the web address for your blog post into Lumen5 and then you choose the phrases you want to tell the story. Lumen5 adds royalty free photos and lets you choose music from its royalty-free library.
Of course, I like to use my old family photographs to go with my video story. Lumen5 lets you easily upload your digitized family history photographs and drag them in to replace Lumen5’s images. It’s really fun and rewarding to see the video come together quickly. I found the video making process helps me to tighten up my writing and make my story more engaging.
Now, you may notice, Lumen5 promotes its app to marketers. You may not be marketing a business, but you ARE trying to get your family to be more aware of their family history because you understand the benefits of knowing about your ancestors.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably noticed people like to watch video online. A video is a great way to get the attention of younger family members, which is important because we want them to know about the family stories. A short video can pull the next generation and even some older folks onto your blog. You can have the video on your text blog post so once a viewer sees the video they read the story, too.
You can also use Lumen5 to create videos from “scratch” if you want to bypass writing a blog post!
I encourage you to go ahead and pick a blog post to feed into Lumen5. Just play with it! You can try it at Lumen5.com.
Better yet, watch the live demo showing how I made the video about my grandma, Betty. Sign up for Using Lumen5 For Family History and Genealogy Videos to attend and get access to the recorded demo. Click the button to sign up.
Want help coming up with some stories for a video?
I invite you to get my free Ancestor Story Brainstorm Tools. The printable sheets help you springboard ideas from photos and heirlooms and get the ideas into a story. Get your family excited about their family history. Tell us where we can send your tools below.