The unknown can certainly be scary, but you know what? Once you actually do the thing you fear (like learning to drive a car, learning a new software program, or even making your video), you realize that the “thought or fear” of doing “the thing” was keeping you from doing “a thing” that is now almost second nature.
Why do we put off learning and sometimes even “fear” it? I am not sure if I have an answer for that one, but I do know that I certainly do it especially when it comes to keeping on top of the latest technology, social media tools, and even learning how to use new video production equipment. At first, I fight it, then I force myself to learn it, and then I wonder, WHY did I procrastinate and wait so long to learn something that helps me so much.
I’ve been listening to High Performance Habits written by Brendon Burchard, a very well-known high-performance coach, and he shares about his experience of learning to create and produce his own videos. He knew nothing about producing videos or being on-camera but knew that he needed to learn how to master this skill to advance his business. He started making videos a little over ten years ago when YouTube was basically in its infancy, and now his videos have millions of views and he’s built a multi-million dollar business as a result because he’s been able to reach an audience he wanted to serve.
Brendon faced his fear of being on camera, mastered the skills needed to produce high-quality videos, and now, he is respected around the world for the high-performance brand he has created. Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.
Now, I have a special invitation for you to join me and my community of positive minded people in my Facebook Group to Grow Your Business with Video. I can’t wait to connect with you there
Marianne Schwab is the author of The Insider’s Guide to Media Training and, as a Content Creation Strategist, she is the go-to broadcast media expert to show you how to get booked on TV and ace your on-camera interview. Her producer credits include Live with Regis & Kathie Lee, Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, Runaway with the Rich & Famous, E! Entertainment Television ON E! Specials, and many more. She has worked in broadcast for over 25 years and is currently the Executive Producer for CMP Media Cafe, a company specializing in broadcast public relations where she provides customized media training services for clients.
Turning your mess into your message can either be really easy or it can be super difficult depending on your story, your brand, or your profession. Let’s start with a couple of easy examples.
Turn Your Mess into Your Message.
If you’re a fitness expert like Kaelin Tuell (@ladyboss) who you lost 65 pounds and now teaches others how to do the same, your mess of being overweight and how you solved it is a golden ticket to marketing success. You are your own testimonial and other people struggling with weight issues will be able to relate to you and be inspired by you.
If you’re a former drug addict and now a multi-millionaire like Grant Cardone (@GrantCardone), your mess inspires people from almost all circumstances because you see how you can hit rock bottom in your life and turn it around to 10x your success.
For most of us, though, we feel like our “mess” isn’t big enough or dramatic enough to move our tribe or our ideal clients, but that’s where you’re wrong. Your “mess” is YOUR struggle and sharing bits of that struggle so that people understand you didn’t come out of the womb as the successful person you are, but you worked to get there and you’re just where they used to be, but you worked hard to achieve your goals. Or, it’s how you helped others overcome their mess. This will allow them to relate to you as a “real person,” endear themselves to you and they’ll respect and trust you because you shared your struggle.
Now, there is a fine line in how sharing your mess and your struggle that you don’t want to cross versus over-sharing and providing too much information that undermines your authority as an expert. Perhaps your struggle was working 60-to-80 hour work weeks for years, sacrificing your social life so that you could be a high performer in your industry and the good, bad, and ugly lessons you learned along the way. Also, if you’re sharing the mess of people you helped, ALWAYS get permission and/or change the names “to protect the innocent.”
You see, when most people watch Olympians compete, they never think about the thousands of hours of training and sacrifice that Gabby Douglas (@GabbyCVDouglas) put into a two-minute gymnastic routine or what it took for Michael Phelps (@M_Phelps00) to break records in swimming. That’s why you need to share your struggle and that’s why the producers of the Olympics provide a back-story video feature when you watch the broadcast of the event so that the audience sees and understands the struggle (and sometimes the mess) that the athlete overcame to get there. They weren’t born champions. They worked very hard to become champions. And now the NBC-TV audience is engaged in the story and have a new respect for the athlete.
So start thinking how to turn your “mess” into your message. What obstacles have you overcome? Lack of money? Lack of education? Lack of physical ability? Lack of support from your family and friends? Share your struggle, unpack how you overcame the odds that were stacked against you, and you’ll earn the trust of your tribe.
Now, I have a special invitation for you to join me and my community of positive minded people in my Facebook Group to Grow Your Business with Video. I can’t wait to connect with you there!
I’ve been producing video content for over 25 years. That is probably longer than some of you have been on the planet earth and you need to realize that you are living in an awesome time where technology makes it so easy to share your message. You see, broadcast TV, radio, newspapers, and roadside billboards used to be the only options available to reach your client or customer, but social media marketing has been a game changer to not only reach the world via laptops and smartphones but also micro-target your audience in ways never before possible.
Using social media to share your message (live streaming or pre-recorded) is like pouring gasoline on a fire and it ignites your video content in a way that has never been possible until the past few years. When you produce high-value video content combined with a strategic use of hashtags, keywords, and paid ads across social media platforms, you’ll fan the flames to explode visibility, engagement, and ultimately, revenues.
But before you strike that match, make sure your content is awesome and not mediocre. That’s where my 25 years of producing video is almost visceral at this point. Many people like @GaryVee preach to the masses that you need to start pushing tons of content (don’t get me wrong, he’s RIGHT), but you must push GOOD content. Low-quality content means low-quality brand.
Remember, the ultimate goal of your content strategy is to build trust with your potential clients to the degree that they not only WANT to buy your product or service, but they MUST buy from YOU!
Hey, have you joined my exclusive Facebook group yet to “Grow Your Business with Video?” You haven’t? Well, I’m personally inviting you to join now! Yay!
Things you DON’T notice: good directing, good dialogue writing, good photography, and good marketing. You don’t notice them because you SHOULDN’T notice them. When it’s good and done correctly, it should flow so organically that you feel as though you are experiencing “real life.”
No one likes to be “sold.”
Things you DO notice: bad directing, bad dialogue writing, bad photography, and bad marketing. It sticks out like a sore thumb and is distracting in that you’re actually thinking about where the camera was placed, the conversation in the movie feels stilted and unnatural, the photo is not framed well, or the ad is trying to hard to sell you.
Here are examples of bad marketing: • The campaign feels like you’re trying too hard to be original (and it doesn’t work.) • The ad focuses on the process instead of the results. • It feels like they’re trying to SELL you on an idea and no one likes being “sold.”
So what do you do? Study what other people who are really good at it are doing and do what they do (but tailor it to your product, business, or service, of course). Master marketer, Russell Brunson, is big on “funnel-hacking” successful sales funnels. He looks at what his competitors are doing and then he models it for his own product and teaches others how to do it. If you have no idea what funnel-hacking is or want to learn more about how to use digital marketing to showcase your special expertise, then you gotta get Russell’s book, Expert Secrets. This book is a game-changer about how you market your business or services.
You know, I would love you to join my Facebook community where we can really dive into the weeds on content strategies. I have a special invitation for you to join me and my group of positive minded people in my exclusiveFacebook Group to Grow Your Business with Video. I look forward to engaging with you there!
Video marketing can be incredibly valuable. However, what do the numbers say? Here are stats about video marketing, distribution, viewership and the approach. The numbers tell the story.
Did you know that around the globe, 52% of marketers name video as the type of content with the best ROI.
Also, according to Cisco, 72% of mobile traffic will be online video content by 2019.
But that’s not all, because the top 5% of videos retain an average of 77% of viewers until the end of the video. For reference, the average video only retains 37% of viewers for the full duration.
Here are more powerful statistics about video marketing that you should not ignore:
65% of video viewers watch more than 75% of their selected video.•
Videos increase brand association by 139%.•
Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading that same message in text.
Using the word “video” in an email subject line boosts the open rates by 19%.•
Roughly 1/3 of all time online is spent viewing and sharing videos.•
Blog posts incorporating video attract 3 times as many inbound links as blog posts without video.•
More video content is uploaded online in 30 days than the major U.S. television networks have created in 30 years.
Info Courtesy of BluLeadz
Hey, I have a special invitation for you to join me and my group of positive minded people in my Facebook Group to Grow Your Business with Video. I look forward to engaging with you there!
I don’t necessarily think that ALL good ideas start as bad ideas as Steven Spielberg has been quoted as saying about the creative process, but I do firmly believe that a “bad idea” can give birth to a GOOD idea (even a GREAT idea) through the brainstorming process.
Years ago when I was a producer at ABC-TV in Los Angeles, I was in a
pitch meeting for a sweeps period for a show where I was working as a
Segment Producer. In a pitch meeting, all the producers show up with
ideas for content for the show. It could be a how-to segment idea,
fashion or home makeover concept (like how to makeover your living room
without spending a dime), etc. Well, when my turn came up, I pitched an
idea for a segment that was immediately shot down. I don’t remember the
idea, but I do remember that another producer, Sue, said “No, not that
idea, but what about “this?” Well, everyone LOVED “her idea” and I was
quick to understand that she never would have thought of her GOOD idea
had I not pitched out my BAD idea first.
Marianne Schwab and Don Henley on the set of ABC-TV’s “Home Show.”
Remember, creating content is a process and don’t rule out bad ideas at first because you never know where they’ll take you and if you didn’t have that BAD idea FIRST, you NEVER would come up with the GOOD IDEA that is a game changer!
Hey, I have a special invitation for you today. Please join me and my community of positive minded people in my Facebook Group to Grow Your Business with Video . I can’t wait to connect with you there!
Did you know that seventy percent of internet users want to learn about your product or services through content and not traditional advertising? I wonder why that is. Hmmmmm. Let’s unpack this, shall we?
Well, first of all, when you create great content that provides value to your ideal client or customer, you are seen by them as helping them instead of trying to “sell” them something. No one. I repeat, no one wants to be “sold.” As human creatures, we like to be educated on the product or service and then feel like it’s “all our idea” when we decide to make the purchase or commit to engaging the services of a professional. This is the kind of content that actually moves the needle.
Content is what makes people “do something.” ~ Gary Vee
Second, I want to take you inside one of those major department stores where pushy sales reps start spraying you with perfume and trying to “sell” you. Do you respond well to that? No. However, there are retail stores that actually help you with a free makeup makeover to help you learn about good products, learn how to apply the make-up, and actually “try the product out” so you can see how it looks on you BEFORE you make a major investment in the product since their beauty expert guides you through the process and you feel like it’s “all your idea.”
Another example of value involves one of my favorite past times and that’s wine tasting. Who wants to pay $25 to $35 for a bottle of wine without getting a taste inside the bottle first? I certainly don’t and that’s why I like going to a tasting room at the winemaker’s property to taste the wine before I buy it. The tasting room manager will give me insights into each wine on the tasting menu so I can have background on the grapes, the region (and how it affects the flavor), and other factors that I could never appreciate if they hadn’t given me specific background on each wine. By the end of my time in the tasting room, I’m able to make buying decisions based on whether or not I like the wine before I invest $25 or more in a bottle of red or a bottle of white.
Okay, so that’s a sales process, what does that have to do with “content?” Well, EVERYTHING.
Both of the sales process examples involve providing value to the client so they get to know the product in a way that’s valuable to them. How can you provide a similar value with your content?
Video provides a great way to re-create some of these sales techniques but with a story that educates your ideal customer or client on what you do, the product or service you provide, and help them make a decision in a way that a news segment presents a story (instead of a commercial). Gary Vaynerchuck (@GaryVee) clearly made a difference in his father’s wine and spirits business with his wine tasting videos that took the company from $3-million a year to $60-million a year.
When you do content right that educates and provides value, video will grow your business. Hey, have you joined my exclusive Grow Your Business with Video Facebook group yet? You haven’t? Well, today is the day you make that happen! I’m personally inviting you to join so we can connect there! Yay!
Marianne Schwab is the author of The Insider’s Guide to Media Training
and, as Content Creation Strategist, she is the go-to broadcast media
expert to show you how to get booked on TV and ace your on-camera
interview. Her producer credits include Live with Regis & Kathie
Lee, Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, Runaway with the Rich &
Famous, E! Entertainment Television ON E! Specials, and many more. She has worked in broadcast for over 25 years and is currently the Executive Producer for CMP Media Cafe, a company specializing in broadcast public relations where she provides customized media training services for clients.
MAKE ‘EM LAUGH! Joel Osteen begins every message he delivers with a funny story or joke. He knows the importance of the power of laughter and how it can immediately grab the attention of his audience, put them in a good mood, and it sets the stage for his positive message.
So how do you infuse humor into your content so that it feels organic, because, let’s face it: if humor is forced it will flop. Using humor well really depends on the product, brand, or service that you provide, as to whether using humor is right for you and if it will work.
Add Humor to Your Content & Storytelling to Capture Your Audience.
So, a little-known fact about me. I know a few things about this topic because a long time ago in a land not so far away, I performed stand-up comedy a few times in New York. This was around the same time that I was an Associate Producer on “Live with Regis & Kathie Lee” and I convinced the Executive Producer of the show, Michael Gelman, to let me deliver the audience warm-ups when Michael was on vacation (he was the regular warm-up act). Regis said I got the audience heated to a nice “lukewarm” level (LOL) and to my defense, I was just “starting out.”
After my short adventures in stand up comedy, I left the Big Apple behind and headed to Hollywood with visions of writing for sitcoms. I have quite a nice portfolio of un-produced spec scripts for shows like “Murphy Brown,” “Home Improvement,” and “The Wonder Years.” I even worked on a sitcom at Paramount Pictures for a season as a Writer’s Assistant with some of the biggest names in the business, so I understand the anatomy of a joke, what works and what doesn’t, and ways to punch up a story and inject an element of humor.
Marianne Schwab (1st Row) Seinfeld “Bubble Boy” Episode, Season 4.
Another little-known fact about me and my adventures in comedy? I was in the “Bubble Boy” episode of Seinfeld and have the screen grab (above) to prove it. So exciting to be a part of comedic history.
Now, here are three quick tips on where humor works best for the “non-comedian.”
1. VIDEO ADS. Think about the problem your product solves and how people may look silly when they are immersed in the problem. Infomercials do this ALL the time, but…it’s not meant to be funny and is actually a little cheesy. So study what they do, but make it true to your brand.
2. VIDEO TUTORIALS. Think of the mistakes that people make on the topic you’re instructing on especially if these mistakes are common. Observational humor works because your audience sees themselves in a convicted, but not condemned sort of way. It also makes learning fun and memorable.
3. ATTRACTION VIDEOS or SALES VIDEOS. Use humor in the telling of your story. Now, if you just sit down and try to bring funny stories to your mind, you’ll probably draw a blank. But now that I have planted this seed in your brain, noodle on it and when a funny memory comes to mind, record it in your notes section on your smartphone or maybe even go “old fashioned” and write it down on a piece of paper.
As a former TV Talk Show Producer, I was always looking for that funny and memorable story from my celebrity guest that would not only make good TV, but also endear our audience to the celeb because that’s what funny stories do…they endear you to your audience. And then they’ll want to go see your film (or buy your product). My guest’s story could have been something that happened on the set with another famous actor, how they blew a line and how it came out really wrong, the time they got pulled over by a cop, or they might have an unusual skill they weren’t good at (like magic tricks gone wrong.)
Think of your own “behind-the-scenes” stories – things that happened in high school or college, your first jobs, funny mistakes you made on the job but then learned from, and so on. Don’t tell a joke for the sake of injecting humor, but find a teaching moment in your story that is also humorous and made people laugh. It should not feel contrived, but organic.
Finally, remember that even the most experienced comedians, like Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno, test their material before they roll it out that not every joke gets a laugh. Comedy is an art but that doesn’t mean that you still can’t harness its power in your body of content.
Andrew Carnegie said, “There is little success where there is little laughter.” Now, go out and make ’em laugh.•
Marianne Schwab is the author of The Insider’s Guide to Media Training
and, as Content Creation Strategist, she is the go-to broadcast media
expert to show you how to get booked on TV and ace your on-camera
interview. Her producer credits include Live with Regis & Kathie
Lee, Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, Runaway with the Rich &
Famous, E! Entertainment Television ON E! Specials, and many more. She has worked in broadcast for over 25 years and is currently the Executive Producer for CMP Media Cafe, a company specializing in broadcast public relations where she provides customized media training services for clients.
“Content is the gateway drug to success in our society.” ~Gary Vee
The ultimate goal of your content strategy is to build trust with your potential clients to the degree that they not only WANT to buy your product or service, but they MUST buy from YOU!
If you share the right content that provides the value to your audience, you’ll help them understand more about the products and services you provide without necessarily telling them about YOUR product or service. Think of it as consulting with them to educate them on what you do. Share things like mistakes that are made and how to fix them, guidelines to make a buying decision for a product like yours, identify issues that make your competitors inferior (but in a way that you don’t identify the competitor, but your potential client will use your info to evaluate a final buying decision, etc.)
At my company. CMP Media Cafe, we specialize in video marketing and broadcast public relations to get our clients featured on TV, radio, and online news shows and lifestyle programs to promote their product or service. I have a bunch of articles on our blog that help my clients understand the services we provide to our clients and how they can maximize their results by using our product services with relationship building content like:
When they read these blog posts, it’s very clear that I’m an expert in my area and this starts to build a relationship that builds trust to a degree that they want to buy from my company. It’s a simple equation.
Now, I have a special invitation for you to join me and my community of positive minded people in my Facebook Group to Grow Your Business with Video . I can’t wait to connect with you there.
Marianne Schwab is the author of The Insider’s Guide to Media Training and, as Content Creation Strategist, she is the go-to broadcast media expert to show you how to get booked on TV and ace your on-camera interview. Her producer credits include Live with Regis & Kathie Lee, Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, Runaway with the Rich & Famous, E! Entertainment Television ON E! Specials, and many more. She has worked in broadcast for over 25 years and is currently the Executive Producer for CMP Media Cafe, a company specializing in broadcast public relations where she provides customized media training services for clients.
MarianneSchwabLive 