August 21, 2024 • 15 mins
On this episode of 1000 Ways to Market Your Business, Samantha Scott, APR, is joined by Brian Tietz, a commercial and editorial photographer based in Fort Myers.
The two dive into the world of visual storytelling, discussing the power of images in marketing and how to use photos and videos to enhance your brand’s story.
Have a question or feedback to share? Visit www.getpushing.com or one of our many social media channels. We look forward to hearing from you.
#marketing #business #communication #strategy
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Episode Transcript
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Samantha (00:05):
Hi, and welcome to another episode of 1000 Ways to
Market Your Business.
I'm Samantha Scott, APR.
And today I am joined by the oneand only Brian Tietz.
And we're going to talk aboutvisual storytelling and the
power of images and marketing.
Thanks for coming.
Brian (00:18):
Absolutely.
Thanks for having me here.
I appreciate it.
Samantha (00:20):
So I've been fortunate enough to know you for a very,
very long time.
Brian (00:24):
We have known each other for a long time.
Samantha (00:25):
Really cool kind of back story.
But also enjoying your work.
And for those of you that are inSouthwest Florida, you have
probably seen Brian's work allover the place.
Lots of different magazines andotherwise, or if you go to
Downtown House of Pizza, it'sthere too.
Good stuff.
Brian, why don't you tell peoplea little bit about you?
Brian (00:40):
So, I'm a commercial and editorial photographer.
I'm based here in Fort Myers,but I pretty much cover, you
know, from Orlando south in thestate.
I get work in Tampa and St.
Pete and West Palm and Miami andOrlando occasionally.
Which is great about being inthis market is that I can work
in those markets and still makeit back, you know, for little
league games and dinner with myfamily and stuff like that.
Samantha (01:01):
The important stuff.
Brian (01:02):
Exactly, exactly.
Samantha (01:03):
So, how long have you been doing this?
Brian (01:06):
I started in photography when I was in high school.
My first job was at a Eckerdphoto lab.
Yeah.
So I worked at Eckerd's and, andwhile I was in high school, I
was on the newspaper andyearbook staff of my high
school.
When I graduated from UF in2001, it was with a Bachelor of
Science in Journalism,specializing in photojournalism.
Unfortunately, around that time,9/11 happened, so newspapers had
(01:30):
stopped hiring.
So pretty much right aftergraduation I just started
freelancing.
So I've been a freelancephotographer pretty much since
day one.
Samantha (01:39):
So your background really lends itself to the topic
today, which is storytelling andthe power of visuals.
And I think this termstorytelling has kind of been
kicked around for a few years,became a buzzword.
Oh, I'm a storyteller.
But I like to think of it as howyou can communicate as a brand.
And there's ways to do that withwords, but there's also ways to
do that with images.
(01:59):
The adage of, you know, a photois worth a thousand words,
right?
But, what do you think that thatmeans in terms of the power of
visuals, both still photographyand video and communication for
business?
Brian (02:10):
Gosh, you know, storytelling and especially
using powerful images, video orstills, really helps brands
connect with their audience.
Samantha (02:20):
I agree.
Brian (02:20):
I mean, it really kind of helps humanize those brands.
It makes people want to beaffiliated with those brands and
it helps them feel good aboutusing their products.
Samantha (02:30):
And how have you seen that change?
I mean, you've been around alittle bit,(not calling you old,
we're very close in age), butyou've seen things change.
You know, I joke with some ofour younger team members that we
were around before social mediaand before it was really easy to
capture some really great videosand photos on your iPhone.
Brian (02:46):
Right.
Samantha (02:46):
So how have you seen change, and what do you think
has been good or bad about that?
Brian (02:49):
Well, I think a lot of it has changed in that it's come
from the really slick, overlyproduced videos and content.
Samantha (02:58):
Kind of sterile, even, sometimes.
Brian (03:00):
Exactly.
To more of a everyman's kind of,they'll see something that may
have been shot with an iPhone orsomething a little bit more run
and gun production style.
And I think they give a littlebit more value to that knowing
that it's real.
Samantha (03:14):
It's genuine.
Yes.
Authentic.
I think that's so powerful.
And for those of you that arelistening and you're thinking,
okay, yeah, great pictures arewonderful how can I do this
myself?
I think give yourself that graceto know if you don't have huge
budgets and you can't hire aprofessional all the time, do
that when you can, but know thatcreating authentic content is
also really valuable.
Brian (03:34):
Absolutely.
Samantha (03:35):
You know, a slice of life, behind the scenes, and
then also just finding ways forpeople to connect and see
themselves in it, and that'sreal.
Brian (03:42):
Absolutely.
When I see companies that areusing storytelling in an
authentic way like that, I haveso much appreciation for that.
I really, I enjoy watching that.
I enjoy seeing that kind ofstuff.
Samantha (03:53):
Do you have any tips for somebody that might be
running marketing for a businessor own a business and they're
thinking about how they canincorporate visual storytelling
into their marketing?
Brian (04:03):
Well, now it's so much easier.
Really, because social media isfree.
I mean, you can advertise yourcontent on social media
technically for free.
You just gotta create thecontent.
And that's the hard part I knowfor a lot of businesses is
staying on top of creatinggenuine content on a regular
basis.
(04:24):
And believe me, I am just asguilty as everybody else.
I should be doing posts everyday, you know, probably a couple
of posts every day instead ofonce every couple of weeks or
so.
So believe me, I know thestruggles in trying to stay on
top of that, that, it's hard,but the rewards are there.
And I know that every time I doput up a post on social media,
within 24 hours, I've got two orthree phone calls of people
(04:47):
going,"Hey, we need these photosfor this," or,"hey, I saw that
post you did, it's really cool.
You know, is that something youcan do for us as well?"
Samantha (04:54):
So your strategy would be showcasing your work.
And so for those of youlistening, you think about how
can you showcase your wares oryour services in that way.
We try to do that, but I canappreciate your position there,
right?
Because I often say that we arethe cobbler's children with no
shoes.
Brian (05:08):
Or the photographers that don't have any photos of their
kids.
Samantha (05:12):
So I can relate to that, but I would say my tip
would be think strategicallyabout what you're trying put
out.
You know, it's great to showyour team at lunch, but that's
just one side of the story.
Can you show your team in work?
Can you show the results of yourwork?
Can you show how your productworks?
Can you explain it?
Because people are going toconnect with these visuals in a
(05:33):
different way.
I would also add too if you canincorporate video as well as
stills, as consumers, you'veheard me say this before if
you've listened to our podcast,we're lazy.
We don't want to read.
Everybody just wants to watch avideo.
Show me how to do it.
Don't make me read something howto do it.
So if you can use photos orvideo to explain what you do or
how you're different, it's justgoing to be absorbed that much
(05:54):
faster by your audience.
Brian (05:55):
I get sucked in the Facebook Reels.
I could literally spend an hourand I wouldn't even realize it
passed because you just getstuck in watching these things.
And a lot of them arestorytelling and you know, it's
storytelling from companies.
There's a couple that I follow,I'm a car guy, so they're a car
type kind of posts or whatever,but you know, it could be
somebody rebuilding an engineand I'm like, wow, that's
(06:17):
fascinating.
It's 30 seconds and I'm like,whoa, that's, that's really
interesting.
Yeah, and you just get suckedinto it.
So I think if you can do quick,short little videos, telling
stories about your customers orabout how your products are
being used that might bedifferent than what somebody
else might assume that that'show you use your product.
(06:38):
Those are the things that reallykind of capture people's
attention.
Samantha (06:41):
And we always try to tell people, be consistent.
As consistent as you can.
So you talked about postscheduling, how often should you
use that in your storytelling.
But I would say, from the verybeginning, start by just really
defining, what am I trying tosay.
And I think sometimes people arewell intentioned, and they
wanna, you know, they get firedup, they listen to this podcast,
they're like, yeah, I'm gonna godo that.
But they don't have a plan.
(07:01):
So, that's one of the firstthings we say, is define what
your story is.
What are you trying tocommunicate?
And maybe there's a coupledifferent things.
And keep in mind it's not theyou show, it's not just what
you're trying to sell, but howcan you make it two way and help
somebody else who might belooking for information and you
can be positioned as a resource.
So, starting out with a plan ofwhat are we trying to say, what
are we trying to communicate,then go into, okay, now what
(07:23):
would show that, either instills or in video, and making
sure you're consistent in howyou're putting that content out.
And then, you know, just from atechnical side, I would say,
make sure when you're posting itthat you're using your alt text,
because, you know, you want tomake sure that you get as much
bang for your buck with searchengine optimization, that you
have calls to actions andkeywords and things when you're
posting.
But also consistency in thelook.
(07:44):
Right?
Because to your point, it's somuch easier and there's so much
social out there now.
Filters for days, right?
But, I don't think we all needto have like the kitten ears and
things on our pictures, let'smake sure we're professional and
that we're not using a differentfilter with every single photo.
Brian (07:58):
Quality is key, for sure.
If you're trying to shoot somegood video, turn off mixed
lighting.
Like if you're in an officesetting that has fluorescent
lights everywhere and thenwindow light coming in, shut off
those fluorescent lights, usesome nice natural window light
coming in.
And that's something easy.
You can really get some goodresults.
It's insane the quality that youcan get from just like an iPhone
(08:20):
or your Android or whatever.
You know, so I would say dothat.
Keep it simple.
You don't have to do a bunch oftransitions and make it crazy
and loud and have loud music oranything like that going on.
Keep it simple because a lot oftimes when I'm watching Reels or
content my volume is completelyoff.
Samantha (08:38):
Exactly, that's a great point.
A lot of people are just readingthe text, so make sure you have
that closed captioning on there.
Brian (08:44):
Absolutely, that is huge.
Because there's lots of timeswhere I can't sit there and
listen to it because I'm in asituation where I'm in public
and I'm not going to sit in awaiting room and let someone
else have to listen to all mysocial media Reels.
The closed captioning isawesome.
If somebody doesn't have that ontheir videos, I'm kind of bummed
out because I'm like, well, Iguess I'm not going to know what
this person's talking about.
Samantha (09:04):
So many apps have that built in, where even if you
don't know how to do editing, itcan do it for you.
I would say also, lighting is agreat point.
There are a number ofinexpensive light rings if
you're trying to do that.
Gimbals are also really handy.
So those are those stabilizersif you're filming with an
iPhone.
Those are also really useful.
Can you give me an example of areally solid campaign that just
(09:24):
used visuals and relied on thatand how that worked and the
storytelling?
Brian (09:28):
One of my favorite campaigns to work on was for a
non-profit.
I did a project with Grace Placein Golden Gate, and they help
non English speaking peoplelearn skills to be able to work.
They address all demographics.
So we took people from differentage brackets, different racial
brackets, different everything,and we just did simple, really
(09:51):
clean black and white portraitsof them, and then the Grace
Place people wrote up theirstory.
The images were impactful enoughand the stories were so powerful
that they were able to use thatin their annual report and then
also as a fundraising campaignthat really helped their donors
be able to connect with thepeople that they're helping.
(10:12):
And that's a huge thing when thedonors can see,"Oh my gosh, I'm
having an impact on thisperson." It could be a child.
It could be someone who's 80years old.
When they can see where theirmoney is having an impact and
how it's having an impact,that's huge.
Samantha (10:28):
Yeah, I think you make a really great point,
connection, you know, like thefaces to names, it makes a
difference.
I think that's a powerful storywhen it comes to fundraising and
non-profits.
We did something similar, butwith video for a gym, they were
having a hard time gettingpeople to come in and see a
trainer.
And for any of you who have donethat, it can be kind of an
intimidating process,uncomfortable.
(10:49):
Like I'm already not reallyhappy with myself and now I'm
going to go talk to somebodythat I don't know about that
who's like probably the epitomeof fitness.
So we did these little short biovideos and it was just like,
"Hey, I'm Samantha and here'swho I train and here's how long
I've been doing it and here'swhy." And it was a way to kind
of interview them before evergoing in the door.
And it was really, reallyhelpful for them.
Kind of a different take onthat.
Love it.
Brian (11:08):
Absolutely.
Other campaigns that I've seenas being powerful, honestly, is
Publix.
I think Publix has some of thebest.
Samantha (11:14):
Oh, gosh, their holiday stuff.
Brian (11:16):
Exactly, their holiday campaign.
And then of course, likeBudweiser and their Super Bowl
commercials.
But like, those are storytellingcampaigns.
Samantha (11:24):
And they often don't use words.
Brian (11:25):
Exactly.
And that's what's even morepowerful about it.
Samantha (11:28):
Yeah, really great stuff.
I'm sure you guys are familiarwith those and if not you can
just Google like PublixChristmas just make sure you
have tissues.
So, for those of you that mightbe considering visual
storytelling, custom photographyfor their business, are there
any other tips, tools, or maybethere's some things to avoid
like don't do this.
Brian (11:46):
Yes, a thousand percent yes.
I think what you want to do isnot alienate your audience.
So, I always say, stay away fromany sort of political
commentary.
Samantha (11:58):
Very timely advice right now.
Brian (12:00):
You might get a lot of people to give you a thumbs up,
but you're also going to lose alot of people.
I don't really care what yourpolitical affiliation is, it
doesn't need to be part of yourbranding.
Samantha (12:10):
That's a great PR tip as well.
Putting on my PR hat.
Just leave that to the sidebecause you're right, it could
be very polarizing.
At the end of the day, how doesthat impact your business?
Somebody's not going tonecessarily buy from you because
you share this opinion.
Brian (12:24):
Right.
And the other thing is, and I'veseen this happen with a company
that I am a patron of, that theyhave a tendency to want to be
authentic, but the problem istheir way of thinking they're
authentic can be a littlemisogynistic, or inappropriate,
or cringeworthy, basically.
It just kind of makes you go,ugh, I probably wouldn't have
(12:46):
done that, or said that, or usedthat photo.
They need someone to be like,it's okay to be authentic, but
at the same point, you don'twant to turn off any of your
clients because of what youthink is authentic.
That's probably my best advice.
Samantha (12:59):
I like it.
The things not to do.
Sometimes that's more helpfulthan the things that you should
do.
Brian (13:03):
The other thing I would add is keep it simple.
Like, don't feel like you haveto buy a bunch of gear and do
all sorts of stuff.
It's about the authenticity andthe storytelling, keeping it
simple and keeping it short.
Samantha (13:17):
Yes, I just talked about that in a TrendTalks
Marketing video about keep itsimple.
Short is best.
Attention spans are shorter thanever.
Brian (13:24):
For sure.
Samantha (13:25):
And social's not making that any better.
So short, short, short.
Absolutely.
Couldn't agree more.
Well, any parting thoughts,anything that we didn't discuss
you think would be helpful interms of visuals and
storytelling?
Brian (13:37):
Gosh if there was ever a time in history where
storytelling is important andalso so easy now, it's now.
There's no excuse to not bedoing it.
And like I said, I'm guilty ofnot staying up with it as much
as I should.
But at the same point, I stilltry to reach out and be
proactive.
Samantha (13:55):
I would add one parting thought is to don't feel
like you always have to doeverything yourself.
I mean we talked about some DIYthings.
There's a lot of opportunitiesfor that and there's a place for
that.
But I would also say know whenyou might be out of your depth.
Or know when you really needsomebody that can come in.
Like a Brian who can just dosomething a little bit different
in a better way than you mightbe able to.
Brian (14:13):
If you have a problem with your toilet in your house a
lot of people aren't gonna justdig in there, do a YouTube video
and start going to town, right,or the electrical panel, or
something like that.
There's a time and a place tocall the professional.
You may look at the amount ofmoney you may have to spend and
be like,"Ugh, I don't know." Butin the long run, that's an
investment that will absolutelycome back.
Samantha (14:33):
I was just going to say that.
It is an investment.
Because now you're creating awhole plethora, array of images
and video content that you canuse.
I would say be smart if you aregoing to hire a professional.
Ask a lot of questions.
Does this include editing?
How many finished images am Igoing to get?
Can I have the raw footage fromthis video?
What are the rights to that?
Make sure that you are crossingall of your t's and dotting all
(14:55):
of your i's so that you getmaximum value from it.
Because even if it's just b rollclips, you can use that on your
website.
You can use it as backgroundfootage on social posts.
But yes, it absolutely is aninvestment.
It's, you know, just like takingcare of any other part of your
business.
Know when you need aprofessional to help you and
then make wise choices.
Keep in mind too, when you'resetting up those photo and video
shoots that it's evergreen,right?
(15:16):
So you want to make sure thatyou're smart about where you're
filming or taking photos andwhat's in them, and you don't
have holiday decorations in thebackground, for example.
Well, thank you so much, Brian.
Brian (15:24):
Absolutely, no, it was an absolute pleasure.
Thank you so much for having meout here.
This was great.
Samantha (15:28):
And thanks for tuning in to 1000 Ways to Market Your
Business.
See you next time.
Hi, and welcome to another episode of 1000 Ways to
Market Your Business.
I'm Samantha Scott, APR.
And today I am joined by the oneand only Brian Tietz.
And we're going to talk aboutvisual storytelling and the
power of images and marketing.
Thanks for coming.
Brian (00:18):
Absolutely.
Thanks for having me here.
I appreciate it.
Samantha (00:20):
So I've been fortunate enough to know you for a very,
very long time.
Brian (00:24):
We have known each other for a long time.
Samantha (00:25):
Really cool kind of back story.
But also enjoying your work.
And for those of you that are inSouthwest Florida, you have
probably seen Brian's work allover the place.
Lots of different magazines andotherwise, or if you go to
Downtown House of Pizza, it'sthere too.
Good stuff.
Brian, why don't you tell peoplea little bit about you?
Brian (00:40):
So, I'm a commercial and editorial photographer.
I'm based here in Fort Myers,but I pretty much cover, you
know, from Orlando south in thestate.
I get work in Tampa and St.
Pete and West Palm and Miami andOrlando occasionally.
Which is great about being inthis market is that I can work
in those markets and still makeit back, you know, for little
league games and dinner with myfamily and stuff like that.
Samantha (01:01):
The important stuff.
Brian (01:02):
Exactly, exactly.
Samantha (01:03):
So, how long have you been doing this?
Brian (01:06):
I started in photography when I was in high school.
My first job was at a Eckerdphoto lab.
Yeah.
So I worked at Eckerd's and, andwhile I was in high school, I
was on the newspaper andyearbook staff of my high
school.
When I graduated from UF in2001, it was with a Bachelor of
Science in Journalism,specializing in photojournalism.
Unfortunately, around that time,9/11 happened, so newspapers had
(01:30):
stopped hiring.
So pretty much right aftergraduation I just started
freelancing.
So I've been a freelancephotographer pretty much since
day one.
Samantha (01:39):
So your background really lends itself to the topic
today, which is storytelling andthe power of visuals.
And I think this termstorytelling has kind of been
kicked around for a few years,became a buzzword.
Oh, I'm a storyteller.
But I like to think of it as howyou can communicate as a brand.
And there's ways to do that withwords, but there's also ways to
do that with images.
(01:59):
The adage of, you know, a photois worth a thousand words,
right?
But, what do you think that thatmeans in terms of the power of
visuals, both still photographyand video and communication for
business?
Brian (02:10):
Gosh, you know, storytelling and especially
using powerful images, video orstills, really helps brands
connect with their audience.
Samantha (02:20):
I agree.
Brian (02:20):
I mean, it really kind of helps humanize those brands.
It makes people want to beaffiliated with those brands and
it helps them feel good aboutusing their products.
Samantha (02:30):
And how have you seen that change?
I mean, you've been around alittle bit,(not calling you old,
we're very close in age), butyou've seen things change.
You know, I joke with some ofour younger team members that we
were around before social mediaand before it was really easy to
capture some really great videosand photos on your iPhone.
Brian (02:46):
Right.
Samantha (02:46):
So how have you seen change, and what do you think
has been good or bad about that?
Brian (02:49):
Well, I think a lot of it has changed in that it's come
from the really slick, overlyproduced videos and content.
Samantha (02:58):
Kind of sterile, even, sometimes.
Brian (03:00):
Exactly.
To more of a everyman's kind of,they'll see something that may
have been shot with an iPhone orsomething a little bit more run
and gun production style.
And I think they give a littlebit more value to that knowing
that it's real.
Samantha (03:14):
It's genuine.
Yes.
Authentic.
I think that's so powerful.
And for those of you that arelistening and you're thinking,
okay, yeah, great pictures arewonderful how can I do this
myself?
I think give yourself that graceto know if you don't have huge
budgets and you can't hire aprofessional all the time, do
that when you can, but know thatcreating authentic content is
also really valuable.
Brian (03:34):
Absolutely.
Samantha (03:35):
You know, a slice of life, behind the scenes, and
then also just finding ways forpeople to connect and see
themselves in it, and that'sreal.
Brian (03:42):
Absolutely.
When I see companies that areusing storytelling in an
authentic way like that, I haveso much appreciation for that.
I really, I enjoy watching that.
I enjoy seeing that kind ofstuff.
Samantha (03:53):
Do you have any tips for somebody that might be
running marketing for a businessor own a business and they're
thinking about how they canincorporate visual storytelling
into their marketing?
Brian (04:03):
Well, now it's so much easier.
Really, because social media isfree.
I mean, you can advertise yourcontent on social media
technically for free.
You just gotta create thecontent.
And that's the hard part I knowfor a lot of businesses is
staying on top of creatinggenuine content on a regular
basis.
(04:24):
And believe me, I am just asguilty as everybody else.
I should be doing posts everyday, you know, probably a couple
of posts every day instead ofonce every couple of weeks or
so.
So believe me, I know thestruggles in trying to stay on
top of that, that, it's hard,but the rewards are there.
And I know that every time I doput up a post on social media,
within 24 hours, I've got two orthree phone calls of people
(04:47):
going,"Hey, we need these photosfor this," or,"hey, I saw that
post you did, it's really cool.
You know, is that something youcan do for us as well?"
Samantha (04:54):
So your strategy would be showcasing your work.
And so for those of youlistening, you think about how
can you showcase your wares oryour services in that way.
We try to do that, but I canappreciate your position there,
right?
Because I often say that we arethe cobbler's children with no
shoes.
Brian (05:08):
Or the photographers that don't have any photos of their
kids.
Samantha (05:12):
So I can relate to that, but I would say my tip
would be think strategicallyabout what you're trying put
out.
You know, it's great to showyour team at lunch, but that's
just one side of the story.
Can you show your team in work?
Can you show the results of yourwork?
Can you show how your productworks?
Can you explain it?
Because people are going toconnect with these visuals in a
(05:33):
different way.
I would also add too if you canincorporate video as well as
stills, as consumers, you'veheard me say this before if
you've listened to our podcast,we're lazy.
We don't want to read.
Everybody just wants to watch avideo.
Show me how to do it.
Don't make me read something howto do it.
So if you can use photos orvideo to explain what you do or
how you're different, it's justgoing to be absorbed that much
(05:54):
faster by your audience.
Brian (05:55):
I get sucked in the Facebook Reels.
I could literally spend an hourand I wouldn't even realize it
passed because you just getstuck in watching these things.
And a lot of them arestorytelling and you know, it's
storytelling from companies.
There's a couple that I follow,I'm a car guy, so they're a car
type kind of posts or whatever,but you know, it could be
somebody rebuilding an engineand I'm like, wow, that's
(06:17):
fascinating.
It's 30 seconds and I'm like,whoa, that's, that's really
interesting.
Yeah, and you just get suckedinto it.
So I think if you can do quick,short little videos, telling
stories about your customers orabout how your products are
being used that might bedifferent than what somebody
else might assume that that'show you use your product.
(06:38):
Those are the things that reallykind of capture people's
attention.
Samantha (06:41):
And we always try to tell people, be consistent.
As consistent as you can.
So you talked about postscheduling, how often should you
use that in your storytelling.
But I would say, from the verybeginning, start by just really
defining, what am I trying tosay.
And I think sometimes people arewell intentioned, and they
wanna, you know, they get firedup, they listen to this podcast,
they're like, yeah, I'm gonna godo that.
But they don't have a plan.
(07:01):
So, that's one of the firstthings we say, is define what
your story is.
What are you trying tocommunicate?
And maybe there's a coupledifferent things.
And keep in mind it's not theyou show, it's not just what
you're trying to sell, but howcan you make it two way and help
somebody else who might belooking for information and you
can be positioned as a resource.
So, starting out with a plan ofwhat are we trying to say, what
are we trying to communicate,then go into, okay, now what
(07:23):
would show that, either instills or in video, and making
sure you're consistent in howyou're putting that content out.
And then, you know, just from atechnical side, I would say,
make sure when you're posting itthat you're using your alt text,
because, you know, you want tomake sure that you get as much
bang for your buck with searchengine optimization, that you
have calls to actions andkeywords and things when you're
posting.
But also consistency in thelook.
(07:44):
Right?
Because to your point, it's somuch easier and there's so much
social out there now.
Filters for days, right?
But, I don't think we all needto have like the kitten ears and
things on our pictures, let'smake sure we're professional and
that we're not using a differentfilter with every single photo.
Brian (07:58):
Quality is key, for sure.
If you're trying to shoot somegood video, turn off mixed
lighting.
Like if you're in an officesetting that has fluorescent
lights everywhere and thenwindow light coming in, shut off
those fluorescent lights, usesome nice natural window light
coming in.
And that's something easy.
You can really get some goodresults.
It's insane the quality that youcan get from just like an iPhone
(08:20):
or your Android or whatever.
You know, so I would say dothat.
Keep it simple.
You don't have to do a bunch oftransitions and make it crazy
and loud and have loud music oranything like that going on.
Keep it simple because a lot oftimes when I'm watching Reels or
content my volume is completelyoff.
Samantha (08:38):
Exactly, that's a great point.
A lot of people are just readingthe text, so make sure you have
that closed captioning on there.
Brian (08:44):
Absolutely, that is huge.
Because there's lots of timeswhere I can't sit there and
listen to it because I'm in asituation where I'm in public
and I'm not going to sit in awaiting room and let someone
else have to listen to all mysocial media Reels.
The closed captioning isawesome.
If somebody doesn't have that ontheir videos, I'm kind of bummed
out because I'm like, well, Iguess I'm not going to know what
this person's talking about.
Samantha (09:04):
So many apps have that built in, where even if you
don't know how to do editing, itcan do it for you.
I would say also, lighting is agreat point.
There are a number ofinexpensive light rings if
you're trying to do that.
Gimbals are also really handy.
So those are those stabilizersif you're filming with an
iPhone.
Those are also really useful.
Can you give me an example of areally solid campaign that just
(09:24):
used visuals and relied on thatand how that worked and the
storytelling?
Brian (09:28):
One of my favorite campaigns to work on was for a
non-profit.
I did a project with Grace Placein Golden Gate, and they help
non English speaking peoplelearn skills to be able to work.
They address all demographics.
So we took people from differentage brackets, different racial
brackets, different everything,and we just did simple, really
(09:51):
clean black and white portraitsof them, and then the Grace
Place people wrote up theirstory.
The images were impactful enoughand the stories were so powerful
that they were able to use thatin their annual report and then
also as a fundraising campaignthat really helped their donors
be able to connect with thepeople that they're helping.
(10:12):
And that's a huge thing when thedonors can see,"Oh my gosh, I'm
having an impact on thisperson." It could be a child.
It could be someone who's 80years old.
When they can see where theirmoney is having an impact and
how it's having an impact,that's huge.
Samantha (10:28):
Yeah, I think you make a really great point,
connection, you know, like thefaces to names, it makes a
difference.
I think that's a powerful storywhen it comes to fundraising and
non-profits.
We did something similar, butwith video for a gym, they were
having a hard time gettingpeople to come in and see a
trainer.
And for any of you who have donethat, it can be kind of an
intimidating process,uncomfortable.
(10:49):
Like I'm already not reallyhappy with myself and now I'm
going to go talk to somebodythat I don't know about that
who's like probably the epitomeof fitness.
So we did these little short biovideos and it was just like,
"Hey, I'm Samantha and here'swho I train and here's how long
I've been doing it and here'swhy." And it was a way to kind
of interview them before evergoing in the door.
And it was really, reallyhelpful for them.
Kind of a different take onthat.
Love it.
Brian (11:08):
Absolutely.
Other campaigns that I've seenas being powerful, honestly, is
Publix.
I think Publix has some of thebest.
Samantha (11:14):
Oh, gosh, their holiday stuff.
Brian (11:16):
Exactly, their holiday campaign.
And then of course, likeBudweiser and their Super Bowl
commercials.
But like, those are storytellingcampaigns.
Samantha (11:24):
And they often don't use words.
Brian (11:25):
Exactly.
And that's what's even morepowerful about it.
Samantha (11:28):
Yeah, really great stuff.
I'm sure you guys are familiarwith those and if not you can
just Google like PublixChristmas just make sure you
have tissues.
So, for those of you that mightbe considering visual
storytelling, custom photographyfor their business, are there
any other tips, tools, or maybethere's some things to avoid
like don't do this.
Brian (11:46):
Yes, a thousand percent yes.
I think what you want to do isnot alienate your audience.
So, I always say, stay away fromany sort of political
commentary.
Samantha (11:58):
Very timely advice right now.
Brian (12:00):
You might get a lot of people to give you a thumbs up,
but you're also going to lose alot of people.
I don't really care what yourpolitical affiliation is, it
doesn't need to be part of yourbranding.
Samantha (12:10):
That's a great PR tip as well.
Putting on my PR hat.
Just leave that to the sidebecause you're right, it could
be very polarizing.
At the end of the day, how doesthat impact your business?
Somebody's not going tonecessarily buy from you because
you share this opinion.
Brian (12:24):
Right.
And the other thing is, and I'veseen this happen with a company
that I am a patron of, that theyhave a tendency to want to be
authentic, but the problem istheir way of thinking they're
authentic can be a littlemisogynistic, or inappropriate,
or cringeworthy, basically.
It just kind of makes you go,ugh, I probably wouldn't have
(12:46):
done that, or said that, or usedthat photo.
They need someone to be like,it's okay to be authentic, but
at the same point, you don'twant to turn off any of your
clients because of what youthink is authentic.
That's probably my best advice.
Samantha (12:59):
I like it.
The things not to do.
Sometimes that's more helpfulthan the things that you should
do.
Brian (13:03):
The other thing I would add is keep it simple.
Like, don't feel like you haveto buy a bunch of gear and do
all sorts of stuff.
It's about the authenticity andthe storytelling, keeping it
simple and keeping it short.
Samantha (13:17):
Yes, I just talked about that in a TrendTalks
Marketing video about keep itsimple.
Short is best.
Attention spans are shorter thanever.
Brian (13:24):
For sure.
Samantha (13:25):
And social's not making that any better.
So short, short, short.
Absolutely.
Couldn't agree more.
Well, any parting thoughts,anything that we didn't discuss
you think would be helpful interms of visuals and
storytelling?
Brian (13:37):
Gosh if there was ever a time in history where
storytelling is important andalso so easy now, it's now.
There's no excuse to not bedoing it.
And like I said, I'm guilty ofnot staying up with it as much
as I should.
But at the same point, I stilltry to reach out and be
proactive.
Samantha (13:55):
I would add one parting thought is to don't feel
like you always have to doeverything yourself.
I mean we talked about some DIYthings.
There's a lot of opportunitiesfor that and there's a place for
that.
But I would also say know whenyou might be out of your depth.
Or know when you really needsomebody that can come in.
Like a Brian who can just dosomething a little bit different
in a better way than you mightbe able to.
Brian (14:13):
If you have a problem with your toilet in your house a
lot of people aren't gonna justdig in there, do a YouTube video
and start going to town, right,or the electrical panel, or
something like that.
There's a time and a place tocall the professional.
You may look at the amount ofmoney you may have to spend and
be like,"Ugh, I don't know." Butin the long run, that's an
investment that will absolutelycome back.
Samantha (14:33):
I was just going to say that.
It is an investment.
Because now you're creating awhole plethora, array of images
and video content that you canuse.
I would say be smart if you aregoing to hire a professional.
Ask a lot of questions.
Does this include editing?
How many finished images am Igoing to get?
Can I have the raw footage fromthis video?
What are the rights to that?
Make sure that you are crossingall of your t's and dotting all
(14:55):
of your i's so that you getmaximum value from it.
Because even if it's just b rollclips, you can use that on your
website.
You can use it as backgroundfootage on social posts.
But yes, it absolutely is aninvestment.
It's, you know, just like takingcare of any other part of your
business.
Know when you need aprofessional to help you and
then make wise choices.
Keep in mind too, when you'resetting up those photo and video
shoots that it's evergreen,right?
(15:16):
So you want to make sure thatyou're smart about where you're
filming or taking photos andwhat's in them, and you don't
have holiday decorations in thebackground, for example.
Well, thank you so much, Brian.
Brian (15:24):
Absolutely, no, it was an absolute pleasure.
Thank you so much for having meout here.
This was great.
Samantha (15:28):
And thanks for tuning in to 1000 Ways to Market Your
Business.
See you next time.
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