Small-business owners beat bigger competitors by sharing their genuine personal story on video. A landscaper who treats each lawn like his mother's builds trust and charges more than bland competitors. Record a simple video on your laptop explaining why your business exists, then post it.
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Using YouTube to brand your business. So I got a great question from one of my Patreon supporters, Dan Weiniger. I love you guys. Patreon is a new service that I signed up with. And he wrote in to say, "Hi Evan, I'd love to see a video on branding or using videos and YouTube to brand your small business." So I'm a big fan of YouTube. I'm a big fan of using videos. YouTube has become my favorite social media network. When I wake up every morning, I go to my computer, grab my lentils, or in this case, because I'm sick, I'm grabbing my honey tea in my Mickey Mouse cup, and I look at my YouTube comments. And why I love video is it's a great way for your prospects and for your customers to connect to you. If you want people to buy from you compared to your competition, especially if you're going up against big competitors, the difference is going going to be your story, right? Why should I buy from you over everybody else? It's because you have a passionate story, right? You believe in something special, right? And if I can feel that coming through the video, if I can watch your video and feel connected to you, I'm much more likely to buy from you. I have people who meet me at events, who, you know, if I'm walking down the street, they'll come up to me and they'll say, "Hey, Evan," and they know me, right? They know all stuff about me, which was a little scary at the start, start, but it's because I share a lot through my videos and people feel like they have a personal connection to me even though I have no idea who they are. And it's an opportunity. This is how you can stand out as an entrepreneur, is to tell your story and show your passion. Whatever business you're in, you're doing it because you're excited about it, right? You have a deep passion for it. It's not just to make money. If it is, you got to switch out and start a new business. But, you know, if you love gardening, if that's your thing, you know, you love gardening and you used to do it with your mom when you were young, and, you know, gardening is how you stay calm, and it's your form of meditation, and you love helping people with their gardens, and when you start talking about gardening, your face lights up, you get all excited, that's what I need to see. Because when I come to your website, It's going to be boring, right? Your website looks like every other website, so I have no reason to buy from you over everybody else. I'm just going to see, okay, who's the lowest cost? I'm going to go with that person. But if you come across with a video and share your personal story as to why you started this and why it means so much to you, not a sales promo video, okay? I don't need to be sold. Don't tell me the 5 reasons why you're better than everybody else. Make a video that tells me about you and why you're so passionate about gardening or about whatever it is that you do. That comes across, and when I'm comparing you to other people, I'm going to say, "Wow, I really need to work with this person because they really love what they're doing. I feel like I'm going to get good service. I feel like you're going to do a good job." Right? I remember having somebody call into my radio show who was a landscaper. What they said was they started landscaping because they want to create a nice community and they treat each lawn that they landscape like it was his mother's. And he's really emotional. For me, landscaping is whatever, but for him, landscaping is like, that is a huge deal. And so imagine that. So I need someone to come landscape. I need someone to cut my grass, okay? I'm going to look at university kids, college kids, high school kids, whoever is going to spend $20 to come and cut my lawn. Why am I going to pay you $40 to do it? But you coming across and sharing that story and telling me that you're going to treat my property like it was your mother's property with that kind of care and love, I'm going to sign up with you. That's who I want to work with. I want to work with people who are passionate about what they're doing. And you're going to attract a better clientele, they're going to spend more money with you, they're going to refer more business to you. It's your biggest single competitive advantage as an entrepreneur is to tell your story, and so many people do such a bad job of it. So homework is get in front of a camera, you know, use your laptop. I'm usually set up with all my gear and everything, but today I'm feeling sick, so I'm just in front of my Mac Air. I'm just sitting in front of my computer and recording videos. It doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't have to be high budget. Start recording the video and just tell me your story. Tell me why you're doing this business and why it means so much to you. And imagine you're sitting across from somebody who's asking you, just like that, "So why did you start this up?" And tap into some passion. And it may take you 50 takes to get something that you like, and you still may not like it, but put it up. Because people watching that, they feel your love, they're going to sign up with you. And as maybe as a bonus, because I know it's hard, I know you're stepping outside your comfort zone, I know it's challenging and the scary stuff you don't want to do, you know, it's too far outside your comfort zone. But you know, you want to have success, you got to be able to step outside your comfort zone and do something a little scary sometimes. So as an added bonus, for anybody who takes that challenge, who makes a video after watching this video, Tells their story. I will watch it personally and give you my feedback on what I think about it to make it better. Okay? That's a good challenge. So get to work. Believe. For those of you watching, you can subscribe to my channel by clicking on— there should be a box coming up here. You can support me by clicking on the link in the description and become a Patreon supporter just like Dan was who asked this question. And leave a comment. Let me know what you think. I love your comments coming in, they mean a lot to me, and so I always appreciate those. So thank you guys, and I'll see you soon.
