SolarHour is a hybrid video production agency and online school. We look at your video goals and budget, and we’ll either produce videos for you, teach you how to do it yourself, or both.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Enrolling now for our flagship program:
Lights, Camera, Traction:
A Comprehensive Step-by-Step System for Entrepreneurs to Shine in Their Niche and Create High-Quality Videos
OUR SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM
Elevate your brand recognition, accelerate growth, and enhance engagement through exceptional video creation.
To celebrate our launch, we’re offering $400 off for early adopters of our program!
Use the code 2024TRACTION. Valid before April 1, 2024.
Why Video?
If you’re running a business in 2024, creating impactful videos is not just a trend; it's a necessity.
By now, you’ve heard of the benefits of creating high-quality videos for businesses. It builds a stronger brand, customers will flock to you, and makes your business a leader in your niche.
At SolarHour, we understand the challenges faced by small business owners in today's digital landscape.
Our step-by-step program, Lights, Camera, Traction is designed to empower you in overcoming video creation obstacles, increasing brand visibility, and propelling your business to new heights.
“76% of internet users find information about brands and products on social media platforms.”
“Where do I even start?”
Not knowing what light or microphone to buy or how to edit your videos contributes to a heightened sense of overwhelm, leaving you on a path that leads to burnout.
You end up with one question.
“Where do I even start? What will I even make videos about?”
Managing your business is already overwhelming.
Figuring out the best lighting and microphone, setting up equipment, and generating consistent content will only contribute to your feelings of overwhelm.
“54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support.”
THE truth is: most people don’t like being on camera
And yet, so many of us aspire to make video content!
If you’ve never made videos before, you may find yourself grappling with a level of discomfort and insecurity in front of a camera.
Feelings of dissatisfaction with your appearance on video or the sound of your voice, or concerns about video quality may add an extra layer of anxiety. This may push you to never try in the first place.
Anxiety becomes more pronounced considering the potential impact on your business.
Apprehension extends to external judgments from customers, friends, or family, fear of what people will think when they see us on social media, or fearing negative comments.
“Viewers retain 95% of a message when watching it on video (vs. 10% through text)”
the new video landscape
As you scroll through your social media feed, you can't help but notice how other businesses - even your competitors - seem to have such beautifully-made and professional-looking videos. You start to feel envious, but you simply don't know where to start let alone how to make your own videos look good.
As a result, you avoid making videos altogether, procrastinate, or give up on the idea altogether.
You are correct. Video IS hard. It is a culmination of many different technical skill sets. Film productionsMovies normally have different people handle camera, lighting, audio, and editing. But today’s content creators juggle all those skills on their own.
No wonder you’re burnt out. Every attempt to make videos is overwhelming.
You need a fast, easy, and affordable way to start making videos TODAY.
“People like to share videos – they are shared 1200% more than links and text combined.”
Your Video Success Story
Picture yourself achieving this dream outcome:
You post top-quality videos consistently, without burnout.
You shoot and edit videos in under an hour.
Your videos are high-quality and outshine others in your niche, making you the leader and star in the eyes of your customers and competitors.
You create professional-looking videos that generate leads and establish your brand as a well-recognized name.
You scale your business, monetize your videos, and create evergreen resources that generate leads daily.
You are unstoppable, and your success is undeniable.
How would this impact your business? How would you feel once you achieve this? How much more business could you get weekly?
What if we told you that you can start making videos, in 4 weeks, even on a tight budget?
Let’s show you how.
At SolarHour, we understand that creating video content can be incredibly overwhelming.
That's why we have introduced our latest step-by-step program called Lights, Camera, Traction led by Emmy-award-winning instructor and founder of SolarHour, Karen Lum will be your compass for navigating the world of video content creation for your business.
By the end of the program, you'll be equipped with the skills to create top-quality video content from day one, using just your phone.
You don't have to spend hours scouring the internet for ways to create high-quality videos. We’re here to help you, 1:1.
Believe it or not, you can actually make professional-quality videos on a smartphone.
How is this possible? Because the biggest secret is that the key to making great videos is 1. your story, 2. lighting, and 3. audio - all of which have nothing to do with your camera.
We recommend investing in $250 in lighting, tripod, and a microphone. We’ll also provide our recommendations for what gear you should purchase.
Our program is specially designed for beginners with ZERO experience. Never used a camera before? Never used video editing software before? Have NO idea where to even begin? No worries.
We’ll help you skip the overwhelm and get started with beginner-level video gear and skills.
Your instructor is the founder of SolarHour, Karen Lum, an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and Stanford University alumna, who is incredibly passionate about teaching and empowering others in their art and business. She started building this program in 2019, and after 5 years of testing and reiterating, she is still constantly improving the program.
You’ll have access to support 7 days a week and a community of other business owners and content creators. Expert professional content creators and filmmakers are there to help you at every step.
SolarHour has launched a step-by-step program called Lights, Camera, Traction, which is specifically designed to help business owners and solopreneurs creating content to supercharge their businesses.
As a business owner, you may often experience daily stress, sleepless nights, and overwhelm trying to grow your business. With this program, SolarHour aims to alleviate some of this stress and help you achieve your business goals.
Here’s how we help you do it with SolarHour’s flagship step-by-step system for video creation.
High-quality video: Look your best, sound professional, and present pro-quality videos. Learn how to capture the best angles, get the most flattering lighting, and the clearest audio quality, even if you’re on a budget or low on time.
Complete at your own pace: This program is designed to fit your schedule, allowing you to take one module at a time. After completing the first module, you will be able to immediately create videos, and take the rest of the course at your own pace. Support is available whenever you need it, and you will have lifetime access to the content. Want to get it all done as quickly as possible? This program can be completed in as little as 4 weeks if you spend 4-6 hours per week watching the tutorial videos and completing the assignments.
Shoot with your phone: Get the most out of your phone. You don’t need to invest thousands into equipment. You’ll learn how to create top-tier videos and edits with just a phone. You won’t believe HOW GOOD videos taken by a phone can look when you use the right camera, lighting, and audio techniques.
Technical walkthroughs: Learn camera techniques, lighting, recording audio, and editing on CapCut, an easy, free software available on mobile, tablet, and desktop.
Leverage AI technology: Make videos at an unprecedented speed with AI tools, such as creating outlines, scripts, and captions for your videos.
150+ on-demand course videos with step-by-step instructions: We know how overwhelming cameras and editing can be, so we hold your hand on how to make a video, from beginning to end. We’ll tell you exactly what to shoot and how to edit it all together. You’ll even have access to sample projects and footage to practice with.
Stylized videos & branding: Learn how to add highly engaging graphics and text to your videos to increase brand recognition.
What gear to purchase: Get customized recommendations for your niche for what video gear you should get, and instructions on how to set it up. We only recommend high-quality, affordable gear that we’ve tested ourselves.
Support: Have a question? Get 1:1 support from our team of award-winning, professional filmmakers.
Community: Access to our online community where you can ask your fellow small businesses, solopreneurs, and content creators.
OUR promise
Lights, Camera, Traction is a system that aims to guide you through the process of creating professional-level videos.
With a step-by-step approach and world-class support, you will be able to create high-quality videos consistently in just 4 weeks or less.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Hands-on Practical Learning
Sample Projects with Full Walkthrough Guides
World-Class Expert Support
Project: Create a 15-second lifestyle video (2-4 hours to complete)
27 videos (2.5 hours to watch)
A lifestyle video is an extremely short video, under 15 seconds, that will only take 1 hour to film and 10 minutes to edit. You’ll leverage templates to get a high-quality result, with no previous video experience!
An introduction to using CapCut, picking the correct template, and getting the best video quality.
Setting up your phone to get started with video. Learn the secret camera settings that will make your phone take videos like a professional camera.
An introduction to lenses that work best with your phone.
How to choose lighting and angles to make you look your best.
How to film real estate videos to make homes look great.
On-the-field guides to walk you through every step of our video editing process.
Easy export guide. Share your videos on social media with ease and quality.
Rapidly edit videos in MINUTES using pre-made CapCut templates
Quizzes for learning that sticks.
Project: Create a 30 second video using voiceover to tell a story (4 hours to complete)
27 videos (3.5 hours to watch)
AI optimization: How to create a script and storyboard in ChatGPT
Lighting: The difference between bad lighting and good lighting, good natural lighting techniques, and best types of spaces for lighting.
Good vs. bad audio and how to optimize audio to sound crystal clear.
Introduction to editing: step-by-steps on improving video quality, piecing together a story using your video clips, fixing audio, and stabilizing shaky video.
Behind the scene looks at how we film and edit videos.
Quizzes for learning that sticks.
Project: Create a video where you teach a concept (4-8 hours to complete)
27 videos (3 hours to watch)
How to get Ideas for explainer videos.
More lighting techniques that are the real hidden secret behind high-quality videos
How to setup a shot for daytime vs. nighttime
Picking the perfect microphone.
AI alternative to teleprompters.
Adding effects, text, filters, and b-roll.
On-the-field guides to walk you through every step of our video editing process.
Quizzes for learning that sticks.
Project: Put together all of your learnings of camera, audio, lighting, and editing techniques to create a long-form video (10+ hours to complete)
27 videos (3 hours to watch)
Mastering social media: Social media video requirements.
Choosing the optimal background for your video.
Editing: Cutting out um's and inappropriate pauses.
Editing: Adding B-roll and creating vertical video for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts
On-the-field guides to walk you through how we film videos and our + step-by-step editing system.
Online community to reach for help, questions, and support.
Expert instructors to offer you support, and guide you towards creating pro-level videos.
Access to premium support, instructional experts, and answers to your questions in a couple clicks of a button.
Would you like to see a detailed syllabus and a preview of the course videos? We’re happy to answer any questions you may have.
we advise you on what video gear to purchase
We have tested hundreds of products and can help you figure out what lighting, microphones, editing software, and camera accessories to buy for you niche and budget.
We even have videos on how to set these producs up.
Our students rave about this feature of the program.
Are you a realtor filming houses? We’ll advise you on drones and gimbals.
Are you a business coach conducting webinars on Zoom? We’ll advise on podcast microphones and webcams.
Whatever your profession, goals and budget are, we’ve got you covered.
Your lead instructor will be Karen Lum, Founder of SolarHour, creator and author of this program.
Karen is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker with 20 years of filmmaking experience.
She founded her video production company, SolarHour, in 2016, has served dozens of tech companies, and produced hundreds of videos.
Her philosophy was simple yet game-changing. She refused to believe that video had to be expensive and difficult for amateurs.
So she has spent the last 5 years building this program, creating, testing, and refining the curriculum to offer easy and affordable ways to produce high-quality videos.
Karen has helped coaches, consultants, and real estate agents, increase their market presence through video.
— Karen Lum, Founder of SolarHour
accountability and support
In addition to the modules, you’ll also have access to our community page where you can ask questions and our instructional team will also respond.
Our lead instructor, Karen Lum, has 20 years of experience and can handle any question you throw at her.
As a passionate teacher, she believes no question is a dumb question, and is committed to every student’s success!
““Karen is really good at explaining technical concepts, then illustrating them through examples. Her personality is delightful. I love how she shows up as yourself and shares her stories and photos and videos. She is really what makes this course!” ”
One-time payment: The tuition for this program is $2,200 if you make a one-time payment.
Payment plan: The tuition for this program is 3 installments of $800 over 6 weeks ($2,400 total).
Due to the high-touch nature of the program and personalized support, we do not offer refunds.
We also won’t pressure you to enroll if you are having doubts. Before enrolling, we chat 1:1 with all applicants to ensure t`hat the program will be a good fit for you. Schedule a time to chat with us.
We want to make sure all of our students have a great experience, and we’ll be honest with you before purchasing if we think the program isn’t aligned with your needs.
You’ll receive lifetime access to all the course materials inside Teachable, the online learning platform we use for this program.
Best of all? Coming Fall 2023, we’ll be launching the Advanced course, which will teach you how to use a DSLR/mirrorless camera and make very high-quality content. People will ask you who you hired to film you. ;)
You are excited to make videos.
Listen, we get it. You’re a busy entrepreneur, and you probably would love it for someone to follow you around with a camera, and you’ll receive an edited video in 2 days.
However, we’ll be honest. Our program’s goal is to make video production as stress-free and easy as possible, but no matter what, video production is still challenging, time-consuming, and very technical.
So if you can’t see yourself setting up a tripod and lights, testing your microphone, filming multiple takes, or spending 2+ hours in an editing app, then you will probably dislike making videos, and therefore you will dislike this program.
If this is you, we recommend that you hire a professional to make videos for you. You will appreciate putting time back on your calendar!
You have a vision for what videos you want to make.
You will get so much more out of this program if you come in with a goal and vision for the kinds of videos you want to create. Perhaps you need a nudge with specific content ideas, but you have a general idea of what you want to express on camera. Throughout the program, you’ll work on a capstone video, so it should be a piece of content that you value.
Well, then we’d love to have you apply! If you’d like to chat with us to explore the program more, book a 1:1 call here.
One Time Payment
Pay in 3 Installments
$799/mo for 3 months
