Short Form Videos | Ep 039

John: What's going on everyone? We are back, but we're doing something different today. We're giving you guys some short form video. No, we're not doing that. Well, we are, but we're not. We're 

Kacie: talking about it. Who left you up for the intro? Jack? We're not doing short form video. We are educating you guys on short form video talking about the importance of short form video, I should say, correct.

And we 

John: have Christina back. I love having Christine around 'cause she's. Just awesome. 

Kristiana: Aw, thanks guys. Just straight awesomeness. Can you do my intro every time? Um, let's do it. Maybe I said that last time. I don't know. I don't know, but I'm excited to be back in Clarksville, Tennessee. Yeah, Christina's 

Kacie: from real, Clarksville, Clarksville, Indiana and she is here visiting.

She's been on previous podcast, so if you guys haven't check that out, make sure you go back and check that out. She is amazing, so talented. So much to offer. We talked about Google My business profile. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. All right. So, but today, never letting John do the intro again. We are talking about short form video and the importance of short form video.

This series is gonna be our summer series. We're just doing short, we're keeping it under 15 minutes. We're already like 10 minutes into it here. Um, but we're gonna keep them under 15 minutes and we're just gonna give y'all just a pack full. Here's your suitcase. Now run with it. So, sounds good. Yeah. 

John: So let's get into it.

Kacie: The Business Project podcast business can be complicated. We break it down so regular people like us can 

John: understand and find success. I'm John Crespo, accountant and consultants. 

Kacie: I'm Casey Bryant, marketer and event planner. If you run a business or want to run a business, welcome 

John: to the show.

Short form video. What is that? 

Kristiana: I got one sentence. Let's hear it. It's a must no matter what type of business or industry you're in. Short form video. We used to talk about video and how you should really think about embracing it for your marketing. And now where we're at today is short form. Video is a must for all businesses.

A lot of people 

Kacie: I think are afraid of video because it's, they think that they have to be an expert, or you have to dance, or you have to put your face in it. All these things, I think it's intimidating and so a lot of businesses aren't quite sure. How do we incorporate this into our marketing plan? And so we wanna just give you guys some actionable tips to walk away and leave today and go do some short form video if you are not already.

Yeah, I 

John: know. I was terrified. When I first started doing those little videos, so, all right, let me just bring me up to speed. 'cause I'm not a professional here. I do them, but I'm not a professional. Like understanding what that is. Is that how, what's the time length of a short 

Kristiana: form video? Well, I think that's the beauty of it.

People think you have to be a professional, like Casey said, and honestly, You can do whatever feels most comfortable for you and your business. And those can be little ten second clips. I've even some seen some that are five seconds that are very powerful and it depends on what platform you're using.

I've seen some up to 60 seconds, but I think the sweet spot right now where we're at, it tends to be in the ballpark of 15 to 30 seconds. 

Kacie: Interesting. Yeah. Especially as a business owner. And you want to, so let's talk about the platforms. We'll talk about the platforms, and then we'll talk about how to make your videos catchy and interesting.

Um, and some ideas on how to, how to create content. So the platforms that you can do Shortform video on now is pretty much every, every platform. They're all, of course, TikTok came along and so all. Instagram and Facebook and all of these other platforms are trying to keep up, right, because people loved it.

And video used to not be this way, horizontal or vertical. It used to not be vertical. It used to be all horizontal. So when you watch a movie, it's all long ways. You know, parallel, um, for those of you that are not watching. Um, so it, but TikTok really changed. They changed it and um, now they're all up and down.

Vertical portrait version. Yes. And so, um, making that adjustment was big, I think for business owners and. And so now they're on all the platforms. They're on YouTube. We have YouTube shorts, we have Instagram reels, we have TikTok. Um, Facebook does reels now. And so I think that a lot of business owners are like, well, there's so many options out there.

I'm not, I don't even know how to get started. Overwhelming. Overwhelming. Yes. And I think the biggest advice on how to get started is just to start where you're at, right? Just whatever platforms you're successful on for your business or you're comfortable with. I'm sure they have some sort of short form video there, and so 

Kristiana: start there.

Well, and one of the first things that you can start with if you're not ready to hop right into reels is stories. You know, that is some type of version of short form video, and most business owners that I come in contact with, Facebook and Instagram, that's their go-tos because it's out of their comfort zone to talk about the other ones, and that's scary for them.

So that is one way to kind of dip your toes in. It is start doing videos. For your stories, which are also done vertical. And Casey, when you mentioned about horizontal, you know, it was a no-no, that you put up a video that was recorded portrait a few years ago. Mm-hmm. Because we, it didn't look professional.

There was black space on each side of it and it wasn't, it just wasn't the right thing to do. And now we've completely done a 360 with that. People that I come in contact with when I talk and teach about short form video, they're in their own way. It's a mindset. I could see that. Yeah. Honestly. This isn't something that a lot of business owners grew up with, or there's classes on every corner to attend.

A lot of times business owners are more comfortable attending things in person. You know, when we talk about online classes and courses, because they haven't emerge, emerged themselves into that, that's a little intimidating as well. And let's be 

Kacie: honest, business owners are just trying to figure out accounting and payroll and all of those other things.

Kristiana: That are on their head. Now you've gotta, you have to do video and not only do you have to do video, we're also throwing in there, by the way, you need to figure out a way to shorten it down or do different ones. So here's the deal. It took me many years to get out of my own way, and if there was one thing that I could share with everyone, you have a business, product or service that people should know about.

And short form video is a great way to educate your followers or people that don't know about you about what you have to offer. And I think that's what I like sharing the most about is. It doesn't have to be perfect. There's been such a shift with videos. It doesn't have to be produced, it doesn't have to have lights or a backdrop.

Authentic, real life. Behind the scenes before we got started would probably grab quite a bit of attention. Yeah. Just being your authentic self, that's a little scary to put out there, right? Yeah. So I think to get, really get started is realize why do you do what you do and you want others to know about it.

And I like what you said is just get started on the platforms that you're on. Don't think you have to add something else to it, right? Mm-hmm. 

John: And you like, like you said, it doesn't have to be perfect. Right. If you're a business owner, you're probably in business 'cause you like or have a passion for what you do, right?

There's something there that ignited something in you to start your business. So you sacrifice your day, you sacrifice everything that's that's involved in your life to start this business. Talk about it. Just do one little, I'm I'm so, because you like it, because you have that passion. There's stuff about your business that you can talk about, that you can share, that you can do it in, in a very quick.

Um, 60, 30, 60 second, uh, clip. That's what I started doing, you know, every in the morning when I go to the gym, um, I leave the gym and I'm, sometimes when I leave the gym, I'm inspired, so the juices got flowing, right. So then I'm like, oh. Start the camera because I got something to say and then I'll just do a real quick clip.

And that's been, uh, that's been working because people have been starting to see some of the content like, Hey, I saw you on there and I heard you talking about that. I thought that was pretty cool. So you have something to share, just share 

Kristiana: it. Well, one of the other things I'll throw in there, if you're not familiar with doing video, a lot of times I don't think people realize that you can use pictures.

And do a slideshow inside the apps. It's not like you have to learn a bunch of different software if you don't want to, and you can take and record your voice or just put it to music with some words on the screen, or a call to action. You don't, if there's something about hitting that record button and that blinking red light, that can scary.

Yeah. So if you've not done reels or short form video, Showcase pictures of your product or behind the scenes pictures in your business. I like that. 

Kacie: Testimonials interview. People are always really happy to share if they've had a great experience. So testimonials are a great thing. I will say, I do think you don't have to be an expert, but I think that there are some things that matter.

I. Doing short form video. So let's get into those really quick. I think the things that matter, lighting does matter. Um, I think a still camera does matter and I think audio does matter. Those things do matter. Nobody's gonna, they're just gonna scroll right by it. Mm-hmm. If it's shaky, if they can't see what they're supposed to be watching and if they can't hear it well, so I think as long as you can just.

Be okay in those three things. Paying attention to the lighting, pay attention to the audio and put it on a, you know, some sort of tripod. Um, I think that you're gonna be good to go with whatever you 

Kristiana: share. So let's hop into that just a little bit, because those three things that you just mentioned. I can, I can just already see people listening to this and be like, mm, hurdle, hurdle, hurdle.

No. So let's talk about the lighting aspect. There are ring lights you can get. There's actually ones for, I believe, 10 or $12 on Amazon. That clip on your phone? Yes. The other thing is if you're just getting started, go to a window or a door where there's natural light coming in. Um, I think what you were referring to was you don't have to necessarily have studio lighting mm-hmm.

To get started, but pay attention. So many times I see people get started and they're standing with their back to a window or a door, and they don't realize when they're filming how that's gonna end up looking and. It's hard to correct. Makes face dark. Yeah. Yeah. Which is weird 

John: in the Zoom generation that we're in, right?

Mm-hmm. When you were on Zoom calls because of Covid and somebody, you're talking to somebody they're sitting in in front of a Wendy, I can't see 

Kristiana: you. It's just like a dark outline. Yeah. Is all it is. Yeah. So don't let that be a hurdle. Those are great things that you mentioned. The other thing about audio, It being a, uh, paying attention to your surroundings, silencing your cell phone, because a lot of the stuff we're talking about people recording on a cell phone, you mentioned a tripod.

I recently helped someone get a cell phone holder was $20 on Amazon and there's tripods. The other thing is there's a lot of local places probably in your area that sell these items as well. This isn't just a plug for hopping on the internet and going buying things. Yeah. My point is, It's not expensive.

The items you're mentioning. Not at all. And. Think about what you're gonna say before you push the record button. Yeah. You don't have to script everything out when you get to doing some of these, you'll find that that's beneficial for your time and being efficient. But I just wanted to notate that because with working with people, I could just see 'em kind of cringing when they heard you say about those three things.

So point. Being aware of the three things you mentioned. Mm-hmm. 

Kacie: Important, aware, not an expert. Just making sure that you're aware. Mm-hmm. Paying attention, intentional. We talk about that all 

Kristiana: the time. Yeah. Well, and, and there are strategies. I mean, we could do, I don't know how many podcast episodes on strategies with short form video, but you said it best right before we hit record.

Do you remember what you said? I don't 

Kacie: think so. Probably not. 

Kristiana: I say a lot of things if you're doing it. You're ahead. Yeah, 

Kacie: that's right. 

John: Yep. They were giving me some counsel because 

Kacie: that's why they came. Well, and I think there's no way to get better. You can't improve unless you're doing it. You can't improve on nothing.

So if you start somewhere, then you can look at it and and say, okay, this is, get some feedback from other people. Or this is one thing that we can improve on, or another thing that we can improve on. So let's get into really quick, 'cause we're. Running outta time here. I wanna make sure that we have enough time.

Let's get into how to get creative with your content. How to create content, what type of content to create. 'cause I know that that's another big roadblock for people is like they don't even know where to get started. 

Kristiana: One of the first tips I like to give whatever platform you're gonna be using, use this search feature.

So let's use TikTok for example. You can hit the discover, um, icon that's on the screen and search out your topic, your industry. Uh, your products, and if it is homemade soaps, for example, type that in, see what other videos are out there. The interesting thing about most of these platforms, the results that are provided to you, the most popular ones, the ones with the most attention, normally populate first.

Mm-hmm. So you start to get an idea of audio words on the screen. What are they, are they being serious? Are they being funny? And I'm not even talking about dancing, but just searching in the platform is a great place to see and get ideas, get the creative juices flowing, as you mentioned. Yeah, I love 

Kacie: that.

That's a great suggestion. 

John: I see that, um, a lot of people do that, or a lot of research that I was doing, uh, YouTube. Is great for that, um, because you just type in the search and you can see which type of video got a lot of use. So in essence, you're not reinventing the wheel. Right. Utilize what's already working.

Yeah. When it comes to creating 

Kacie: content, don't copy. But get inspired 

Kristiana: by other people's stuff. Absolutely. Absolutely. 

Kacie: Yeah. Yeah. So search your industry or even an industry related to you and figure out exactly what they're doing and get inspired by that. What are some other suggestions? Well, I thought 

Kristiana: John for sure would say this.

But he didn't, I don't know, type it into an AI program. Oh yeah. 

Kacie: Which by the way, we're gonna in gonna get into more in the next episode. So if AI gives you the chills and makes you wanna throw up or get sit in a dark closet, well we're

Kristiana: gonna help you out. Boy, didn't she just set you up for, it's gonna be a great episode.

Um, but honestly, AI programs, they're. So many out there. People seem to be familiar with chat, G P T, so I'll throw that in there. There's a free version of that available. And again, don't copy and paste, but you can put in there. What are three short form video ideas that I can record for my blank business?

Mm-hmm. Um, I feel like those are helpful as business owners. You mentioned it, you're busy, you're wearing a lot of hats. Just helping you get started because here's what I found in my 20 plus years of being in the digital world. If you start to get any kind of results, views, link clicks to your website, traffic leads, guess what?

You're going to keep doing what's working. Mm-hmm. And I think that's the takeaway from this is short form video is producing results for all different types of businesses. And after all, that's why everyone works so hard that. I think it's great to highlight this to be part of your marketing puzzle.

Yeah. 

Kacie: Yeah. And I, I love what you said too about, um, it takes a while sometimes. I think that's one thing that business owners struggle with is they think that they're gonna post three videos and they're gonna go viral, but no instant 

Kristiana: results. 

Kacie: Yeah. Sometimes it takes, I mean, it could take. 20 posts, it could take 30 posts, it could take a hundred posts before you finally start getting some traction.

But again, if you don't get started, you don't know what's gonna work. Try a couple different things. And let's say too, you guys, I mean we market towards business owners, like this podcast is for business owners, an amazing thing that local business owners have that these big box corporations don't have.

As a personality and a person behind the business, people wanna support you, they wanna support. Face, they wanna support your family. And so, I mean, you really have an opportunity to share your story, your passions. What, what impact somebody purchasing a product or a service for you? Show the impact that that has.

That comes in that I'm able to pay my electricity. I'm able to, you know, put my daughter in soccer camp like I'm able to do these things. Um, because that's something that you can offer that big 

Kristiana: companies can't. Okay. I'm gonna throw a couple things in with this. Mm-hmm. So many conversation I've had recently with people.

There is still social and social media people want to connect with people said that for a while. But here's the other thing, don't get hung up on the numbers because if only one person watched your video, your real. Your post. Okay. Anything that one person could potentially be a customer, don't think that you have to have 500, 5,000 views.

You can get into more strategies and things. Don't get hung up on the numbers, especially if you're just starting, because the thing about short form video that we see over time is how much. People go back and see older videos. So when you get started, it doesn't matter if 13 people watch it or 1300 because what you're looking for is to connect with people that are interested in your product or service, or if you're providing educational content or being a resource, you're just wanting to get that message out.

Yeah, that's 

Kacie: great. Very good point. Cool. Well, we're in our 15 minutes. I think this was great. Yeah. Did you guys get something outta that? She seemed surprised. That was awesome. I know. I feel like we could still go on forever, but we're keeping it. We're keeping it short. Just for you guys. This is your world, that's why.

Yeah. Well, thank you Christina, so much for joining us and we are gonna be back next week. We're gonna talk about ai, the basics. We're not getting into the crazy, we're just gonna talk about the basics of AI and how to get started using AI in your business. We will see you next 

Kristiana: week. See ya. Bye.