Why Business Owners Avoid Video And What It Costs Them with Kirsten Graham

Kris: [00:00:00] Welcome to From Click to Client, where we transform a confusing message into a clear, compelling story that sells. I'm your host, Kris Jones, story brand marketing expert. I'm here to help you attract more dream clients with the power of story.

Kris: So, Kristen Graham, welcome to the show. I am so delighted and excited to have you here today because we're gonna talk about one of the things that my clients.

Usually avoid like the plague. Kristen is a brilliant video strategist who helps her clients get really good, with podcasting, get really good and effective with. YouTube videos and all kinds of video, and I think in this day and age, if you are not doing video, you are really missing the boat. You are working harder than you need to be because you're not using videos.

So today is gonna be your wake up call. Kristen, welcome

Kirsten: Kris. Thank you so much for having me at, you may be in [00:01:00] trouble because I could talk about this for hours.

Kris: I'm in. I'm ready. I'm me too. This is such a fun topic.

Kirsten: Yes. Yeah, I feel like, so

Kris: yeah, tell us, tell us a little bit about you, what you do, the problems that you solve.

Kirsten: Yeah, absolutely. So I'm a business coach, but I'm an outsourcing specialist and my business partner owned a digital marketing agency for years. So she's a marketing coach and also an outsourcing specialist. So we are really focused on helping clients. Who need to get out in front of their audience. They don't necessarily want to be influencers, but they want to showcase their authority and expertise and let people really see who they are and connect with them through their marketing, ideally through their video marketing or their podcast.

So we have a really detailed process for how we help our clients do that. And then we train virtual assistants to take care of everything on the backend for them. So they get to show up and just be involved in these great conversations and then upload the video and everything else is done for them. So that's what we do.

Kris: What a gift. What a gift. I, we were just talking before I hit record about the reality that. You know, I [00:02:00] love podcasting. I love having a podcast. I love guesting on podcasts, but none of it would happen if I didn't have a VA to manage all the details because the. As business owners, our plates are full. And adding a podcast to your plate is a really smart idea.

creating videos for YouTube is a really smart idea, but you really do need help and I do highly recommend that you don't do this. All by yourself. there are better areas in your business that you should be putting your attention into. And I am, I am very curious. Kristen, what's your process? How do you do this?

Kirsten: Yeah, so we work with our clients on. Helping them with their strategy. We really encourage everyone to have a video podcast. Some of our clients are still talk, creating, basically talking HeadStyle videos for YouTube. So we really work with both types of clients. We help them with their strategy. We help them understand, all the technology that they need.

We help them to build their confidence on camera. [00:03:00]

Kris: Mm-hmm.

Kirsten: We talk to them about how to book great guests. So we really do everything to support the client to get up and running. And as soon as they have a couple of their episodes recorded, we actually interview, vet, and train virtual assistants, who then we pair them with a client.

Then they work directly with that client. I like to say we're not a marketing agency and we're not an outsourcing agency. Our model's very different because we wanted to find a way to empower the client to start to build their own team and also to make it cost effective so that they could afford to do this long-term.

A lot of times people will implement marketing strategies or hire an agency or what ads or whatever that looks like, but before long it becomes too expensive. And so they, they let it fall by the wayside, so we wanted to make sure that our clients have the opportunity. To end up creating a podcast that can have longevity, giving them the opportunity to get better as a podcast host, and to really understand all the different ways that they can monetize a podcast and to be able to focus on those things rather than video editing and audio [00:04:00] editing and uploading and graphic design and all the things that come with having a podcast.

Kris: Right. Right. Which is. What, what I've read anyway is the biggest challenge is actually keeping your podcast going. So you really set your clients up to do well, both because it's affordable and because you've got help and because you can just focus on the most important things. What are, what are the stats

today around how many podcasts are coming out and. From what I've heard, no, I, I don't have any numbers on this, but like a lot of podcasts are only around for four or eight episodes, is that right?

Kirsten: That's correct. The majority, you have a lot of people who drop off after three episodes, and then you have the people who make it to like eight or 12.

So they kind of have like one season or you know, done. But at the 24 month mark, only 7% of people are podcasting. So if you're thinking, wow, there's so many podcasts out there, there's no room for me. First of all, understand that once a podcast produced, it's always out [00:05:00] there, but it doesn't mean it's an active or live podcast, meaning that there's not new episodes being added consistently.

So when we talk with our clients about. Starting a podcast, you know, part of my conversation is this isn't something you wanna take on and do, just to test the waters, right? You wanna find out ahead of time if this is something you think you would enjoy and be able to commit to. Because the longevity is important with marketing consistency, showing up, getting better.

We were talking earlier before this call that when you're a guest on a podcast or you host a podcast every single time you have this opportunity to get better at and show up in a really real way. And in the beginning, you're terrified, right? So you're not always showing up your best. But with each episode.

You get a little better and a little better to the point where you know you have something that's real. People, when they watch your videos, when they listen to your podcast, you're showing up authentically as yourself and that comes through next to meeting someone in person. Video builds no like and trust better than anything else.

So if you can't get in the same room with someone, the second best thing is video [00:06:00] content creating stuff that your audience will enjoy. And again, that will let them see who, who you are. I always like to say you, I talk with my hands. If, if you run into me on the street, you know what you see in this podcast is what you're gonna get if we start having a conversation.

And you know, people I think are so afraid, well, what if someone doesn't like me? Or, you know, what if I mess up or something? But. The reality is that the right people are gonna be attracted to you and how you deliver information and what you talk about, and those are your ideal clients.

Kris: Hmm. So tell me about the strategy behind, you know, before anything, right?

You wanna. You really wanna be thoughtful and strategic. So if I did not have a podcast, tell me what we would work through to figure out the strategy, because the, the worst thing you wanna do is to jump in with both feet and go down this path without a clear plan and without intention around. Who you wanna speak to?

What are the end goals of this podcast? Do you want the podcast to get you more clients? Are you just doing it for fun? I [00:07:00] think we all know, like our time is precious. So typically we do podcasts because we wanna get in front of more people and we wanna attract more clients. So, curious like yeah, how you navigate the, the strategic, the prep work part of your work.

Kirsten: Yeah. It's interesting because I think you and I went down a different path. Jeannie and I started hosting a podcast first, and then I started guesting on podcast. You started guesting first and then you started your podcast. Your way's probably the smarter way. Right, so the first thing I would do with talking with someone who is really thinking about having a podcast, but they're not a hundred percent sure, I would encourage them to get booked on a few podcasts and have the experience from that side, you know, of, of the mic, so to speak.

Yeah. And that would be the first step. The other thing is I would want to know what types of podcasts do they listen to? What style of podcasting do they like? And then more importantly, their ideal client. We talk about what other podcasts do you think your ideal clients are listening to? And I [00:08:00] think that's a great way to start Market.

Market research is something in any part of a business that most business owners do not take seriously enough. And I always like to use the example of McDonald's. We all know what they sell. Two whole beef patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. Like we know.

Kris: I haven't heard that in a while.

That's great.

Kirsten: But the reality is they spend millions of dollars before they're gonna roll out something like the mc rib. Or before they're gonna put a new, new location. Because spending that money in the market research, even though it sounds like a lot of money, you'd rather in McDonald's case, spend a couple million than to lose 20 or 30 million.

Okay? And so the small business owners, we often do not do enough market research. So the first thing is, what podcast are your ideal clients listening to now? And then after that, if you're gonna have a co podcast with guests. What type of guests do you wanna have on your podcast? What topics do you feel like would really bring a lot of value to your ideal clients?

And I think those are important conversations to have in the beginning. And then also, is your goal to monetize it by getting clients? Is your goal to monetize it by getting affiliate [00:09:00] partnerships? You know, we end up with a lot of collaborations with the other podcast hosts that we work with and the guests that we work with.

Do you plan on spelling, selling sponsorships? There's lots of different ways you can make money with a podcast, but going into it with a strategy I think is so important, and I think the most important part of that strategy is who's your ideal client and what content do you feel like you would wanna talk about on a consistent basis that would truly help them and let them see that you're there to serve them.

Kris: Mm. I love it. you mentioned trying to figure out what style of podcast that you wanna do. Tell me more about that. What, what are the styles of podcasts and how do you figure out what that is and what's best for you?

Kirsten: Right, so first of all, I, we always recommend a video podcast. You know, YouTube is the largest podcasting platform.

A lot of people don't realize this, but Spotify and Apple both want you to upload a video podcast now. But if someone is more old school and they would rather have an audio podcast, if that's really their thing, I would say do that. A hundred percent video is so important. But at the same time, if [00:10:00] someone is really, again, they really have listened to podcasts for years and they still like that traditional audio podcast, if that's how you feel about it, start there.

Do that. Some people want more of a podcast where it's just them and they're talking about different topics week after week. That's fantastic. Other people want to invite guests on and have conversations again, around topics that'll, you know, will benefit their audience. Some people will do a mix of podcasts.

It may be one week, it's just them, and the following week it's a guest. So there's lots of different ways to create your podcast, you know, and also a little bit of research, you know, is the ideal time for your podcast, 15 to 20 minutes. Should it be 45 minutes to an hour? And I think a lot of that depends on the topic and the types of conversations you're having.

We know a lot of people that have five minute podcasts. I did one of those the other day. It was rapid fire. It was super fun, and I could see the value in that. It wouldn't be necessarily my style because I like deeper conversations, but I, I totally enjoyed the, the experience. I watched a lot of the different episodes and they were all fantastic.

So again, what does your [00:11:00] ideal client want? To listen to. Mm-hmm. And then what do you feel like you really aligns with who you are as a person?

Kris: What's trending right now? I have heard that the 20 minute Mark podcast is a bit of a sweet spot for people. 'cause they can go walk their dog or run a quick errand and digest the whole podcast at one time.

Is that true? What have you found?

Kirsten: Yeah, we try to keep our podcast between 20 and 25 minutes. And, and it is that true? It, it is the reason that it's walking the dog or it's the commute to work. Okay. Or the commute home. So I feel like that, that that area, that that timeline is ideal for both of those things.

And it's not so long that people have to pause and then come back to it later and maybe they won't come back to it. It's not to the point where they're, oh, there's only five to 10 minutes left. I'll just, you know, bounce off and forget about it. So I, I do think there's a lot of data that showcases that, that is a very good timeline.

But it's interesting because again, like you, I've been a guest on a lot of different podcasts, and sometimes those podcasts are an hour long, but the way the conversations go, it really warrants that time. [00:12:00] So if, if you are not, you know, I always like to say. The, the episode or the information needs to deliver on the promise of the title.

So if our title today for this podcast is, you know, the power of video marketing and podcasting, we wanna make sure that we have a conversation that leaves the person, with a full understanding of that ti like of what we talked about, what is the power of it. We wanna give you that information. And so if that conversation is really rich and it, it's adding a ton of value, it, it can be a lot longer, but you don't wanna drag something out just to have it.

Have a longer podcast, I guess you wanna make sure you're delivering concise. Valuable information and wrapping it up in, in at the end of that value. I guess I don't, I'm rambling here. Sorry.

Kris: Yeah, no, that's great. Well, well, it'll lengthen the, the podcast length. yeah. 'cause I'm thinking about Tim Ferris, who's a really famous podcaster who I've.

Listened to his podcast for years, years and years, and he is really known for number one, not editing his podcasts. He has great interviews and they go as long as they [00:13:00] need to go, but he, they're, they're not. Fluff. They're not filled with fluff like it, it is quality, quality content. So he has longer episodes and they're very much unedited and you kind of feel like you're a fly on the wall and that's, you know, different than maybe that 20 minute sweet spot.

But it works for him and his audience really appreciates those longer, deeper conversations You mentioned, Working with clients around their confidence, and I would say like, I think we're both in alignment. Video's really important. You have to have video if you wanna stand out, if you wanna be sought after, if you want to build the trust, that is absolutely crucial to getting, getting a client, right?

A client will only work with you if they trust you, if they know, like, and trust you, but that trust. It can be built so efficiently with video, but the clients that I work with and the websites that I, that I write and build, they always have a video component to them. I, I always say, you just gotta [00:14:00] have video.

And if you're uncomfortable with that, well, so is everybody else, and that's okay. Like, there are ways to allow you to get in front of the camera and. Not freeze or not feel uncomfortable. There's a lot of little tricks that you can do to help you kind of just gently jump over that hurdle. But, but the reality is, like, and this is true for me too, like I don't look forward to recording videos and talking to the camera.

I wouldn't consider it fun. I've gotten better at it. it's less painful than it used to be. But what would you say to somebody who. Who is feeling insecure or uncomfortable or dreading recording a video? how do you build confidence?

Kirsten: Well, we can only build confidence by taking action and doing the hard thing, right?

First of all, I don't think anyone likes the way they look or sound on, on video. You know, we hear ourselves and it sounds so different than when we hear ourselves talking. So I, I always [00:15:00] joke, unless you're a total narcissist, you probably don't enjoy watching yourself on video or listening to yourself on video.

So first of all, congratulations, you're perfectly normal and you're not a narcissist. But it, it's like anything else. One of the things I think that helps a lot of our clients is if you have a true desire to, to serve people, like, I always like to think even with this interview. Kris, if you and I help one person, if one person listens to this and it really helps them, I feel like we win and we've done a good job.

So lowering the bar to just like wanting to serve people and I, we don't really have any control over who sees this or who listens to it. All we can do is put it out there and have faith that it'll get in front of the right people. So I think for us, we talk a lot about serving your clients, showing up and just delivering information, even though.

You're terrified to be on camera or you feel overwhelmed by being on camera. So that's, that's the first thing I would say. I am going to date myself because I just did some math. I realized we're in 2026 and I started my first YouTube channel in 2006, which was 20 years ago.

Kris: Wow.

Kirsten: And I started it in a very different industry.

I owned a mortgage [00:16:00] company at the time, it was the end of 2026, early 2027. And to be honest, my first video that I did. Was done out of complete frustration. It was done to solve a problem. When a person would call about a mortgage, I would give them an entire list of documents. I would go over it with them on the phone of what they needed to bring in, and then I would email them a checklist, and inevitably we would get back, you know, 70% of the documents we needed, which meant our processors had to chase them down.

Jeanie, my current business partner at that time, I was actually mentoring her with her business and she said, have you thought about doing a video for that? And I was like, well, no. And she said, well, you should. And then instead of sending them just the checklist, email them this video. My first video was so cheesy.

It was like, I need your last two years of W twos, and then W twos popped up beside my face. You know, I need three months of bank statements in that popped up and I need all pages because if page number seven is completely blank, that's great, but the underwriter doesn't know. Page seven is completely blank.

So it was just it. It was so bad. I think it [00:17:00] was comical or I think, which is why I think it worked. It was terrible. And you probably thinking, oh, this poor lady did this video, so we should probably pay attention to it and bring in the documents. But we saw our documents go up, up, what people brought in went up to almost 90, 92%, which meant our processors weren't chasing as much.

It made us way more efficient. So in that one video we learned quickly the video. People will listen to that and, and I started thinking about this, like, why did that happen? Well, if I'm talking to the wife, I'm talking to the husband. On that call and I'm telling them what we need. Well, then later that night after dinner, they're pulling out that list and they're getting it together.

And you know the wife's saying, no, no. When I talked to her, she said she needs all pages and the husband's like, page seven is empty. She doesn't need that and throws it out. Right. So this put them both on the same page it or reinforced what I had the conversation about. So that was one of the things that I saw.

The video is something that people will pay attention to and follow. That led us to creating more videos for a mortgage company. One of my loan officers, he did a hilarious video. It was what is an A, what is a PR? And he said, A PR stands for a pretty good rate, and if [00:18:00] you want that, you need to call Paul.

But then of course he went on to explain, you know, a PR. So anyway, it was, we just had a lot of fun with our videos, and this is what I think blew me away, is when someone would come into the office and I hadn't, I, I'd never met them. I had not talked to them. They knew me. They're having conversation with me as if we were best friends.

And I don't know if you've ever run into anyone like at your kid's game or on the street or something and they start talking to you and you're thinking, I don't know this person. How do I know this person? Where do I know this person from? It's very uncomfortable. That's the feeling I had, and that's when I realized, that's when I really got aha.

The power of video is when people watch enough of your content, they feel like they know you. We always talk about know, like, and trust. That No. How they know you is, it is unbelievable. They know my dog's name because he would show up in the videos. They would know if we pulled some jokes on each other in the week or something like, so we just shared a lot of things, or, oh, I'd always love the color of your office.

And now that I'm seeing it here, you know, it was just, it blew my mind. So if you're thinking about starting videos for your business, [00:19:00] it, a podcast, it may be uncomfortable. You may be terrible. That's okay. You're going to get better. And when we circle back to Tim Ferriss and not editing his, podcast, you know, that's a choice.

You know, we edit our podcast because I feel like if someone's listening to a podcast, they may not, you know, they're just listening. But if someone's watching on YouTube, maybe they want visuals, maybe they want B-roll imagery because it makes it more interesting. but some people just enjoy watching.

Two people have a great conversation. So it really depends on your audience and it, it depends on what you're comfortable with, but video editing is like having a magic wand, so I think that's also helpful when you first get started.

Kris: Yeah. It, it really is. It's so effective. And once, once you experience that, it g it propels you to keep going with it.

It's very encouraging. and I, I really believe that people hire you. Potential client will hire you after they've spent time with you. So how can we use video to allow people to spend time with us? When we're not even technically there. [00:20:00] Right.

Kirsten: Yeah. And circling back to my mortgage company, that's exactly what our videos did.

They were all educational, they were all value based. We tried to have fun in them. And so people, because they watched those videos, they got to know us, they got to know who the processors were. They, they knew kind of what the office looked like because we shot videos in different places. So the question of how do you get people to watch your video content is, first of all, you have to record videos.

So that's step one. But then step two is you don't realize when you record a video, that video is working for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's going onto YouTube, you're uploading it to Spotify, to Apple. It's being pulled from there to dozens of other podcasting platforms. Most of us don't even know what they know all of them or what they are, what they're called.

But there are tons and tons of podcasting platforms. You can get your podcast put on iHeartRadio. There's all kinds of things you can do, but now you have this awesome asset that you can use for your marketing, so you can pull reels and stories and you can use those. On Instagram or LinkedIn or TikTok, wherever you want to use them.

And it's really funny because with marketing, I just know we always ask people, you know, do you have [00:21:00] an email list? And they'll say, yes. Well, how big's your email list? I've got a thousand people. How often do you email them? I don't, or I have it in six months, and I find that the video content is a fantastic thing.

Instead of an old school newsletter, each week you're just sending out a video to say, Hey, I had a fantastic conversation with this person about this topic, and it will probably help you with your business. Check it out. So now you're sending out something to your email list where they get to know you.

It's interesting because when you're the host, I mean, right now your audience is getting to know more about me than you because you're the host, but they still get to know you and they, they get to see that you're bringing on great conversations. You're bringing people onto your podcast that can truly help them with their business.

So now they know that you're a giving person. You can create your own commercials inside of your videos, so you can have commercial breaks where you talk about what you do. But I just think there's so many ways to get your videos in front of the right audience. The other thing is when you have a guest that's now a collaboration, so when this podcast goes live, Kris, you're gonna let us know and then we're gonna start marketing this podcast to our audience.

So now all [00:22:00] of a sudden, people are now introduced to your podcast who maybe wouldn't have found it for a while, right? Because we're talking about it and we're sharing it. And that's the other thing I think I love so much about podcasting is it really is a collaboration.

Kris: It really is. It really is. I have met several dear, dear friends via podcasting who I'm in touch with on a daily basis, and it's just, I never expected that to happen through this platform, and I.

I couldn't agree more about the power of repurposing. So you and I are on a one hour call ish, and then we can take this content and share it with our newsletter. For every podcast that I record, it becomes a blog post. It becomes a newsletter. It becomes YouTube shorts. It becomes YouTube. Full length video.

have I named all the ways you can repurpose the podcast or are there more that I don't know about?

Kirsten: I think you've listed, I think you've listed them. But the other thing is, and I I think you do this as well, because I have a YouTube [00:23:00] channel. I'm going to share this interview on my, on my YouTube channel.

So this episode will go onto your YouTube channel. Obviously you're the host, but then I can share it to a playlist on my YouTube channel. So you really, there's just so much leverage you can get from that one, that repurposing of that one video. But again, it's so crazy to me because sometimes I'll have someone reach out and book a sales call.

They found us on YouTube or they found our podcast and, but sometimes they're quoting things to me from a video that was done six years ago.

Kris: Mm-hmm.

Kirsten: In this video you said this and I, I go back and I look at it up and I'm looking for that video and it's like, oh my gosh, that video is six years old. But after they watched some of our newer things, they went back and kind of started going through our videos and picked out some other ones they wanted to listen to, and they did.

So that's, that really is powerful to me, is that you're creating. Something again, it's Evergreen 24 7 and it can be repurposed across multiple platforms. And again, you know, I feel like hopefully everybody feels like this conversation other than trying to sell them on the power of video. We're not coming on here just [00:24:00] to sell people, right?

It's not like this is not an infomercial. Hey, hey, buy for me. This is if you own a business. We, both of us, you and I, Kris both believe. The video can truly help business owners to grow their businesses, to be seen as the experts, to be seen as the authority. It can make your marketing a lot easier because you have things to repurpose and that can help you become consistent, which is so important with marketing.

Kris: Hmm. Yeah, I mean that, that's the beautiful thing about YouTube. It really is its own search engine. And unlike Instagram and Facebook where you're in the feed that day and then you kind of, you know, it kind of basically disappears over time. YouTube. People, if they search for what you're talking about, you will come up.

And it doesn't matter if it was five or six years ago, you're there and you're teaching and helping and showing up with a helpful heart, solving a micro problem, proving to the listener that you can solve much bigger problems if you can solve small problems. it's such a wonderful way to begin a relationship with is generosity [00:25:00] and.

Like I said, a really, truly helpful heart. I think, YouTube is, a really great place to invest your time and energy because it really does it, it is timeless. And the same thing for podcasts too, like how many times have you listened to a great podcast and then all of a sudden you, you binge all the other podcasts that they have.

Kirsten: Yeah. It's funny because I, I, I just binge watched a series with a girlfriend and I love the joke, you know, before, you know, we had the possibility to watch TV shows back to back before the whole Netflix concept. If I had said to you, Hey, Kris, there's this seven and a half hour movie, would you like to go watch it on Saturday?

You would've been like, no. But we could sit down and binge watch seven and a half hours of a TV show and not think twice about it. It really is the same thing with YouTube. If people get onto your content, especially, you have to remember. You're creating content for people who will, who may have that problem that you solve, but you don't know when they're gonna have that problem.

So if they all of a sudden they, they're looking, they're searching and they find your content, that's when they are going to binge watch it, because [00:26:00] that's the challenge. They, they have. We work with a lot of real estate agents and I was at a networking thing the other night and one of the ladies walked up and she says, I'm working with a guy who just came in.

I wanna say like he came in from Thailand. Don't quote me on the location, but he came in and she said he's our client because he found our videos. He's buying a house here, but he, he is our client simply because he found our videos. He watched a ton of them and she said, we have so many clients, they may not tell us when.

They first reach out and connect with us that they found us through video. We try to ask, but inevitably, every time we meet with someone to show them a property or to go in to talk about listing their property, they start talking about the videos that they liked. And so that is so powerful. If you're a real estate agent and you have videos and, and the other agents in your area don't, that is definitely putting you, you know, ahead of the pack, so to speak.

And especially with people being so transient. People are looking to move to different places, and so that's another powerful tool. Like we don't think about all the different industries and all the different businesses where video marketing and podcasting can have such a huge impact. [00:27:00]

Kris: I think, one thing that I tell my clients, and I'm curious what your thoughts are with this, people don't expect a really high production quality.

You don't have to go out and hire a videographer. You don't have to hire a professional editor if you don't want to. Like, the beautiful thing about this is, is it's so effective, it's so powerful, and you can really do it for pretty much free, you. You know, you can just hit, open up, zoom and hit record.

You can speak into the camera, record it to your desktop drag and drop that over to Descrip, which is my favorite editing tool. And in five minutes, descrip has a bunch of ai,tools inside of it. Within about five or 10 minutes, you can be done with the whole thing. It's, it's pretty, low barrier to entry.

Kirsten: You could even go faster than that. You could go to YouTube and hit live and just go live. There you go. Go on YouTube, right?

Kris: Yeah.

Kirsten: Yeah. It really, it really is cost effective and it, it, it really can be quick and easy. It just, you know, it, it's all up to you how much you wanna put into it. But as far as professional grade, I [00:28:00] think there's a lot of data and research that does show.

Again, the know, like, and trust is not built through perfection. They're not expecting us to be movie stars. They're not expecting us, you know, to be perfect speakers. They want to connect with us and see that we're a real person because you know, if they're gonna hire you or they're gonna hire us. It really is because they connect with us as people.

We, we really buy from people, not just the product or service. Yes. And I think that's why it's so easy.

Kris: Yeah. And, and still photography is of course, really important to have on your website and in your marketing, but what's still photography doesn't communicate is your tone of voice, your warmth, your confidence, your, your, a feeling of really just.

Caring. there's so much that comes through in a simple video that you record on your computer or on your phone or on YouTube live. That, that just comes through and like within 15 seconds, right? It's just like that, that first impression. You know, immediately if you, if you click with someone or resonate [00:29:00] with them and it happens so quickly, so you don't have to have these long videos.

I think a one minute video on your website or on your social media, even in your email, signature is going to carry you a long way. Do you agree?

Kirsten: I totally agree, and you think about it, you spend so much time trying to drive traffic to your website by simply having a tab that says, you know, podcasts and is a dropdown box, and they can go and check out your podcast.

That's a great way to have tons of video content. On your website. So yes, along with the, the videos, maybe you want on your homepage or the shorter videos. Now, once they're there, they have an opportunity to see that right there in your website, you have a full video library of all these amazing conversations that you've had on your podcast or on your YouTube channel.

Kris: Let's talk about podcast, video, podcast. Mm-hmm. what are three things that you would recommend, bits of wisdom, or really three things that you must have on a podcast if you wanted to get you clients?

Kirsten: Three things. [00:30:00] so first of all, I think. I'm always a, I'm always a big believer in progress, not perfection. So, you and I are recording this on Zoom. We also record our, our interviews on Zoom. There are, are there other things out there that will produce better quality? Yes, Riverside. There are other things.

Squad cast. The problem is sometimes that technology glitches, which can stress out, you know, a guest. So think about the things that you can do is think about. It doesn't have to be perfect. And what's the path of least resistance? What can I do to make this so easy that I'll do it. I'm not a tech person.

If I had to set up a big fancy camera that had a lot of adjustments, I, I, I'm just not gonna, I wanna avoid it, right? So. Path of least resistance. What can you and what will you do? And know that you can grow and you can change and you can evolve over time. So I would say that's the first thing. You've gotta show up and do it to attract clients.

Kris: Mm-hmm.

Kirsten: The second thing is make sure that the content that you're, you're bringing onto your podcast is actually speaking to your ideal client. You know, most of our clients are coaches, consultants, [00:31:00] authors, but we do work with real estate agents because, you know, video's so important for them. So understanding and, and real estate agents are business owners, so we're always thinking about the conversations that we're gonna have, whether it's just Jeanie and I or whether we're bringing on a guest.

How is that conversation going to impact and help our audience? So always having a heart to serve, like you said, and thinking about am I really delivering value to the people who are spending their very valuable time with me watching my video or listening to my podcast? The third thing was was with anything in marketing, you have to think about conversion call to actions.

So whether the call to action is to book a call, whether it's to sign up for a free gift or something that will help you build your email list. You want to make sure you always have very clear call to actions. In this case for your guests and for the host, should have call to actions as well. The other thing is making sure that those call to actions are on the description on YouTube or in the show notes.

on Spotify and Apple, you want to make sure you're very clear about how and when people can connect with you, because [00:32:00] again, they may not reach out to you and connect with you on your first or second episode, but they may watch 10, 12 episodes and then they're ready and that call to action may be something.

Easy, like a lead magnet, or it may be something that takes them a little step further, like booking a call with you. And I think it's important to test those and rotate those so that you know, if someone's listening to you brand new, a free lead magnet, a free guide is something that they would raise their hand for.

But someone who's been listening to you for a long time, they may, they may click that button and say, yeah, I definitely wanna book a call and talk to her. So just understanding that your listeners are in different places on their journey with you.

Kris: Mm. I love that. I, I've really gotten in the habit of, focusing my call to action on, you can either do a freebie or you can go to my website and book a call.

Those are my two things that I guide people to do. If you, if, if I also said, Hey, go follow me on Instagram and go check out my LinkedIn, and that like. No one's gonna D do anything. 'cause I've just overwhelmed them. They're trying to hold multiple bullying balls and we all know after two bullying balls, they all [00:33:00] fall down.

Nothing happens. So I love that you honed in on that, like a clear call to action that will meet them where they are.

Kirsten: Yes. Yeah, we always have to think about who's listening to our podcast. And you know, again, someone could, the problem that you solve may be so urgent for them. They've listened to one episode, they're gonna call you because they've got this burning need to fix a problem.

And they feel like you can do that. But again, sometimes it's that nurturing, offering free gifts or guides or free video trainings or whatever that looks like, just to start to bring them closer into your ecosystem. And then once they are, once they've given you their email address and they are in your ecosystem, don't abuse it.

And, and abuse. It could be two things. It could be sending them absolutely ridiculous stuff all the time. That doesn't make sense. But abusing them could also be loving them and leaving them like, you know, send 'em one or two things and then never show up again. So making sure that you appreciate that they took the time to, to give you their information and have a nice nurturing sequence to go along with your lead magnet and then, you know, have a way to continue to build that relationship with them.

Kris: Mm. I love that. All [00:34:00] right, so what are three, what are the three biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make when it comes to video?

Kirsten: Most people who, first, I was so embarrassed to say this, but I realize that most people, if they, if they've done enough episodes, it happens. Dean and I finished this awesome podcast interview with a guest.

We realized we didn't hit record. Are you laughing because you've done it?

Kris: Been there, been there. Yeah. And it was like, of course pure gold. Yes, pure gold. Yeah. I almost

Kirsten: cried The best episode ever. And you realize, and you, and you know, you usually don't realize it right away. So then like, you know, you, you get off the interview and then you realize you didn't record.

So now you've gotta reach back out to the guest and go, oh, I'm gonna totally see it. I didn't hit record. So. You know, just understand if you're going to start a podcast as like anything else in life, you are going to to make mistakes. And I think that's what most people have made. I think the other thing that I hear a lot, especially from women, you know, because we do train virtual assistants who take care of all the podcast production and marketing of the podcast and everything for our clients, we also train virtual [00:35:00] assistants for people who wanna get booked on podcasts.

We have structures. Here's a big mistake I think a lot of people make. They think they need to know how to do everything themselves before they delegate it. And, and that argument is insane to me because, you know, Kris, last time your car had a problem, did you figure out how to become the maintenance person before you took it to the mechanic?

Kris: Hell no.

Kirsten: You probably didn't even Google how to fix it, did you? Right. So, but in our businesses, for some reason, someone sold us on this whole concept. Either our self-worth is tied up in us being able to do everything or that, you know, before you delegate something, you have to know how to do it yourself.

I will tell you right now, that is not true. I've never even logged into our Canva account. I'm not exaggerating. If you can hire the right people and have systems and processes in place. You're hiring people who love what they do, right? I don't wanna edit a video, I don't wanna upload it. I don't wanna create social media posts.

But there are people out there who love doing that. Like that's their superpower, and they're thrilled that that's their job. And so if you want to do this, don't feel like you have to go it alone. You don't have to figure it all out on your [00:36:00] own that you know you can hire someone who can do everything, so you can just show up and have that great conversation.

The part two of that is people. Say, well, I don't wanna re relinquish control. I'm a control freak. There's no way I'm requ pushing control. Just because someone is working for you and taking care of tasks for you doesn't mean that they're the boss of that. Right. You're still the one who's saying, I love that editing.

You know, I don't particularly care for that editing. You know, that's has a, that that B-roll has images, walking of men walking down Wall Street, like in suits. That's not our ideal client. So that B-roll, that imagery doesn't match. Who my ideal client is. So change it. We don't mind having men in our content, but we, you know, they're usually gonna be, you know, in more casual clothes, that kind of thing.

So if you can coach someone on what you like and what you dislike, then they can do a magical job for you. And you don't ever have to learn how to edit a video if you don't want to.

Kris: Mm. What a gift. And so you fi, you find the va. You train the VA and you match the VA with the entrepreneur, knowing that there, that it will likely be a good fit.

Yeah.

Kirsten: [00:37:00] Yes. And then we also now have a transition process because. The over the years, the biggest reason people fail when it comes to outsourcing is they don't have, they don't have a process. They don't have systems and processes in place. They don't have workflows in place. So we have very documented workflows.

So the virtual assistants that we hire, they also go through a paid internship with us. So we actually train them on our content, which is how they learn all of our workflows, when it is time for them to get paired with a client. We pair them with the client, but one of our hiring and trainee managers actually spends the first two weeks with them bridging the gap because we found it's, it's not just that the virtual assistant needs to know how, what to do and how to do it.

Our client also has to learn how to manage the workflows,

Kris: right?

Kirsten: You lead people, you manage tasks, and you manage tasks through standard operating procedures and workflows. So we have this two week period. Where the trainee manager actually, facilitates that VA getting up and running for that client.

And then we, we have clients that are going on six years with their virtual assistants, and we will replace that virtual assistant if it doesn't work [00:38:00] out. And usually if it doesn't work out. It's within the first two to three weeks. And it's generally not a skill problem. It's, it's a personality problem.

Yeah. Like for whatever reason, that client, that VA doesn't click, and we always want our client to feel like that va, they click with them and they're excited to have them on their team. So we'll bring that VA back into the paid internship. We'll rotate someone else into that position for them because our goal is we want you to have that VA for years.

We want them to be a valued part of your team. We want them to do such a great job that very seldom do you have edits or need them to make changes because they know you, they know what you like. And that's, that's the real goal.

Kris: So it, for the listeners who have are, that are solopreneurs or are afraid to grow their team, I think a lot of them.

I'm glad you touched on that control piece 'cause it can be really hard to relinquish control, but you also kind of reach this point of like, okay, in order to get where I wanna go, I have to have help in place. And I think one of the questions that I bet people are asking right now. Can I afford [00:39:00] this? Is this very expensive?

Like, so talk us through that. Like what, what is the, the investment range,

Kirsten: right? So if you had someone to produce your podcast, most likely the best rate that you'll find is a, you know, I would say a bargain rate might be $150 an episode. That would be a really good rate. The way our virtual assistants work is it's $250 a month.

They can produce a video for you every single week. And when I say produce it, I mean upload it. Do all the social media marketing, set it up to go out to your email list, convert it to the blog post, put it on your website. I feel like that's the production of that episode. So for $250 a month, you can have that first person.

On your team, you are looking at like 70 bucks a week, right? So 80 bucks a week. So very, very affordable. And the reason why it is so cost effective is we're trying to pair virtual assistants who want long-term employment with clients who want long-term virtual assistants. So it's more cost effective because they're salaried, salaried employee.

In our programs, we also teach cultural differences [00:40:00] because that's a very important to learn in order to have a great relationship. For example, in the Philippines, there's something called the 13th month. So in December you would normally pay them another month of salary. It's just how they're. Things work there, right?

So we really encourage our clients to do that, pay that 13th month. So instead of 12, 50 times 12 months, it's 1250 times, 13 months. 13 months. we talk about instead of increasing salary, especially if your business is, you know, still growing. So maybe you have that roller coaster, good months, bad months instead of increasing salary, give bonuses when you have great months.

That way you're keeping your overhead consistently low. You are being generous and sharing the wealth with your team when things go well. So we do a lot of coaching around what it looks like to build a team, and most of our clients go on to hire multiple team members.

Kris: Amazing. Wow. I am. I am inspired. I'm very inspired.

Kristen, it's been really wonderful having you here today. I think we've all learned a lot. Where can everybody find you?

Kirsten: Absolutely. They can find me at [00:41:00] six figure business coaching.com. That's SIX figure business coaching.com. If you're thinking that you'd like to have a podcast or a YouTube channel, we have a program that's listed.

It's called The Marketing VA Advantage. You can check out the information there and then if you'd like, you can book a call with me. Happy to talk with you about it and figure out if it's right for you.

Kris: And we will put all of this in the show notes. So thank you again.

Kirsten: Thank you so much for having me, Kris.

I had so much fun.

Kris: Me too.

Speaker: Is your website turning away potential clients? I can help you turn that around. Book a money-making messaging call with me today, and we'll transform your story into your most powerful sales tool. That's all for this episode of From Click to Client. Don't forget to subscribe and follow. I'm Kris Jones, and I'll see you next time