AMY PORTERFIELD: Hey there, Amy Porterfield here. Welcome to another episode of The Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Thanks, so much, for being here.
At the time of this recording it’s a busy Saturday morning. We have to go furniture shopping because we’re starting to do some new things in our house. My husband and son are dreading every minute of it. I secretly cannot wait to go furniture shopping. It’s something I love and something they hate. But I’m dragging them along with me.
I told my husband we were going and getting this over with. I’m secretly going to love it. But before I get there I’ve got to do some podcasting. Just yesterday, I got to interview one of my truly best friends. I would call him a best friend, and that sometimes sounds weird in the internet marketing world because we all say everyone is friends. They say they are introducing one of their greatest friends but maybe they have only met them once.
However, my guest today is someone that I’ve spent a lot of time with masterminding. He has spent time with my family and he doesn’t live too far away. I really have gotten to know him over the years and just absolutely love him.
My guest today is James Wedmore, YouTube and video marketing expert. He lives so close because he lives in Laguna and I live in Carlsbad, California. He is just down the freeway from me and we get to see each other and spend time with each other.
He just came out with a brand new free video series that I am absolutely obsessed with. It is so good that I thought he had to come on my show to talk about video. Let me be honest wit you, video is something that I have a love/hate relationship with. I have always said it throughout all of the years I have been in business.
I love video because it connects with people at an entirely different level, even more so than podcasts can sometimes because you see the person. You feel you are kind of in their house with them or behind the scenes with them. There is an amazing connection you can make with video.
I don’t love video because sometimes it’s a pain in the butt to put together. If I don’t hire someone to help me with it I spend three hours trying to get the frame right and then we’ve got the whole thing with lighting. Don’t even get me started with lighting and the tripod and the space behind me.
I question what it looks like, whether it is too plain, too busy. These are the things I go through over and over again. And then we have the whole script. What am I going to actually say in the video?
These are things that come up in my head and I decide not to do video. I would like to do more video in 2016. At the time I’m recording this we’re getting into the final quarter of 2015. I really want to make it a goal next year to do more video.
I know it could dramatically increase my impact in my business. James says that it has changed his life, learning how to do video and how to connect with people on video. He makes videos to teach people how to do video. All of that has changed his life and he really, truly loves what he does and it comes out in this interview.
I also want to tell you that I kind of think he’s one of the funniest guys I know. Do not tell my husband this because Hobie, my husband, is a really, really funny guy. My favorite thing about him is he makes me laugh every single day. But James might be a little bit funnier than Hobie. Don’t even say a word.
Hobie does not listen to my podcast, he’ll never know I said it. But, it’s true because this guy is just always making me laugh every time I’m with him. And that’s a great friend, right, when you’re around someone and you can’t even help but laugh at them?
I want you to check out his Instagram channel. He does these funny little 15-second videos on Instagram that are hilarious. You’ve got to check that out. I’m going to link to a lot of things all about James and what he teaches in the show notes.
As you can tell, I’m a big fan. But today we are going to be talking about the five video marketing mistakes most of us make with our videos. He’s also going to talk about five videos every business should actually be creating.
We’re going to get into some really good stuff today, some specifics talking about technology and lighting and framing and all that good stuff.
Before we get there though, a quick word from our sponsor. Before we dive in I want to thank our sponsor today, 99Designs. I am such a huge fan of this company because they can take care of all of your graphic needs. We are talking logos, social media cover images, website graphics, and so much more. So visit www.99Designs.com/ amy and get a $99 upgrade for free.
Let’s jump back to our podcast. We’re going to jump into our interview with James. But, as you know, with each of my episodes I have a freebie for you. Today’s freebie is extra special because James created it for us. You can check it out at http:// amyporterdev.wpenginepowered.com/james. He created a free three-part video series about the videos you must include in your business.
We’re going to talk about those videos today but he gets more in depth, more specific, and shows you examples and tells you what to include in this video series.
I won’t make you wait any longer, let’s do this.
Amy: James Wedmore, thanks so much for being with me here today.
James: I’m so excited for being here. Thank you for squeezing me in and thank you for having me on a second time.
Amy: I know, this is your big comeback. What you didn’t hear me say in the intro, because you weren’t there, is that I kind of think you might be funnier than my husband. How do you feel about that?
James: Okay, now it’s public information. This is awful.
Amy: I know you told me not to tell anyone I ever said that.
James: Delete this part. We’ll get rid of this piece.
Amy: No we won’t! So you had better bring it on this podcast because we are ready for some good stuff. We’re going to jump right into it, the five biggest video marketing mistakes, what are they and what do we do about them?
James: We are going to go right into those. But let’s actually take a look at what happens when you make those mistakes. Let me ask you this, have you ever made a bad video?
Amy: A million.
James: I’m putting you on the spot. Isn’t that great, you are all excited to interview me and I already…
Amy: He did this the last show.
James: I know, I have like ten questions for you. So, if you filmed a video yourself and just didn’t like how it looked what are some of the worries and concerns you have? You have a huge massive audience. You’ve got your podcast followers. You’ve got your fans on Facebook. You have your email list.
What are some of the fears and thoughts and hesitations that go through your mind when you know people could see this?
Amy: This is a great question for me because you know I don’t particularly love making videos. I don’t make them a lot because when I do them on my own they are a mess. The camera is always shaky and somewhat out of focus. Or, it takes me forever to set up the tripod in a way that is actually working for me. I don’t know what my problem is with that.
Regarding audio, I’m always worried about what mike I should use or whether they can hear me. Do I even need a mike if I am using my iPhone? I have tons of tech questions that come up.
I am also not exactly sure what to say in my videos. Am I getting the right message across? Am I setting it up right? Am I ending it right? There are a million things that I think about when I make a video. And then, because of that, because I don’t know all of the answers, I tend to not make videos and I call over a good friend that does video once in a while to do videos. But that means I don’t do that many.
James: What are you worried will happen?
Amy: Looking like an idiot!
James: Looking like an idiot in front of your audience. And if you look like an idiot what would happen then?
Amy: People will think I don’t really know what I’m talking about.
James: People will think you don’t know what you’re talking about, absolutely. Then we can draw all kinds of conclusions from there. If they think I’m an idiot and don’t know what I’m talking about then they don’t trust me and they don’t buy from me. I would go out of business and have to go get a job.
Amy: Wow, we went there really fast.
James: Holy cow, no wonder so many people don’t do video. There is so much at stake. There is so much at risk. So I’m not going to be the rose-colored glasses person and ask what you are talking about, it’s super easy.
No, there is a lot at stake, especially for someone with as big of a brand and presence as Amy Porterfield. You would have a lot to lose if you all of the sudden started making janky Flip cam videos (do you remember the Flip camera) in 2015 and beyond. So I get it.
I really do want to acknowledge that and say those concerns are legit and real. It is a huge reflection of your brand. I guess I would say that we can let this continue to be a problem for people and you could continue to be the reason it stops you.
Or you could realize (and this is where my mind went years ago) that 95% of the people get stopped here and won’t make a video. This is your opportunity to separate yourself from the crowd, from the noise. Because so few people are actually willing to do video and do it right and do it consistently and long term, this is the magic thing that does separate you.
You’re lucky because you’ve been doing a podcast for a long time and you already have a massive following. But everyone’s jumped on doing podcasts. I’m not knocking that. We have a podcast coming out too. But think of how much harder it is now to market your podcast and promote it and build an audience when everyone has a podcast.
So I do want to let people know, at least for myself and a lot of my students, that video has become the thing because so few people are willing to do it. Most of the people that do it do it wrong so it is a thing that can separate you and actually do the opposite of what we’re afraid of.
So Amy’s fear was that people would think she wasn’t legit or not professional and that she didn’t know what she was doing. It is the opposite when you do it right. It builds such a level of connection, authenticity, and authority when it’s done right that you get more people to buy from you.
I live in a town of 24,000 people. That’s a small town and on average I get one to two people a week that I have no idea, complete strangers who come up to me and tell me, “You are the video guy, James Wedmore, oh my gosh!”
There is a story of me getting my haircut and my barber is introducing me to another guy, the next guy in line. He was trying to introduce me and he asked, “What are you James, a videographer?”
It told him that works. The guy said he was learning to make videos himself to promote his music business. I asked him how he was learning and he told me there were a ton of free tutorials on YouTube. He said he had one on his phone and it was a video of me.
Amy: No, no it’s not!
James: This is a real story. This totally happened.
Amy: Did you said, “Dude, that’s me.”
James: I did, I said, “That’s me.” My office is right next to where I get my hair cut so he spent the next 30 minutes in my office and in the studio. He couldn’t believe it. It was unreal.
Amy: That’s so cool.
James: He pops in every once in a while and maybe that was a bad thing because he knows where I work.
Amy: Maybe so.
James: But that’s the power of video. The moment he realized it was me, have you ever seen a celebrity walking down the street or at the airport or something like that? You just go nuts. We all do. And video can do that.
However, there are some mistakes that we make. There are some that Amy has pointed out. She is afraid that she might make mistakes. The scary thing is that when you make the mistakes you don’t even know you are making them.
Amy: That’s the worst.
James: Total blind spot. You have no idea you have food in your teeth in the video. I want to point some of those things out. Just like a really good friend at lunch tells you that you have food in your teeth. I want to do that for you guys. It is a little awkward but it will save you in the long run.
Amy: Do it.
James: The first of five mistakes is what we just boiled down to, shoddy camera work. I am going to go over these kind of fast, but this is a pretty big one.
First of all, there are the black bars and now with Periscope that’s a common thing. I don’t know what it is but people hate that black abyss of darkness next to the video. One reason is because you are filming with your iPhone or other mobile device the wrong way.
Amy: You’ve just got to flip the camera to the side.
James: Yeah, you’ve got to do landscape. I know it’s so easy, especially because Periscope makes that more easy to want to do the tower up and down video. But it is landscape. That’s an easy fix.
But there are things like a shaky camera. We really haven’t talked about this on today’s episode but I’m a big fan of using your mobile device. The iPhone 6S is coming out right now and I’m sure the camera is even better. But I’ve been using my iPhone for a lot of our videos since way back in the day of the iPhone 5. The 5, 5S, 6, 6S cameras are really good.
You have to sturdy it up with a tripod. You can buy an iPhone tripod adaptor and a tripod for $50 or less and when you have a stable static shot it is like normal. Go watch TV and movies. The camera is not shaking like you are in the middle of an earthquake. That’s very basic stuff, just get a tripod.
That is simple. It is so hard to explain this and that is why we make a video because it is a very easy medium. But, the way people frame their shots…when it’s a talking head of Amy Porterfield, where do you think our eyes should go in the video? What should I be looking at when I am watching a video of you?
Amy: My eyes?
James: Your eyes! That’s the focal point. People will frame themselves in the most random location. We want to follow the rule of thirds. People usually try and put it smack dab in the dead center of the video. That’s not right, you actually want to be higher. You want to be in that top third.
This is a fun thing I did in a copywriting class in college, go open any magazine today and look at any advertisement. Your eye is always drawn to the top-middle third. That’s where the headline is, that’s where the logo is, that’s where the model’s face is. You will never see a focal point where the face is down at the bottom left-hand corner. It is always the top middle third.
Just remember that and use it for your videos. Does that make sense so far?
Amy: It does, definitely.
James: These are really easy fixes and they are things that most people have done at least one of these wrong. There is one more which is focus. It is huge. With your iPhone it is literally like touching your finger to the screen and it autofocuses. Just make sure to do that.
I have definitely filmed videos where my background was in focus and I was a blurry mess. I looked like you were looking at me without glasses on.
Amy: Why was that exactly? Why was your background in focus and you weren’t?
James: We were using a D-SLR camera. I’m a big fan of using D-SLR but they are more expensive and they have a steeper learning curve. If you’re not careful and you have a really nice lens then any tweak of the focus wheel will put you out of focus so fast it’s crazy. Sometimes if you aren’t paying attention and you look through a small viewfinder you don’t really notice. If the person that’s filming for you is your spouse or little Billy down the street, that smart 11-year-old kid that has every device known to man.
Those are all encompassed under this first big mistake. It is how you are doing your camera work. Don’t be shaky. Make sure it’s landscape view. Make sure you are in focus. Make sure your face or focal point is in the top upper third of the video, not dead center and not the lower right-hand corner or anything like that. That’s mistake #1.
Any questions with that one?
Amy: No. I think I’m good.
James: The next thing, I think it is really important, especially because a lot of people do come to me wanting to get a more expensive camera. Why? So they can up the quality of their videos.
Amy: Yes, of course.
James: Of course, that’s what we all want to do and then they run into a whole world of problems. I went to film school so I’m not trying to teach everything I learned in four years of a very expensive film school to a business owner.
Amy, if you and I spent a day together the last thing I would want to do is talk to you about frame rates and sensor size and all of that nerdy stuff.
Amy: Right, you would lose me instantly.
James: Yeah, I think I have a couple of times in the past. But we can improve the quality of whatever camera we are using when we improve our lighting. Most lower quality cameras, like an iPhone, are not the greatest. But it is really good at this point. And these other cheaper and inexpensive cameras, one thing they are poor at is filming in low light situations. Just put more light on you and whatever your subject is.
Amy: But that’s easier said than done. You should see me getting lamps and taking lamp shades off and trying to put them closer to me and all that. Can you talk about some easy lighting things?
James: Yeah, that’s the funny thing. Some people suggest DIY lighting, just take a lamp from your bedroom light stand.
Amy: Oh my God, nightmare.
James: What are you doing? Go to Amazon. We have buyer’s guides and resources and stuff.
Amy: I’ll link to that in the show notes.
James: Perfect. But, you can get mobile video lighting, three-point lighting stands. It all depends on what type of filming space you have. Everyone’s got to get their own thing. But actual video lighting equipment is available for very inexpensive prices.
Just think that the most expensive thing that we recommend is a three-point lighting kit that I bought in 2010 for $220, I still use it today in 2015 with the same bulbs. I have never had a bulb die and I’ve used it in 100s and 100s of videos.
You have those investments where it’s like, “That was the best…”
Amy: Yeah, my Yeti mike. I have used that Yeti mike since 2010.
James: I love the Yeti, yeah. So, we recommend things like ring lights where it is a complete circle of a fluorescent light. It is so easy to use. You can get portable LED lights. We don’t want to nerd out too much on the podcast but they are really inexpensive.
The biggest thing is to stop filming without any light and stop using household furniture to film your videos when you can get stuff so cheap on Amazon.
Amy: Good call. Okay.
James: Okay. That is the second one, bad lighting. So we have shoddy camera work, which encompasses all of the yucky stuff I talked about. Then we have bad lighting, too much lighting, or too little lighting; just the wrong lighting.
Then the third one, which is so important, is bad audio. I actually think this should have been moved to #1. If you have all of these other things but have crystal clear, crisp, loud audio kind of like what we’ve got right here, it can save a bad video.
But if you have the most expensive camera and the most beautiful backdrop and you are all dolled up and look amazing and I can barely hear you, I’m not going to watch your video.
Amy: It’s the worst.
James: So the big rule here is to stop using your onboard microphone. If you’re filming on your iPhone or your D-SLR you have to have a mike in this day and age. You have to have a lapel or lavaliere microphone that is connected to you, your shirt, your blouse, your dress, whatever so that the actual audio/microphone is just five inches away from your mouth. It will pick it up right away.
But I am just filming you with an iPhone and I’m standing seven feet away that’s how far the microphone is away from you. So you have to have a microphone.
Amy: Good point.
James: We have buyer’s guides and all that good stuff. But if you are using your iPhone you can just go to amazon and type in iPhone microphone. It’s crazy, really complicated. You will get wired lavaliere mikes with a 20-food cable that you can hide off camera for $19.
We use one called the Movo-1. I literally clip it on my shirt collar and it has a 20-foot wire that connects into the iPhone. We have been making videos all week. I have my whole team in the office and we are making videos and doing fun stuff right now.
I say we are going to make a video and we just plug it in and we press record and go. It’s that easy.
Amy: Nice. Okay.
James: Audio, I think, really is the most important thing. When I hear a video with bad audio it really echoes or is hollow or quiet or WAY TOO LOUD. That is the most important factor to me. So you want to be aware of that.
Let’s talk about #4, my personal favorite of the mistakes, being boring. It’s hard because a lot of people do come to me and say they can’t do video because they aren’t funny or they aren’t an extravert. They aren’t loud and don’t talk fast.
I don’t know, I guess I understand, but I don’t know where that really became a belief system that you have to be those things in order to do a video. The opposite of boring doesn’t mean funny.
Amy: That’s what I always think. And I’m not naturally funny on my podcasts and stuff. So talk to me about that.
James: Great. On your podcast, you’re not clowning around and cracking jokes.
Amy: No.
James: But people listen to every word that you say.
Amy: I would like to think so.
James: We would like to think so. I see you on Periscope and everyone’s like, “Oh my gosh, I listen to all of your podcast episodes.” You’re not boring. When someone says they listen to every podcast episode, you’re not boring.
What do you think it is that you’re doing in your podcast that is getting people to listen and come back and listen again?
Amy: For me, I try to make it really actionable: Here’s what you do, here’s how you do it, now go do it and test it out and kind of let me know what happens. So, for me, it’s all about that.
James: And when something is actionable, what is that? That’s valuable. That is helpful and informative and life changing. I want to remind people that you don’t have to be funny. You don’t have to be an extrovert. I’m a big introvert. Amy is also a big introvert. People don’t believe that when we say that. They might believe it a little more when you say it.
Amy: When you say it, it seems crazy.
James: But it’s very true. I’m a huge introvert. We could have an entire episode about how introverts are taking over the planet right now. And all of the extroverts want to say they are an introvert. It’s very funny.
I actually never thought I was very funny. I was never the class clown. I was always the person in high school where I always say this joke, “Amy, if you were to ask anybody from high school what was James Wedmore like?”
Everyone’s response, hands down, would be, “Who?” And I went to high school with like 90 kids in my graduating class.
Amy: Oh James!
James: You know, “Who? Oh, I think that guy sat behind me. I think. I don’t know.” That was me. But I’ve always been someone who loved to laugh and appreciated humor and storytelling. So I’ve found people to model and what not. But at the end of the day I’ve figured out this is the type of stuff I’m passionate about.
Passion and enthusiasm is contagious. When you’re talking about what it is that you are enthused about people just want to take that drug. They want to know what you are taking and want to get some of it.
Amy is a great example of that. Amy, if you won the lottery right now and made $100 million, I’ll bet you would still be doing a podcast.
Amy: I’m thinking, yes.
James: Yeah, because this is what fuels us and drives us, learning and teaching and rinse and repeat. It’s like, learn something new, discover something new, share it with the world, get the feedback from our audience. So being boring has nothing to do with those things. It really has to do with finding the things that fuel you that you are passionate about and sharing that and helping others and inspiring others in your unique voice without any fear, trepidation, worry, or concern about what others think or how they will judge you.
Let me ask you another question, when you are in a podcast episode like this, today, present moment, right now, do you have thoughts in the back of your head like, “Oh my gosh, what if people don’t like my podcast, this is stupid, why am I doing this”? Or do you are you just in the flow?
Amy: Totally in the flow. Once I get going I don’t think of that stuff anymore.
James: That’s what I’m talking about. For me today, if I can make an impact on one person, if I can share one thing that I’ve learned in almost eight years of online business stuff then that’s all that matters to me. And that’s what I focus on rather than asking what they will think of me or that I look too old or too young or wherever our mind goes.
It happens to all of us. I always look to that and say that everyone else is going to be sitting there worrying about what they look like on camera and they won’t end up doing it so I’m just going to go do it. And that’s really what fueled me way back in the beginning, despite being a quiet introvert who was very awkward in person.
Amy: Okay, I love that though. I love that that’s what you were thinking, “I’m just going to go do it anyway.”
James: Yeah. Well, I still do. Here’s the thing Amy, is it true or false? It’s gotten harder and it can get harder for us today to put something new out there than it was five years ago.
Amy: How so?
James: Well, you’ve got more to lose.
Amy: Oh yes. I’m with you there.
James: If you did a Periscope five years ago, six years ago and you had five people on or something like that versus today where you’ve got an entire audience, a massive amount of people, you have more skin in the game and there is more to lose.
A lot of my audience, when I share my vulnerabilities and what goes through my head on a daily basis with insecurities they tell me they just thought I had it all figured out and I was a perfect enlightened being that doesn’t have any fears, worries, concerns, etc.
No, I just see that they are there. I acknowledge them and I do it anyway.
Amy: I love that.
James: I kind of just say, “Screw it.”
Amy: I was hoping you weren’t just going to say the “F” word. It’s a family show.
James: Hey mom!
Anyway, let’s talk about the fifth mistake. Let’s recap really quick. Shoddy is our word here because I work with a U.K. videographer and he keeps saying, “That’s shoddy work.” So shoddy camera work, bad lighting, bad audio, being boring. Have some energy just like Amy and I. We come on this show excited to talk about this so I just kind of build up that energy.
The last one is just not doing video at all.
Amy: This is my thing. I don’t do a lot of video. So talk about this one.
James: Here’s the thing. You might not do a lot of video but I’m never saying that it’s he or she who has the most video wins. You don’t need to do a lot of video but I know you do video. So, what are some of the videos that you’ve done in 2015.
Amy: I usually do videos around promos. So before I come out with a big promo I will do a video about webinars or list building or something like that. Now I’ve been doing a lot more Periscope as well. I say that’s video, right?
James: Absolutely, it is. It is a whole new medium in and of itself but I still feel it really falls under the umbrella of video because it’s live video. It is live, mobile video and that’s great. But you’ve done sales videos, have you not?
Amy: Yes, I’ve done sales videos.
James: So if you were to sell a new product such as How to Be Awesome and Amazing and you wrote sales copy and a beautiful sales page, would you do that without a sales video? Or do you feel you have to have a sales video?
Amy: I don’t…
James: I’m not trying to bait you, I just want to know.
Amy: No, I just put out a sales page without a video.
James: Oh great.
Amy: Should we edit this part out?
James: Just put a video down at the bottom! No, that’s fine. I have a rule for myself that we will never have an offer or sales page or anything without a video.
Amy: How come? Talk to me about that.
James: I think for me, I would say I do my own copywriting. I get coaching and advice and people I can toss it to but I like to do all of my own copywriting because I really want to go with my own voice. But I say I am an average copywriter, nothing great, special or fancy. That’s just not my strength.
However, I know personally that when I can combine average copy, which is one modality, your audience member is just reading the words; but when I can combine that with music, and visual I’ve just injected my words with emotion and feeling.
In my opinion that can take average copy into an entirely new realm.
Amy: I think that is a great perspective. I’m glad I asked you why because so many people listening now don’t feel they are amazing copywriters. Nor do I. So, to think if I could then add a video to that sales page to kind of counteract that and get more personal and connected at a different level and invite people in and that would increase my sales, then of course you want to do a sales video.
James: Absolutely. I’ve got my team here and we’re making a bunch of videos as we speak. So here’s a great example, right before we got on this call one of the videos we made (you’re going to love this) is…let me ask you this question, when people register for one of your webinars do you have a video on the Thank You page?
Amy: I used to and I don’t know how I got away from that but I don’t anymore.
James: This is so great. I don’t want Amy to sit here saying, “Yes, video is awesome.” She is sharing real and authentically that she has had hurdles with videos. She tries to avoid it. It’s just not there. It’s like that awkward family member that you just pretend you’re not related to.
Amy: Or that friend that I pretend…like James Wedmore. Just joking.
James: It’s that friend that you feel like you HAVE to do a podcast with. Thanks, this just got real.
We just created a webinar Thank You video. What would you say if I came in and said, “Amy, I want to do a Thank You video on the Thank You page of your next webinar.”
To go off on a tangent a little, we say that every video should have an intention for your business. What do you think the intention of this video would be if we were going to make a webinar Thank You page video?
Amy: For me it would be to encourage them to show up live. That would be my intention.
James: Yeah. If you got 10,000 people registered for your next webinar and no one showed up, what is the point of all of those registrants, right? The video does that.
What I did was sit down and write a little script. I just recorded it into the same microphone I’m using right now. And then I have a video guy that I found in the Philippines. He is very inexpensive. I just asked him to add some text as I say the words.
That just enhances the experience and really gets people to get what I want them to get. It is just unbelievable. When I sit there and say something like “All it takes is getting started with one video.”
On the screen he says, “It just takes one video.” You get it. You keep watching and are captivated. I showed my whole team this morning right before we got on this podcast and they thought it was amazing and incredible.
I was like, “Yeah, and I didn’t even do this.” I just wrote a quick outline and talked into a podcast microphone and had someone else do it. I’m not on camera.
Amy: Oh, you’re not on camera. That’s big for people to hear because a lot of us don’t even want to get on camera. Oh, I like that.
James: That’s a silly objection that people have by saying they don’t want to do video because they don’t want to be on camera. I’ve done 1,000s of videos and I’d say I’m not on camera in 75% of them.
Amy: Wow, that’s good to hear. That actually leads us well into our next thing. I know we don’t have a lot of time but I want you to talk about the videos that you think people should actually have in their business. You have a set of videos that you think everybody should be making.
James: Like I told you, it’s not about who has the most videos wins. I think that’s ridiculous. People say to just make a bunch of videos, as many as you can, there’s no strategy, that’s just a fire hose effect. But, what if there were just five types of videos that, once you got them done, you could know they were done and you didn’t have to do them again or at least you could wait two to three years to do them again.
I want to share those five videos with you right now. This is what we teach and show people how to make.
The first one is what I call a visual story-selling video. What exactly is a story-selling video? I really like that phrase. My first class at film school was called visual storytelling. We are, in essence, as a personal brand, visual storytellers with our videos. But we’re also selling ourselves, our brand, our business, our products, our services, or software.
What is visual story selling? One of my favorite TED talks, I know you’ve seen this, is Simon Sinek’s TED talk where he talks and repeats the phrase over and over again, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
He gives great examples like Apple. No matter what level you are at it this rule applies to all of us, even if you started business last week. This is the video that extracts your vision and your “why” for what got you to be in business in the first place.
It is so true, people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. The thing is, a lot of people think you buy to solve a problem. Absolutely. But you’re not the only person solving the problem. You’re not the only Instagram expert. You’re not the only dating and relationship coach out there.
You have to sell them on you first. And that’s what the visual story-selling video is and I think it is really cool and important. It is one of the first exposures people should have. If I hear Amy Porterfield speak for the first time and wonder who she is, I Google her and that is the video I should find when I go to her website.
That is your Amy’s Army recruitment video. That is what is going to make me a loyal soldier to Amy Porterfield, not that you’re building an army or anything. That is a little masculine.
Amy: Yeah, that is a little bit.
James: That is the visual story-selling video. The second one isn’t fair because it is kind of Army related, but it is the call-to-arms list-building video. When we look at everything we are supposed to do in our business from driving traffic to building your list and making sales and conversions, what I say is that video just enhances the performance of what you are already doing.
We all need to be building a list. This is something you talk relentlessly about and I just ask why not use video to do it? A call-to-arms list-building video is simply a video you can put on an opt-in page, a webinar registration page, squeeze page, etc. It just tells people what you’ve got and how to get it for free.
A video saying, “Hey, I’m Amy Porterfield and I’ve put together a free training on how to be awesome and amazing. Submit your email to get instant access.” That is essentially call to arms list building.
We show simple proven scripts that convert on what to say and how to say it so that you can take a squeeze page or a list-building page of sorts and increase or improve or enhance that performance. That’s a call-to-arms list-building video.
The third one is the irresistible free offer video. I love this because, first and foremost this is the type of video you share when you don’t want to be on camera. But these are your content videos.
For example, you’ve taught this before, to build your list to your audience. Do you have a special term you call a free giveaway or free gift?
Amy: Yeah, a free giveaway.
James: Free giveaway. Have you ever told people their free video could be a video?
Amy: Yes. And I think that’s actually a great idea.
James: Yeah, I do too because there are two reasons. First of all, I think it’s easier to create a video today because it can be a PowerPoint video or a ScreenFlow screen capture type video. That’s quicker and easier today, and a lot of my students agree with this, than writing a 30-page report, formatting it, and making sure the grammar and spelling is perfect, adding images, and all that type of stuff.
Amy: I’m with you there.
James: Okay. So that’s what this video is. Anybody that does a five-part video series or a free three-part video series. That is what this is. We show people how to do that whether it is just a screen capture video, which is really nice. But here is the other part to why this is so great, when you are teaching your information in this video (let’s say I’ve opted in for Amy’s free giveaway video and she shares 15 minutes or ten minutes of really cool content) you can make an offer in the video.
You can go from, “Hey guys, thanks for opting in. As promised, here’s your really cool tip I am going to share with you.” You can talk for five to ten minutes and then at the end of it you can tell them, “If you want more tips like this I’ve put a program together that shows you how to do it. Click the link below to learn more.”
Amy: That’s awesome.
James: You can use video so much more effectively to take people to that next step. That would bring us to our last video, which we will get to in just a minute. But there is one before that. It is called the traffic-getting video.
I like to say that every business needs a little TLC, traffic, leads, and conversions.
Amy: Bring it on.
James: Not tender loving care, although we need that tool.
Amy: We do.
James: We do. {laughter} I feel like a talk show host and you are the side kick right now. You just agree with everything, “We do, yes TLC.”
The traffic-getting video used to just be a YouTube video. I have 300 to 400 videos on YouTube but I’ve literally made hundreds and hundreds, probably thousands of other videos that are not on YouTube. YouTube is a traffic source for me. It’s my #1 free traffic source. That is how new people find me.
They do search terms for how to make a video and they find my YouTube videos inside of Google. So YouTube is a traffic source for me. A traffic-getting video is a video that’s going to help get new people to find you. We primarily use YouTube and, this is so exciting, it is my pitch live on the air with Amy to convince her to get me on an even third episode.
We need to do an entire episode about Facebook video because 2015 has made a major shift in the direction of what Facebook is doing with video and video advertising. It has now become a massive opportunity for us to get exposure to a whole new people in a whole new way using Facebook video.
Amy: I would love that. That’s a great podcast about video.
James: We are excited about that. One of the things I’m going to recommend at the end, and what we’re doing right now, is a lot of Facebook video. It is very different than YouTube video. So we’ve done some very cool things there on my fan page.
We have done little one-minute videos. They are basically commercials and advertising like you would see when you are watching your favorite TV show, assuming you didn’t TiVo it.
Amy: Oh, I want to know about that. Okay.
James: Recapping really quick and then we have one more, visual story-selling video, call-to-arms list-building video, irresistible free offer video, and we just discussed the traffic-getting video which can be on YouTube and Facebook. Then the final one, our favorite, is your customer-attracting sales video.
I know Amy has done sales videos before. I ‘ve seen them, even though she did not use a sales video on her last one. That’s okay. But I am going to recommend it for the reasons we’ve already talked about. But that’s what this video is.
This is the video that can be one of the most important ones and it’s also one of the scariest ones because people want to know what to say in a sales video. These are ones where we follow a template and a very simple script. It takes people through a sequence. I always use the dating analogy.
A guy wouldn’t go to a bar, walk up to a girl and say, “Do you want to marry me, I don’t know you but let’s get married.” That’s not as effective as maybe buying her a drink first. And that’s really what a lot of this process is.
The selling is asking for a marriage proposal. It’s asking, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?” That is a big question to ask to say, “Hey, will you take our your credit card and give me some money.” That’s a big question.
These other four videos are actually there with the intention of selling you so that they are sold on you before they ever open up their wallets and get sold on your products.
Amy: Okay, I see. So these four videos are actually leading up to you getting a really good bang for your buck on the fifth video, the selling video.
James: Yeah. And I want to encourage people to observe and notice times in your own life or business where you’ve stumbled upon someone and it took a little bit of time and maybe you are on their email list for a while.
You listen to their podcast or YouTube video or an article or something. Then maybe you opted in for something and then you watched a free video series. Then there was a sales page. There is a sequence and it is very intentional versus one of the big mistakes we see people make all of the time, “Hi, you don’t know me but I’m selling you something. Here it is.”
Amy: Exactly.
James: How’s that working for you? So there is a lot more intention. Again, I’m not the guy that’s going to say, “Go make 100 videos.” What if we were just very intentional with a very small handful of videos. Being the introverts we are I look at my videos as my friends.
Amy: This just got really creepy.
James: This got really weird, “Hello little video.” These are my employees. Every video I make is like a little worker that works for me 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These are the videos that are spreading my name and promoting me. These are the videos that are selling for me. These are the videos that are teaching for me.
This is why people want to create courses. There are so many people right now talking about creating their own course and wanting to share their information. One of the reasons why is because there is a call right now for a lot of people to make an impact and help people to say they have learned so much and now they want to share it.
You really can’t do that if you’re walking to every person individually and saying, “Let me tell you everything I know,” and then moving to the next person to tell them everything you know.
But, something like a video can do that for you and it can be scalable on a global/ universal basis.
Amy: Wow, that was dramatic. I love this.
James: Out of this world.
Amy: So, what I’m thinking, because you know I’m always questioning how to make something actionable; I know we don’t have time for this, but I want to know what goes into each of these five videos and what they should look like and what they are all about.
The coolest thing is you have a video about that. Imagine that.
James: Isn’t that weird.
Amy: Super weird.
James: When I first got started in my business I had a little quote that sticks with me today, “Inspire others through my actions.” I never want to teach, share, or do whatever with my audience unless I am doing it. I really first want to be a shining example.
Yes, we use video to show people how effective video can be. We do have a free video series that is out for a limited time right now. It is basically the irresistible free offer video. It is a series of three videos. It will teach everything I can to you guys about video marketing.
In the first video we go into full detail about those five videos that I mentioned from the visual storytelling all the way to the customer-attracting sales video and the three between there.
In video two, the really cool thing I do is take you behind the scenes and show you how we made Video 1. We tell you what went into making a video. We break down the set.
Amy: Technology?
James: All that stuff. We start with an idea we had and how that idea became an outline to a script to being filmed with the right camera, lighting, microphone, set, all of that stuff, how it got edited, all of that.
Then, in video three, for our more advanced folks, we start talking about what I call the beneath the iceberg stuff, under the surface of the iceberg. You know, 90% of an iceberg is underwater, the stuff that’s unseen. That is what you really say in your videos and how you say it in a way that captivates your audience.
Most of what is in your favorite movie is in the script. It is in a good script. People sell scripts, not like shots or angles. They sell scripts. That’s where it starts. It’s the same with your videos, what you say and how intentional you are with saying it. Most people have no idea. It’s a blend of storytelling and copywriting. That’s something we’ve been able to master and teach and I want to be able to share that with you guys.
Amy: And it’s totally free.
James: It’s totally free, yes. And we have a special link for you.
Amy: At amyporterdev.wpenginepowered.com/james you can get all three videos. And here’s the thing, so many people do video series and they will give you a three-part video series for free and teach you something.
But I think the coolest thing about James doing it is that he is teaching through video about how to do video. He takes you behind the scenes. Plus, you get his amazing humor, which kind of makes it all the more fun, but it is so valuable that I feel everybody who has a business online today needs to know this information.
I wanted to give you a taste of it here on the podcast, make it actionable, make it really interesting and valuable, but at the same time, it is so much more valuable when you see it in action and that’s why I wanted to tell people about your free video series that’s only out for a limited time. So, if you are listening now, go jump on that right away.
James: Yeah, it is. And I really appreciate that Amy. So thank you for having me on. How did I do?
Amy: You did okay. I’m just joking. You did an amazing job as I knew you would. It’s always fun to talk to you, James. You just always put those that you serve in front of everything else and it’s always very obvious in doing so.
Thank you so much for pouring your heart into this and really paying attention to what people needed and wanted. I think it’s going to be a huge hit, so thanks, again.
James: Thank you, Amy. And thank you everyone for tuning in.
Amy: Take care.
There you have it, did you enjoy that interview as much as I did? I just absolutely love James. Let me tell you, the guy knows what he’s talking about. I want you to get access to those three videos. I’ve already watched them. I absolutely love them and I learned something new in every single video.
Since I’m on this mission to start doing more video, I really started to take notes and think of what I could do. I love when he explains exactly what goes into those five videos. I know he kind of touched on it here. But he gets into specifics.
He tells what goes into the videos, how to do them, and what message you should be relaying with each video. So he gets into all of it. Make sure to check out the videos at http://amyporterdev.wpenginepowered.com/james.
Finally, I want to thank our sponsor, 99Designs. You know when you market online it is really difficult to stand out from all of that online noise clutter. How do you do it? I think you do it through impeccable branding. That includes your logo, your social media cover images, your website, and everything in between. At 99Designs you can get anything designed in just a week for a startup-friendly price.
To give you a little something extra, when you go to www.99designs.com/amy you will get a $99 upgrade for free. That upgrade makes your design contest stand out from all of the others and bumps you to the top of the list so more designers can see your contest. So make sure to check out www.99designs.com/amy.
Thank you so very much for being here with me today. I love connecting with you in this way and I can’t wait to see you again next week. Until then, good luck in all you do. I’ll see you soon. Bye for now.
