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August 10, 2017 at 11:21 AM
So, you’re thinking about making a video for your practice. Well, good news. You’re on the right track.
As a writer and director, I’m the guy you would call once you’ve decided to make a video. From experience, I can tell you that video is one of the best ways to improve client engagement, boost conversions and drive sales.
Just don’t make me (or your production team) hate you.
You see, I started out as a corporate videographer like everybody else, but then I got into independent film. I started running around with guys who used prime lenses and shot raw so they could color grade their footage to get it just right. To pay the bills, we would do corporate shoots, and it soon became a universal rule: we all hated corporate shoots.
(Related: How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love Technology)
Why? We saw the same mistakes being made over and over again. No matter how hard we tried, no one would listen to us. So please, don’t be another one of those as I share with you the four biggest mistakes that I hope you never make.
1. Wanting a Live-Action Brochure
As an independent filmmaker, I had gotten a taste for how powerful video could be to move people emotionally. My team and I knew how to create emotion through moving pictures and sound. Invariably, though, we had to forget all of that in order to give our corporate clients what they wanted.
That’s when it became clear — none of our corporate clients wanted to create emotion. They wanted to communicate information. Without knowing it, what they really wanted was a live-action version of their brochure — a talking head, if you will. And that doesn’t make a good video.
A good video should be about your clients and your potential clients getting to know you. That may include some details about what you do, but don’t forget to include who you are and why you do what you do.
You can’t be afraid to get personal. Because video has the power to move people, you have the opportunity to build trust with your video, and we trust people when we understand what motivates them. Tell that story to your clients. Make sure they know what makes you tick.
2. Writing Bullet Points Instead of a Script
You need to write a script. I know you don’t want to, but you need to.
I can tell you from experience, the videos that hit their mark and exceeded expectations were the ones with a robust editing process that took place before anyone even picked up a camera.
