Got it. K. Alright. Awesome.
So for those of you I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting before, I’m Samantha Russell. I’ll be your host today. I’m the chief evangelist here at FMG. It’s a picture of me and those three kiddos I was talking about from Easter, and I have been helping advisers with their marketing to really grow organically for the last decade. And here at FMG, we love to every month, you know, bring you all together and put on some sort of workshop that really gives you practical ideas that you can implement right away. So today, we’re talking about all things video. And joining me, Laura, if you would please introduce yourself.
Hey. I’m Laura Garfield. I’m in Seattle. I’m cofounder of IdeaDecanter, and my job is to be hyper focused on helping advisers get ROI out of their video marketing, and I’m really thrilled to be with you.
Thank you so much. And then we also have I don’t think we actually have a slide for you, Joe, which was my mistake, but we also have Joe, Joe Budd. Joe, can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
Yeah. Yeah. My name is Joe Budd. I’m based out of, Nashville market in Franklin, Tennessee, and just glad to be here today to talk about video. And I’ve been practicing for over twenty years and probably the last seven, we’re the only seven that had video.
So, yes, we’re gonna hear your the pros and cons, everything from your your story, which we’re we’re thrilled that you could join us today to talk about it. So just really high level overview, we always have to start with the why. Why are we gonna if we’re gonna tackle any new thing in our business, we’re really busy. You know, obviously, we all have only so much time in the day.
Why is video so crucial for business? So this is the latest stats from the Pew Research Center, which just is highlighting the fact that we all love video. Even when we look at things like social media platforms, platforms like YouTube are the most popular and the most utilized. And a big part of that might be because of the way even when you go to Google and search things.
Right? You’re gonna find video in the search results.
And, we see other video first platforms like Instagram really gaining in popularity over the last couple years because we all really love consuming video.
I actually went on social media and asked advisers questions about who’s using video, what success they’re seeing, and so you can see here two of the responses we got. David Armstrong said, we’ve really embraced video and have received a ton of great feedback from clients, advocates, and people in our network. It’s shortened the time to yes. Laura, has that been something that you’ve heard, yourself and the clients you’ve worked with?
I mean, there’s something about watching a video from someone that makes you feel like you already know them. And especially when you’re a financial adviser, that’s a powerful place to be in.
Yes. I love that. How about you, Joe? Is that is that resonate with you? What what he’s saying there about shortening the time to yes or having somebody come and already feel like they have a better idea of who you are as a person?
Absolutely. They they know already what you’re like, what your demeanor is like, and, they they haven’t even met you yet.
Love that so much. So in the chat, let us know, are you currently using video at all? Have you recorded any video?
And if so, is this something you’ve seen and you’re just hoping for more tips today? Or are you a complete video newbie and you are just have no idea where to start and you just need help? So we would love it. Okay.
We already have a bunch of yeses. I love it. Yes, but not in three years. That’s common.
Right? You make one or two and then you take a break.
Yes, marketing manager trying to get all of our advisers to use video. Okay. We’re gonna give you lots of stats that you can hopefully help empower those advisers. So seventy nine percent of consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it, and including videos on a website can increase time spent on the page by eighty eight percent.
We all know this. Like, we don’t have to really give you stats. I don’t know about any of you. We are I personally am drawn to watching more videos, and I think consumers in general are as well.
So this other quote we have here from David said, absolutely. Video is a game changer. I have seen client video testimonials completely change a prospect’s mind and get them to move forward. And an adviser profile video is fantastic at building trust, which, you know, we’re gonna talk about that more, but, especially with the proliferation with AI generated content, I think we’re gonna see more and more people looking to video to break through the noise because it’s really about quality over quantity.
Right?
So I mentioned this before, but just another reason for why video. If somebody searches something so I just went to Google and searched, can capital gains push me into a higher tax bracket? If you record a video and actually put it on a platform like YouTube that’s searchable, Google will pull your result those video results into the search box as well. So it’s just another, you know, check-in the the pro column of why video can be so powerful.
But as we just talked about, when you have a website and someone is referred to you and they go to check out your website, how much more powerful is it for them to be able to see your face and hear your voice before they click that schedule a meeting button. Right? And, like, hear your story in their in your own words, it makes a big difference. And the last thing I’ll say before we, move on to the next section is just there’s something in psychology called the mere exposure effect.
Hopefully, Stacy doesn’t mind that I’m using her as an example here. But if you go to social media and every day you open up your feed and you see someone’s face and you hear their voice or you get an email in your inbox and there’s their face in a video, you’re going to be exposed to them more and more. And in psychology, the mere exposure effect tells us that just by virtue of seeing something more, we’re more likely to say we feel familiar with it and like it. And this really works we see it work all the time.
So I’d love to know in the chat, is there anybody you can think of that you’ve just seen their video content over and over again, and so you now feel like you either know them or are interested in their business or are aware of their business just because you’ve seen their videos over and over again. Let us know. Oh, Brad is saying professor g. I don’t know who that is.
Samantha Russell. I love it. Thank you, Andy.
Laura, what’s your take on this? Have is this something that you, have seen clients mention to you before?
Well, it’s funny that someone dropped Samantha Russell in because I have been watching your videos for at least five years on LinkedIn, and it wasn’t until earlier this year that I actually crossed paths with you at a conference, and I walked up to you at a cocktail party. And there really was this I already know Samantha thing about it. And it’s just that familiarity of having followed someone, and really feeling like you know them when you you’ve never met them. I read some research recently that it used to take seven brand touches to move someone to action.
That is now thirty.
So if you think about the frequency that you need to be in front of a prospect, that game is changing.
Wow. I still was thinking it was around ten, so I need to update my staff here. That’s crazy that it’s that many. Austin Thomas mentioned Nick Nielsen.
Yes. He’s a great adviser. If you look him up on LinkedIn, he does a lot of videos. A great a great example.
So, well, thank you for that. That’s super kind. And, yes, I have been doing videos, for a while, and it was for the reason that I didn’t have a big marketing budget. And I wanted to get the message out there, and I thought, well, heck.
I can record some videos and share information that way, and it really made a drastic change in, the trajectory of our organic growth. So let’s talk about challenges.
Joe, I’d love to hear from you. Maybe is were you thinking about making video for a long time before you took the plunge? And if so, what was holding you back?
Yeah. You know, before video was on, like, YouTube and things like that, there wasn’t really a good way to deliver it. So my my first, venture in the video, we created don’t laugh. It was the CD ROM. Right?
Sorry. You said don’t laugh, and I laughed.
Yeah. So it was a CD. There were several short videos on it, and we were sending it out to people, you know, prospective clients, things like that, and they would put in their computer. Right?
And and So you’re actually ahead of the game with Bylo.
An early adapter.
And they it also doubled as a music CD where you could put it in your car and listen to the audio on it.
Oh, okay. I like it. I like it. You know, I have a theory actually that as things become more and more digital and AI generated that these analog things are gonna become popular again. Like, I don’t know if you’ve seen, like, record sales or through the roof again, like vinyl records. So maybe you’re on to something with the CD, Joe. I don’t know.
Yeah. So that was my first experience, and I hated it. But over the years, what I’ve learned is if you really hate doing something, it means you need to do it more often.
I love that. I love that. Well, some of the challenges that we see, number one, I don’t even know where to start. So let us know in the chat.
Somebody Cameron just said compliance is always the biggest challenge to me. Let us know in the chat. What do you feel like is your biggest challenge when it comes to either making more video, getting started with making video, or promoting it more effectively. We’d love to know what challenges so we can address them even more.
Because consistency.
Consistency.
That is so hard.
And we’re gonna talk, today about, you know, at a minimum, how often should you be making videos? What are the videos that you actually need? So we will address that.
Okay. Getting used to being on camera and camera shyness, one hundred percent. Taking time to make the video. Will said the look of my own face. Oh, Will. We We don’t have to look at you don’t have to look at yourself while you record if you get the a different kind of camera.
Topics and scripts. Yes. And these are just a couple on the screen you can see.
Other folks who chimed in, you know, like, I want to be able to know what tools to use or I just don’t know the process. Right? So we’re gonna go through all of that today. Laura, I’d love for you to address, though, because you do work with advisers so closely. What do you say to someone who mentions camera shyness and freezing up?
You are not alone. That comment, the look of my own face hits home with me. I mean, I spent the first ten years of my decade or ten years of my career in broadcast news, and I was an on air reporter.
And now in with our marketing videos, every time a new video hits my inbox, I cringe before I press three. Even after all these years. If you don’t like watching yourself on camera, you are not alone. Many people fall into that boat. I will say when it comes to the jitters, the camera shyness that I you feel like you freeze up, I would highly recommend you carving out some time before you record a video. So many of us pack our days so tightly.
We’re calendared out right up to, hopefully, the time that you have set aside to record video, and you don’t give yourself the space to relax.
And really thinking about, like, maybe a thirty minute pregame ritual before you record a video, which in our lives, it feels like when are we gonna wedge in an extra thirty minutes. But if you can take that time, calm yourself, maybe do some breathing.
I love, this exercise saying the four letters q e o r.
Say that over and over, and it just kind of loosens up your tongue. It loosens up your face, and it gets you ready to record and really deliver.
And something else that’s about building your own pregame ritual is that having a habit you do before you record a video can really set you up for success. And when you do it all the time, I think you’re more and more successful when you’re on video and recording. Also, give yourself the space to be a beginner.
Everyone starts somewhere. Joe started with his CD ROM.
Samantha, way back, you recorded your first video. We all did a first video.
And when we look back on those, I don’t know if you’re like me, but I cringe seeing my old stuff. You get better and better.
We do have a saying around idea to canter, and you’re probably not going to like this, but it’s that your first video is your worst video.
And the only way you get better on camera, the only way you get over being camera shy or the jitters is just to keep doing it.
I love that advice. I always say if you don’t look back at your first iteration of anything, your first time you write a blog, record a video, whatever it is, and cringe a little, then you waited too late to ship it. Right? We just have to do it. One of the things I found for me is choosing a day of the week to do the recording. So I know every Tuesday morning, I’m recording.
And I like to speak more extemporaneously. I know some people prefer a script or a teleprompter, but I will hit record and start talking and mess up and say, okay. That didn’t work and kinda audible it and then go back and do it again. And I’m recording every single take, just because you I never know what take’s gonna be the take that I don’t mess up.
And so instead of practicing off camera even my practice videos are on camera. And every once in a while, the first or second one, I’m like, okay. I can actually use that. That that worked out good.
So that’s what’s worked for me. But I think to your point about giving yourself space, not like, I have thirty minutes and I have to get this video done. It’s just gonna add stress. So budgeting time.
I love that you shared that process of I’m gonna I’m gonna do multiple takes. I don’t have to get this right in the first take. But I’d be curious to ask you, Sam, what do you do before you hit record? Because I think a lot of advisers think, okay. Well, I’m just gonna sit down in front of my camera, my phone, my webcam, and press record and talk, and they don’t realize that there is some preparation that goes into your messaging. What’s your game plan?
So I like to have a Google Doc, and I put the title, like, the main takeaway of what I’m gonna talk about, and then what are the key points I wanna get at. And I usually will write out exactly what the opening line is gonna be because that’s the hook. We know people are either gonna keep watching or click off within the first couple seconds. So I really spend the most amount of time of what the hook is gonna be and then what the closing sentence is gonna be comes next. And then, okay, what’s the things in the middle that I wanna focus on? And I have that in a Google Doc so that I just can reference it while I’m talking.
That is gold because I think if an adviser walks away from this with only one thing today, it’s that you should focus on catching their attention upfront. I mean, your audience is giving you three seconds to decide whether or not they are going to continue to watch your video. And if you don’t make that first sentence about them, they often won’t watch. One of the biggest mistakes I see advisers making is wasting that time introducing themselves.
They got it. They’re watching you on your YouTube channel or your website or in an email or on your social post, and they know it’s from you. So really get to the what’s in it for them as opposed to wasting the first prime real estate with an introduction.
So well said. So well said. So today, we’re really gonna talk about we just talked about the overcoming shyness. Next, we’re gonna move into identifying the top three video formats where if you made no other videos, you can’t stay consistent, but we know you need at least a few for your website and just your marketing ecosystem.
What should those three be? You’re also gonna see Joe’s videos. So, Joe, we can’t thank you enough for allowing us to show them here today. And then, really, what is that step by step process for once you’ve got the videos, how are we gonna use them in multiple formats?
Alright. So, Lori, you’re gonna do this section and talk with us about those top three videos advisors should create. Yeah, Joe.
I mean, you’re all over the screen. How do you feel about how do you feel about this? You are the star of the webinar. The three videos that we’re featuring here, and Joe has created them all, are the founder story, the process, and the nudge. And, Joe, I wanna ask you, do you feel like of these three, I I kinda call them evergreen videos because the the goal is you record this and you can use it over and over in your business for years. I mean, I recorded my why story, which would be the equivalent of your founder story seven years ago, and we still use it every day in our marketing for our business.
And the only thing that’s really changed about it is that my kids are now teenagers, and they were very small in that video. So the goal is that these are evergreen, but is there one that stands out to you, Joe?
I think the one with the process, because it that was the second one I shot. And the founder story, you know, where you’re talking about how you grew up, it’s it’s hard to do that one, you know, because some of it’s emotional when you’re talking about it and it can get raw. Hated doing that video.
But that and that was the only session that I did for for for that first video. But then the second session, we shot these other two. And they’re so much better in my opinion, you know, than the first one. But the first one’s authentic.
You know? Yeah. So you don’t always have to enjoy it. But if it tells your story, then then it is true.
Right?
And and stories are truly what make us memorable. I mean, if someone watches this founder story and we have a clip of it, we’re gonna share just a smidgen of of what you share. But if someone watches that story, oftentimes, they will that is the one thing about you they will remember months later, maybe years later.
So I think we’ve got your founder story queued up. Let’s watch just a little clip of it.
Absolutely.
Oops. I’m gonna go to the video resource library and are you still seeing my screen?
We don’t hear Joe.
Oh, you can’t hear him? Nope. And I practiced it beforehand too. Okay.
Let’s see what could be wrong. You might have to hop out of the screen share and then click that button, sharing deck with sound. Let me sound that matters. But to give a little background on Joe and this founder’s story, I think, Joe, you came to us sort of with the idea that you knew you wanted to talk about this, but this was gonna be a little hard to talk about.
And if we can hear it, people will see why.
Are you hearing it now? We are not.
Oh, come on.
Okay. Let’s I’m trying to think of how else we can do.
Thing that you might wanna try is to go back into the deck, and I think it’s on the next slide, and see if it’ll the sound will play from that one. And it will not Joe, give us a summary of what you’re sharing here.
I’m sorry, everybody. I don’t know why it’s not working live. But what we can also do is you’re gonna get the deck. So when you open it on your own computer, you’ll be able to watch it. But, yeah, Joe, why don’t you summarize?
Yeah. I mean, basically, my father went in for routine surgery when I was twelve years old, and he never came home. You know? And, watched my family struggle financially growing up.
And, it was the motivation to get in this business and help others not go through the same thing.
You know?
It’s Well, I I didn’t enjoy reliving it, and and I did enjoy talking about it.
But, you you know what? It it’s an authentic message. And, you know, you never have to pretend to be somebody you’re not.
You know what I mean? So it it’s a great way for people to know how you’re wired and how you approach things.
Joe, I think it took a lot of courage to create that video, but I’d love for you to share what’s happened to you because you got good at talking about that in the context of why you work with clients.
So what ends up happening when you go through this process is we are advisers, and when we write a script, it’s horrible because it’s in our own crypt what do you call it? Encrypted message.
And we need somebody else to write it in a way that’s understandable.
And when I went through this process to do this video and it was all done, I realized that I shouldn’t be writing my own scripts.
And, the other thing that ends up happening is when you read somebody else’s script and you realize it’s telling your story better than you can tell it, that’s a real eye opener.
And then it stays with you, you know, over time.
So your messaging improves because you actually went ahead and did this.
And so it’s not it’s a it’s a video that you are now sending out on as a first touch with prospects. Right?
Yeah. And, you know, it it’s the first time they meet me. It’s a you know, and through, our website, you know, there’s a way for us to send this out to, you know, new prospects.
And what I’m getting in terms of feedback from this is, you know, in one of these clips, there’s a picture of a high school. Somebody came back to me and said, you know, your high school looks just like my high school.
You know? Or, you know, I had this happen in my family when I was growing up, and and I understand what you’re talking about. So there’s an emotional connection that you make with the folks that watch this. And I just think that it’s an interesting way to have a personal connection, with others. And you only have to do this once.
Right? And have it edited, you know, professionally, and you’ll have something that can tell your story better than you can per se.
One of the things you said that I really wanna touch on is that somebody watches the video and then they pull out things of it. Oh, this high score, this part of your story, and it allows them to create a connection with you of things that are go well beyond the financial planning that you offer or, you know, any of the other more service oriented aspects.
And I think that that is such a key component. You know, if someone comes in your office, they see on the wall where you went to college or they see a picture of your kids. There’s all these touch points that happen in person that help us forge connection. Digitally, we don’t always have that.
And so these videos allow somebody to have online conversations that we normally would have offline and build that personal connection. At the end of the day, I mean, most people are choosing an adviser, sort of table stakes that you’re able to perform at a certain level, and people are choosing you because of the personal connection, or am I gonna like working with you? Right? So video does such a good job of conveying that.
Oops. I’m gonna go to the next slide.
That next story is Joe’s process story, and it’s really about how he works with clients.
If you think about all of the touch points you have with a prospect as they are moving from first discovering you through becoming a client and you’re onboarding them.
We picked these three evergreen stories because they really are extra touch points you can drop into that building of a relationship and building of trust. We’d love to have the first video that goes out be something personal. So Joe’s founder’s video going out in an email with a first touch with a lead, that’s perfect. The process video can play a really important role as a post discovery meeting touchpoint. So So oftentimes, you’re sitting down with a prospect. You’re talking about you’re finding out about them and then talking about how you work with clients.
By sending a video after, you can reinforce, you know, these are the steps we take you through. Joe and his video really does that in a nice way, laying out, you you know, these are the seven pillars of our process, and it makes it very client focused more what the prospect is looking for, less of here’s what I do.
Yeah.
And go ahead, Sam.
Oh, I was gonna say when one of the questions that came in is we’re describing these videos. So these videos are things you can send out. They’re evergreen, but also can live on your website under the how we work with clients page or that founder story could be on the home page. What’s your advice one of the questions that came in from Brad is, what’s your advice for how long these should be? So, obviously, if we’re sharing something on social media, we have a different attention span than someone who’s maybe referred to us or on our website. But what what should the length be?
I always like to think about where they are in your lead funnel. So up at the top, they have the shortest attention span. The farther down into your lead funnel they are, the longer they will listen to you.
For Joe’s videos, he’s in about the two minute range, and, frankly, our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter.
When my cofounder and I started the business in twenty fourteen, the standard was much more around the three minute mark.
Now we produce a lot of videos for advisers that are under thirty seconds. But for this kind of video, what you’ll find is you don’t have time to tell a story and then bridge it into something about your business unless you’re running about ninety seconds or two minutes. So keeping the audience’s short attention span in mind for these kinds of videos we’re talking about, I would shoot for the two minute mark.
The ones that are gonna more live on your website or be evergreen over time, not just yeah. Okay. Good.
So we’ve got the, process video, the intro video, and let’s go to The last video we have in this sequence is the nudge video.
And, I mean, in a perfect world, every prospect you talk with is, converting on-site. Right? Suddenly, they’re becoming a client. They love you. They’re ready to sign up. But what we know to be true is that there are definitely cases where you meet a prospect.
They feel like a good fit for you. You’re a good fit for them, but they don’t convert.
And the third video is the nudge because nobody wants to come off as salesy, but you do want a chance to be able to follow-up with that prospect and see if, you know, now the time might be right. So Joe produced a video, talking to that prospect, the the person who might have been a right fit, as a kind of a reengagement play. Joe, have you used this one yet?
I have. And I smile every time I send it out to somebody because it’s friendly.
Mhmm.
Right? It isn’t like calling somebody on the phone going, well, you know? No. It’s it’s like, hey. I enjoyed meeting with you. We talked about the process.
It’s it’s sometimes getting the inertia to get started is is all you need.
And it’s a nice friendly checking back with you type piece, and I really like how it came out.
I love that. I have to tell you a funny story real quick, everybody here.
We have, somebody at FMG who was working with an adviser who really wanted to get started working with FMG, but they kept like, like it just kept getting pushed to the bottom of the pile of things to do. So, finally, the salesperson recorded a quick video just using, I believe, Loom or Zoom, one of those platforms that we all are familiar with. And they sang the song, I’m never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down. And they recorded it, and they sent it to them saying, like, just wanted to bring you a smile.
I’m gonna keep checking in because I know this marketing is gonna help your business. And the person wrote back to them and was like, I’m ready to sign up today. You know? They it just was so fun, and they knew that the personality of the prospect didn’t that video nudge, identifying with the person instead of making them feel guilty that they haven’t gotten back to you saying, like, no pressure.
I’m here. I’m I’m gonna be here when you’re ready. I think that’s really the the key message there.
Yeah. And moving moving that prospect to action too and incorporating humor really makes it, well received. We had an advisory team create a video that they were sending out at the six month mark as a reengagement step. And they talked about, you know, what could you have done in the last six months if we were working together?
You know? Oh, I love that. You could have been working on your dad bod. You could have been training for a marathon.
Like, what could you you accomplished in six months? And then they talked about the the process of financial planning. So being funny, being unexpected, it really is a great way to connect.
So good. So, Joe, have you gotten feedback from anybody you’ve sent these to?
Yeah. I I do. I get feedback from them. It’s always positive.
And you know what’s funny is them using your own words.
You know, I really like when you said this or that. And, and and I like to use the word professionally.
You know? Before I had these videos, during COVID, you know, I was doing seminars before COVID, and I started to record everything and do webinars. Right?
And and then after COVID ended, we decided we were gonna keep recording everything and create a digital, you know, content, spot on the website.
So, you know, our our our FMG website now has by year the content.
And who wants to watch somebody for thirty minutes? Right? But then what happened was you get a phone call, I missed this event. You know? Well, I’m gonna send you the recording.
Right? And I had I had a prospect ask me a question on something, and and they said, well, I I’ve got a fifteen minute, you know, piece that I did on that. Let me just send that to you, and I’ll follow-up next week with a phone call. Who does that?
Right? Who who’s got content on subjects they can send people? And, you know, that’s that’s not everybody, I gotta think, has that in their back pocket. So that’s how that started.
And COVID, you know, forced me to do it. And and then you you’re watching yourself on video, and you just hate yourself. Right?
But then you evolve, and you get better. And, yeah. It it it’s been, and it and it’s it’s been all video since. You know?
I love that. Laura, a question that came in was, are these nudge videos? Are we making a new one every time, or do we have one video we can just send to multiple prospects?
Yeah. So in Joe’s case, his is Evergreen. So he’s using it over and over and over. Some advisers certainly have kind of the message planned, but recorded each time, in a platform like Loom or something like that and use the ad or the prospect’s name.
Name. Okay. What what Joe is doing is in an email format, he’s customizing the email copy and then using an evergreen video, which from a video hack will save you time. If you’re trying to record it once and use it many times, having something that doesn’t have to be customized every time probably is going to increase the odds that this is going to be part of your SOP.
I I was gonna say the more we can systematize this, the the better for sure. And then what about what people should be wearing on the videos?
Ryan Hemmert is asking, should we be dressed a little bit more approachable, casually? Or, I mean, in my opinion, I’m gonna say that you should dress the way you would dress when you meet with clients, but I’d love to know what you think were.
Bingo. Exactly.
If you’re in a suit and tie, if you’re wearing, you know, if you got the coat on, then wear that in your videos. But if that’s not how you show up, if you show up in a T shirt, then record your videos in a T shirt.
I love that. So keep all your good questions coming. These are so good. So we’re gonna transition a little.
So these are the three videos. The intro video, the process, and the nudge are the three if you cannot be consistent for the time or place in your life that you’re in right now, these are the three videos we suggest you record because you can at least get them on your website. You can use them as part of your prospect funnel and follow-up, and they can go a long way as an evergreen video. But let’s say you are gonna start recording videos more often, maybe weekly or monthly on different topics, or you just wanna repurpose these videos in other ways.
I’m gonna now show you some different ways you can use these videos in your marketing. So let me go back and share my screen again.
Okay. So you’ve got the video now. What do you do with it? So, if you are working with IdeaDecanter or Laura’s group, obviously, they’re gonna do the video editing, for you.
But if you’re a DIYer and you wanna, you know, record a video on your desktop, a great tool that I love is Veed because you can use Veed to add subtitles, to cut sections out where you mess up. You can as you can see here, I just typed the the thumbnail that I wanted to appear. It’s very, very user friendly, and they do have a free plan as well. So once you’ve got that video, you wanna, you know, make clean it up a little bit at the very, minimum.
Get rid of any dead space at the beginning or end and add subtitles because so many people will watch the video with the sound off. So if you’re gonna put it, you know, out on social media, places like that, you wanna make sure that you add subtitles. Laura, do you have any other video editing? Because, obviously, there’s not just one right tool.
What other are there any other ones you recommend?
Yeah. I mean, you get kind of the same interface when you’re recording a video in Loom.
So that’s definitely another option. If you’re uploading a video to YouTube’s creator studio, there are also editing options there. If you’re a pro user of Canva, there are ways to edit videos there, that are all kind of ace basic. You’re limited in, you know, what how you can ramp audio or overlay things. But, any of those platforms, what whatever you feel most comfortable with, dive in.
Awesome.
And then once you’ve got that video, I do like to encourage people to post it to YouTube just because YouTube think of it as just another place to get found online. It can’t hurt to put it there and publicly allow people to find you. And, you know, if they’re searching YouTube comes up, and they can go watch those videos. So, obviously, you wanna add it to your FMG website or whatever website provider you’re using.
If you have something that’s more long form, like, it’s not an intro video, but it’s maybe more timely. Like, hey. This is what’s happening with current, tax cut cuts and jobs act, and we wanna talk to you about it. So it’s more of a vlog style, then you wanna also include the transcript because that is going to help the search engines find that video.
So let’s go through these and break them down a little bit more clearly. So first, you’re gonna add it to your website.
Again, you wanna put that intro video right on your home page, and you can do it a couple different ways. I really like to have the video next to some text rather than it taking up the whole screen just to think it looks a little bit cleaner.
And you don’t want it to be on autoplay with the sound on because so many people might, you know, be on your website and maybe they’re in in a meeting where they’re not supposed to be. You know? We don’t want the sound to just turn on. We wanna make sure that they have to click, in order for the sound to come on. But this is a great one to put on your your website for people when they’re landing on your page to not have to read everything. They can just watch the intro to your firm.
Another I would like to also emphasize that when you think about your website, the number one place that your prospects are going is your home page. So if you’re only going to add one video to your website, put it on your home page because that just increases the chances that people visiting your website have a chance to hear from you.
I love that. Yeah. That is one hundred percent the most visited page. A new thing we’ve been seeing a lot of advisers execute, especially with a team that’s kind of fun, is video bios. So you can have everybody on your team, or if you’re a solo practitioner, it could just be you, record just a little bit of your why or your backstory. So instead of them reading the bio, they get to hit play and hear from you, you know, why you love what you do, who you specialize in working with. So that is a really, really great option as well.
Which is also a great idea because if you heat map your website, the second most popular page for every adviser website I’ve ever looked at is your bio page. So if you can drop video in places where folks are already going, then it increases the chances that they’ll know, like, and trust you.
One hundred percent.
And then we talked about this a little bit, but if you are somebody who wants to get more consistent with creating video beyond those more static videos that are gonna evergreen videos are gonna last for longer periods of time, and you want it to be more timely or answering a question. Right? So should I tax lost harvest in railroad retirement? This is a great example from advisers.
You can turn it into a a blog, really, where you’re answering a question that clients or prospects would have in video form. And then, again, you can see under here it says transcript, and then it lists out what he’s saying because Google is not going to crawl the video, but it will crawl the transcript on your site. So from an SEO perspective, you wanna make sure you include, the transcript as well.
And then we talked a little bit before about email and the email nudge.
Using video and email, I think, is actually really underrated. I barely get any emails that have videos in them from somebody trying to send me a personalized message. So I’m not surprised, Joe, that when you send that video nudge, people people respond to it or the story I shared earlier because people just don’t get them that often.
One thing that we are super excited to announce is that with FMG’s platform now, you can actually on any email that you have, there’s a little widget that says add video section, and you can upload your video directly from your desktop without needing to first upload it to YouTube or Vimeo. Sometimes when you’re sending an email, you don’t wanna seem like, oh, I’m sending you to YouTube. This is a one to many video. You want it to feel very personalized and one to one.
So we have this section. You can upload a video, and then this is so cool. You can drag to what still image from the video you want to be the thumbnail so that when someone clicks play, that’s the section they see. So this is all hosted in your FMG dashboard.
You don’t have to upload it anywhere first. You don’t have to make an extra thumbnail. And then when the person gets your email, it’s gonna feel like a very personalized one to one video message that you created just for them, but you can really do it once and repurpose it for many people, like the example that Joe gave us before.
Research indicates that a an email with a video in it gets two hundred percent more engagement than a standard email, which is jaw dropping to me. But one thing to think about when you’re sending a video in an email is that our inboxes are cluttered these days. We get a lot of things coming at us. And so if you really want someone to notice you in the inbox, it’s to add that word video in the subject line. So there’s no mistaking that there’s a video in this email.
Absolutely.
You took the words right out of my mouth.
I love that so much. So we talked a lot about different ideas of getting started with video. Let’s talk specifically for advisers who want to work with idea decanter and FMG. How are we helping? Laura, do you wanna start?
Well, I would love to share how Joe created his videos remotely. And together, we worked on some custom scripts with him. We shipped him a pop up studio, and he joined one of our performance coaches. We call them kit coaches in, in that remote studio, and he got coached through delivering his stories, with the help of a teleprompter, and then he had the pro editing.
So all of those things are great. And then Joe’s got a compliance approved video at the end of that process and an FMG website to plug it into. So just like Sam was talking through, you know, what steps do you take with the video? It has to be hosted somewhere.
And then the second thing you should do with it is find a home for it on your website. And so that was really valuable for Joe to be able to take these things and plug them in to, spots on his website.
Another cool thing that hooks IdeaDecanter and FMG together, and Joe is, kind of in the in the the infancy process of this, is, those motion videos at the top of a website. And, I don’t know that we’ve all come to agree on what the name of that video is. I hear but what we’re talking about is the motion, that you see at the top of this website Sam’s showing.
And it really set can set a website apart. It captures, attention.
I actually read a stat from Forbes that embedding a hero or background video on your website can boost your conversion rates by eighty percent, which was stunning to me. But Joe’s got one of these in process.
I think he’s in the final stages of compliance approval, and his brand new FMG website’s going to be Hope yeah.
Hopefully, when we send the follow-up to everybody of the replay and the slides, it will be live, and we’ll include a link so you can all check out Joe’s new site too. But, yeah, the these background images I don’t know about all of you, but this is just so much more compelling and dynamic, to have this. So you can actually help advisers create this and then provide it to us in exactly the format we need for our website design team to put it into the site. Right, Lauren?
Yeah. There’s this super easy handoff between idea decanter and FMG, and your site comes to life in a really special way.
And I love that. I guess in the under the column of coming soon, for everyone in the different program, we are working on a project together to make it super easy for you to, take your made for you monthly content and click a link and join a remote studio so that you can record videos, for all of the reasons Sam said you should for social media, for website, for email, and really make it easy for you to make that happen.
Yeah. So for those of you who don’t know what our, do it for me, we the internal acronym we use is DIPM, but it’s do it for me. For years and years, I’ve been going and giving talks like this, workshops, and student leader, our CMO, does as well. And advisers would say, this is all great, but can you just do it for for me?
And so we created this program where, as you see, every month, you’re given an editorial calendar. Or I should start by saying, first, you, are paired up with somebody from our team as your marketing concierge. So they first get to know you and your business. There’s a discovery call, and then every month, you meet with that marketing concierge, and they will execute this on your behalf.
So you’re given a editorial calendar with emails, social media posts, blog posts, that we know are going to work well to move the needle with, you know, the conversations you’re having with clients and prospects. You can see it’s color coded, tells you what’s gonna be going out every week, and then there’s even additional content options depending on if you work with business owners or women in transition or you wanna reach out to certain, you know, COIs.
And all of this is given to you, and then you just tell your concierge yes to this, no to that, or just do it all as is, and it is all executed for you. And this is really you know, it’s it’s like having Susan and I write and execute your marketing strategy for you every single month. And so what Laura was talking about is we’ve now added in that a video script that we will write for you so that every month additional of getting all this, you have the script, and you’d be able just to plug and play and record through, Laura’s program so that it’s, again, all done for you. So we are really excited about this new, system as well.
And if you’re interested in learning more about, FMG or our do it for me program, this is a QR code that you can scan, or, of course, you can go to our, get a demo page and find a time to meet with our team. But, yeah, we the do it for me program is one of our most popular programs or the most popular. It’s just because we know that so many people are very, very busy, and the more that we can streamline the marketing process but also have it, you know, be personalized, the better. So, we’d be happy to talk with you and tell you more.
Okay. Laura, if somebody would like to learn more about working with you all, where should they go to find out more?
Well, I can drop it in the chat. It’s idea to canter dot com, our website, and we have all kinds of information about ways that we can work with you there. I wanted to answer a question I saw from Brian in the chat. He said, should the process video be more about issues we can solve for clients versus a step by step of our process?
Think that’s a great question.
And and, ultimately, it’s entirely up to you.
But your audience, think of them as egomaniacs.
I want it to be about me. And so however you set it up, I think you need to make sure you’re talking about what matters to them and how your process helps them.
Yes. One hundred percent. Joe, for those folks that are listening in and they always everyone loves to hear from an adviser who’s been there, done that, what would you say has been, you know, maybe just a takeaway that you would love to to impart with folks who are considering getting started with video or getting back into it after a while?
My two thoughts are, we’re advisers. We’re we’re not creative people.
Okay? And, you know, we’re also not scriptwriters, and we’re also not video editors.
So, I’m a fan of letting professionals that do it do it, and do it earlier than you think that you want to. And if you hate it, keep doing it till you don’t hate it anymore.
Because it’s going to improve your messaging.
And you are gonna internalize this when you go through the process, and you will be able to speak in a better way to your target audience than you would have before you started the process.
We did an analysis internally of the time that our team spends each month creating content for advisers like Joe, and it added up to eighteen hours.
And advisors spend about one hour a month with us. And so I think I am all for DIY. If you feel like you’re not challenged by the tech, you’re gonna be able to keep yourself on track, and you really understand connecting with your target audience with messaging.
But then you also have to weigh, do I need some help, or is this worth my time? Like, what’s the best use of the hours you have in your day?
And I I really love what you said before, Joe, about messaging, how you wrote your story. But then by working with Laura’s team, they pulled out maybe the most salient points that they felt would connect with your audience because that is really such the secret to great marketing and messaging is we all ultimately if someone asks us a question about ourselves, we could talk about ourselves. But how do we pull out the points that are gonna forge that connection and go back to that, you you know, it’s all about them. It’s all about the the person we’re trying to connect with.
And, you know, people care less about what we can do. They wanna know what can we do for them. And so, you know, working with Idea Decanter and FMG, that’s our sweet spot is we really help you come up with marketing that helps the client say, yes. This person works with people just like me and, you know, self identify.
So any other closing questions? I’m looking through here right now if there’s any other questions that came in. But we just wanna thank you all. Hopefully, this was helpful and gave you some ideas for ways to get started and how to use those videos in your marketing.
Ryan is saying thank you. Excellent content, and it’s clear your pros. That is so kind. Thank you so much.
I saw someone saying, Sam, you talk a lot with your hands. So, see, don’t worry. If you talk a lot with your hands, it’s okay. You can just be authentic in your videos, and no one nobody won’t mind.
Alright. I think we answered all of the questions. So thank you, everyone. Joe, Laura, thank you so much. It was a pleasure spending this hour with you, and enjoy the rest of your day.
Have a great one.
Thank you.
