The Mindset Behind Content Creation & Why is It So Hard (our 4 step method)

So why is creating content so hard? I want to get into that today on this week's five minute Marketing Friday.

Hey, welcome back. You know, I want to talk about some things that maybe they're not your biggest hurdle. But I know over the course of time and I don't know, maybe 10 or 12,000 videos later, they have been hurdles that I've had to get over and sometimes still have to get over. But I want to kind of, if you will, disarm some things. You know, you think about it. Sometimes we fear the dark until we turn the light on and realize it's just a big empty space or what we thought was a, was a monster in the corner. It really turned out to be a houseplant, a harmless houseplant. So today what I want to do is I want to turn the light on in some of these dark rooms that may be causing you to not make content. Now the first thing I want to do, before we even get into it is I want to give you the motivation and really kind of the energy behind why you should make content. The number one reason is because if you make content that satisfies your customers needs that they're looking for an answer for, you're the one who provides that these are stepping stones to their journey before they make a decision. I want you to think for just a second the last time you made a buying decision that you just rushed out. And let's put this way. And it was a fairly substantial decision, let's say it's over $100. Before you just plugged down your credit card, you probably did a little research. And in other videos that I've done, we talked about, hey, the percentage of people can do all that stuff they want to research. But here's the thing. Our content are really our special pieces that are working 24 7, no matter what happens for those people who are looking for an answer and your solution or the solution to that is with your product or your service. So it's important to start laying that down. It's almost like it creates a, a slippery slide or a track to run on. If you're thinking about a train when they're moving along, you're putting answers out in front of them that will just naturally make sense. So today we're going to talk about content and why it's so hard to make that content. Because at the end of the day, if you make content on your product or service and you put on your website, even if you don't share it worldwide, but you put it on your website, and you do it frequently and it's relevant and it's fresh to your ideal customers. Problem solving that will get them to make a decision. You're well on your way to being successful in attracting more and more of your customers. So here's the first one.

You're afraid you're going to be judged. I don't think you can see that, but you're afraid you're going to be judged. I mean, let's face it. Hey, there are people that, you know, look at this video and say, geez, you know, your hair is too long. It's funny with the glasses. What's the deal with the cardigan sweater? Who are you supposed to be? Be, you know, you know, Mr. Rogers? I won't show you. I have my shoes off. But, you know, whatever that may be, who cares? I want to give you an example. I think we've all seen this, right? It's a coffee filter and the holder of a coffee filter. Now what? Let me ask you something. What purpose does this serve? Think about that. What purpose does it serve? We put it inside this holder, put it over our cup, and then we pour. I like pour. You know, put the ground beans in there. Obviously, I could grind my coffee every morning and I put it in there and I run the water through it. Now, what comes out the other side? The part I want to drink. Well, here's the coolest part. There are people who are going to watch this video and they're going to make a decision that they do not want to go on any more journeys with me for one reason or another. That's okay. Here's the cool part. That filtered them out, and I may never have to deal with them. Maybe I didn't want to deal with them. Maybe I was the wrong answer for them at this time. So I want you to think about this. Of you're judging yourself harder than we're judging others. And I'll give you another quick little example. I was a golf pro for decades, and what I found out that most people had a fear of playing with other people because they thought they were being watched by those other people. Yet what would happen is that person would tee off and they'd hit it kind of weird and they wouldn't know where it goes. And they look to the group and say, did anybody see it? They weren't even paying attention. They didn't know where the ball went. It would be amazed because they're so concerned about their own stuff. So I want you to do what you think Is right. And forget about being judged, because here's the thing. People will always judge you, and it's not always a negative thing. They may judge you and say, hey, I've made a decision that Jeff and Swing point me to his company. They're the company I want to hire to help our company go to the next level when it comes to content creation and distribution, which is what we do. Okay? So judging. Don't be afraid that know that it's a filter to let the good. The one you want to talk to, the businesses, the people, whatever it may be that you want to talk to, it filters them out. So every time you put a piece of content out there, people are being filtered. And then when it comes to you, it's really the coffee you want to drink. Okay, so that's the first one being judged. The second one, oh, content. I love this one. Hey, I don't even know what to. I don't even know what to talk about. How would I make content? Well, I'm going to give you a suggestion I made to one of our clients. He was starting a program, and he said, you know, how do I. I'm having trouble getting people to come to my program. And I said, well, okay. I stepped aside and I started doing some research to find out if there were any people looking for his solution. Well, I went to Facebook, and you can do exactly the same thing, but there are gazillion places you can go to. You can go to Amazon.com and look up people who write books about that topic. And if there's any comments on there, this process will work. So I said, hey, what I want you to do is I want you to go to Facebook and I want you to join one of these groups. And when you join the group, you're not getting in there to try to now hack that audience and have them come to you. But what I want you to do is I want you to start noticing what problems those people are posting the group that they wish they had solutions to. Now, let me say that again. I want you to post, or excuse me, go into that group, and I want you to listen to see what the people that are already members of that group that raised their hand and said, I want that kind of help. What questions are they seeking answers to? Then all you have to do is go back and say, hey, I'm going to make a video about that. Wouldn't that be easy? Because here's the thing, it's a big rule. Never make content. There are not already people searching for an answer. So as an example, why creating content is hard. I didn't just make that up out of the blue. People are searching for that. Why is it so hard to make content? Here I am making a piece of content my way. Is it like everybody else's? Absolutely not. Could there be some similarities? Maybe. Maybe nobody says judgment, maybe nobody says content. Whatever it may be, that's what I would recommend. Just that one simple thing. Go to where your audience is and find out what problems they want solved and then go back and whether it's writing it, is putting on a podcast, is doing video like this, whatever is your medium, do it. And then post it on your website, share it on your social medias. If you want to, send it out in an email, if you have a database, boy, that's great because they'll share it with other people and then it'll reinforce to them, hey, that guy or gal, they know exactly what they're talking about. Okay, so the next one. Oh, this is my favorite. It's complicated. It's complicated. Jeff, making these videos. Yeah, I've got some studio lights and I have a camera and I've got a wireless mic. But it wasn't always like that. I remember when I first started. Yeah, I've got a little prop set up over here. I remember when I first started, this was it. It was a little Kodak camera and I would put a wireless, excuse me, a wired mic on there and I would hold that. That was what I would do. That was it. Then we moved to cell phones. Then we moved to, you know, bigger cameras. But we did probably, gosh, I think we did. We did probably 150 videos outdoors because the light is free. You don't have to worry about setting up studio lights and the shadow, right or wrong, you know, you stand 45 degrees to the, to the sun, you get some nice shading. The way that those expensive lights that we pay for create, you're good to go. Is it complicated? No, it's not. If you have a phone, just a cell phone, and you create videos from that to start with, there's nothing wrong with that. And then just post it from there. Geez. There's all kinds of editing software. There's a program called Adobe Rush and you can edit that video right on your cell phone. That's right. It's not complicated. We only think it's complicated and we use that to slow us down from doing because, oh, I don't have one of those wireless mics like Jeff. Stand closer to the camera. Right. Stand at arm length. If you're at arm's length and you're using your phone, you're golden. So if you have this situation right here and you're holding it like this.

That'S plenty far. That's now giving me a wide enough shot. It's capturing my sound. And you know what? It'll do what I need it to do. You may not do that forever because you'll probably start getting more and more advanced as business gets better. You'll want to tinker like I've done and gotten more cameras and whatnot. But don't keep it so complicated. Complication is in our mind. How can I simply get this out? Okay.

The last one. Oh, we judge ourselves so harshly on the results. I put a video up and you know what? I only got 43 views. Who cares? Who cares?

Because here's the thing. I make content, right? I make content that I know my ideal audience would want to see that they are looking for an answer for. And guess what? It's waiting there when they're ready. And here's the other thing. One of our clients, they sell golf carts. Their average golf carts are custom made manufacturers. So they probably sell carts, you know, probably 20 to maybe $30,000 in range. Do you think if they got 40 or 50 views from a video and they got three or four sales, it was worth that time? It was worth the time and the money for our company come and shoot them a video. Absolutely. In fact, just last night, maybe early this morning, that I sent an email to my business partner and McCauley and one of the videos that we had made several months ago, just in the last 28 days, had over 800 views. What do you think the title of video is? How much does it cost to buy an electric Golf Cart? Do you think if you were a golf cart buyer, that's a question you'd want answered? Do you think that would get your attention? Now it has over 9,000 views. If they sold 9,000 golf carts in a year, let's say they sold 4,500 golf carts in a year as a result of that video, do you think is worth it? Absolutely. The key is creating content consistently. Because here's the thing, maybe one time they're interested in color. Maybe one time they're interested in X, Y and Z. If you're always creating content to solve those problems, your results will come. Now here's a little bonus I want to share with you. Let's say, for instance, you're posting those videos and you post them once a month or once a week. So let's just say on average you have about four a month in the month. Take a look at the one that performed the best and then just run some ads to it. Get more traffic to it. What does that tell you? Well, it's almost like saying, hey, the audience, while they're always searching for my content. Because remember, we never make content that our audience isn't already searching for. But this seems to be most important to them right now. Run some traffic to it. It's cheap most of time. And again, this is bonus. Most of time, video views are running about one to three, maybe four cents a view, gang. That's dirt cheap. Dirt cheap.

So I hope we've overcome and we put some light in the darkness of that fear of making content. And you realize when, when the light came on, geez, you know what? The Harrison guy, he could do this. This is pretty easy stuff. It is, it is. I look back sometimes at videos that I made at the very beginning. I cringe because here's where our mind goes. You'll judge yourself on my performance because I may be one or two or ten. It doesn't matter. Rungs up the ladder higher than you are. And then you'll not move forward thinking, I can't make it like Jeff, I can't make this shadow show up properly, whatever it may be. Forget that. Start where you're at. Solve your customers problems. My name is Jeff Harrison. This is what we do for our customers at Swingpoint Media. If you're interested in doing something like this, and you said, hey, I'd rather not have to worry about the lights and this, that and the other, and you want some help. Information is on the screen. No pressure, but if we can help you here to help you. Have a great week. My name is Jeff Harrison again with Swingpoint Media.