In Episode 48 of the Business & Life Conversations Podcast, we talk about the power of video marketing for your business. Lisa Corduff joins us in this interesting episode to share her expertise and knowledge on connecting, converting and building a community with your audience through video. She gives us a rundown on the benefits of video; the common reasons and fears of business owners in using video; and how to overcome this and start using live video today.
This episode is sponsored by Angela’s 4-day, 3-night Women in Business Retreat happening in Australia on October 24-27, 2019. Click here to learn more.
Important Links Mentioned in the Show:
Australian Business Collaborative Facebook Group
Finding Balance in Business Women’s Retreat
Angela Henderson Active Business Facebook Group
Angela Henderson Facebook Business Page
Prefer to read The Power of Video Marketing for Small Business: Connection, Community, Conversion? Here’s the transcript:
ANGELA:
You’re listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast with Angela Henderson, Episode 48.
Hey there, you’re listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. My name is Angela Henderson and on this show, we talk about improving your business, life or both. By having amazing and rich conversations with brilliant guests who will inspire you and who will give you tips and tricks to help you grow both in life and in business.
Well hey there, Angela Henderson here and welcome back to another amazing episode with the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. I’m your host, Angela, from Angela Henderson Consulting, where I help women in business develop the foundational framework and strategy they need to grow sustainable and profitable businesses. Now, I’m being 100% honest, I love all my guests that come on to my podcast because they each have their own individual awesomeness, they’re amazing business owners, but I may have an extra soft spot for my guest today. I love her energy. I love her laughter. I love her honesty. I love her rawness. The amazing woman I’m talking about goes by the name of Lisa Corduff. In this fun and jam-packed episode, Lisa is going to share with us her wealth of knowledge around the power of video marketing for small business owners through connection, community, and conversion. We’re going to explore the benefits of video marketing for small business owners, what’s holding business owners back from creating a video, tips to break through this fear, and also ways to get started on live video today. We may have also thrown in there things like a little bit of mindset, with a few extra bonuses for you, too.
But, before we get started on this particular episode, I just want to let you know that this episode is sponsored by my 4-day, 3-night Women in Business Retreat, where we focus on women having the chance to reconnect, focus, learn, and grow, so that they can grow both in life and in business. This exclusive event is being held from October 24th through to October 27th down at the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, and it’s an exclusive event with only 50 tickets being sold. From 8 of Australia’s top female entrepreneurs speaking, to surrounding yourself with amazing people that will lift you up both at the conference and after conference, to daily masterminds to getting individual help with your business, being able to sleep in, eat a meal uninterrupted by kids; you’re not going to want to miss this. To learn more about this event, head to www.angelahenderson.com.au, and you can purchase your ticket there, you can learn about it, and also, we do have payment plans for those of you that are needing payment plans to help with cash flow.
Alright. That’s enough about that. Let’s jump into today’s episode. Alright. Welcome to the show, Lis.
LISA:
Thanks for having me.
ANGELA:
Yes. How’s your day going down in Victoria?
LISA:
Well, it’s a bit fresh here today. But I’ve had one of those, sort of, you know, when you look at your calendar…
ANGELA:
Yes?
LISA:
And you think, “Today’s a great day.” This is really, really fun. And you just can’t wait to get going. I do love, it’s a kind of benefit; side benefit of creating your own business and creating a job within that business that you actually enjoy. It’s taken a long time to get there though.
ANGELA:
I agree, like today, we’re recording on a Monday. And, it is. Like, I look at Mondays, and actually, I feel it’s the day I can breathe again. And I know that might sound horrible for some people out there, and I say this openly to a lot of people, but I’m a much better mum three and four days a week, than I am seven days a week, just because I know my energy levels. I know how much I can give. I know, with my ADH in my brain. Like Monday, I’m like, “Yes, sweet man,” I’m back to my own thoughts for a few days. And I’m much better, engaged mom when the kids come home from school. What do you think about that?
LISA:
Yes. I still have a daughter who is at Kinder.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
Who I have three days a week, 18 hours at work, I love her so much; and while I’m all the feels about, they’re going to school next year, and after 9 years of having kids at home, I’m also, I’m pretty packed.
ANGELA:
You’re pretty packed.
LISA:
I love working. I love this time and space and being at home with no one else talking except for me. I talk a lot.
ANGELA:
Yes. And your youngest one, I think, she’s a bit of a chatterbox, too. Isn’t she?
LISA:
She does not stop talking. Like, the whole Tuesdays and Thursdays, I basically, I’m playing pretend games; she said, “Mom, pretend you’re a dog who has one sore leg and you quack.” “Ok, you do that; I’ll hang out the washing.” That’s more fun than playing imaginary play. Oh, I’m so bad.
ANGELA:
I know, yes, that was the one that got me. Like I can colour, I can do some few arts and crafts, but the whole like Barbie scenario or like the Lego scenario, yes, I’m not so much really good at that. I would say I epically fail at that particular one. So yes, they’re good. Now, listen, I was having a giggle as I always do. Because I know I was just on your podcast, and I always laugh about when we initially first met, and that was at Elise’s ‘What’s On 4 Conference,’ and we had known each other for a while but we’ve never met. And I just remember you speaking, and I always get a bit of a laugh. Because I knew that’s how we would be potentially sisters from another mother, that like, when you’re up on stage, the first line you said, like “Fuck.” And I was like, “Yeah, I like her.” And then you said something about, “Yeah, these big hairy ass monkey goals or monkey balls,” I can’t remember exactly. But I was like, “Oh, my gosh. Yes. I double like her. She’s super fun.” And then, at that moment, when I was sitting there listening to your presentation that day, I was like, “Yes. We’re going to be friends.” We are friends for life now because she said, “fuck” and “big, ass monkey balls” or something. So yes, I always have a bit of a giggle about how our friendship started.
LISA:
I think it was straight after that, you just came up to me like, “We’ve never actually met in real life. I’m Anj.”
ANGELA:
And I figure, like, you’re like, “Anj…”
LISA:
“Oh, yeah, we’ve finally met.”
ANGELA:
We’re like, “It’s come. The day has come.” And I think you had to fly out right after that so we only had like a few minutes to connect and we’ve been caught up after.
LISA:
Yes.
ANGELA:
But yes, now, so I’m always; I love meeting new people who again share similar things. Not saying that I don’t like you if you don’t swear, but it was just one of those common things that sometimes it does come out of my mouth and you said it on stage, which is even cooler. Because I do that, too; and I was like, “Yes.”
LISA:
I did apologize.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
Because sometimes, I just, yes, can misjudge a crowd, look, yes.
ANGELA:
I know, you had me, I was like, “Fist bump you in the back room.” So yes, and speaking of crowds, you potentially, that could happen again, I know you’re joining me for my 4-day, 3-night Women in Business Retreat in October, where you’re going to be speaking about all levels of awesome. So you know, who knows what will happen when we get you on that stage?
LISA:
I’ll keep it clean, Anj.
ANGELA:
You’ll keep it clean. Alright. Well, and yes, you don’t know what’s happening at the farewell party either. I won’t hold you to that, Lis, yes. But today though, instead of retreats and big, monkey ass balls; we are going to be talking about video.
LISA:
Yes.
ANGELA:
But before we talk into video, one of the things that I want to ask you, because I do this with every person that comes on to the podcast, is I want to know a fun fact about you. And my fun fact about you is I want to know, what is your favourite piece of clothing? And the other thing I want to just you to have, to share with the audiences a little bit more about Lis; where you’re from? What are you up to these days? And things like that.
LISA:
Oh, yes, my favourite piece of clothing. You know, it’s funny, you asked this; because I lived in Brisbane for 5 years, and Sydney for 5 years before that. But I’m a Melbourne girl, and I’ve been back in Melbourne. This is now my second winter, and so, being back. And last winter, I didn’t really buy all that much, just kind of a few things. I basically just wear a long type of jacket every time I left the house and that was kind of it.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
And, whereas this year, I’m loving all of my winter stuff.
ANGELA:
Okay.
LISA:
I bought this big, fluffy, yellow, woolly jumper, which I feel has like a slight duck vibe. And I’m kind of walking around that feeling all like my kids hug me in it and all that stuff. And I got, I actually posted about this on Insta; because 3 people before midday, like in one of the coffee shops, would just say “That is a great jumper.” And you know what went through my mind was, “Why are they saying that? Oh my God. This is really awful.” And now this is awkward because now, 3 people have said it. They must feel sorry for me because this looks so bad; when in fact, they were saying that it looked really nice. But I just wasn’t hearing that because I made up all these stories in my head.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
About the fact that I really don’t know how to dress myself, which, you know; it’s not my favourite thing to do to shop. So I bought this jumper, this beautiful, fluffy, yellow jumper. Bought it, didn’t even try it on, suddenly wearing it. All these people are commenting. I felt really awkward. But now, it’s my new favourite thing; because like, who doesn’t love a fluffy, yellow jumper.
ANGELA:
Well, yes, seriously, yellow; sunshine, rain of sunshine, happiness. But tell me, I’d like to know a little bit more about, what was the story that you were telling yourself? Because again, you and I, you more than me, but again, mindset is a big thing in our business, you again, I think, are much more, top level on that than I am and that’s why I love hearing you and reading your Instagram post about that. But tell me, what was the story? Why was the story going to your mind that the yellow jumper; that you weren’t actually hearing the praise but you were treating it into a negative?
LISA:
Well, what our brains are tricking us all the time. And we all have these subconscious beliefs that basically rule our lives. And until we actually shine a light on them, they rule the ruse; like you think about business. It’s like, “I am so scared of looking like a douche. I hate my voice.” And so, because people hate their voice, they never show up on video and connect with the people who need to hear from them. And so, these stories that we literally; someone might have said something to you when you were a kid, like, “Wow, you have a really high pitched voice,” and that one thing becomes the internal story that you’ve got going on. You don’t even realize, is limiting you in huge ways, and it’s probably not even true.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
My stories were, yellow looks gross on me; I’m fair, so this is a colour I should probably shouldn’t be wearing.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
I don’t know how to dress myself.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
I’ve always been a really; just not particularly great with fashion. That’s the story I’ve told myself. And when people give you compliments, sometimes, they’re just feeling awkward. And then something comes out of their mouth, and all this internally; I literally didn’t even entertain the thought that I actually looked nice in this jumper.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
Before all of these bullshit stories. And then, when you actually start to notice you’re in bullshit, you’re like, “Oh, hang on a minute. What’s actually going on here is people actually are being really kind to me.” I would actually be open and receptive to that and take it, and my whole vibration would change. Instead of feeling like, because what our beliefs want is constantly; like we seek out proof that these subconscious beliefs are right.
ANGELA:
Exactly right. Yes.
LISA:
So we’re constantly just seeking validation for our own bullshit and we’ll find it even if it’s not the words.
ANGELA:
Even if they’re saying you look beautiful in the yellow sweater, Lis. Yes.
LISA:
Right. Or even if you get, like say, it could even be something like, you post something on Instagram and no one comments, right? Sometimes posts are really reflective and people can be reading it and go, “Wow, I haven’t really ever commented on other people’s Instagram post. I know that’s not really what you should do, but I started to really comment.” And then we just take that to mean. “See? Like, why should I show up? No one cares anyway. This is boring content. I’m on the wrong track,” Blah, blah, blah. Because we’re just seeking validation for our own bullshit beliefs. I’ve got a comment the other day on Instagram from this woman who said, “Thank you for sharing this. You’re an amazing mentor.” I’ve got no idea who this woman is. I think it might be the first time she’s ever commented on anything that I’ve written. And yet she’s being there and watching. And yet, we question.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
Because, we’re like, “It’s not hitting the mark. See? I’m not. Look, I don’t know how to dress myself. See? All these people are commenting. Oh, but they’re not actually saying what I think they’re saying. Hang on a minute.” Notice your bullshit and shift your story.
ANGELA:
And again, we’ve got choices; I say it all the time. We can either go on on the story or again, at the end of the day we can rechange our story at any given time.
LISA:
And I think it’s one of the most powerful things that you can do, is to stop those thoughts it attracts.
ANGELA:
And it’s one of the things, I know I posted the other day in my Facebook group, The Australian Business Collaborative; I swear we are getting to video people; and this doesn’t happen always, we only get together sometimes. Lisa was making fun of me because I had notes. This is exactly why I have notes, Lisa when I’m doing a podcast.
LISA:
I know. Yes. Yes.
ANGELA:
And I was talking about the fixed mindset versus growth mindset. I did ruffle a few feathers, right? But it’s like, I could either talk about it and own what I believe around a fixed mindset and growth mindset, or I can just do what everyone else wants me to do. So you’re always going to have people that love you or hate you. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to speak your own truth, speak your own story. So yes, I’m glad that you were able to sit in your story there, Lis.
LISA:
Well, it’s good, I did a post the other day, and I just said, like, “I’m not here for my bullshit. I’m here for growth. I’m here for the lessons. I’m here to move forward. I’m not here to just sit, in my own internal way, in my own bullshit stories. And that’s who I am.”
ANGELA:
And then we get to our grave or on our death bed, and then we start questioning why didn’t we do this or why didn’t we do this?
LISA:
Yes.
ANGELA:
Well, I don’t want that. I don’t think you want that.
LISA:
No.
ANGELA:
So tell us again so you can see, Lisa loves a little bit of mindset.
LISA:
Loves a little bit of mindset.
ANGELA:
Just probably we could just go, you would forget that I even brought her on for video, but we won’t. But tell us a little bit more about Lisa; we know that you are a mindset lover. Tell us a little bit more about you and where you’re at in business right now?
LISA:
Right. Yes, so my business is at an interesting point. I started off with a whole foods blog back at the end of 2012 actually; I posted my very first recipe. I just had my second child. So I had two kids pretty much under 2, and we just moved to Brisbane. So I had no friends, no life, just my kids.
ANGELA:
Me and the kids, yes.
LISA:
It was like a cliché; let’s start a blog; because that’s what an extrovert does.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
Talk to someone and she’s got no one to talk to. So I just started sharing recipes online. And in 2013, I did biz school; a friend that I’ve met here in Brisbane was like, “We should do this.” I was like, “What is this? Okay, I’ll go and ask my husband if we could spend over 2,000 of our dollars on this.” “Yeah. Okay.” Luckily enough, very great guy; I’m like, “You know, I think I need to do this.” Said, “Sure.” It wasn’t so much I was asking permission; I was just like, “I think this is where we should put some coin.” And he was like, “Sure. Do it.” And so I did that, but then procrastinated for about 18 months before I actually created anything to sell. But during that time, I was building a community. I was showing up every day on Facebook. I was sharing recipes. I was working out what I was actually saying that was different to everybody else. And I couldn’t really work that out by showing up, right? So then, at the end of 2014, I had three children, all 3 and under. And I launched a 21-Day Whole Foods Challenge. And there were no Facebook ads; I mean that was back in the glory days. And I ended up, on the back of that, creating an 8-week program and had a 35 grand launch.
ANGELA:
Boom. Yes.
LISA:
It was at that stage that I was like, “Oh, this might be a thing.” And so, set off on my online business journey; and it’s taken lots of twist and turns. I launched that 8-week program eight times. I created a membership. I’ve created multiple programs and evergreen stuff; lots of e-books, podcasts, TV series, online TV series. And then what started to happen was, I think lots of other Mums were watching me do this, and they were like, “Hey, how are you doing this then, Lisa?” And people wanted to ask me about business; online business. So I thought the thing that was the thing I was most passionate about; first of, and that is video marketing. But then I started to do some routine group coaching and even some one on one stuff, and I was like, “Oh, I actually know stuff here.” I’ve always invested in my own growth and my own learning. I invested in masterminds before I felt like I was ready for that stuff, and put myself in rooms with people; with extraordinary people who just, being around them was rising me.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
And now, I run the ‘Breakthrough Mastermind,’ because I feel like there was nothing in Australia for me at the level of business where I can help other women now. And there’s really savvy women out there who’ve got big impact to make and the mastermind is now the finest thing.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
So it just kept growing and growing and growing, like it’s kept following my nose. And right now, I can really see that I can keep helping people with food, I can keep helping people with business. But what I’ve realized myself is that pretty much everything comes down to mindset. And if I can actually help people recognize how powerful they are in their own lives that they are literally creating their lives with every choice they make or don’t make; and not making a choice is a choice in itself. And if they can start to recognize the bullshit stories that they’ve got growing on in their head, then I can help them in all areas of their life. And I’ve got plans for an online TV show, and sort of big, live events, I think a lot more in person stuff is what I want to create. So that was probably, that took way too long.
ANGELA:
Yey. But no, we get to know you. And through that though, whether or not, wherever you’re going, video is still going to apply a big part in an overall strategy because you have always loved camera. And I guess, you know, like you said, you’ve been using it now for years and years and years. But why did you choose video? In going forward now; what is it about video, that you were like, “Yes, this is the platform. This is what’s got me there.”
LISA:
A video; like, whenever people ask me about my success, I pretty much always say video. Back in the day, when, before there was even Facebook live or anything like that, I was just uploading short little 30-second, 2-minute clips on to Facebook. That Facebook is really where I built my audience and it meant that, like, number one: I didn’t have time. I have three really little children, like a baby with me all the time and the other two kids and a loving family daycare two days a week. And so, I have two days kind of doing, with the baby as well. And it was going to take me a lot longer to write out a really polished blog post than it would be to just upload a really quick video of me making homemade gravies so everyone else can do it. Like I don’t sit there writing and all that, I think most online business people have a severe issue with time; and especially in the early stages when we’re relying on ourselves to get a lot of stuff done. We need to be visible. We need to be creating content. And video is the fastest way to do it, in my opinion. But here’s the thing that it does as well, is that, when I ended up launching ‘Small Steps to Wholefoods,’ or even now, going to be, anytime we want to launch anything; anytime we ask people to invest with us, they need to have moved through that ‘know, like and trust phase.’ A lot of what we do is quite intangible online. And people are rightly suspect of just handing over money to people.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
They’re like, “Is this even?” Like, how many times have you clicked on a pair of shoes on Instagram because you’ve seen something and kind of go, “Oh, I quite like that.” And then you go, “Hang on. I’m just going to go and Google them to see if they’re like a legit business.”
ANGELA:
Seriously. Yes.
LISA:
Yes. And it’s the same for online programs and services. People are going to go and check out your profile on Facebook or Instagram. They’re going to go searching for you. And if they see a real person, if they actually; if there’s videos sitting there waiting for them, they can actually see and hear you and get a vibe from you, then they will move through. But it means that they’ve known you, so the ‘know thing’, like people have to know you exist in order to buy from you.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
And then they kind of have to vibe with you; they’re going to like you. And a really quick way to find your tribe is to actually show up as yourself in the most authentic way you can.
ANGELA:
Amen. Amen. Yes.
LISA:
Because then, I mean, I don’t want to attract people into my programs and stuff who; we’re not a match. So the more I can be myself, the more I’ll attract the right people. But then, they also have to trust you. And I think that trust can be built in so many ways. I mean, I think consistency is a really good way to build trust. But so is visibility and being open, like, live video and that feedback loop that’s created and you’re literally asking them questions, you’re literally being right there when they’re posting comments and being able to respond back to them. I mean, that’s putting you in a vulnerable position, and it builds trust really fast.
ANGELA:
People love that trust that builds that credibility and the authority within your market, too, right?
LISA:
Yes. Well, who do you know is hugely successful online businesses who doesn’t use video?
ANGELA:
Yes, pretty much not anybody.
LISA:
Right. Not anybody. You need to be showing up in some capacity even if it’s just freaking Insta-stories. I don’t care. But you need to be giving people that. The other thing is like I do love video because it is favoured in the algorithms, like if we’re going to get specific.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
Creating live videos; Facebook wants to be the TV in your pocket. They encourage and reward you going live, and creating relevant, social, interactive and interesting conversation. Really; it’s conversation. And they will; like your Facebook ads get cheaper. The more relevant you are the higher relevance you score. And nothing does that better than live video. Instagram is doing the same thing. They’re investing big money in IGTV and Instagram Live. Like, you get bumped up in people’s feeds if you’re playing along with their games. So, and most of us want to be in people’s feeds. So that would be another thing.
And I think one of the other reasons why video is so good, is because I think, most of us come to online business knowing more than other people about something or other. But sometimes what happens is, and I see this all the time, I don’t know if you do, too; people can get so attached to their; they know so much about what they do; they forget how to talk to people where they’re at. Like marketing, you can be as good as you want. But if you don’t know how to market to people and make your market weather at in a conversational tone, you’re basically not going to have a business. You need to give a shit about marketing. Like, it matters. And so for me, I’m always using video as kind of like marketing gold mining. Like, I’m just digging for little bits and pieces. I’m asking people questions and I want them to write back responses in their own words, so then I can use them in my marketing. I can know exactly where they’re at, at a particular moment. And that stuff is just gold for when you’re marketing. And when you are; people are more inclined to share with you when you’re showing up for them.
ANGELA:
And again, I think that’s also, your unique and point of difference, too, in a space. And I say this all the time, around, everything’s automated, everything’s automated. And I see it, like, I just say, I was speaking with Zack, as you know, for a podcast earlier. And one of the things we were talking about is, there’s so many online people, who, it’s like a seagull analogy that I use, is they come in there and they shit in their Facebook group, or they shit on their Facebook page or whatever, only come launch time.
LISA:
Yes.
ANGELA:
They come in, and then they’re gone again, right? But I know for you though, and I think we’re similar with this, is that you really believe again with the benefits of video marketing for small business owners is around that connection, that community.
LISA:
Yes.
ANGELA:
And when you got connection and community, it naturally will equal conversion. It doesn’t mean that it’s going to be a conversion for everyone, but a conversion could also be like, in my instance, a lot of people will tag me in a variety of other groups. “Oh, I need a business coach.” “Angela Henderson. Angela Henderson. Angela Henderson.” But, these people have never even bought from me.
LISA:
Right.
ANGELA:
Like, legit. Like, “Who are these people?” Like what you said about the lady on the Instagram video, like, “Who are you?” But, they’ve been in the background. They’ve still been present when I’ve shown up. And they know, like and trust me; they haven’t bought like I said. But they are prepared to at least, convert; the conversion I guess is that they’re happy to tag me, right? Where they feel confident.
LISA:
I do a monthly call in my ‘Keeping Video Real’ group. And we had one this morning. And one of the people there was like, “Lisa, I don’t know how you’ve done it. But basically, anything you put out, I am like wanting to buy it. I don’t even care what it is.” And I said, “Well, you know what? I think that there’s a lot of reasons why that happens.” And I think everyone who’s listening to this podcast should recognize that they probably have people like that in their community.
ANGELA:
Yes. Yes. 100%. The favourites. Be someone’s favourite. Alright, Lis. So tell me a little bit more, I know you had a coaching call earlier today with one of your video program. Again, what’s the name of your course again?
LISA:
‘Keeping Video Real.’
ANGELA:
‘Keeping Video Real.’ And you had a call today and you were talking about how when your client had said to you, like, “Lis, whenever you put anything thing out, I’m happy to buy.” Why do you think that is?
LISA:
Okay. So I said to her, “There’s a few reasons why that would be the case.” But I said that, I really think everyone who’s listening to this podcast, and everyone who’s showing up, everyone who has an online business; you are literally leaving money on the table by not putting up office for people to work with you in one capacity or another, or the people who’ve worked with you before, to give them a chance to work with you again. Because those people exist for everyone. I told Christy, I’m like, “People are waiting for you, too. People want everything you do as well.” So just know this, that it’s not Lisa Corduff specific. It is the case if you’re creating good content. But I said, “It’s because you feel like you know me; because I do bring myself to my business. There’s no façade here.” And I think people want relatability. They want trust. They want to believe you. And if there’s too many barriers up; I heard this thing about the fact we’ve kind of exited the age of celebrity and we’ve entered the age of the citizen. And people are responding to people. It’s why I say, with your video, “Don’t make it perfect. Don’t be all done up.” Actually, people don’t give a shit. They actually want to see the real you. They will trust the real you.
But, the other thing is, that I said, that I think is important when you were saying all the ‘C-words,’ was also consistency. And this is where, I said to them in this call, “One of the best pieces of advice that I’ve got was to show up, make a commitment once a week to get in contact with your email list.” And this works for me. Doesn’t necessarily have to be like; there’s different types of consistency that you can create. But I send out an email every week. I write that email. It connects me to my people. I show up on socials. It might not be every single day, but it would be rare that I would go longer than maybe three days. I also write all my social posts. Because for me, that conversation and the interaction that I get with my people is really important to me. But I said, “You, it’s because I’ve taken you along on the journey with me. And I’ve been in conversation with you and I’ve been consistent about that, that I somehow look like a leader in this space, when really, I’ve just kept going. And you trust me because you know this is real for me. I am here for you. My job is you and your growth.” So, I think there’s something in that, too; in the consistency piece.
ANGELA:
I agree, yes. Totally agree on that. When I think consistency, again, and I think you also start to train your audience. First of all, I just like to go back, you are always going to be someone’s favourite.
LISA:
Yes.
ANGELA:
No matter where you are in business, but you become someone’s favourite by continuing to build the connection, building the community, and having consistency. If you didn’t, if you weren’t consistent, then how are you going to build a really strong connection? If you’re not consistent, you’re not going to build a really strong community. Because you can have 50,000 people in a Facebook group, and technically you’ve got a group. But it doesn’t mean you have a community.
LISA:
Correct.
ANGELA:
Because you’re not continuing and showing up. So I think, again, and I think people are longing, as you talked about earlier, people are longing for the citizenship, right? They’re wanting a place to belong, and they’re wanting to know that people get them; they’re wanting to know that they can feel safe within an environment. And that, when those people who are showing up and do that in an imperfect way, yet still consistent; it allows other people I think for opportunity for growth.
LISA:
And you know what, this would be one of the biggest fears that I think holds people back from showing up on video, is judgment. And just being so worried about doing it imperfectly, or making a mistake, or just someone thinking they’re a douche. And I always say to people, I say it all the time; like what is more important to you? Growing your business? Or worrying about what some tool on the internet thinks. Like, you are not going to have the impact you want and help the people that you need help unless you start showing up for it. And so, for you and me, it’s still really scary to show up sometimes and to be vulnerable. But the people who are able to lean into that; take a big, deep breathe, and just go for it, are the ones who will prevail. And any niche, anyone in this online space, like I’ve seen it in my Keeping Video Real Group; it attracts so many different types of business, businesses. Every single one of them gets traction when they share a bit of themselves. Because people buy from people.
ANGELA:
And people, and I know it sounds very cliché, but it is, you know, like you saw the other day, when I; a person that I’d seen at an event had sent me a Nutella Hoodie, right? Like that thing is like absolute gold, right? But it’s like, again, when people know me for I love freaking Nutella; eat the shit by the gallons. But the thing is if I just go there and talk about business all the time, then yes, they will still, there’ll be some people that’d connect with me, but it’s not at a different level. It’s not at that personal level. And that’s where I think, again, there’s a lot of big gurus; I won’t name names, out there; that yes, they’ve got a huge amount of numbers. But again, I’ll also question their conversions; and I’ve seen that with huge, big gurus, at the moment; is that they’ve got these massive lists. But when it comes to launching something, they actually don’t convert as well as people with a smaller list and smaller community. Because they’re only treating people like numbers and not treating people like humans.
LISA:
Yes. I say to people; we were having this conversation this morning as well because someone was sort of saying, “What do you do with an opt-in? What happens once you’ve created this opt-ins?” So a few people are really at the beginning stages of their businesses and understanding its fundamental things. And like for me, the whole social media and the email list stuff, it’s like you walk into a bar…
ANGELA:
Yes, I think, yes, we talked about this. It’s like jumping in, like, “Hey, do you want to have sex with me?” And you don’t even know me.
LISA:
Right. Like, it starts with a wink. It starts with just catching their eyes; that might just be them liking your Facebook page or seeing a post or something. And then they might want to buy you a drink or something, and you’re like, “Okay, you’ve just commented on my post.”
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
Like, this is getting real. And then, you might have a dance; and that might be them joining your Facebook group or something like that. They’ve taken the next step. But really, a home run is them coming home with you, and that is equivalent of getting in on to their emails. And it is not, like, it is a privilege for someone to give you their email address. You are in their personal space now. You get access to that inbox, you respect that inbox. You make sure that you are giving them value and you make sure that you don’t leave them to wonder, “What happened to you after that fabulous night?” You introduce yourself. Get to know them. Show them around your house, “Hey, this is my favourite painting.” Like, that might be a podcast episode. There’s so many cool ways that we can really change how we think about what can sometimes seem quite clinical in this online space. They are real people that you are going to communicate with and it’s a privilege.
ANGELA:
Yes. And so, if you think that the benefits, obviously, the connection, the community, the conversion, that again, showing up consistently, again, I can’t emphasize enough. And since that we two, we release a new podcast every week, release a blog post, and then we also do a newsletter every week; and it’s one of those things that again, I think your audience, you also train them. And you train them that that’s like, “Hey, Thursday. Anj’s email coming up,” or, “Hey, the podcast is getting released on a Wednesday,” or whatever that looks like. And again, it’s like, if you can help train them to build that trust and that connection, people will stick around. But you can’t just, again, that’s a whole another conversation, just don’t throw shit out, just to throw shit out. Like you need to build a meaningful…
LISA:
Yes.
ANGELA:
I’d rather people send one quality email a month than five pieces of shit every single month. Because it’s like, it can actually have the counter-intuitive on what you’re wanting to achieve.
LISA:
They stop opening. Yes. Exactly.
ANGELA:
Yes, they do. So those are obviously the benefits, again, you’re getting on potentially by doing video marketing for small business; you’ve been getting on to their email, you’re getting higher sales. But is video right for all businesses?
LISA:
Yes.
ANGELA:
Yes? Yes, tell me more.
LISA:
There was a woman today who said, “I’ve been an executive leadership coach for 20 years and I’ve also just started a side business as an Avon consultant, what do you think about videos’ suitability for both of this businesses?” I was like, “Perfect.” Number one, if you are talking to anyone in that executive space, creating videos and putting them on LinkedIn, “Push!”
ANGELA:
Yes, cha-ching. Yes.
LISA:
Amazing. Your business could potentially skyrocket if you just start doing that one thing. And then in terms of Avon or anyone in that network marketing space, there’s a lot of people selling your thing. So the reason why people come and buy from you is because they like you. So show up. Show them the products, like remember that there’s different levels of market sophistication. There’s always going to be people who’ve got no idea what Avon is. Talk to them. Create some content for them. The people who are hardcore buyers, they need to know when there’s specials; so when this is changing, or that’s changing. And a really great way for you to build your own tribe is to show up for them, be in conversation with them. Create content where they don’t want to look for anyone else for their Avon stuff. They just love you and the way that you approach it. Like, you couldn’t have, there are quite different niches right there, but for me, I mean we have farmers in Keeping Video Real; people who make wine. We have people selling music programs to kids. All sorts of things; like it suits everyone because if you’re online and your business does not have any kind of; like if there’s no way for people to access and see you that you are a real person, then you are going to struggle. You’re going to really struggle.
ANGELA:
And you’re also competing with so many other blogs, for example, and even though SEO has its nature and all that, the thing is, is your competing. But again, video allows, as my opinion, for you to stand out amongst the crowd.
LISA:
Right. And as you said before, a lot of us are asking people to trust us with their time or with their money. And if we have been able to show up for them, be ourselves, and put ourselves out there on the line, then they’re probably going to be more likely to trust us with those precious resources of theirs.
ANGELA:
Yes. Exactly right. Because again, and they’re going to want to embrace it for a better them. Have you ever found anyone, any business, that where video hasn’t worked? And is it been not so much because of the niche or the person executing it, or combination?
LISA:
Okay. These are really, really, really good point. And this is something that I drill home to everyone about video. Not many people, apart from millennials, have had left the womb, good at video, right? Our generation, I’m turning 40 this year.
ANGELA:
Welcome to the 40 years.
LISA:
Right. So our generation aren’t; like we didn’t grow up with videos in our faces; and our parents taking photos of us 13 hundred times a day. We don’t; this doesn’t come naturally to us. And I think a lot of people expect themselves to show up, feeling really natural, like the way it must look for other people. I always get a little bit sweaty; sweaty palms.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
Yes, you do. We all do. We all have our ways of moving ourselves through that because most of us who started doing it considered benefits of doing it.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
But what I say is that you have to give yourself permission to suck at this for a little while. And then, just suck, and then, keep going. Because, it is unfortunately just one of those things, that you have to practice. You have to practice video. It’s not going to feel natural to look at a little lens and talk to it as though it’s a human being.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
It does start to happen. I see it, and it can happen quite quickly if you choose to really have a go at it. So, yes, some people are awkward as fuck on videos and it’s hard to watch them in the beginning. But if they didn’t do those first awkward ones, especially when they’re just kind of getting started with their business, that’s the best time to suck.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
It’s when there’s not that many people watching. Like, video marketing is not going anywhere. It’s only going to become more important for everyone to stay seen and to stay relevant and to be seen as a leader in your particular niche. So the time to suck is now, everyone.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
And just start to move through your resistance; like as my friend, Carly, says, “Move faster than yourself doubt.” Just press live, like how to crack on Insta-stories, for example, if you’re on Instagram account. That’s as a perfect way to just like have a little go at video. But then, commit to going live on your page or inside your group. Just make a commitment. Even though you’re scared, tell them you’re going to be live. And just then, like, have three points written out. Don’t script anything. Scripting is weird. But some people do need to be prepared. I know a lot of people in Keeping Video Real will watch out what they’re going to say at the start and at the end.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
And then, I encourage them dot points. So just stay on point. Just stay relevant. Just know exactly what it is you’re going to say but don’t read it out. And then, just press the damn button. And do it. You can always delete it. You can always delete it. But you will have done your first live. And once you move past that initial resistance, you’ll find, it gets quite addictive.
ANGELA:
I agree, man. It’s like, “Alright. Great. I can write a blog post for an hour or I can go live for five minutes. What am I going to choose? Thank you.”
LISA:
Exactly.
ANGELA:
We’re live.
LISA:
I want to give my time; biggest bang for buck is live video.
ANGELA:
And what do you think that for those that are listening, they’re like, “Oh, yeah. Anj and Lis, thanks so much. You guys have done this shit a hundred times.” Blah, blah, blah. Again, we didn’t start by doing it a hundred times. What do you think you’ve seen over the years is holding business owners back from creating the video? Is it fear? Is it mindset? Is it a combination? Like, what is it?
LISA:
I think it’s two things. I think that fear is paralyzing here. And it’s our deepest fears of being judged; like there’s so many perfectionists in the world. Oh my God.
ANGELA:
Especially entrepreneurs.
:
Oh my gosh. What? Stop. Let it go. This is not something you’re going to be perfect at straight up. You’re going to have to practice so just get cool with giving it a crack.
ANGELA:
Like our friend, Tyler McCall, Instagram Strategist, the other day say something about; one of his posts went viral, like Beyoncé’s new show that’s coming out or something. It’s like, she practised for eight months before she actually went live on like before it was like.
LISA:
It was at Coachella. Yes, it was her Coachella performance. It’s called Homecoming on Netflix. It’s amazing. She’s amazing.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
And yes, they did eight months of rehearsals for a 2-hour show; and just think about that the next time you went to webinar.
ANGELA:
You know, like eight months. And we’re talking about, this is Beyoncé, like the lady we just assume that her confidence is there and that everything is fine. But she too, eight months practice to make sure that what she executed, you now, was…
LISA:
She got it bang on. Yes. So there’s that; just get in the ring. And your fear is always going to be there. I mean, I don’t know about you. Like, with big webinars, I’m like doing a nervous poo an hour beforehand. So like, “There’s thousands of people signed up for this thing. Oh my gosh. There’s a million things that could go wrong.” But I still do it; because it’s important to my business. I asked what your business needs, not what feels comfortable to you. What does your business need to grow this week? And most of the time, visibility absolutely comes into that. And this sort of leads on to the other point, I just saw so many online business peeps and entrepreneurs, who don’t really; like they get stuck in content creation. Like free content creation; they got stuck creating a course, they got stuck doing all sorts of things. And they completely; it’s like marketing is this other separate weird thing. But marketing would be 70% of what I do in my business.
ANGELA:
Yes. Because if you don’t have marketing and you’re not showing up, you can have the best course ever, but if you don’t have a community who trusts you and knows about you to be able to buy, that’s why courses fail.
LISA:
Right.
ANGELA:
All the time.
LISA:
People, it’s not that the course is bad. It’s not that you are off track. It was that you’re literally was selling to no one. Or you thought that that year you spend creating a course, you’re going to be out, announce it, and it’s kind of build and they will come. And it’s just never the case.
ANGELA:
No.
LISA:
You have to, like; I don’t care if you think marketing is for evil people. Marketing can be a conversation. Marketing is you, helping people. But it’s got to; like there’s got to be visibility. And so, I think it’s that. I think, a lot of people just think, “Yeah, when I’ve got it all ready, then I’ll start.” No. I was showing up for almost 2 years before I launched anything or sold a thing. But that gave me the grounding for a business that just exploded from the outside. I mean my business made a quarter million dollars in its first 18 months.
ANGELA:
Yes. Boom.
LISA:
Because I had built a community. They trusted me because I showed up.
ANGELA:
Yes. And again, if it was easy as they say, everyone would be doing it. A community takes time. It’s not just like, you go in there once, and now your community is solidified. It’s like, weeks and months of being consistent; years of showing up.
LISA:
Yes. Like, I don’t think you can really fast track it.
ANGELA:
No. I don’t think you can either. Like again, and it shows. Those people who are trying to do it, they’re now closing their Facebook groups, left right and centre. Even if they got 30, 40, 50 thousand people, but they never nurtured the communities and then no one shows up at all. So numbers don’t mean anything. So listen, for those that are out there, what are five ways business owners could get started with video today?
LISA:
Well, like I said before, Instagram stories, obviously, the most perfect, simple, easy little platform, little way in. So I think that is a really great way to get started; little 15-second video. We can all do that. Just say, “Hey. This is me. Have a good day.” Start experimenting there. If you don’t have a video that introduces you on your Facebook page, then you need to go and create one of those, “Hey. I’m Lisa. And I love helping people, feed their families more whole foods. I have got so many recipes here. Come and join the party. And hey, let me know. What’s the thing that you’re struggling with most when it comes to feeding your family?” Something like that; something really quick and easy. Make sure you use your mobile phone. I don’t get any fancy, crazy equipment. You don’t need anything more than your phone. And I’ll give three really quick tips to make that video look better than someone else’s. Well, better than it would have to be.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
Didn’t get these tips. Make sure that your face is facing the light. So we don’t want the light coming from behind you, we want it coming in front of you. Lighting matters and lighting can make a huge difference. Don’t be doing dim lights. Don’t have the sun beaming down from the top. Make sure the light is coming from your face. Just go stand on a freaking window; it will look great.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
Hold your phone landscape when you’re creating videos that you want to repurpose for your website or that you want to look kind of pro. Instagram will always want you to use portrait, but for anything else, go landscape. It just looks pro. That’s what TV looks like. People respond to it really, really well.
ANGELA:
Yes.
LISA:
And the last thing that you can do, when you’re doing that little intro video is smile.
ANGELA:
Smile people.
LISA:
Smile. Just crack a smile. You will be so surprised how far a smile can go when it comes to just naturally being engaging. So don’t take this too seriously. Have fun with it and be yourself. That might take practice, and that’s totally cool. But if you can just smile while you’re talking to people and introducing yourself, people will smile back at you.
ANGELA:
So what you’re saying is screw the resting bitch face. We’re going to need to see some smiles here.
LISA:
Yes. And also, if you’re slightly academic, or like a really smart person and you’re used to talking to big audiences about very serious things, it can be hard to step out of presentation mode. But go for conversational; sink into how you’ll be talking to your best friend. That works so much better on these social platforms. Because remember, we’re creating social content. Yes. They can get all their heavy, serious stuff inside programs and all of that kind of thing; but when we’re on social, people will want to know who you are, they want to know what you stand for; they want to be able to interact with you and feel like you’re their friend.
ANGELA:
Yes. And when they do that, that’s again where the connection and the community will come 360. So now, I know the power of video. You know the power of video. So for those listeners out there who also might want to embrace the power of video marketing for small business owners, where can they find you if they want help doing this? How can they connect with you? Where can they go to get some goodness of Lisa?
LISA:
Well, you can head to lisacorduff.com, and I have a pretty amazing opt-in waiting for you right there. And my ‘Keeping Business Real Podcast,’ brings the goods; you can go there right now and start having a listen to all the back episodes. It’s called Keeping Business Real and Keeping Video Real because there are a few different reasons. I don’t think anything has to be polished to be effective. I think that taking imperfect action is the best way to create momentum in your business. And I also, I’m not; just like you Anj, I’m just not interested in all the smoke and mirrors in this online business industry and will always talk straight out about my experiences; what’s really going on. Because I don’t think anyone is served by bullshit.
ANGELA:
Yes. Seriously. That’s a whole other podcast, I would say. Because you and I, we have great conversations; we could go on for hours on that. But yes, now, show up, be real, connect with your community, create conversation, and your business will do really, really well. But again, as Lisa said, you’re going to have to be consistent no matter what you do.
So what a fun and awesome episode; it’s always fun hanging out with you Lis. I know that you’ve got a school pickup run in a few minutes. I’m going to have to start cooking, so between us, we’re going to throw our Mom hats on. I can’t wait to hang out with you again at the Retreat in October. It’ll be awesome spending some time with you at the pool, drinking mojito 02, talking about business; so that will be fun. And for the rest of you, please remember that my team and I will be putting together the whole transcription at angelahenderson.com.au. And of course, I cover all sorts of related business and life conversations inside my Facebook community, The Australian Business Collaborative. So head on over and join. For the rest of you, have an awesome day, and I look forward to connecting with you on next week’s episode of the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. Have a good one everyone.
Thanks for listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast with Angela Henderson, Video Marketing for Small Business. www.angelahenderson.com.au
