Using Video For Small Business With Caleb Coleman

Phillip Crum: This is our weekly episode of It’s Just Coffee, which happens to be you, your – that’s Kathleen over there.

Kathleen Mills: Hello, Phillip.

PC: Kathleen Mills’ weekly foray into the minds and business matters of the mental health community out there. The young ones, the ones are in school, post-grad, just recently out and trying to figure out how to make things work. You know, they’re educated very well on the mental health aspects.

KM: Clinical part.

PC: But they need a little business training.

KM: Business. So we have a lot of-

PC: So that’s the focus of our show here, so hello, Kathleen.

KM: Hello, Phillip. How are you today?

PC: Excellent. Everything well at Life Tree Counseling?

KM: Yes, I’m good. Everybody was smiling yesterday. We got a new refrigerator and now we can have ice in the freezer.

PC: There you go.

KM: It’s just the little things.

PC: They don’t teach you that in school.

KM: They don’t.

PC: Nope. How to buy a refrigerator.

KM: How to buy a refrigerator for your business. I know exactly where to go, though.

PC: That’s episode number 41.

KM: There you go!

PC: Number 41.

KM: Look how happy everybody is now that there-

PC: That’s all it takes.

KM: It’s all about the refrigerator.

PC: No matter how many degrees you have, if the refrigerator ain’t working.

KM: One of my colleagues said, “Man, this is a bigger refrigerator than the last one!” It’s like, “Yeah, we’re moving up!”

PC: Quite an observant bunch you’ve got going there.

KM: After all this time! No, I’m just kidding. But it does look really nice.

PC: Well, guess who I drug in here for you today?

KM: Caleb Coleman I bet.

PC: Mr. Caleb Coleman.

KM: And you met him just a little bit ago, and you haven’t slept since you were so excited.

PC: No, very excited about this young fella.

KM: And I’m excited, too, because I think this is a really key,-

PC: Oh, it’s critical.

KM: -interesting subject matter that, you know, business people are looking at, and why not the mental health professional? And why not at your business startup incorporate some of these wonderful things that Caleb’s going to be talking about today.

PC: Right.

Caleb Coleman: Absolutely.

PC: Video and video production is one of many, but a very important one, of many tools that you should be employing in your arsenal, in your marketing kit.

KM: Especially if you’re a small business. I mean, that’s how you get the visual of who you are and people want to know- honestly, people want to know what you look like before they walk in the door. I don’t care what anybody says. They want to see that picture.

CC: We are visual creatures.

KM: I don’t like my picture plastered all over the place, but it’s something that I’ve got to do. Period.

PC: Right. I’ve been looking for a good videographer for quite a while. And there’s different categories of filmmakers, which is what we used to be called – filmmakers. Now it’s videographers. So one of the ladies here at the shop ran into him somewhere. Didn’t actually collide, but they met somewhere.

CC: We collided. She had a great desk of video cards that Sir Speedy does. It’s going to be a great product.

PC: So he introduced me to him and, no, I haven’t slept since then because I’m very excited not only to find someone that fit the niche that I was looking for to fill for my purposes here, my productions. And he’s also a young ‘un, about the same age as my eldest. Got a year or two on him. And he has his head on straight and-

KM: Driven. Loves what he does.

PC: Nice hair, but not quite as nice as mine.

CC: That’s true. That’s true.

PC: I like that part.

CC: I don’t spend a lot of time on it. My wife wishes I did, but I try.

PC: We clicked and hit it off really good, so Caleb – how in the world are you?

CC: I am doing good, sir. I am doing good.

PC: Excellent.

CC: It’s been a busy day. So many people are wanting videos these days, it’s going to be very busy. But that’s all good.

PC: You were up and at ‘em early this morning to a networking meeting, I believe.

CC: Absolutely. Absolutely. It was a BNI networking event, and I actually had to leave early because somebody had a last-minute video they called in and that’s just how we go.

PC: An emergency video.

CC: An emergency video. There was a 9-1-1.

KM: Is there such a thing?

CC: A video 9-1-1 they sent me a text that actually read 9-1-1. We need you ASAP for a video, but that’s all right. That’s most of my-

PC: Let’s explore that, if you don’t mind. Without names. Protect the innocent.

CC: That’s all right. I’ll change the names.

PC: What constitutes an emergency video and what did you do?

CC: Well, somebody- it was actually for an upcoming conference and someone was in town for only today and they needed me to come out, and the only hole in their schedule was this morning I believe at 8:30 and I had to rush across town just to get him on video for this conference that they wanted to open with for their huge conference for all these companies that’s coming into town.

PC: Well no pressure, just a keynote video

CC: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

PC: Great.

CC: It’s one of many that we’re producing, but it’s all, it all went well and we kind of got him in, got him out. That’s kind of the big thing about video is everybody thinks it’s- they picture the big film production where everyone comes in, you got the teamsters outside and you got the dolly and the track and all these lights and everything, and it’s really not that big of a footprint at all. At least here at Uptrend Productions, we have two- a couple small cameras, a couple of small lights and that’s really our whole footprint. And when we go into a business, the business doesn’t stop. They keep going. I actually had to wait as he was getting done with his meetings and I rushed in and put everything up and got a quick interview from him and then we were out the door. It was about 15 minutes later and then I was hightailing it over here so.

PC: 15 minutes and here’s the bill.

CC: Absolutely. Absolutely. Now, it was a great project, but yeah that’s a lot of my schedule doesn’t get put in until like a week or sometimes a day before.

KM: See, I would have thought the opposite.

PC: Now, why don’t people plan any better?

CC: Well, we all procrastinate. It’s in our nature. But I think, especially for video, they don’t really know what to do exactly. And that is where we come in. But suddenly something comes up and they, “Oh, you know, we should get a video of that and let’s call Caleb,” because they know they can get me in ASAP at all hours of the day, even on weekends sometimes if they need it. Anytime, anywhere, and I’m there with my video cameras ready to roll.

PC: All right, let’s talk about, let’s start with the value of video. Using video in your marketing process – I’m not convinced. Convince me that I should use video.

KM: Why should I even entertain the idea?

CC: Sure. Well, one thing marketing is just all about think of a fishing net and just casting out your net into the ocean and trying to trap as many things as possible. It’s about getting your name out there as many places as possible. And right now I believe the statistic, which is growing every day, is about 60% of all internet traffic goes to video. So essentially, you could look at it and say, if you’re not using video for your business, you’re only being seen on 40% of the internet. So you’re getting missed by 60% of internet users, is a way to look at it. So it’s definitely has to be a part of your marketing strategy. And it doesn’t even have to be a very expensive part either. There’s several different avenues of getting yourself out there with video, and we can discuss that. Another statistic is YouTube is now the second most popular search engine, period. People are going on there and searching for their subjects and they’re searching for you. And you might not know it. And you’re not on there, if you don’t have a YouTube channel, you’re missing a huge swath of potential customers, qualified leads.

KM: Can you help upload it to YouTube once you-

CC: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, we can help you start that. We can kind of help you see how it goes and –

KM: Walk them through the process when they’re new, not knowing-

CC: Walk them through the process. Absolutely! We do it from start to finish. We have several marketing partners that we partner with like Sir Speedy that can also help with marketing the video in several different ways as well. So that’s a great way to get started. We help you out from A to Z.

PC: Yep. That’s the business model of today, isn’t it? There are very few one-stop shops because things cost money. And they cost a lot of money these days, so the business model that works and is flexible and nimble I’m looking for, is the partnered outsourcers if you want to call it that. Or the, I mean Caleb has his own business and I have, I work at a facility and he’s not on staff here but I don’t need somebody on staff 24 hours a day, so I partner with him and pretend we work together. We’ll probably get embroidered shirts that look the same. It will be fun! We’ll coordinate wardrobes and we’ll be cute.

CC: One of my clients actually set me up with their own email address and now I’m caleb@mediadistribution whatever. I don’t even work there but. That’s exactly what we do is we partner with people and become their video arm.

PC: I do that also. I do that also.

CC: We can totally do that.

KM: That same model is that what the small business are good at doing is networking with other people who, outside their comfort zone, outside their small business box, and they develop and cultivate relationships across-

PC: Well it works if you’re paying attention for it. Just in this short conversation, I’ve got two or three notes about, “I need to introduce him to so-and-so, I want to be introduced to somebody he mentioned.” You know, that’s how it works.

CC: Absolutely.

PC: And if you’re cognizant of that - it’s a big word - then you never have to prospect again.

KM: I think that’s the fear for most business start-ups, especially in my industry – mental health professionals. They’re staying inside their box, purely clinical, and thinking that the more clinical skills that they have then the more business they have. Well, that’s not true anymore.

PC: How’s anybody going to know that?

KM: Exactly my point. I mean, you know, and so it behooves you as a small business, because that’s what we are is we’re small business owners, is to kind of-

PC: Just to clear it up, you’re not advocating that any of these counselors buy a list and get on the telephone to start making cold calls, or doing things that might make you a sales guy, are you?

KM: No. I don’t think so.

PC: Of course not. No. What we’re talking about is different ways to market your business and then when people call you or they come in, then you get to put your sales hat on whether you realize it or not.

KM: Or finding people who can help get your message out -

PC: Right.

KM: - which is outside of your profession, which is the video and the content and all that kind of stuff.

PC: Right. Well, that’s a far as putting the marketing program together, exactly. I’ve jumped ahead and said, well when they show up, all that worked. When they show up, now what?

KM: You’re talking about clients?

PC: Yes. Potential clients, when they walk in the front door, they’re not automatically-

KM: They already know you.

PC: Well, hopefully.

KM: Well, through-

PC: If you do this right. If they just found you somewhere and they’ve never see you before, and they walk and your front lobby looks like somebody had a toga party there last night, they may just turn around and leave.

KM: They may.

PC: You still need to close the sale.

KM: You still have to set the stage.

PC: And so what’s involved in that?

KM: You’re talking about just your business practice?

PC: Well, I’m drilled down a little more. I’m saying when you first meet somebody, it’s a first impression thing.

KM: It’s the first impression. Your first impression is last – that’s your imprinting.

PC: If you dress like crap and you’ve got spinach between your teeth and you haven’t combed your hair when you rolled out of bed this morning, people are- the sale is not made yet. And they’re not required, you know, so.

KM: I think what you’re saying with the video production piece of that-

PC: You can pre-sell yourself.

KM: You can pre-sell yourself by, oh they look nice, they present well, they’re engaged, they want to serve; that whole, that’s your market. And they go, oh I need to go to-

PC: Right. When they show up, instead of being 95% pre-sold, or they probably wouldn’t have showed up in the first place, now they’re 99% pre-sold and that 1% is just don’t do something stupid. And they’re going to stay, you know. So the selling thing here – selling is not a dirty word. Somebody sold you everything you own and you’re glad they did.

KM: Well, I mean I’ll go into what the clinical part- I mean, somebody has sold you some clinical skills based on somebody thinking and saying that these clinical skills are paramount that you must have.

PC: And even before that, they sold you on the idea that you need to go see somebody in the first place.

KM: Right.

PC: So, selling goes on. Are you married?

KM: Who me?

PC: Yes.

KM: Yes! (Laughs)

PC: That was a sales pitch long ago.

KM: I know.

PC: And you bought it.

KM: I did.

PC: You know, we all did.

KM: Well, he bought it, too. (Laughing)

PC: There you go. There you go. Sold him, so. All right, Caleb.

CC: Buyers’ remorse there.

KM: Buyers’ remorse!

PC: So I know the value of video now. Let’s talk about the different ways to create video. Okay, what’s next? I’m sold on it. What’s next? It fits in my portfolio somewhere, so assuming I know where it fits in my – not portfolio, but my – marketing plan, how do I produce the video? What ways are there?

CC: Well, basically there’s two overall ways. There’s professional, then there’s user-generated. And as kind of as you all were talking about earlier is showing up and making sure you don’t have spinach in your teeth or your office looks like it had a toga party – that’s the kind of the difference between user-generated and professional. I always give the similarity between one of those cars you see driving down the road that was obviously spray-painted. Obviously they’re not fooling anyone. They’re trying to paint their car themselves but it doesn’t look professional. It looks like crap, pretty much. That’s kind of the difference between user-generated and professional. There’s a place for both in your marketing plan, and I can help you develop ways that you can create really good user-generated content, but there is a place for professional content and that’s when you’re trying to sell your business to other people for the first time and they want to see clear audio like what we’re doing here, and they want to see HD production. They want to see – lighting is essential for any type of video that you produce. You don’t think about it, that oh I don’t need lights, we can just use the lamp that’s in the office. Actually, no it will look 10 times better if you try to use some sort of light, video light, that you can get for pretty cheaply now. There’s different ways to do it but… so I guess there’s that and then there’s also, I guess when we’re drilling down to what type of video there are. There really essentially is two types: there’s promotional and then there’s informational. Promotional obviously you’re trying to sell your company. You know, we stack ‘em deep and sell ‘em cheap kind of thing. Obviously it doesn’t need to be that corny, but it’s essentially the promotional piece and you need some aspect of that. But then also, the informational side- 84% of all web searches are for information. So if you offer some type of information to your clients or to the people, you’re going to be seen essentially 84% higher than if you just put out promotional material. Because no one searches for a promotional video. They’re going to search for information, like how can I do this part of my resume? How should my resume look when I’m a mental health professional? Or how can I print my logo on my shirt? Or even what’s the best video light for my videos? I bet if you went on YouTube and searched for that, somebody has a good solution, a really cheap solution on that. There’s a lot of do-it-yourself videos out there and they get tons and tons of views out there just for essentially putting out information and giving it. So let’s say you’re a plumber and you put out a video, you could put out several videos: here’s how to drain a clog. Here’s what you could do for some quick fixes around the house. What type of wrench to use or something. And obviously you’re giving away some of your key business you would think, but also you’re giving away your advertising essentially when you’re doing this because they’re going to come to you. Because they’re going to try to do it themselves and when they fail they’ll call you because you’re the one that was giving them all the information. They trust you. They have that relationship with you. And that’s just a great way- it’s almost kind of like subliminal marketing. You’re giving people the information and being their source and being their, having that relationship. Then bam, when they need you-

KM: Hopefully they remember you.

CC: Absolutely. Because you don’t want to be called out for an easy clog that would probably just waste most of your time. You want to be called out when they want to remodel their entire bathroom, and then bam, they already know your name. They call you and you’re good to go. So that’s pretty much every industry, like mental health or marketing or anything – it’s all about that. It’s about developing those relationships and videos is a great way to do that.

PC: Exactly. Exactly. We talked about that at-

(Phone rings 27:48 to 27:56)

CC: Cut. (Laughs) I have to do that all the time when I’m doing videos.

PC: Oh boy. So we talked about that launch earlier in the week about giving away your expertise and how uncomfortable some people are doing that, but the reality is that 95% of them aren’t going to want to – they think they want to do it themselves. It’s like brain surgery. There’s probably a do-it-yourself kit out there somewhere.

KM: We don’t want that happening.

CC: Do-it-yourself lobotomy.

PC: But do you really want to do that? So as you said, you teach them and there’s generally one little aspect of the project that’s just a little over their head. And most of us have to go through it to figure that out. And then they give you a call so that works out very, very well. User-generated versus professional-generated. Now, are there different kinds of professional videographers, obviously you can specialize in weddings or business-only, that’s your business niche, but are there different types of videos to be done?

CC: There are. I guess everyone has their different- when you’re wanting... I guess there’s a place for both. So you don’t need, every video that you produce doesn’t have to be professionally produced. You can put out some user-generated stuff, and that’s what we also partner with as well is more of a consulting and how you can get the best user-generated content because that’s the easiest done. You can knock it out really quick in the morning and then get on with the rest of your day. And then you get a couple thousand hits and then bam, you have more advertising just from that one user-generated video. But if you did it without perhaps, say, a light or the proper microphone and then you just did it with your iPhone or something, people are just going to pass right over you because there is so much content. I think one of the stats that blew me away is that every day there’s more content being loaded on to YouTube than was broadcasted in the last 60 years on television. And that’s a huge statistic. But it’s true – and then there’s so much user content and there’s so much content on YouTube that people will just pass right over you if you have, if your video doesn’t look good enough or doesn’t get to the point fast enough or doesn’t look as well as they would like it to when you’re-

KM: I completely agree. Because you’re talking about the competitive competition in any business to business. You’re competing with- you know, it’s a competition so you want your product to look polished and I think a lot of small business people don’t quite get that piece. That if you’re starting out, you need to look polished.

CC: Absolutely.

PC: And part of that is because in the last few years or since the advent of YouTube, we’ve been sold – and I remember hearing this a number of times, that – oh you can shoot video and it doesn’t have to be professionally done. You can shoot video and load it up to YouTube and everybody’s loving that now, and almost gave the impression that professionally-done stuff – if you did that – well-

KM: You’re going to be out of a job pretty quick here.

PC: Well, you really overdid it because the user-generated is, that’s the real stuff.

KM: Everybody’s doing the user-generated.

PC: But, as you just underscored, my point anyway, which is the more competitive things get, the more content there is, the more competition there is for views, the better the quality the video is going to have to get. It has to. It’s part of the competitive nature because if I’ve got 10 videos I could look at for the answer to my, “How to fix a toilet?” question, the one that looks like it’s got a visually, has a professional look, whatever that means, but has a professional look and is optimized and tagged with the right words and the title is proper and all of those different levels.

CC: And not too long.

PC: Yes. Because I’m not going to watch some 28-minute video on how to fix my toilet when there’s one for three minutes over here.

CC: Absolutely.

PC: It matters.

CC: Absolutely.

PC: Because I don’t know at what point in the video does the guy finally get to the turlet here. Is minute number 26 and I got to watch – no. So, the quality of the video is going to have to get better in that whole, oh you can just shoot, you can take a selfie, or a selfie movie or whatever, well you can doesn’t mean you should.

KM: Well, it’s kind of like; I can build my own website.

PC: Right.

KM: Well, you can’t.

PC: Could you?

KM: Should you? Do you really want to go there?

CC: And that’s actually probably the biggest lesson I learned when I started my business because I tried to build my own website. I was like, oh I can do Flash. I can do all of this different type of web design and I’m going to try to have that all in my business and be the one-stop marketing solution. But like, oh my God, there’s just so much out there to know and that’s kind of the biggest lesson for business owners when they open their business is find your niche and find what you’re good at and get really good at it. And then that’s what you offer and then partner with other businesses that-

KM: Let the professionals help, the stuff that you don’t have to learn. You don’t have to learn it anymore.

CC: Absolutely. Web out and connect.

KM: It’s cheaper in the long run. Time, energy, the whole nine yards.

CC: Absolutely. Absolutely. And everybody gets a better product, and everyone is kind of like rising tide lifts all boats kind of thing. That’s exactly the lesson I learned that first year when I started out.

PC: A Reagan man. I like that.

CC: I’m telling you.

PC: So. Okay, so professionally generated material. Are there different levels or focuses that professional videographers- there’s guys like yourself that shoot for businesses. I’m going to answer my own question I suppose. Then there’s guys that do nothing but documentaries. Then there’s fill-in-the-blank. What else is there? Weddings?

CC: I guess there’s always- I mean honestly, any production company you call, they’re going to say, “Yeah, we can do your business video.” It could be mostly just do weddings, I would say that you need to look at their experience and look at the videos they produced and make sure they have some type of reel and look at it. And that’s a great way to find out what you want to do with your own videos is look at other people and how they’ve done it. And at Uptrendproductions.com, we have a huge video gallery of different types of videos. I did one video where it was nothing but screen shots of the company’s software platform, because that’s all they- it was like a product video and it was just voice over underneath, but it worked out really well. It was graphically-driven. But then I show that to other people who have software platforms they want to sell and they’re, “Oh, I love that. Let’s do it.” And that’s kind of how you can also sell but also see what you want to do with your own type of videos is just get out there and watch and watch and watch, and say, “Oh I like that. I like that.” Pretty much everything has been done before and you just figure out- because there’s some... kind of a new way of marketing is also trying to produce funny videos that also sell your company as well. There’s a great video out there for the dollar shave club, I don’t know if you’ve seen those videos, but they have a great- I think they got 12 million views so far. It’s been out for 3 years or something, 2 or 3 years, and it’s a great platform and they’re funny but it just gets right to the point. It’s a marketing video that’s essentially been emailed blast to everyone in America because it’s been so funny and the guy’s really good in it and it’s just a different way of advertising. We can all help you to do that. You just need to find what your message is and find what kind of video you’d like to product.

PC: So I’m a counselor. How do I find the right videographer? I mean, we’ve touched on that, but let me try and move a little bit and rephrase that. How do I find the right guy or gal, but the right person for shooting the videos that I need?

CC: Well, I guess kind of like I said is finding what their experience. Find out what kind of videos they produced and also just talking to them, because it’s a very personal relationship. It’s like counseling where you’re going to be consulting this guy. You’re going to be working with these people for a long time hopefully. Most of our clients have been with us for over 2 or 3 years so we have a strong relationship with all of our clients and you need to be comfortable with that person because actually when you start shooting the video, you are going to get very personal and you’re going to get really emotional. I once did a video for this, I think it was a fire safety equipment company, and we were producing this video for – it was like a testimonial from these people whose house had burned down, but they got all their family out because of this company’s fire equipment. Fire alarms and all that stuff. And she actually kind of broke down on camera and talked about how happy she was that everyone got out safely and it was a great video and she was very pleased with the client’s equipment and wanted to thank the client in person and I said, “Hey, why don’t we do a video about it?” But it’s a very personal experience and you have to be able to connect with your videographer just as much as you connect with the people who are watching the video. So you have to be comfortable with that as well, and finding the right people who have the right equipment and obviously budget is a problem, budget is the first thing usually out of the client’s mouth when I meet them. And that’s kind of the thing that we like to... we’re proud of at Uptrend Productions is we’re so flexible. I just did a video for $200 and then, last week, I shot a video for $10,000. Every video is going to be different. It’s going to be kind of like – it’s kind of like buying a house. What would you say, “What does a house cost?” Well, is it two stories? Is it in a nice neighborhood? Does it have a Jacuzzi in the back? It’s the same for video. Does it have 3D graphics? Is it going to have, is it going to be voiced by James Earl Jones? Obviously that would be a very expensive one. But you know, there’s different things that you can do to set your budget where you need it. And sometimes you need to spend some money on a video in order to get the traction you need, and sometimes you don’t. You can do something for several hundred dollars and get exactly what you need instead of going to a bigger production house that will say, “Oh we can do it for $3 grand.” When I can do it for $300. We give you what you want so that you come back to us in the long run, and that’s how we stay in business. That’s how you stay in business, is not giving away all of your money to a video production company and going broke for this. You don’t have to do that to get your name out there.

PC: All right. Well, you just answered my last question. So we’ll forego that. And we are out of time. So tell me where I can find you if I need a video.

CC: Uptrend Productions is the best. Uptrendproductions.com would be the best place to go. We have all of our video galleries, all of our contact information is there, a lot of information about us. If you go to video gallery, you can look at all the different videos we’ve produced and probably find something you like and I can give you a really quick quote. We can discuss it. I can consult with you and, like I said, if you either- there’s a path for user-generated content, there’s a path for professional content, and we can consult with you on both and combine it to make it an overall marketing solution for your business.

KM: Is there a phone number?

CC: Yeah. The number’s 817-247-2816 and then my email is caleb@uptrendproductions.com and just give me a call or email anytime.

PC: I’m thinking this won’t be the last time we have you behind the microphone here.

CC: Absolutely. Any time.

KM: Thank you, Caleb.

PC: Where can we find you, Kathleen?

KM: Lifetreecounseling.com or Kathleen@lifetreecounseling.com or call me at 972-234-6634 extension 104. How about you, sir?

PC: Well, I am still Phillip Crum at Contentmarketingcoach.us. 469-536-2347. And if you’re working with me, video may very well be part of your whole program at some point. Maybe it’s appropriate, maybe it’s not, but if it is then we’ll be calling Caleb in to consult and shoot and that sort of thing so. That is a couple of thoughts and ideas for you and we appreciate you joining us. Thank you for being here.

KM: Thank you, Caleb, very much.

CC: No problem, thank you.

PC: And thank you everybody out there for listening. Oh – if you’re interested in some additional material about Caleb Coleman then here’s what I want you to do. I want you to text the word, “Films” to 442-333-7363. In fact, let’s make that films – what’s your favorite number, Caleb?

CC: 7.

PC: 77. Films77. So text, “Films77” to 442-333-7363. We’ll send you a link to get to the secret stuff that nobody else can see.

KM: (Whispers) Secret stuff.

PC: And you’ll know more about Caleb Coleman than you probably ought to – than his wife wants you to know! That’s some interesting stuff, so give us a holler. Thank you very much. We will see you next week, and on we go.