Make stuff, sell stuff

Tips on Creating Content by Jeff Cutler from the Boston Media Makers meetup

Jeff Cutler showing his big and small camera bags that he takes into the field
Jeff Cutler showing his big and small camera bags that he takes into the field

 

 

 

Today I attended an excellent Boston Media Makers, #BMM meetup at Doyles in Jamaica Plain hosted by Steve Garfield. These meetups are held the first Sunday of every month at 10:00-12:00. Today it rained like crazy so only about 12-15 people came by but it was excellent. Today was a little different also because we had a presentation by Jeff Cutler the social media journalist on Backpack Journalism and creating content. Jeff showed his gear both the big bag and his shoulder bag. Going off to do a story these day is often a technology challenge for the reporter. They have to carry a camera, do audio, write in the field and upload everything to some place.

Jeff showed us his favorite bag for hauling all his camera gear and computer along with giving us a list of tips to follow. The big camera bag is from ThinkTankPhoto and will fit in any airplane overhead storage bin. It was called the Airport Essentials I think, there are several.

Tips for creating content:

  • Know your audience
  • Know yourself
  • Know what is going on around you, follow social media, and feeds from your favorite sites
  • Knowing what is going on around you will allow you to make derivative stories, I call this go wide with your stories. Don’t stay on one topic
  • Know your capabilities
  • Know your passions, what do you like and don’t like
  • Know your market if you want to make money
  • Know how you want to share your material and where it should be.

You can learn more about Jeff at JeffCutler.com
Boston Media makers is located at bostonmediamakers.wordpress.com/Steve Garfield is at SteveGarfield.com, Steve also has an excellent gear list for doing live video at this site.

Share: