Category: Video Marketing

The 3 Worst Limiting Beliefs Holding You Back

Video storytelling is arguably the most powerful tool in the art of communication.

If you have an idea, product or service that your audience will benefit from you need to use video to communicate what it does to those that count.

It’s takes a lot of hard work to build an idea that works, it takes a lot of hard work to get people interested. It’s a complete and utter waste of time, energy and money to let all that effort go to waste and drop the ball at the finishing line.

The challenge, and I understand this because it’s real. Is that video is an expensive medium and it’s not always easy to find the budget.

The good news is that you already have everything you need stored away in the pocket of your jacket or tucked away in your bag. Your smart phone is so powerful, it has everything you need to make amazing video stories that will give you the power to make sure that your ideas, product and services get the attention they deserve.

The only thing holding you back are 3 limited beliefs.

Limiting Belief #1 - ‘I’m a technophobe I can’t make videos!’

The most common thing we hear people say is, ‘I’m a technophobe. I can’t make videos!’ And I can understand that. Technology can be confusing at first, but it doesn’t have to be. Filming is obviously easy. All you need to do is press record. Editing is a little more complicated, but picture this. If I gave you some glue, a pair of scissors and the transcript of your last pitch and I asked you to cut up your conversation into little bits, throw out the parts you didn't like and keep the parts that you did. And then I asked you to stick all the bits where you said it right back together in an order that makes sense would you be able to do it? If your answer is, ‘Yes!’ Then you can master editing, because that’s exactly what you do when you edit, albeit on a computer screen. 

Limiting Belief #2 - ‘I don’t have the time.’

I can’t count the amount of times I’ve heard someone say, ‘I don’t have the time.’ We all say we don’t have time but we do. We have plenty of time. What we mean, is that we haven’t made it a priority. 3 years ago, someone told me I should be using Facebook ads. I didn't believe them. I’m not a huge fan of Facebook advertising and then this year someone convinced me that it was the best way to reach a wider audience. I dedicated a few weeks to learning about the different types of ads and how to set them up and you know what? It was easy. And I reached a whole new group of people and they’re amazing. So, the real question is this, ‘can you afford NOT to dedicate a bit of time to learning a new skill that will give you the power to get your ideas, products and services the attention they deserve?’

‘NO!’

‘Right, I didn't think so!’ 

Limiting Belief #3 ‘No one will want to watch my videos.’

And finally, ‘No one’s going to want to watch my videos!’ Are you sure about that? You have an idea, product or service that is of genuine benefit to a group of people. If they knew about it and they acted on it then their lives would actually be better for the experience. The only problem you have between where you are now and where you want to be is that they have no idea that what you’re offering is useful to them.

I wish someone had persuaded me 3-years ago that I needed to master Facebook advertising. I wish someone could have shown me a case study video of someone that I would relate to, to prove to me the impact it would have on my life. Because if they had convinced me to make it a priority, I might be much further ahead on my journey and your audience are no different.

So, yes, they do want to watch your videos, you do have the time and you have all the skills and technology you need to be able to make amazing marketing videos. So, go out there and make sure your ideas, products and services get the attention they deserve, so that we’ll all be better off.

Amazing testimonials are the icing on the cake when it comes to selling what you do.

It takes a lot of hard work and effort to create a product or service that’s of real benefit to your customers. It takes a lot of hard work and effort to get their attention and get them interested in what you do. And now that you’ve got them this far, you don't want to waste all that hard work and effort by losing them. Instead you want to sweep them up off their feet on a wave of positive emotion and carry them over the finishing line, so that they buy your product or service and reap the rewards of all that you have to offer,

Research shows that 88% of people trust online reviews as much as they trust a personal recommendation. But unlike personal recommendations, testimonials give you the opportunity to craft the message in a manner that your ideal customers will both connect with and be inspired by, which to me, makes testimonials the most powerful way to get people over the line and buy what you do.

But how do you get someone to agree to give you an amazing testimonial? How do you get you get your favorite customers to give you just the right information, that you need in order to inspire your audience to buy?

Build a relationship with your customers.

If you don’t already know your customers, start building a conversation with them. This might be in person or on-line. It doesn't matter whether you meet them face-to-face or in a social media group or you send them regular newsletters or updates. Start asking them questions. Find out who they are, what they want, what they’re afraid of and what they want their future to look like. The key is to build a connection with them, so that above and beyond what you’re selling them, they like and trust you as a person.

Share your vision for the future.

What is it that you want to achieve with your business? Do your customers know about your hopes and aspirations? Do they know what you care about? If not, then start to share your vision for the future with them. Let them into who you are and what your values are. The more you share, the more your ideal customers will become loyal fans. That’s because your ideal customers are likely to share the same values and vision as you. They were attracted to your business for a reason and by opening up to them you will not only strengthen your bond you will create loyal fans for life.

Ask them to help you.

You don't need to ask your customers for an outright testimonial. You can simply ask them for their support. Now, that they know, like and trust you, you can share with them what you're hoping to achieve and ask for their help. Connect them to your higher purpose and ask them if they could spare some time to have a conversation with you about that. Ask them if you can record the conversation so that you can refer back to it and then talk to them about who they are, what challenges they faced, why they chose to buy from you, how you’ve solved their problems and what their future now looks like.

From this conversation you can get an Amazing Testimonial and testimonials truly are money in the bank. Taking the time to get to know your customers and build a library of amazing testimonials, so that you can sweep people off their feet and carry them over the line is quite simply smart business.  So, work hard to create amazing success stories for your customers and then share them with the world. Good Luck!

It’s a great feeling when a client says something like, “Wow, wow, wow!!! Amazing. Jeepers Guys, just loving the work here.” It’s like a rush of happiness sweeps through your body and it makes everything feel worthwhile.

 It would be nice if you could bottle up that emotion and share it with everyone.

 It would be even nicer if you could share it with potential clients to show them just how amazing you are.

 Wishful thinking aside, the secret to scaling your business is to create success story videos of your favourite clients talking from the heart, about how they truly think and feel about how you solved their problems and transformed their lives.

These video stories should be the power source behind every sales campaign you start as they provide unequivocal, social proof that what you do works.

However, every day we meet people who wish that other people knew how amazing they were.

They know they achieve amazing results.

They’re just waiting until they have the budget to be able to hire a videographer to bring their success stories to life.

If this is you, then listen to me, because you’re missing a massive opportunity – you don’t need to hire a videographer – you can do it yourself.

In fact, let me tell you a secret.

You may actually be the best person to create your video stories.

Why?

Many videographers are far more into their cameras and lights than the heart of your story.

Many of them don’t care about what you do. Many of them don’t know what you do. And many of them have no idea how you transform your customer’s life. But you, you know your customers. You care about them. You know what challenges they face. You know how you helped them. And you know how you transformed their life. You know their story, so you know what questions to ask.

The best interviews happen when the person in front of the camera feels completely relaxed but your videographer is a stranger to your customer.

Your favourite customer has never met your videographer. How will your videographer get them to open up in front of the camera? How will they encourage them to tell them what they really think and feel? It takes amazing skill to get a stranger to go deep and talk from the heart. But you’re not a stranger. They trust you and so, they’ll talk to you about it. This is what creates the magic of an amazing, success story video.

Your potential customers don't care about the quality of the video they care about the transformation you created.

Your potential customers aren’t grading you on the quality of your video. That would be like choosing you because you drive an Aston Martin – or put the other way not choosing you because you drive a Mazda. The camera on your smart phone is now so amazing that you have everything you need to create a good quality video. They’re not picking you because you created a video that could win a film award – they’re choosing you because you’re the best at what you do and what better way to prove that than showing them someone talking from the heart about how you transformed their life.

 So, if you want to bottle up that amazing feeling that you get when you hear someone talking about how amazing you are and how you transformed their life – then you need to forget about hiring a videographer and get out your phone and start filming your favourite customers talking from the heart about how you transformed their life. That’s the easiest and fastest route to building your business.

I can vividly remember the first pitch I was invited to attend.

I knew what we had to offer was amazing. I knew that if they gave us the chance we could do amazing things for them. What I didn't know was how how to sell that idea to them because I had absolutely zero sales experience. 

As I was crossing the harbour bridge on my way to the meeting my anxiety kicked in. What was I doing? Who was I trying to kid? I couldn’t do this?

But I didn't want to turn around and go back. If I did that I would be giving up and I'd invested too much. 

So, I tried to focus on my breathing and calm the competing thoughts in my head.

When I arrived at the reception I was greeted by 3 lovely women and for a brief moment it looked like everything would be ok – but then I started to get the shakes. Now I don’t know if you’re anything like me but once I get the shakes I can't stop. I mean I literally can’t stand on my own two feet because they take over my whole body. I can't pick up a glass of water or I’ll spill it and so, I sat at the table trying to keep the weight off my feet in case it gave away how badly I was shaking. 

Amazingly the three women I met that day did hear me out but not surprisingly I didn’t complete the sale. 

It was not the only meeting I would ever have like that – but it was the worst!

Bit by bit, pitch by pitch I got better until I started to score some jobs. It was a very slow, uphill grind and each job required the same effort. 

However, the moment we started to get real results all that changed. We quickly learned that we could make testimonial videos or what I like to call success story videos of our clients.

Each video showcased the story of a client.

• What did they want to achieve?
• What was holding them back?
• Why did they decide to go with our approach?
• How had we transformed their life?

After we made the videos (you can watch them on the home page of our website) I was able to send out a cold email to potential customers and embed the relevant success story video in the email. 

When potential clients shared the values, I expressed in my email – they watched the video and then they asked to meet. It was the end of me ever having to sell what we did again. Because now, when I meet with a potential new client they already know what it is that we do. They already know what value it is that we offer AND we get straight to the part that I love most – which is what challenges are they facing and how can we help solve them.

From that day forwards I was able to take a step back and let my customers do all the selling for me. It was like a huge breath of fresh air. I felt the weight lift from me and suddenly everything in life was easier. 

So, if you want to make it easier to attract more clients or get buy-in from your audience then you need to utilise the power of authentic, video storytelling to create video stories about your successes. There’s nothing more powerful than someone talking from the heart on camera about what they truly think and feel about how you transformed their life. 

That's why marketing videos, particularly success story videos or testimonial videos are absolutely critical to scaling your business.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past 10 years then you know that the best way to sell your idea, product or service is through marketing videos.

But a quick venture into the world of video production companies might have left you feeling just a little bit frazzled because marketing videos are by no means cheap!

Well, don’t worry because I’m here to tell you that that’s no longer a problem. Why?

Because the next big thing in video marketing, is completely and utterly FREE!

So, what is it?

It’s video stories that you can make on your phone!

And no, I don’t mean videos like the ones that you might make of your kid’s birthday party or the work Christmas party. The point and shoot type.

And I don’t mean the fun gimmicky ones that the clever millennials know how to put together for TikTok or some other app.

I’m talking about authentic, video stories of your favourite customers, clients or people telling their story, in their words about how your ideas, product or service solved whatever problem it was that they were facing.

These video stories are quite simply, the most powerful tool in the art of persuasion.

So, if you want to stand out from the crowd and make sure that your ideas, products and services get noticed then you need to be sharing authentic, video stories with your audience.

Now, if you think that sounds complicated. It’s really not.

Here’s what you need to do.

Step 1:

Find someone that has direct experience of your idea, product or service that’s now a raving fan of whatever amazing thing you’ve created.

Step 2:

Get out your phone and film them while you ask them 4 questions:

• Who are you?
• What problems or challenges were you facing?
• How did I/we solve them?
• And what has been the outcome?

Step 3:

Film some video of them both struggling with the challenges that they were facing and reaping the benefits of your idea, product or service.

Step 4:

Download iMovie on an iPhone OR Adobe Premier Rush on your Android.

Follow the instructions to import your interview, cut out the bits you no longer want (like you asking the questions), add some pictures over the top, layer in a bit of music and then add a title to the front of your video.

Step 5:

Post it on social media, play it at your presentation or email it to your target audience.

It really is as simple as that.

Don’t worry about getting it perfect. This is not about creating slick, flashy, marketing content that costs thousands!

You don't need to spend that because the most powerful tool for your marketing strategy is not a flashy, marketing video. It’s an authentic, video story of someone talking from the heart about what they truly think and feel about what you do.

There’s nothing more powerful that that.

So, go out there and give it a go.