Meeting Topic

INTRODUCTION FOR NEXT MEETING TOPIC:

To kick off our STRATEGY pillar for this year, we’re starting with a topic that has been on everyone’s lips for the past few months in our business circles – VIDEO! In this week’s article, Carrie Harman walks us through the ‘how-to’ of including video in your business and marketing strategies for 2022/23.

Read the article and in your 60-second introduction, consider sharing YOUR take on the use of video in your business… how do you feel you could BEST utilise it to showcase what makes you and your business special?

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In practical terms, what does all this mean?

WANT to create and use videos

Don’t just do video because you’ve been told you should or feel like you have to use videos to compete. To be consistent, sustainable, and effective you have to WANT TO USE VIDEOS. Otherwise, it will turn into one of those business tasks that you always put off, and you’ll start to dread doing it. And that will show. It’s one thing to push yourself slightly out of your comfort zone, but it’s another matter altogether if it fills you with dread. Saying that, if the desire is strong enough, even tasks that scare you can be achieved with help and support, and you don’t have to a) be in all your videos yourself OR b) tackle the task of creating videos for your business alone.

Know WHY you are using videos

Just like any other piece of content, every video you put out there should have a purpose. Think about the key purposes of content marketing – Promote | Educate | Inspire | Entertain.

Each video you create should fulfil one of these purposes. To have an effective video marketing strategy you should cover each of those purposes across your videos.

Here are some examples of what these could look like:

Promote: Attention-grabbing shots set to music of your product/service in use. Talk directly to the camera and personally invite people to an event or sale, or to work with you. Promote a special or limited time offer. Share the value your product or service has.

Educate: Answer FAQs. Discuss industry news or trends. Talk through the process of working with you. Address common misconceptions within your industry. Upskill your audience on a task.

Inspire: Demonstrate the impact your service or product has through case studies, testimonials and reviews. Share ‘user-generated content’ (videos your clients make using or about your product/service). Demonstrate your product in use. Give your audience a peek inside your business with a tour behind the scenes.

Entertain: This is where you can share those funny reels and take the opportunity to show your personality, lighten the mood, resonate and establish connections with your dream customers.

Align your videos with your overall marketing strategy

Look at video as another form of content that you can use to SAY THE SAME THING.

Repetition works, and repetition sells.

You don’t have to have new or different information across your different types of content, in fact, it works far better when you don’t. Be consistent in your messaging, and consistently show up saying the same thing. Potential customers need to “hear” your message at least 7 times before they’ll take action to buy or work with you.

And remember, different people prefer different types of content anyway. Ask around your Venus meeting and I can guarantee that there will be a mix of preferences between reading and watching.

Repurpose, Repurpose, Repurpose!

Published a blog or article? Turn it into a video!

Sharing behind the scenes photos? Take a quick video as well!

Doing an intro post on your social media? Record an intro video as well (your 1 min elevator pitch is a great starting point for this!)

Asking for client reviews? Ask for videos ones as well – or whip out your camera at the end of your next client session and film one on the spot.

Look at your website and turn each section into separate videos!

And all this works vice-versa as well! There’s a tone of info in any video that can be repurposed into other content!

Ensure your videos are on-brand

If you are putting in the effort to make videos, you want to make sure they are aligned with your brand and recognisable as YOUR business. There is so much visual content on social media that you want to ensure people know the video is from YOUR business.

You also want to keep in mind your brand values and tone, and ensure your videos align with these. Be the person on video that you are with your clients or customers in-person.

Prioritise it

Make a plan and schedule a time to get your videos done, just as you would with any other marketing task. Once it’s in your diary, honour that and prioritise it. And a bonus tip – don’t try to plan AND film your videos in the same session. Both tasks take time and energy, so schedule your video planning sessions and video creating sessions separately for best results.

If you’ve ever felt tempted to give video a go, bear these tips in mind and go for it! Video is not a silver bullet, but with time and consistency, it can give you great ROI on the time, energy and investment you put in to doing it.

You can find out more about Carrie Harman and how she helps her clients capture GREAT videos to help execute their business strategy on her website:  https://carrieharmancreative.co.nz/

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Next Meeting Topic

Set Aside Time to THINK! By Jennifer Myers, MBA, CBC

In this fortnight’s instalment for the strategy Pillar, our author dives into the 10 (YEP!) ways we can invest in THINKING TIME to positively impact our businesses.

From ‘big picture’ to ‘creative’ to ‘bottom line’, when we set aside regular time to consider HOW we do things, WHO we serve and WHY we’re special (among other things), we set ourselves up for true success and longevity.

Read the article and consider speaking to one of the 10 points in your 60-second introduction.

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In my work as a business coach over the past decade, I have witnessed so many clients’ businesses moving forward by leaps and bounds when they begin to set aside a specific time each week to work ON their business.  By working ‘ON’, I mean THINKING about your business. Not worrying about things or over-focusing on what didn’t get done today. I mean investing time to think critically about HOW you do things, WHO you serve, WHY you’re special! Thinking literally increases your value to your business and your team (if you have one). In this article, I’ll share 10 different types of thinking that we can employ when it comes to working ON our businesses – betcha’ didn’t know there were 10 different types of thinking, eh?

1. Big Picture – ‘Big picture’ thinking is stepping away from the day-to-day and considering your longer-term goals and objectives. Re-visit your vision for your business. Set those annual goals and review your progress against them.
2. Focused – When we set aside a distraction-free zone for ourselves, we’re helping our brains to focus on a specific task or problem. This is problem-solving time. Focused thinking can help you weigh up options and opportunities and then make the appropriate decision.
3. Creative – Creative thinking involves, for example, looking at HOW you do something and considering how you can do that thing just 1% better. Creative thinking will help you come up with new and interesting topics for your fortnightly newsletter or your daily social media post.
4. Realistic – Realistic thinking comes into play when we need to weigh up the IMPACT of taking a certain action. For example, ‘If I make a change to how I communicate with my clients, how will that impact on their experience?’ or ‘If I change up this piece of software, what impacts will it have in other areas of my business?’
5. Possibility – Possibility thinking is ‘no-limits’ thinking! If money and time were of no consequence, what would you do in your business? What could you do if you were fearless?
6. Strategic – I like to think of ‘strategic’ thinking as ‘lateral’ thinking. Making connections where connections aren’t immediately obvious. Strategic thinking comes into play when we begin to think about scaling our business, for instance. It also helps when we consider who else we need in our inner circle to help take us farther, faster in our business.
7. Reflective – This is the type of thinking that allows us the time and space to ask ourselves ‘What went well this quarter? What didn’t go so well? And What can I LEARN from that?’
8. Questioning – When we question the status quo, that’s a wonderful thing, because we shift ourselves our of our comfort zone. Asking ourselves WHY we do a certain thing a certain way is key for helping us try new things and dump things that aren’t working.
9. Shared – Shared thinking is the ‘mastermind’ or ‘inner circle’ concept. When we have a small group of people we can bring problems and unique challenges to and discuss possible solutions, we expand our thinking!
10. Bottom-Line – This type of thinking is all about how taking a certain action will impact your business’ profitability! Because let’s face it, if we aren’t profitable, we won’t be around very long! Ensure you weigh up your return on investment for each purchase, each hire or each CHANGE in your business before you jump in.

If you’d like to know more about Jennifer, check out her LinkedIn profile here OR visit her website here.

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