The TRUTH About Creating Engaging Content (How To Do It The RIGHT Way 2024)

Yo, howdy Media Insiders group! Hope you are having a wonderful Friday today. We're going to be talking about how to make engaging content as a business owner, as a creative. We're going to be talking about how to make engaging content as well as just hanging out, just doing a little bit of a Q&A. I'm here for about 30 minutes with you guys every single Friday. We do this, and if you can hear me, make sure to put yes in the chat. If you can hear me okay, put yes in the chat just so I can make sure we're on the right track. Thanks for joining us today. It's gonna be a fun stream. If you have any questions, if you have anything that's going on this week that you're like, man, I need some advice, I need some help, whether it's about content, whether it's about your business I'm here for you, and we're gonna get into some interesting topics today. Like I said, talking about engaging content. So we're live today on YouTube, we're live today in the Insiders Group on Facebook. If you're on YouTube and you want to join the Insiders Group, make sure to hit the link in the description. Then I need you to grab some coffee, not sponsored by Cola Baker. Grab a notebook and let's hang out. Let's hang out. What have you guys been posting this week? Have you seen anything that has worked on your social media? I want to know. I want to know. Big content advocate here, if you don't already know. If you're new to this page, if you're new to this community. We're big fans of good content, and good content can carry your business a long way. It's carried my business, Howdy Media, for the last 2 and a half years. It has launched it from the ground up, and I started in my college apartment. Now we're in a studio downtown Abilene making content, making videos, and not only for our own brand, but also for our clients' brands. And so it's been a cool time. We've seen content grow pages. We took one of our clients who's, who's in this group, her name's Autumn. We took her TikTok from zero followers. So she's well over 1,000 now. It's only been a few months. All she's doing, she's not doing anything crazy. All she's doing is posting consistently. So you got to post consistently, you got to make good content that people actually want to watch. Why are you here watching this today? You— because you want to learn something, hopefully at least. But grab your coffee, grab your notebook. I don't have a presentation made today or anything like I usually do, but we're gonna go ahead and get into it. So make sure to let me know where you're from, where you're watching from today's live stream. We got some Abilene folks in the house. What's up, Jace Thornton? How's it going, Iris? I believe you're in Abilene. How's it going? All right, so whenever you say engaging content, okay, what is— what does engaging content actually mean? So to me, what I've seen be beneficial and what works is content that has— first of all, you gotta have a good hook. So that's the first thing we're gonna be talking about and some ways you can apply this to your own videos. The second thing is storytelling, because every single piece of content you put out has to tell some sort of story, whether it's 3 seconds long or 3 minutes long. Or 3 hours long. It has to have a story of some sort or else people aren't gonna watch. So that's the second one. The third one, especially if you're a business owner, this is even more crucial. You have to have a strong call to action. So a hook that immediately solves a problem You have to storytell like no other, and you have to have a strong call to action at the end of the video. So what does a hook look like? Let me know in the comments what you think a good hook actually is, and if you've used a hook that has worked, let me know. This is also Q&A time, so don't forget Now's the time. If you have any questions, you need any advice about content or anything with your business, being a creative and navigating that, let me know. So hooks are probably the most important thing, and this, this comes in the form of video. This also comes in the form of titles. This also comes in the form of thumbnails, on-screen text when it comes to Reels. All these things come into effect. So whenever you're, you're posting on Instagram, if you've ever seen those trends where people are falling off the stretcher or falling off a chair, and as soon as they're about to hit the ground, it changes into somebody talking, that's called a hook. That is a more trendy hook that people often go back to and like to use, which they're good. Or if you see the ones of like people swinging a bat, they're in their batting practice and the ball flies at the screen and then you literally jump because you think it's coming at you. Those are all things that you remember. And if you can implement that sort of reaction and that sort of effect through every single video that you make, people are gonna watch. And so if you don't get a good hook, they're gonna scroll right past you. Whenever it comes to thumbnails, whenever it comes to titles, whenever it comes to YouTube, you have to have a good thumbnail, you have to have a good title, or they're going to keep scrolling. It's the same thing, same exact thing. Yeah, he says, you won't believe if I told you, let me show you how to get blank, insert problem, the best thing I did to get from this to this. All of those are great hooks. You won't believe if I told you, and then they're like, what do you mean? What won't I believe? I've also learned that using the same intro on your videos, like the first 3 seconds— what do you mean by that, Yelly? Like using the same intro on every single video for For all your videos? Anyways, yeah, let me show you how to get from here to here. Like saying the same thing, Ellie says. Being consistent, is that what you're talking about? Being consistent on the videos that you make? 'Come do this with me.' That's a good one. Yelly is a pro, you guys. I just want you to know, if you, if you're ever like, 'Man, is this a good video?' Yelly's also a good contact. Don't overwhelm her, but she's, she's awesome. She's taught us so much. But yeah, make sure you have a good hook. 'This is how I made $1 million in a day.' That's a good hook. Here's how I converted 10 friends into 10 clients. That's a good hook because you immediately want to know, immediately want to know. So yeah, hooks, make sure it's bold, make sure it's attention-grabbing. One time I started off a video with something about my cat who died or something and I got so many people who are like, what do you— what does that mean? And then I'm like, okay, may not have been related to the video, but they remembered the hook and they had to find out. They had to stick around. Most of the time you have to make sure somehow your story aligns with your hook. Now you can't be like clickbaiting people out here. I mean, I guess you can, but it's not very ethical, I guess. If you're watching on YouTube, welcome. Where are you guys watching from? If you're watching on the Facebook livestream, thanks for joining. Make sure to let me know where you're watching from there. Yelly says, or like, welcome back to insert the topic of your video, as people think they're coming back to something even if they're not. Okay, so this tactic has been used a lot. I've seen it a lot. I've done it myself. Like series, create series of some sort. Because if you think about it, whenever you sit down to watch your favorite show on Netflix, why are you coming back? It's because you're invested in the story. And so if you can make a story on your social media page, people will come back. So for example, I did Day in the Life of a Media Company for like 2 or 3 weeks straight. And people loved it. They kept coming back. They're like, when is another one? When's the next one? When's the next one? Like, first of all, those videos took me way too long to make because I'm a perfectionist and I think I have to use a dang cinema camera for everything. But people were invested in the story. They want to know what happens next. If you, if you set it up right, they'll come back. Yes, I love that series. I'm going to continue that series eventually. Um, yeah, there's, there's been a lot going on. We recently bought a house. We're going to be moving pretty soon. There's a lot of things going on in our world, and the business is growing, and it's great, and we're getting new clients. Um, anyways, we'll continue that series eventually. We've been also pushing YouTube very hard. If you haven't been on YouTube, I want to encourage you to get on YouTube because the amount of opportunities there are huge, especially whenever you have a business, and, and it can act as like your greatest lead funnel that is all organic if you do it right. So use storytelling is the second point. So what is a story? Okay, so there's a conflict and there's a solution at the end, a resolve, and the whole middle is showing how you got from the conflict to the resolve. So like Yele was saying, like, here's how I did this for this amount of time and got insane results. Then you tell, like, this is how it started, this is what I did. And then the end shows, and this is the final product, whatever it is. Use the words and, then, but, like a lot. Oh, Yatey in the house, congrats. Thanks, Yatey. Use those words like frequently and people will stay engaged with your content. And then this happened. But then this happened, and this is how it can continue to go on and make an interesting story. So if I was coming out— let's just use this mug as an example. Kolovanger. I used to be a realtor there, so that's why I have this. Like, 4 years ago, I was a realtor there. Um, if we were coming out with a new mug that was going to change lives Like, we would take— we would make a story out of it, and we would set it up like we were thirsty and we needed coffee, but we had nothing to put it in. And then we would go into our story. I wanted some coffee, but I didn't— but, you notice the but— but I didn't have a coffee mug. So then I went to the store. So then I went to the store. Jace, what's your YouTube channel? It's just Darren Pacheco. Just search up Darren Pacheco and you'll be able to find it there. Don't be afraid to hop on viral trends if it fits your business voice. Thanks, Will, for that. How you doing, Will? Kristoffer sent. Howdy, Media Ivy, Texas. So we have We have two channels. The one that I post regularly on is @TheDarrenPacheco, and I'll put it in, in the chat so you can go check it out. I actually need to take down the Howdy Media YouTube channel. I really only use that for like portfolio work, and people get, people get confused. I'm like, no, watch our main channel. But like I said, back to the story. If I, if I wanted to drink some coffee, I have to like, if I want to promote this mug and show how, how I can drink coffee with it, like there's the problem, which is I have nothing to put my coffee into. And then there's the plot, which is like the main story. It's like, how did I end up with no coffee cup? To getting the greatest coffee cup in the world. And in between there, I would make a story and using 'and then,' 'but then this happened,' 'while I was doing this, this other thing happened,' 'I tried to do this but it didn't go as planned.' Use those phrases and people will stick around and watch your stuff. So that's the second step, is storytelling. Second step is storytelling. Third step, and this really applies to businesses whenever you're making videos, especially if you have something to sell, which I think you should always have something to sell. And I do this in a lot of my videos. I don't do it in all of them because there are genuinely videos that I'm just trying to help people, kind of like these live streams. I just want to help you. Get better in whatever it is you're doing. And so the third one is having a call to action. And a call to action is saying like something more than thanks for watching, like lead them somewhere, especially on YouTube, or honestly any platform, like lead them somewhere. If you have a product, if you have a book that you're selling, lead them to your book. Make sure you have a link available for them to buy that book. If you have a service like, hey, we offer video production, make a video about cameras, and then at the very end offer to help them with something with their own video needs. Call to action. Make sure there's some action that they can take at the end of the video, and it goes with every single piece of content that you make. Even if the action is something as simple as like, put, like, put something in the comments or like put your name in the comments. Like today, one of my call to actions, and it's not necessarily a sales pitch or anything, it's just, where are you watching from? Just to engage. And it immediately starts off the conversation with you guys commenting. Which, if you haven't subscribed to the YouTube channel— how many, actually, how many of you are subscribed to the Darren Pacheco YouTube channel? I want to know. Let me know in the comments. And that's a call to action right there in front of your eyes. Let me know in the comments if you're subscribed to the YouTube channel. If you're watching on YouTube— hey, Jace, I see you on YouTube. Welcome, man. Make sure to hit the subscribe button if you're, if you're hanging out for a little bit. Yeah, we're posting every week on YouTube. We're posting every week on the Insiders Group, hanging out. This is just a community to honestly, for creatives, for, for business owners who are wanting to be creative. And utilize creativity to enhance their business. That's what this is for. And so if you're ever like wanting to post something, or if you make a video and you're like, man, how can I make this better? Put it in the group. And if you know anybody who you think would benefit from this stuff, if you know any business owner friends, make sure to invite them to the group. Completely free. Like, this is my way to serve the community because it has treated me so well. I'm giving back. And so I'm just wanting to help educate, encourage, especially in Abilene, because Abilene is about 4 to 5 years behind everything, everybody else in the state, in the country. And so I'm trying to push forward on these things like podcasting, like content creation. Because I've seen proof, living proof of these things coming to fruition, and it has changed lives. It has changed businesses, like, for the better. And so that's why I'm so passionate about it. The Lord put this on my heart, like, honestly, at the beginning of 2024 is whenever I started to feel that shift of like, hey, stop just trying to make sales and start going and helping people. Let's change that, Darren. I feel so lonely as a creator here. I know, that's what I'm saying. I want to start putting on some events in and around Abilene, and I want to start putting on online events for people who can't come to Abilene. And so, Yelly, if you have any ideas on that, let's freaking do it in 2025. We're gonna be putting more events on. We're gonna be doing more things in the community and giving people opportunities to connect, to network, to learn how to utilize content and take advantage of it because it's huge. I say this stat all the time and it's, the stat is mind-blowing and I say it like almost in every single video because it's so mind-blowing. Like, there are 5 billion people who get on social media every single day. 5 billion, that's with a B. Why would you not go where the people are watching through these videos, through this content, and stop sitting there scrolling on TikTok for 3 hours straight and being the consumer whenever you could flip it and you could be the creator and you could be taking advantage of it. That's just my thoughts. Jay says, add value before the sale. Absolutely. Before you ask for any money, before you ask for anything, add value. Give them free stuff and that will build that trust. That will build— that authority instead of sitting there begging for it. Just help them out and they'll help you out. And that's how you find your ideal clients, which I don't even know how we got on this whole shebang of adding free value, but the whole thing was engaging content. This livestream was for that. Will Yelly. So did you guys know each other beforehand, or what? I'm confused. I've worked with Will on a few projects, classified projects. That's awesome. Thanks for joining the stream today, guys. We have about 6 more minutes before I gotta hop off and I gotta go work at our new house. Gang gang! Haha, don't violate that NDA, dude. I know. Hey, hey man, I'm being careful. We go way back, then she became famous. Oh my goodness, that's awesome. Yelly's been to a few of our like Team Nights for Howdy Media, and she's helped us out tremendously with— she just has so much good insight and good experience on this sort of thing. And I was like, yeah, you've got to be a part of the Insider's Group. And guess what? She is on every single livestream that we've been doing every single week. For a while, I was doing these daily. Now I had to scale back and just do them once a week because whenever you start putting more content out there, the more business you get. The more business you get, the less time you have to make content. So it's all about finding a balance. Jimmy Dale Abner, thanks, congratulations on the house. Thanks, man, we're excited, we're excited. Shout out, I don't even know if you're with Coldwell Banker anymore, but It's a good place, good place. Literally, I haven't used this mug in like 4 years. Like, I didn't— I got it in my like welcome bag whenever I first became a realtor 4 years ago. I found it the other day in a closet, like literally a few weeks ago. I was like, hey, that's a, it's a nice mug. Yeah, we should all totally get something together. I've been wanting to put on, and honestly, in my mind The DoubleTree was the first place that popped up in my head whenever I was thinking about doing something like this. And, and I would love some insight to see what you guys have as ideas, because I am— I've been thinking about doing like events to where people can come and network, obviously learn about content, learn about business, and learn about leadership. Because I'm huge into leadership. Like, I'm literally reading books every single day. And it's funny because I didn't read— like, I didn't like reading books in school, but when I found out I was actually reading stuff that I was interested about, like, that's— I, my whole mindset shifted. It's like whenever I find that thing that I am passionate about, I can read about it for days straight. It's so interesting to me. Oh, Will says a rural marketing summit would make so much sense. We could get speakers from all over the network, like a rural marketing brew. I love it. Yes, I already have some connections in DFW. That of people who like to speak at events. I honestly like to speak at events too. Obviously I would be more of like, I kind of want to do more of a content thing and maybe do some stuff on video and how to implement it in your business and strategy for YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, all of that. And then we could bring in people, even like business, uh, leadership gurus, like the big names. We could eventually get there. We could eventually, uh, Jimmy Dale says, I'm not a realtor at all, it's all cattle trading and managing the feedlot. My wife is fixing to come work for me and plan on putting out a ton of content. I love that. Okay, so you're not doing real estate at all anymore. Do you still have your license, Shamir? I can probably work up a collaboration here local to get a place too. Just a thought, but I like the DoubleTree idea. Shoot, Yelly, we could book whatever we want. See, look, Yelly's on our team, all right? Move out of the way, let us have the stage. That's all we gotta do, Yelly. Man, that's awesome, Jimmy. Now I'm glad that's going good. What kind of content are you gonna be putting out for that? I'm curious. Are you gonna get a drone and do like a bunch of FPV stuff? Trading cattle like a day trader, enjoyed a lot more. Good. You know what could be cool for you if you get like a Insta360 makes a little tiny miniature camera, or even a GoPro. Like, you get a GoPro, but like just having it on your chest and just recording throughout the day. And if something crazy happens, glasses for POV stuff. Yeah, you can get those glasses. Who makes those? Is it Ray-Ban or Meta? Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Snapchat tried to make them. I think they still have a version of them, but It's kind of dumb, honestly. I don't know about you guys, but I hate Snapchat. Who uses Snapchat? Let me know in the comments. Ray-Ban, yep. I wonder if you could livestream from those. Might be doing a livestream from the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses. That would be sick. The prescription ones aren't cheap. No, I bet they are not cheap. Will, have you used these glasses before? I feel like, I feel like you would be the one to just wear them every day. Golf videos? Okay, dude, when are we going golfing? That's the real question. I freaking love golf. I suck at golf, but I love it so much. There's nothing else like it. I'm ready anytime you are. Shoot, maybe we'll have to wait till spring whenever it's not raining. I played winter golf before and I actually— yeah, it was bad. I actually went to play winter golf last year in Anson, Texas at the golf course there, and it was completely dead. It was like you just hit on dirt the whole time, and it was not good. And then I played at the Southside Country Club here in Abilene in the winter, and it was about 30 mph freezing winds. Like, it was— I I mean, it was still fun, but it wasn't as fun as a nice either fall morning or spring morning. Gonna bring back my talk show, Christ Coffee and Cattle. Lots of educating consumers, but in a way only Jimmy Dale can do it. That sounds like a trailer right there. Welcome back to Christ Coffee and Cattle. Only Jimmy Dale can do it. That's a good one. So I guess you're gonna do it in like a podcast style, Jimmy Dale. Speaking of podcasts, do you— who has a podcast if you're watching? I know I've been talking a lot about podcasts recently on my everything that I've been putting up, but it's because I'm such a big believer in podcasts. Because like, name anything else where somebody will just hang out with you for like an hour to 2 hours talking about whatever, and all it's doing the whole time is building authority, it's building trust, you're building that relationship. And according to Google, it takes about 7 hours for someone to watch you online before they'll buy something from you. So if you don't have 7 hours of content, first of all, you got to get 7 hours of content up. Yes, sir. Originally started on Snapchat in 2014, a show on Snapchat. Okay, but want to figure out having a Facebook and YouTube. Jimmy Dale, I would push YouTube freaking hard. I am considering one, still debating about the podcast. I don't know. Okay, Yelly, what would your podcast be about? Would it be about helping moms who need to declutter? Niche. I think it boils down to me not having the margin or bandwidth. You know, that's fair enough. That's fair enough. You've got a lot going on. It's hard, and that's one of the reasons, like A lot of people who film here at the studio, like, they become a member because they're like, first of all, I don't know how. Which, um, Yelly, I'm not necessarily talking about you here, but like, they, they have all these stories, they have these things they want to do, but they don't know how to film it. They don't know how social media works. They don't know how to edit. What kind of software they need. And so that's where I'm like, I see a gap where we're able to help with some of that so that you can still get your story out, but we can help with the backend. Tech dummies like Jimmy Dale. Oh my gosh. Hey, man, I didn't say it. Just life in general through the lens. Of a mom, you know, your audience could be massive, especially since you already have an audience on Instagram. Oh my gosh, Yelly. And guess what? Your, your audience right now on Instagram is probably all those moms. You literally talk, start talking about your podcast, you're gonna probably have 5,000 to 10,000 listeners in the first week, and you may just put it on YouTube. That way you can get monetized, and that way it's exclusively on YouTube, and you can start making some ad revenue. Probably gonna have to hire you next year. Hey, we're here, we're here, Yelly. You don't have to hire us, we'll help you out. We'll help you out. All right, well, I went way past my time limit today, but It was a good time hanging out with you guys. Um, if you're watching on YouTube, make sure to join the Howdy Media Insiders group. If you're part of the Insiders group, thanks for being a part of this community. It's a super fun and awesome thing that I'm starting. There's 171 people now in the group, and so It's awesome, it's been crazy to see that kind of growth and these people come together who have similar interests and just are genuinely curious about the social media thing and wanting to learn. And so again, if you know anybody who you think would be a good fit for this group, make sure to send them an invite. It's free, it's on Facebook, everybody has Facebook, right? Or is that only like a, like a, a millennial thing. I mean, I don't know, I don't know. Good to catch up, happy to connect with others. You can't wait to have an event? Let's go, Yelly! Yes, we are making it happen. Grew from 2.5 to 3.7 on YouTube, like 3,700 subscribers. In that case, you should be already monetized. You probably already know all that. That is awesome. Have you been promoting that on your Instagram very much? Amen. We're here to make good things happen for other people. Yes, 3,700, and no, haven't promoted it. I'm trying to do it organically. Man, that's impressive. Hey, I— you'd be proud of me, Yelly. I have 100— I'm almost at 150 subscribers now on YouTube. It's all about whenever I posted every single day last week and I doubled my subscribers. It's insane. I didn't start— I didn't start YouTube but like 1 or 2 months— probably like 2 months ago I actually started making videos. It's been— it's been cool to see. And my next goal is to get monetized, and then after that, the sky is the freaking limit. I'm pumped. Shout out to Levi Nix. For encouraging me, encouraging me and showing how lucrative it can be. It's really cool, actually. Yes. And then we could do collabs. I guess we could still do collabs, but I guess our target audience is a little different. I'm out here trying to reach like creators who are making money through their creativity, through their content, and then business owners who want to get into content to grow their business. So we'll see what happens. But it was a good stream today. Again, thanks for watching. Rashad, you just joined at the end. No. Anyways, thanks for hopping on. Uh, every single Friday, don't forget, we go live. I'm trying to do 1 o'clock every single Friday. Today I had to push it back because I had some other appointments that that I had already scheduled. But make sure to join every single Friday. Make sure to engage in the group. If you're watching this after the fact, make sure to engage in the comment section. Let me know where you're watching from. It's always fun to talk to you guys. All right guys, I will see you next Friday. Y'all have a good one.