Episode Transcript

Jake Braun:

Welcome it Kickin' It With Kapok, a podcast about business owners' marketing struggles and solutions, and other business related topics. I'm Jake.

Mirela Setkic:

And I am Mirela.

Jake Braun:

And this is episode 14, creating killer business videos in Tampa Bay with Joey West. This is an exciting episode as we'll have our first true returning guest. Today we'll be joined again by Joey West. In addition to being in the media industry, Joey owns his own full service video production company, Media Expert Video. His award winning team has over 55 years of combined experience. Today we'll talk with Joey about how important video marketing can be for a small business.
I know we already introduced Joey in a previous episode, but is there anything else you'd like to add before we get started, Mirela?

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, a couple of things. Like you mentioned, this is kind of a big deal. Joey is our first returning guest, so-

Joey West:

Thank you for having me back. You both look like you've lost weight.

Mirela Setkic:

Oh no.

Jake Braun:

Maybe a few pounds.

Mirela Setkic:

Damn, that sure is working. I need to eat more candy. All right, well, I just want to mention a couple of things. Joey has a lot of experience in the news industry, TV commercials, video production, and video marketing. And he's actually really good at what he does, and he's-

Joey West:

Well, thank you.

Mirela Setkic:

He's a good person, and he also keeps it real, so I think-

Joey West:

You're hired.

Mirela Setkic:

Oh, man. Now we've got to negotiate the salary. But is there anything else that you would like to add, Joey?

Joey West:

No, you've covered it all. I got my start in TV news and broadcasting, have been doing it for 20 some odd years. Don't need to get into specifics, but that was my background, and it led me into helping others with their video production needs.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay. All right, and I think Jake will have some questions for you next.

Jake Braun:

Yeah, so why don't you tell us a little bit about video marketing, and maybe why it's important for a small business?

Joey West:

Well, it can really be at the heart of a business' success as far as marketing, and their marketing content, especially in this day and age, video is more important than ever. When everybody's got a smartphone, and anytime you're considering making a purchase, or considering using a new business, or looking for advice, or trying to figure out what's wrong with your car, or your furnace, you're going to try to look, Google it, look up a video to show you what might be wrong, to look for somebody in a similar situation as yours, and to see what solutions they came up with, and to see if that might be something that works for you.
Where it pertains to a business is that it's an opportunity for you to showcase what you have to offer to your customers, or clients, your products or services. You can tell your story, which is what we try to focus on at Media Expert Video, is telling a business's story, or telling that business person's story. Because that's what makes you relatable to people, to your clients and your customers. It might be something quirky, but to show that you're a human and not just a business who wants their dollars, but you're a human who cares about whatever their needs might be, it allows you to relate to your customers, and to your audience.
And with social media and everybody's smartphones, as I said, it's getting easier and easier nowadays to post content. And people have come to expect it. If you don't have video these days, it's kind of like 10 years ago if you didn't have a website, people would be like, "What's wrong with that business? Why don't they have a website?" Well nowadays it's kind of, "Why don't they have any video?"

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah.

Joey West:

Because it's so easy to do, everybody expects it. Not saying that it's ... that you're going to get it perfect if you do it yourself, or that it's going to be the best videos, but people come to expect videos, whether it's how tos, informational, or just straight information about your product.

Mirela Setkic:

Yep.

Joey West:

They want to see it, and they want to see what they're buying before they buy it, before they make that decision. We live in an age of the informed consumer. And it's becoming critical that businesses have video nowadays.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, that's very true. And I think I recently read somewhere, I think it was a book that we were reading, it was a marketing book about content marketing. And it said that having a video on your homepage, on your website, increases your conversion rate by 20%.

Joey West:

80%.

Mirela Setkic:

80%, oh-

Joey West:

80%, yeah.

Mirela Setkic:

All right, so my numbers are totally f'ed up.

Joey West:

No, you were going down the right path.

Mirela Setkic:

Math is not my thing. But yeah, so it's 80%.

Joey West:

Yeah.

Mirela Setkic:

Which is huge.

Joey West:

Yeah.

Mirela Setkic:

But I think a lot of people think like, "Oh, I've never been into video, I don't like the way I look in the video, I don't like the way I sound." But I mean, that-

Joey West:

Where have I heard that before?

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, I mean, it's really tough. But I think your customers and clients want to know who you are, and why do you do what you do. And it's easier to say that in a video instead of just writing it down, or typing it up on your website.

Joey West:

I must agree with you on that point. However, there are times when, as you mentioned, people don't like seeing themselves on video, or don't like hearing themselves. That's where actors come in, or voiceover talent.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah.

Joey West:

You can write a script, you can have somebody else read it, or you can have somebody else appear in the video, in a professional manner, of course. Because they would be representing you and your business. Not everybody likes their own appearance, which is understandable. And it also lends an air of credibility.

Mirela Setkic:

Yes.

Joey West:

When you have a professional looking video done for your business, and people see that, it gives them comfort, thinking, "Okay, they care enough about their business or their product to get a professional looking video done to explain it to us in a simple, clear, concise way to help us make an informed decision on our own."

Mirela Setkic:

Yep. Yeah, that makes sense.

Jake Braun:

So we talked about videos on homepages, are there any other kinds of videos that work well for a small business?

Joey West:

Funny you should say that, I actually was reading over some stats before I came in. But a couple that grabbed my attention was 63% of businesses now claim that they do use video marketing. Which is huge, that's over half of all businesses in the country. 82% of those who do use video said it was important to their business, and 83% believe that they get a good return on their investment.
So not only are they ... just about everybody using them, most people are using them, but they're very happy with the end result, and their business bottom line is effected as a result in a positive way. So it seems to be working. The people who are doing it, of course, there's going to be bad characters with anything that you do. There's people who do quality work, and there's people that do subpar work.

Mirela Setkic:

Yep.

Joey West:

And there's some people that just want to do them all themselves, and that's not a bad idea either, if you don't think you have the wherewithal to hire a video production company, some people try to do it on their own.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay. Well which kind of brings us to the next point, which is money and price. And a lot of times we come across local businesses who are sometimes new, or they're starting out, and they think, "I would like to produce a TV commercial and have it on a local TV channel." And then they go out, and they start getting quotes, and the quotes are all over the board. So can you give us a little bit of ... I guess information on pricing and how it can range and what the price ranges are?

Joey West:

Yeah, it can vary greatly, as you said. And it really depends on what you want to do in the video. There are a lot of factors that go into the pricing. If you have to hire professional actors, how many actors, how many days you're going to be shooting, how many locations you're going to shoot at. If you're shooting a car commercial and you have to shut down a stretch of road-

Mirela Setkic:

Okay.

Joey West:

You know, all those factors involved, and if you have to get permits. Sometimes if you want to shoot in a public area or on a street you have to get a permit to do so. So there's a lot of factors involved, and it depends on the client, and what their vision is for the commercial. It can cost anywhere from a couple thousand dollars, on the very low end, to millions of dollars.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay.

Joey West:

Depending on how extreme you want to go. Like the Superbowl ads, for example.

Mirela Setkic:

Oh, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true.

Joey West:

Because, you know, that 30 seconds is going to cost you two million dollars anyway, what's another million dollars to create the commercial? Because it does have a national audience and you're getting the most eyeballs in the world, and everybody's really criticizing those commercials. Some people watch the commercials just as much as they watch the game, or if not more. And you're going to hear about it for a while, there's going to be a buildup to the game, they're going to give sneak peaks, or leak out some commercials early. Then there's going to be the actual commercial, then you're going to get the reaction. So you're getting your ROI, your return on investment, for that commercial. And you certainly don't want it to be a bad one if it's going to be airing in the Superbowl, but-

Mirela Setkic:

Okay, okay.

Joey West:

That's on example.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay. So I guess to just narrow it down a little bit, since I guess a lot of people in this area are probably thinking about TV commercials, and so if I am a boutique downtown [inaudible 00:09:55], and I just have one location, and I'm looking just to film a TV commercial which is like maybe me in it, and just kind of my store, just to showcase my store, and I don't need to hire actors, I don't need to shut down Central Avenue or anything like that, what would be a reasonable budget for me? Like what kind of dollar amount should I have in mind?

Joey West:

Again, depending on what your vision is for the commercial, how long the shoot would take, if ... and the script writing, and the process behind it, etc. I would say the low end, very low end, maybe $1,000.00.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay.

Joey West:

Those are hard to find.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay.

Joey West:

And then on average I would say you're probably looking at $5,000 to $10,000.00.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay.

Joey West:

Usually.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay, okay. And I think like you said earlier, you get what you pay for. If you-

Joey West:

Right.

Mirela Setkic:

If someone comes to you and says, "Oh, I can do a video for a commercial for you for $500.00," it's probably too good to be true. If they say $1,000.00 it's probably going to be very like entry level, basic, so it's not going to be as good as a $5,000.00 video. So.

Joey West:

In theory, yes, that's how it should work. There's the old saying you get what you pay for.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, yeah.

Joey West:

But sometimes you might just find somebody who is just starting out-

Mirela Setkic:

True.

Joey West:

Who is really good.

Mirela Setkic:

True.

Joey West:

So do your homework on the person, ask them for any examples. And even if they haven't done a commercial, so to speak, they've done something. Whether it was a school project in college, or some kind of video, promotional video or something, they've done some kind of video. So ask to see their work, no matter what it was. And if you think that person has a good eye, their video turned out well, and it seemed like it flowed nicely and it got the message across, and it was well lit, and audio was good, certainly take a chance on them. I'm not here to knock anybody down, everybody has to start somewhere.

Mirela Setkic:

That's true.

Joey West:

At the same time, you can spend a million dollars and still not be happy with the commercial you get, so-

Mirela Setkic:

That is true.

Joey West:

Yeah, so-

Mirela Setkic:

You can hire a very expensive charlatan who will come and take your money and give you nothing, so very true. Very, very true.

Jake Braun:

All right. So can a small business owner do it themselves then? Can they just take their iPhone and just shoot their store, is that a good idea for a video?

Joey West:

Well, you can. And it depends on how you want to use that video. I don't mean to sound like a broken record here, but yes, iPhones shoot amazing video now, especially the latest version. And there are now devices, you can get like the Ring is a light that you can put on your iPhone that will light the person or the talent that you're using. You can get a microphone fairly inexpensive from many locations on the internet, that you can plug right into your phone. And I do stress using a microphone, because a lot of people will just go at it and just use the microphone that's built into their phone, and that's fine for some videos, but if you want to take it up to the next level and you really want the audio crisp and clear so your customer or viewer can hear what you're saying, it's important.
I think those are the two factors that often get overlooked the most, are lighting and audio when somebody's making their own video. So there's everything you ever wanted to know is on the internet, and I'm sure there's ... my partner has a saying that there's a video on YouTube for anything you want to know, and that's pretty much true. So if you've thought of it, there's probably somebody else who's already thought of it, and probably somebody else who's already posted a video of it, so it's not hard to get a few tips and tricks out there and try it on your own. And I would certainly encourage that, especially when it comes to like social media. Because with Facebook and Instagram, etc. the Twitter video, all the social platforms have video now. And if you want to start posting stuff every day, you're not going to hire a video production crew every single day that you want to post a video if you just want to talk about your 30% off shoe sale.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah, true.

Joey West:

And just show some of the shoes on the rack or in your store that you might have for sale, you're not going to hire them to come in, but that could be very effective use of your video, and your time on social media, just to let people know, "Hey, this is what we've got." And I think peoples' expectations when it comes to how video look on social media is a little bit lower than if it were to appear on a television screen.

Mirela Setkic:

Very true, very true.

Joey West:

Right, or on a film screen.

Mirela Setkic:

Yes.

Joey West:

Especially with the younger generation. They care less about what it looks like, but the people who are really successful go the extra mile and it looks professional, and they've either taken the time to learn, or they've hired a professional video production company.

Jake Braun:

That's a really good point. This is obviously our first podcast and we pretty much learned how to buy all of the equipment for this, all the techniques and everything just from watching videos on YouTube. Like you said, if someone's asked that question and answered it before already.

Joey West:

Right, it's an infinite resource.

Jake Braun:

Yeah. All right, so what would be the benefits of hiring a professional videographer, or video production company, over doing it themselves? You mentioned lighting, maybe an amateur doesn't have their own lights, what other things would you say is benefits there?

Joey West:

Well, a professional company can help you avoid some of the mistakes that you might make, that might discourage you from making any more videos. Or even worse, paint you in a negative light to your customers or your clients. So, what we do as a process, we would talk to your first to get an idea of what you wanted to do, learn more about you and your business. I don't move forward with any project until I've gotten to know the person a little bit, until I've gotten to know their business, not just what they do, but I prefer to come visit them and see their business, and see them in action, because a lot of times I'll get inspired by something that they may take for granted because it's something they do every day.
So then we'll go through the scripting process, we'll write out a script. And if the client wants we can storyboard it or make a shot list, to tell them, okay, here's everything we want to say in the script, whether it's a person with the business or a voiceover, or an actor reading it. And then here's the shots that we want to go along with it at each part of the way. And once they approve that, then we go forward with making the video. Most of what we do gets shot in one day, sometimes we have to go to multiple locations, and it spans out over multiple days, but that's fine too. It all depends on what that person wants to accomplish at the time.
But we've already got the equipment, we've got the lighting, we've got the correct audio, we know what we're going to do in post production, which is something that most people don't know how to do. There are a lot of free editing platforms out there, but if you still don't know what you're doing you can just make your video look worse than when you even started. There's color correction that goes along with it, there's audio correction that goes along with it, you want to make sure you're not over modulated or under modulated. You want to be able to add graphics, or in certain cases what we call stock video. A lot of times the average person doesn't have access to that. It can be images and videos from around the world that we have access to because it's something we pay for. So not everybody's going to want to plop down money just to make one video for a year long subscription to a stock database.
So there are definitely some advantages. The time that we're going to save you.

Mirela Setkic:

Yes, the time. And time is money, and I think people don't realize how consuming editing is.

Joey West:

Yes, editing is very time consuming. The whole process, it can be time consuming if you don't know what you want or if you've never done it before, you can get frustrated easily and give up just because it doesn't seem like it's going the way you want, or it's not going to turn out the way you want.

So time. And most small businesses, the owner's very actively involved with running that business, and they don't have time to-

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah.

Joey West:

Think about doing a video, one, or the time to make it.

Mirela Setkic:

To edit it, to make it, to edit it, to brand it.

Joey West:

Right.

Mirela Setkic:

It's almost like a full-time job.

Joey West:

It is.

Mirela Setkic:

Yes, no one wants another full-time job.

Joey West:

And long those lines, video really does go hand in hand with marketing now. A lot of what you guys do, and you mentioned branding and sharing it on social media, and make sure it's promoted along the right channels, if you're going to take the time to invest in a professionally done video, you're going to want to promote the heck of it, let everybody know, because you want as many people to watch it as possible. So that goes along hand in hand with marketing, video and marketing are just almost synonymous anymore.

Mirela Setkic:

That's true, and we always tell people, if you're going to do something, do it right. And you're going to spend time on it regardless, so you want to make sure that your time is spent well, and you want to make sure that you find people who can help you in areas that you're not an expert in, and that who will also save you time.
And we, not long ago, we had someone tell us that they were just going to learn marketing on their own, and they were going to run their business and also become a marketing expert. Which I think is ... when you think about it, it's like okay, maybe that's a good idea. But in reality, that's going to waste so much of your time, and in the end, you might end up half assing both sides, running your business and being a marketing professional, so you don't want to be a jack of all trades, because in the end it doesn't work out.

Joey West:

Right. You want to do what you do and do it well.

Mirela Setkic:

Exactly.

Joey West:

And hire very intelligent or smart people around you to do the things that you might not be so good at.

Mirela Setkic:

Exactly, just build a team.

Joey West:

Right.

Mirela Setkic:

It's just as important as knowing how to run your business, you should also know how to find good people to help you.

Joey West:

Absolutely, that's key.

Mirela Setkic:

Yes, yes, otherwise you're just going to be in your hole, buried, and just ... you just don't know how to come out of it, so it's definitely a good idea to find good people.
Which I guess ... oh, I guess that brings us to the next question, and I think you mentioned this a little bit, lighting and audio, and I was going to ask you about some of the most common mistakes that people make with video. And we've actually made some mistakes with video, like Joey gave me a little bit of a lesson on lighting, because I was a lighting idiot, I didn't really know. So what are some other things, mistakes that people make, and that you have noticed?

Joey West:

Well, I had mentioned posting it, if you want to a video, you put it on your website, which is fine, but only posting it to one place, and not putting it in as many avenues as you could, not posting it to social media, not using YouTube or Vimeo, or your Facebook or your Instagram. If you took the time and effort to put into it, put it everywhere, let everybody see it. Because everybody's different, everybody wants to use the social media platform that they like, or they're used to.

Mirela Setkic:

That's true.

Joey West:

And some are more popular than others. But yeah, the mistake of posting only to one place is one I see a lot. And sometimes there's a lack of a strategy to the video. It's not clear and concise. You could be all over the place because people want to cram so much information-

Mirela Setkic:

Yes.

Joey West:

Into one little video.

Mirela Setkic:

Yes.

Joey West:

And while it's great, in theory, to try to get as much information as possible out into as little bit of time as possible, that can just overwhelm or confuse your audience or your viewer.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah.

Joey West:

So just have one clear message for each video, you can make more videos.

Mirela Setkic:

Yes.

Joey West:

But if you make one really bad one, you might not get anybody coming back. So instead of making one really bad one with like 10 minutes of information crammed into one, make 10 one minute videos.

Mirela Setkic:

And that's a good point, we always try to tell clients to have one call to action per marketing piece.

Joey West:

Yes.

Mirela Setkic:

And sometimes people want to do a mailer, for example, and they want of you know, "Put my 20% off discount, announce by one year anniversary," all in one card, and at the end of the day it's like well, if you tell someone to do five different things at the same time, they're going to end up doing none of them. So just tell them to do one thing, and then-

Joey West:

Right.

Mirela Setkic:

Send them something again and ask them for another thing. So same thing with videos. Don't tell me 10 different stories in one video, I'm going to be very confused.

Joey West:

Right.

Mirela Setkic:

Like what's going on here?

Joey West:

And it's good you brought up a call to action, because that's another thing people forget to put in their videos.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah.

Joey West:

That's another mistake. They'll give you this great or informative video, and you're like, "That's awesome," and then it just ends, and it doesn't say-

Mirela Setkic:

Where do I do now?

Joey West:

Where can I go to buy it?

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah.

Joey West:

Or what can I do next, or tell me what to do now. So don't forget that call to action at the end, it's really important. It's the whole purpose of why you're making the video.

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah.

Joey West:

In the end. I'm sure it can be to inform, and educate, but in end as a business person, you really want that person who's seeing your video to be converted into a new customer or client.

Mirela Setkic:

Yes, and then take that person to a page where they can take that next step. Don't necessarily say, "Well, just go to my homepage," and then they get there, like, "Okay, well where am I supposed to go now?"

Joey West:

Right.

Mirela Setkic:

So have a plan, be strategic, like you said.

Joey West:

Correct. Yes. And avoid trying to be too salesy, because people don't like being sold to at all.

Mirela Setkic:

Not at all.

Joey West:

Whether in person or in video, so try to avoid being too salesy. Be informative, and express your enthusiasm for your business or your product, but don't be overly salesy. You should have a call to action at the end of the video-

Mirela Setkic:

Yeah.

Joey West:

Don't do it throughout the whole video.

Mirela Setkic:

Exactly, don't have your products like popping out like next to your head like, "Buy my soap," and the soap is like vibrating or something.

Joey West:

Right.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay, I think Jake has another question for us, or ...

Jake Braun:

So you're also a fellow entrepreneur. What do you do to market your business, what have you found has worked, or hasn't worked?

Joey West:

A lot that hasn't worked.

Mirela Setkic:

All right, that's also important. Now you know what not to do.

Joey West:

It is, it is. Yeah, as an entrepreneur, I think the best way to learn is to fail.

Mirela Setkic:

Yes, and no one talks about the ugly stuff.

Jake Braun:

Yeah, that's so true.

Mirela Setkic:

Which is very important.

Joey West:

Right. And a lot of people give up after they fail. I think it's like four out of five businesses won't be around five years from now. So it's important to fail, take it as a lesson, but know that now you know what not to do, and try something else and keep moving forward. Don't just give up. So it's really hard to do.
For me personally, I've tried social media ads, I've tried internet ads, in many different forms, whether it was Google, or Facebook, or Instagram, or some of the even annoying ads I've tried for some of clients. The ones that kind of know what you've already been reading online, and all the sudden that product starts appearing out of nowhere, you're like hey, I wasn't specially shopping for that product, but I was searching for something similar.
So yeah, I've tried it all with mixed results. For me, the best ... the best lane is word of mouth, referrals.

Mirela Setkic:

The most powerful type of marketing.

Joey West:

It is, I know they're the best. And that seems to be where I get most of my business from. That works for me, that's not going to work for everybody, that's certainly not the best for everybody, but for what I do, because it's very personal in nature, and you're going to work closely with people for many hours at a time, that tends to be where I get most of my business from.

Mirela Setkic:

Okay.

Jake Braun:

All right, well we learned a lot about video, is there anything else we should've asked you about that we didn't, or anything else you want to share about video at all before we close out the episode?

Joey West:

No, you'll just have to have me back for the third time, I'll be the first guest to be on for three times.

Mirela Setkic:

Oh, man.

Jake Braun:

All right, well-

Mirela Setkic:

I think we can make that happen.

Jake Braun:

We'll think up the idea and make it happen.

Joey West:

And hopefully you will have lost more weight by then.

Mirela Setkic:

Oh my god.

Jake Braun:

We might not exist anymore.

Mirela Setkic:

I know.

Joey West:

You're wasting away.

Jake Braun:

So if any of the listeners out there are looking to get started with videos, or up their video game in the Tampa Bay area, how can they get in contact with you, Joey, do you have a website or anywhere else they can find out more about your or your services?

Joey West:

Yeah, my website is MediaExpertVideo.com. Or they can give me a call at 727-483-0348.

Jake Braun:

All right, well it's been a great 14th episode. I'd again like to thank Joey from Media Expert Video for joining us today. If you did enjoy this podcast or just enjoying our podcast in general, we really would appreciate it if you would subscribe and rate or review us wherever you listen to your podcasts. It helps new listeners find us, and it keeps the podcast going. And also, feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or comments about anything we talked about today, or marketing in general. You can visit us on our website, KickinItWithKapok.com, or on social media. We're on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as Kapok Marketing.
This has been Kickin' It With Kapok, brought to you by Kapok Marketing, thanks for listening. We'll have something just as great for you next time.