Closing More Deals As a Video Marketing Samurai

You know it, and I know it. Video is the future.

The rise of video consumption – is going up exponentially year after year and people legitimately make purchases in the millions because a company empathized with them and made the information easy to consume in the form of video.

For context – our favorite distribution strategy at the moment is Linkedin video where we get 1k+ video views on each on average (and we get leads regularly from video marketing.)

We want to share with you the opportunities in the market most likely to close more deals – in a fun ‘adventure story’ form, complemented by original contributions from leading sales & marketing experts like Seth Godin, Grant Cardone, Trish Bertuzzi, Josh Fedie of SalesReach.io and Benton Crane of Harmon Brothers, the creators of the viral squatty potty commercial.

“By 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — 15 times higher than it was in 2017.” – Cisco

Introduction

Even though the whole world seems to have trouble focusing on everything except video, most marketers still haven’t worked out systems to do it regularly. Instead, they have one of the two following mindsets:

1. They think that just turning their phone on its side and pointing it at your face is going to be enough.
2. They might think they need to purchase a giant course, and 10k worth of equipment to close deals from video.

Don’t get caught looking like your company is from 2017 with your marketing – join us on the wild adventure as you become a video marketing samurai, with technical tactics, avoiding painful pitfalls, and using video to close more deals in 2020!

Getting Attention is Hard

Attention is scarce.

There are 432,000 hours of video uploaded to YouTube daily. Daily!  

You aren’t just competing with your direct competitor for attention anymore. You’re competing with Instagram, Donald Trump, Tik-Tok, the next breaking news story that is plastered on every news channel chyron, and every time a Kardashian posts anything on any platform.

And if you want my wife’s attention – you’re competing with Real Housewives of New York.

But what is a company or entrepreneur suppose to do?

Give up?

Pack it in?

Just not create a video because it will only get 5 views?

What I’m suggesting is that the smaller the audience, the more meaningful. Play small ball!

When you think of video as a “sales tool” rather than a tool to try to get 1000’s of views, it increases its power and lowers the bar for creating video regularly.

The venomous serpent of “NO ATTENTION SPAN” may become your savior if you use it to adapt your approach

“59 percent of business professionals feel they can give a piece of content their undivided attention more so today than they could just one year ago. 49 percent of respondents said they are more selective about the content they consume to one year ago.” – Entrepreneur Magazine

Prezi’s state of attention report concluded that “winning” content is content that features a compelling narrative, with stimulating visuals and dialogue.

While the rest of your competitors stick to written content and act like the rules of entertainment and attention don’t apply to their business, you can act like a consumer packaged goods brand and create experiences, use humor, use video. Essentially anything that makes your content lively and engaging.

Expert Video Strategies

432,000 hours of video published daily… but 1 BILLION HOURS watched daily. That’s 2,314 hours of video for every one hour uploaded.

Video has helped us close more deals – but don’t take it from me; take it from these fantastic sales + marketing experts!

5 Well-respected marketing and sales experts answer: “How have you used video to close more deals this past year?”

6 Powerful stats to help demonstrate the opportunity

1. Videos attach 300% more traffic and help to nurture leads. (MarketingSherpa)
2. A website is 53 times more likely to reach the front page of Google if it includes video. (Insivia)
3. Including a video on your landing page can boost your conversion rate by up to 80%. (Unbounce)
4. 59% of executives say they would rather watch a video than read text. (Wordstream)
5. Videos under two minutes long get the most engagement. (Wistia)
6. 83% of marketers would increase their reliance on video as a strategy if there were no obstacles like time, resources, and budget. (Buffer)

 

Crowd-sourcing Video Ideas

As you search for the perfect ideas for your videos, you begin to grow tired. You seem lost, and not a single idea has stuck so far. Suddenly, you stumble down a long ravine to an ill-kept road.  You thank the gods and hearing your stomach grumble, start looking for someone who may have some food to spare. The journey towards the perfect video content, when going alone, is long and perilous, and you skipped lunch in the breakroom.

An ambling cart kicks up dust in the distance, and as it approaches, you ask for a humble crumb. A lone traveler reaches out from a shroud, “I have no rice or beast, but what I do have is this compass – which will be worth more than your basic needs.”

You stare down at a dusty compass. It’s not the microwavable chicken burrito you were hoping for, but it still interests you nonetheless.

Like this compass – your audience, their feedback, both painful and exhilarating, will show you the way.

But how do you listen to your audience?

This quick documentary by the amazing (and kind) Minneapolis video marketing company YouBetcha shows you how Hook is using video internally

5 Different audiences to increase referrals & business besides the obvious

• Existing customers – surprise and delight them with an insider’s series. What are our customers looking for, and trying to work through for problems beyond what we generally serve.
• People that can’t afford us yet – tips & tricks for do-it-yourselfers. What questions are they asking – Answer the Public, Quora, and Reddit can be helpful here.
• Account-based marketing – FAQ’s everyone is asking. I often tap our salesperson and inquire what current prospects are asking the most.
• Future employees – we have a mockumentary that gives an idea of the flavor to our silly personalities.
• Referral partners – we do an industry news program that we put out on Linkedin, specifically for other industry people, to keep us top of mind.

So much of what we’re trying to do currently is not related to lead generation at all – but instead is focused on referrals and long-term brand building.

More ways to listen to your audience:

1. Audience Surveys – What would you want to see more on, the easiest way to do this is an on-site survey (with something like Hotjar,) email, or even a Twitter poll.
2. Analytics and Search Console – My favorite way to make decisions. Let your understanding of what drives business and referrals, along with looking at pure data, inform what to create next. I love looking for keywords in search console that are ‘incidental’ rather than intentional, which can often be ripe new sources of ideas for content and video.
3. Blog Comments/ Video Comments – People often ask for new content (“can you do one about…”, rather than continue with regularly scheduled programming, consider surprising and delighting a live human!)
4. Intent Data – You can buy audiences from third parties of people that “showed intent” to buy something like you had (for instance, taken from aggregators like G2crowd or Forbes). Still, for content/video creation, you can dig further into a topic specifically for a topic that the audience was built around, and remarket that video to them.
5. Crowdsourcing – User-generated video content may traditionally be in the realm of big brands, but consider how this might work for you as well.
6. Social Listening – What are people tweeting about? Ask and interact on social.
7. Sales Team – One of my favorite places to source new topic ideas from, what are prospects asking the most? If nothing else, you have a video specifically for a ripe prospect (that often can then be used again later.)
8. Support Team & Account Reps – Customers have X, Y, Z issues – the video shouldn’t just be for sales; it can help retain existing customers as well! Imagine having a library of resources built, especially for surprising and delighting your current clients.
9. One-to-one Research – Something I love about working 1 on 1 with our clients out at their worksites is that I often get insights about their current challenges I would never get cloistered away at my office. How could you get out and get in the dirt with your customers, how could you understand them and their work more deeply to help with those needs with video content?

Ignoring your haters AND your fans

One problem with defining everything on your “audience” is that when you initially start creating, there will be two very vocal factions of your audience that might overstate their initial positive and negative thoughts on your work.

• Your mom will always want to tell you that you’re great – and when you ask people around you, everyone will act like your mom and give you the feedback they think you want. These seem harmless, but indeed it can be terrible – you need to get people around you that can call you on your bullshit.
• And there will always be trolls. I miss some of my old trolls, but anytime you try to get attention, there are people there that want to smack you down. I always used to wake up Sunday morning (for some reason, trolls seem to be more active on Sundays), and spend half my day fuming about somebody’s negativity on Twitter.

 

If you don’t have trolls, you’re not getting enough attention. Just don’t get hung up on them, and don’t spend your life worried about them.

Video Equipment

Still on the fence about Video? Digital Marketing expert Jeff Sauer had this to say:

“Video has meant everything for my business growth in the last year, let me count the ways.

1. My advertising ROAS has improved 500% using video ads as opposed to static image ads.

2. Any new product on offer includes videos leading up to the sales event establishing rapport, which increases overall sales conversion rates.

3. Anecdotally, I receive comments every week from people who “saw me on YouTube” or “watched my videos that taught them how to solve a problem, keep it coming!”

4. Frankly, once you get in the rhythm of creating video to market your products, everything becomes easier. It’s like unlocking a cheat code. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a hundred pictures. Don’t leave deals on the table, start investing your time in video!” 

–  Jeff Sauer – Data-Driven U

 

So many people theoretically want more video, but believe there is a giant wall standing in front of them.

They don’t know editing software.

They think the camera matters more than it does.

I promise you – the number one thing that matters is THE CONTENT. And particularly if you’re a subject matter expert, there is value to bullet pointing the value you want to share, pointing your phone at your face, and getting started now. But we won’t stop there. Here are some quick tips to getting started right away, and then build up from that point to a professional set up:

Ways to Get Started Right Away

1. Talking Points Outlined + Practiced  – I personally don’t like the way teleprompters come off all the time, but I do like the way bullet points of value (or entertainment/jokes) come off, and I do think it’s best to practice a couple of times.
2. Consider making a series – It’s way easier to knock out a few videos a week when you have a couple “series” going instead of trying to do every video as a one-off.
3. Phone Setup – A little microphone kit and stand can give you a quick way to capture video when you’re out and about.
4. With or Without Microphone for Phone – You don’t have to have much of a kit when recording with a newer iPhone, or any high-end smartphone to be honest.
5. Phone Teleprompter – BigVu is a great way to have a teleprompter on your phone, as the text scrolls right next to the camera and allows you to change the speed. It may take a little getting used to, but is certainly an asset when you need more than bullet points to feel comfortable talking on a certain subject.

Ways to Level Up Your Video

Decent video equipment set up: Below, I share how to level up your equipment a bit. This is for the folks who are outgrowing the phone and need to take it up a notch, without spending 5k.

“Creating videos is becoming more important for companies + brands, but spending half your marketing budget on video equipment isn’t necessarily going to mean the video pays off – so to me, it’s best to start small and earn that budget by putting out good content (with decent equipment.)”

You don’t need an insane list of equipment to get started! 5 basic categories – with a total in the 1.5k range, and you’ve got what you need to create some decently clean footage:

• A camera – ideally with a swiveling screen so you can do selfie video too.
• A decent autofocusing lens so you can be hands-off if you want.
• A mini shotgun mic for the top of the camera to increase the audio quality
• Lights! 3-4 basic studio lights and a circle LED light is great.
• Backdrop if you want it
• A tripod or two.

On the software side – Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro will do the trick, with 5-10 youtube videos and a lot of experimentation, you can start creating content regularly.

 

The Camera – Canon EOS 70D SLR Camera (Body Only)

Why the 70D?

Casey Neitstat – the prominent YouTuber— was talking about how the quality change from this to the next step up wasn’t crazy, which has lead him to use it occasionally. If it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.

“The truth is – no matter what camera you use, it’s all about THE CONTENT you capture and create.” – Minnesota Video Production

This camera has auto-focus and a swivel screen, so you can look at yourself while you record. *cue You’re So Vain*

The Lens – Canon EFS 10-18MM 

Why the EFS 10-18MM?

Autofocus – and manual focus, mid-range, and great for short to medium distance, which is the general type of video we create in our small business. This was suggested to me by a photographer friend, and it seems to be solid—although, after years and years of use, I might need to replace mine. A solid lens, though.

The microphone – Video MicPro Directional On-Camera Microphone

Why the Video MicPro?

Once again – suggested by Casey Neistat and has worked out great.

Circle Light – Neewer LED Ring Light Kit – 18″

Why the Neewer LED ring light kit?

Ever see that awesome little circle in Youtubers’ eyes, this is that light. I don’t know why I didn’t buy it sooner. Insanely good deal, for lovely – very even light, absolutely perfect for talking head and office videos.

My favorite tripod – Slick U8000

Why the Slick U8000?

You don’t want to go any cheaper than this (I’ve gone through two amazon basics, and it’s annoying every time). It fits the Canon, and it works great!

I don’t personally usually use a backdrop

I’ve bought a couple – but none that I really loved, and ultimately, I’ve found that a white wall, or better yet – just an aesthetic office behind me—does better. Beyond that, get out of the office!

• Get the skyline behind you.
• Get a bridge in your city behind you.
• Do it at a park, or in front of a river or ocean.
• Anything that isn’t stale.
• I’ve seen people do stationary backdrops well – but I’ve seen a lot more people use real-life and aesthetic things behind them, too much more compelling and better results on social.

The Length of your videos – 1.5 – 2 Minutes is Ideal – I know there are situations for longer videos, but if you’re going to spend time on sales-related videos to close more deals, respect your audience’s time and put out shorter videos.

Make it easy to consume: square videos for social, subtitles, spicy titles/copywriting – Once again, this is about empathy. Square videos show up bigger on social timelines, subtitles burned into the video (I use Kapwing for this) help the 60% of people that don’t have the sound on social, and a spicy title on the top tells them what it’s about if they are scrolling by. This is why copywriting is so massive for marketers. You need to figure out how to capture attention, and writing headlines and captions for social that engage the audience is a mixture of empathy and persuasion.

Ways to Bring it Semi-Pro

1. 4k Video Camera – A dedicated video camera with higher fidelity may make sense if you have a bit more for budget, or if you’re ready to move into the next level of your video journey. We chose the Canon XC15 because of a suggestion from a fellow video marketer, Josh Braaten.

“Gear is one of those areas where you can spend a lot or a little. In the beginning, you’re going to want the ‘good enough’ version of things. Most of the newest smartphones have 4k cameras built right in and can be used as a starter camera. Use the initial budget instead to on lights, microphones, and/or creative elements for your set. As your investment in video begins to pay off, bank some of the proceeds by upgrading your gear. Moving from an iPhone to a Canon XC15, for example, is a great incremental step in video quality and will help you begin to build competitive barriers into your content.” – Josh Braaten, Brandish Insights

1. Light Setup – Studio Lights – Photography Photo Portrait Studio Lights by Limo Pro Why these studio lights? I’ve had to replace some bulbs, but dang these things have lasted a long time for being so cheap. Quite amazing. Don’t underestimate the power of one light behind the person, and two in front. Personally, when I’ve mixed the circle light and mixed these two setups, I’ve gotten the best results.
2. Teleprompter – You’ll probably be best off with something that involves an iPad if you need a teleprompter. The highly-rated Glide Gear TMP100 should do the trick.
3. Lavalier Mics – We’ve enjoyed working with Rode’s Rodelink Lavalier mics, which just allow you to get better audio than the mini shotgun mic overall, and in louder spaces like trade shows.
4. Gimble to stabilize the camera on the go and at events (and perhaps a drone) – The awesome video marketer who did our brand video – Teskey Mediaworks, suggested the DJI Ronin series, of which took a little getting used to. Need a drone? The DJI Mavik Pro series is highly rated and suggested by many!

“In the old days, camera operators used a Steadicam. A gimbal is an electronically stabilized steadicam that uses accelerometers and motors to keep the camera stable and level.  It’s dramatically easier to use than a Steadicam and most starting videographers can get decent results even on the first day. There are a lot of great brands to choose from today – and most are really good.  My two favorite brands for gimbals are DJI and Movi – and both make a wide range of products suitable for any size of camera. For an average-sized DSLR, the DJI Ronin-S is a bulletproof solution to filming with a gimbal.

There are three key tips to remember to get the best out of your new gimbal:

1) Learn how to mechanically balance your camera on the gimbal and do it every time.  It can be done in seconds once you learn the technique and it works wonders for smoothness of the moves.

2) Remember your marching band days – walk heel-toe-heel-toe rolling your feet rather than stomping.  This will reduce vertical “bounce” in your gimbal footage.

3) Don’t overdue!  Mix your shots with stationary shots or other moves.” – Mark Teskey, Teskey Mediaworks

A few quick words about editing software

All I want to demonstrate here is that the BASICS to video editing can be learned in 10 minutes, and do not need to inhibit you from doing this regularly. Just import the video to your computer from a memory card or airdrop, and cut and chop it a bit.

1. iMovie for beginners. Make sure you keep it simple, watch out for using the “fancy” extras or transitions, which ironically make the thing look even more low-budget. Just focus on the chopping, and maybe a basic, but cleanly designed title and call-to-action.
2. Premiere Pro if you want more control. Adobe’s Premiere Pro allows for quicker cutting and a much deeper bench of transitions. It will key you if you have a green screen (Use Effects > Ultra Key > The Eyedropper from the effect and select the green from the green screen to drop the background,) and there are tons of other awesome things that make sense if you edit A LOT.

Our Video Strategy + Cutting up your first video is SUPER easy

Becoming the samurai: Chop more than feels comfortable

Make your videos respect your audience’s time. Chop, chop, chop. Besides jumpcuts, when possible – you can work up to different angles and figure out what’s most engaging to whatever audience you’re targeting:

After you get chopping down try to use these principles to make more engaging videos:

• Know your audience
• Establish authority at the beginning of the video if it’s on subject matter expertise
• Keep titles and opening shots short
• Have Energy
• Be clear and give a reason to stick around.
• Take risks
• If you want to push harder on Youtube – create DIY, how-to, advice, and troubleshooting videos and focus on search intent
• Pay attention to headlines, descriptions and thumbnails as time goes on.

Creating reusable templates that other people can use + get 3+ people that can edit!

One way I’ve seen that can help people scale-out video in their organization is to create reusable templates.

• This can be way easier when you have series’ that you come back to weekly or monthly so that you can intro, outro sequences, and theme music.
• It’s easy to be limited by time. Still, if the capture is the only part that your subject matter expert needs to be part of – and other folks in the organization can handle “post-production” and put it out on social – it’s going to be easier to keep up with the habit.

Don’t let all of these suggestions fool you – the wall is more in your mind than anything.

I’ve created videos with just my iPhone with a sincere but useful tip on social media, that have performed far better than my perfectly polished stuff that may have been less useful.

Don’t let any of these suggestions slow you down – just use them when they deem themselves useful to you.

Avoiding Time-wasters

Everyone wants to sell you a course. A shortcut. “A way to learn it all” – but no one is going to do the hard work for you.

Instagram is made to addict you + perhaps like me; you’ve fallen prey to sitting there consuming Instagram, consuming Netflix, getting stuck on Facebook or Tik-Tok, or a fucking newspaper for all I care. 

Often every “GURU” that wants to sell you course is like a little booth at a bazaar with fake trinkets and swirling globes, but underneath the shroud is a dusty turn-wheel and phony magic. 

Avoid these alluring time-wasters – if you “don’t have the time in the day to create.”

1. Courses – Marketing & Sales 101 – get people to believe you have a problem so they can sell you a solution. Even if you spend $97-$997 on a course, it still doesn’t do the work for you. Once you know what you need to do to practice, if you spend time-consuming rather than creating – you’re wasting precious creation time. (This mini-course/guide could be a time-waster for you right now – I dare you to stop right here and create a video instead.) 
2. Influencer Infatuation – I love me some Gary Vee. And the world seems obsessed with the twirling gimmicks of every fancy new Instagram model, fitness and nutrition personality, and marketing influencers that will have you believe you’re doing everything wrong, all of the time. The only thing you’re doing wrong is that you’re paying them any mind – stand up from your desk, or get off your couch and knock out a video (yes, even in the evening.) 
3. Social Media Addiction – If you’re a young digital native, or anyone under 40, you may already be addicted to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Tik Tok. New tools for iPhones and Apps can help you by setting timers and tracking your time spent. I, for one, have a little alarm that tells me if I’ve been on Instagram for a half-hour a day. 
4. Netflix, TV & Movies – I am not so gung-ho on the anti-entertainment thing as some entrepreneur gurus. But I do like this general principle: “If you are currently dissatisfied with where your business is, see what you can subtract in the area of entertainment and replace with content marketing, video creation, and hustle.” If you’re burnt out, try adding some energizing physical activity, or meditation to the mix, instead of constant mindless consumption. 
5. Anything else that clogs your time & doesn’t help you get where you’re trying to go.

The trap is set – you have to find your discipline, your inner sensei, to say no—not to occasional leisure/enjoyable content—but to endless consumption filling all of your extra free time. 

And to create instead. 

Use The Spirit of ADHD

We know that attention is painfully scarce.

But when all of your competitors are putting out another “whitepaper” – what if you used the knowledge of how short people’s attention spans are put out a free mini-video course you can subscribe to my email instead?

What if instead of blog articles, you hit them with subtitled 1.5-minute videos on Linkedin. 

What if instead of writing 400-word emails to prospects, you provided them 3 videos on the most common objections and commonly asked questions, with an exciting background and jump cuts to give it a fresh vibe?

• What would this say about you?
• What would it say about your empathy with your audience and your prospects?
• What would it say about your company and how you’re keeping up with the times?
• What would it reveal about the level of quality you expect in other areas of your business? 

Creating Disciplined Habits and Systems

• Getting on a weekly rhythm
• When will you create?
• What are the bumpers you have in place for making sure you do it?
• Who is holding you accountable?
• Don’t let your dumb, lazy brain make the decisions.

10 Powerful Options for Closing More Deals with Video

1. Bomb Bomb – A quick way to do videos in email. Saves a gif of the video, and then links to the full video.
2. Text a 30-second clip to them via SMS – There’s nothing more intimate than a text message. Just make sure you’re being authentic, providing value along the way – and not just trying to sell. 
3. Video via Facebook messenger or Facebook page inbox – Can be used for cold prospecting. Don’t be shy! 
4. Write down a key prospects question and involve your team – My absolute favorite way to get ideas for videos, and in my experience, the most likely to drum up leads on platforms like Linkedin. 
5. Try to use video/webcam as much as possible instead of phone calls – The way the human brain responds to video just gives way more information to both you and the prospect. 

“Have you heard of “The McGurk Effect”? Here’s the short explanation: what you see changes what you hear (and vice versa). It explains why using webcams dramatically improves web-based sales calls—two senses are more powerful than one. This video illustrates how one sense (sight) dramatically changes another sense (sound). I beg you to watch it.” – Drift

• Make sure your camera is at eye-level, and you have a decent backdrop that looks respectable
• Smile + Mirror your buyer
• Start the call early to ensure your setup looks good + Set expectations for what you’ll cover
• Make sure your connection to the internet is solid
• Avoid backlighting (maybe use that circle light discussed previously)
• Google Meet works perfectly well, Cisco WebEx and Zoom are great as well – basically, the market is saturated now, and most options will do. Don’t overthink it. 

6. Use a dashboard like SalesReach.io to pair video with key bullet points – We have dashboards for every stage in the sales funnel because often there are more people involved with the process than just the person or two we’re talking to. This allows us to “scale our best closer,” and ensure people have the right education and expectations regarding our process. 

• A 1-2 minute video allows us to go through critical points and for us to clarify our messaging for each stage. 
• Bullet points next to the video allow us to let the person scan for crucial information. 

7. Do your service or product demonstration the best you ever have in your life, record it – give it extra life with visuals and jump cuts. (A jump cut is when you take two sequential shots, from angles that vary slightly if at all – and makes it feel like you’re jumping forward in time.) Use this to scale out your time, or equip prospects to share the demonstration after a call with others on their team. 

8. Send a quick 1-2 minute explanation of what you’ll be going over in a sales call, and how to get the most out of the call. I always like to pair a video with bullet points just because some people will not feel comfortable watching because they are in a meeting, around people, or for another reason.

 
9. Take your most common objections and turn them into a bit longer “FAQ” video – then use Facebook and Google remarketing to get that video in front of them. Ideally, make an audience that only uses people have visited that service page or pages on your site for that topic, and pair someone talking in your office with big, bold slides next to them addressing each question. 

10. All kinds of uses from the First touch and Follow up to Check-in to make sure a deal is still alive to post-sale! 

If you’re looking for scripts – Hubspot has some pre-built ones for you! Here’s a great example for followup to get you started from their amazing guide to using video in sales:

“Hi [prospect]. Thanks again for our conversation [this morning, yesterday, on X day]. We covered [point #1], [point #2], and [point #3].

I’ve followed up on [earlier question or concern], and it turns out [answer to their question or concern].

As we agreed, next steps are [X].

Looking forward to our meeting on [date] at [time].” – Hubspot

A Circle of Brilliance

You arrive in a new world where “influencers” in your market want to be on your videos and are having you guest on theirs.

It’s beautiful because cross-pollination of audiences is one way that video seriously starts to excel in your marketing efforts. 

If you know what you’re doing with video, it’s easy to get a referral partner to participate and to create a moment on social media that’s win-win-win, for you and them and the audience. 

You get better because being around other video marketers draws out the best in your process and allows you significantly level up the quality. They call you on your bullshit and tell you when your stuff is boring – because they’re pros. 

Brilliance comes in clusters

• Michaelangelo & Davinci – “The Renaissance artists competed, emulated each other, and seemed to be driven to greater heights by each other’s gigantic feats of creativity.”
• Beethoven & Mozart – “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had a powerful influence on the work of Ludwig van Beethoven. They are said to have met in Vienna in 1787, and Beethoven is said to have had a few lessons from Mozart.”
• The Beatles & The Rolling Stones – If nothing else, Great Britain in the ’60s and ’70s had its kind of renaissance, where the competition, the inspiration, or by osmosis rock n’ roll came of age. 

Instead of focusing on competitors, focus on your circle of brilliance

Instead of focusing on competitors, focus on your “mastermind,” get around the influencers in the industry you serve, and focus on upping your video game 10% each month with small improvements. 

Focusing on a circle of brilliance is huge – salespeople already understand “referral partners” and marketers could stand to spend a lot more of their time creating content and video around the idea of getting more referrals. You can do content in partnership with referral partners, and make your referral partners look impressive with video as well.

A rising tide lifts all ships – so if there’s anything I can do to help YOU… The bad-ass on your way to becoming a video marketing samurai, let me know!

Here’s my Linkedin. Here’s my email. The one request I have from you is if you’d leave one comment below adding your two-cents, or if you’d link back to this guide from your website, as a vote for us continuing to double down on longer guides that we spend 20-30 hours on, instead of commodity content! 🙂