Episode Summary: Part 1 of a 2-part Snapchat series — what it is, how to use it, and how to start building an audience there. Part 2 covers why and how Snapchat gets used specifically for this podcast.

What You'll Learn

• What Snapchat is, how it works, and the Story feature that anchors it
• The full Snapchat creative toolkit: drawing, stickers, filters, geofilters, lenses
• 4 ways to add friends, including the etiquette around Snapcode screenshots
• A tiered camera and mic recommendation for vlogging

Follow along on Snapchat: MikeMurphyBTS.

Ask Mike Anything: A Good Vlogging Camera

Question: Any recommendation for a good video or vlogging camera?

Answer: 1) The Canon G7X Mark II — Casey Neistat's small camera of choice, around $700. 2) The Sony RX100 Mark IV.

Microphones: Rode VideoMicro, Rode VideoMic Pro, Rode SmartLav+.

Vloggers mentioned: Casey Neistat, Fun For Louis, Mr. Ben Brown.

The Snapchat 101 Overview

What is Snapchat? How is it used? How do you build an audience on it?

Quick facts: a social media platform and image-messaging app, launched in 2011 by 3 Stanford students. The company is valued around $20 billion. Snapchat sees 7 billion video plays per day, versus Facebook's 8 billion — a genuinely big player in social media. Gary Vaynerchuk is a vocal fan. The logo's name is "Ghostface Chillah" — a Wu-Tang reference.

1. How Do You Use Snapchat?

Available on iOS and Android. Every photo or video message sent is called a Snap, running 1-10 seconds long. Snaps disappear once viewed, though they can also be saved.

The Story (Snapchat's foundation): Snaps get sent as private messages or added to a Story. Story content stays visible for 24 hours before disappearing. Viewers of a Story are visible (and vice versa) — treat the Story as a canvas, stay creative, and leave people wanting more.

2. The Creative Toolkit

1. Drawing tools & text overlays. Draw in color or add scalable, colorable text.
2. Stickers. Graphic icons and emoticons that can be scaled, rotated, and repositioned.
3. Filters. Overlay effects — Instagram-style color grades, black & white, clock, speed, temperature overlays.
4. Geofilters. Location-dependent custom graphics, submittable for free or purchasable as ads.
5. Lenses. Face-recognition graphics and overlays for humor and fun.

3. How Do You Add Friends?

Add by username — mine is MikeMurphyBTS ("behind the scenes"). Add from address book — the app searches phone contacts. Add by Snapcode — the yellow graphic with a white ghost (sometimes an animated GIF inside); take a picture of it to add. Note: screenshotting someone's Snapcode notifies them. Add nearby — add friends physically close by, at a coffee shop or event.

Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.

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