How to Use Storytelling as a Sales Tool (ft. Aaron Horner)

00:00:00:00 – 00:00:11:15
Unknown
So if your story sounds like everybody else’s, then the only thing that your client is really going to care about is price. And if your price isn’t cheaper than everybody else’s, you’re not even they’re not going to care about you.

00:00:11:16 – 00:00:31:17
Unknown
And if your price is cheaper than everybody else’s, well, you may not be getting paid what you’re worth. And that’s why today on the podcast, I’m joined by Aaron Horner, who is our oh, you say hi guys. And so he’s here. You may not be welcome if you’re listening, but he’s here. Aaron Horner is our, videographer.

00:00:31:19 – 00:00:50:14
Unknown
Biographer Supreme. And, he’s probably the he understands story the best of anybody at this company. Definitely. And so we’re going to talk a little bit about, what the story can do for your company and what it means to your company. And why it’s important.

00:00:50:14 – 00:00:58:18
Unknown
what the story can do for your company and what it means to your company. And why it’s important. Ryan, so tell us a little bit about that.

00:00:58:18 – 00:01:25:04
Unknown
So, what do you most contractors think? Telling a story means? Yeah, yeah. So, so I’ve been at CG for five years, and the first two, I was just working on our YouTube and stuff, and then the last three just about, have gone around and make videos for specific contracting companies all over the country, like our clients.

00:01:25:06 – 00:01:46:07
Unknown
And more and more, you know, having even as opposed to three years ago when we started doing videos for people, I keep hearing people say the word storytelling and like, it’s kind of like a buzz word that people are throwing around. Yeah, I don’t think people even know what they mean. I think they’re it’s kind of going around in our circles right now.

00:01:46:07 – 00:02:12:12
Unknown
People see the word, they see people talking about it. Maybe they’re reading books about it. Like Story Brand is a big one. But I think a lot of people think a story is I need to sit down and both for myself and in my testimonial to say like, hi, my name is this. I used to do this and then I started my company at this day and then just released a bunch of different facts about their life.

00:02:12:13 – 00:02:44:06
Unknown
And if they do that enough, then somebody will come in and be like, oh, I know this person’s story. I like that now. Therefore I’ll buy for them. Just not how it works. It’s it’s a very overly simplified view storytelling. And I think it’s, it’s, it’s causing people to like the wind and be generic, and ultimately costing them money, which is ironic because, when storytelling became a thing for like, marketing purposes, it was like, that’s how you became unique.

00:02:44:08 – 00:03:04:11
Unknown
That’s how you you were different than your competitors. Yeah. So go ahead. Yeah. That that’s the thing. If they and I think originally people were doing it right, they would tell other people, hey, you need to start doing storytelling. Like, hey, have you seen what’s happening with social media right now? Have you seen how, content is changing?

00:03:04:11 – 00:03:26:14
Unknown
People are liking storytelling like YouTube. Just put out an update not too long ago about, about YouTube shorts. They made the now three minutes and they YouTube specifically said, we encourage you to do storytelling like this. Like this specifically is going to be the thing that keeps people hooked. Like it just seems ubiquitous that people are using this word storytelling and not knowing what it means.

00:03:26:16 – 00:03:46:19
Unknown
So an About Us page is very big for websites, contractors. So they, they have, like dates on there. So it’s, you know, started in 2007. Right. So why doesn’t that mean anything to, like, a homeowner? Yeah. Well, you gotta think about like this. Like, a lot of times people will put on there, like, founded at this date or something.

00:03:46:19 – 00:04:16:11
Unknown
So yeah, established three generations because they’re proud of it. And that’s cool. Yeah. You can’t start from there. You have to think about it from your client’s perspective first, because you have to think about what storytelling is. Okay is it’s not you listing a bunch of facts. It’s storytelling in general is a series of events and facts. And yeah, I guess events and facts that when combined, form a single message.

00:04:16:13 – 00:04:39:10
Unknown
And so you have to think about maybe putting on there when you were established is important, but you need to to bolster that work, bolster it is a word you need to bolster. That means to like to make stronger. Yeah. To that’s exactly what I mean. Yeah. That’s you did. Yeah. You need to bolster that with additional testimonials, copy and improve that.

00:04:39:10 – 00:04:59:06
Unknown
You are the trusted source and you’re going forward. You need to make sure that everything you’re talking about tells the story of. We are the long standing company in our area, or maybe what you’re doing with 2007. Thing is, everybody else in your area has been around for 50, 60 years, like primary glazing was a company. We did it when out in California.

00:04:59:08 – 00:05:20:06
Unknown
The glass industry out there was like like on its third generation, and it’s like their grandfather had done it. I changed the bunch, but our company primary was like kind of the newer people in the business. If I remember correctly. And so maybe that now founded in 2007, is your differentiator. You can say that you’re new, not that you’re old.

00:05:20:11 – 00:05:38:18
Unknown
Yeah. You can’t just have a single fact like that and not know what you’re saying. You have to start with what’s the message that people need? And it’s crazy that they were the new people in the business, but they weren’t that new. I mean, they had been business like 25 years or something. Yeah. Yeah, that was new.

00:05:38:18 – 00:06:05:09
Unknown
And to them, after we talked with them and went through all their differentiators, we found out like, oh, okay. So the important thing about you guys is your business to business. You are working directly with home buyers, like they were working with large scale builders and like skyscrapers and that kind of stuff. The important thing is that you have all these new methods of doing things, and it’s not just like, hey, we do the driving treatment, but it’s like we’re available to think outside the box.

00:06:05:11 – 00:06:28:15
Unknown
Yeah, I totally, completely different story. So is there anything that you’re seeing that are like common like things to stay away from in that sense of like storytelling on your About Us page. Yeah. Yeah. It’s just it’s the random list of facts. So yeah anything that people think about when they think about storytelling, it’s testimonials. And we can get that more.

00:06:28:17 – 00:06:51:16
Unknown
Yeah. Like people make seven minute long testimonials and they’re about this page will be, you know, five paragraphs long. You don’t need all of that detail. The what happens is you think, here’s a cool thing to list off. Here’s a good thing, a good thing to list off. Like this. These are a bunch of good separate facts that kind of support like

00:06:51:18 – 00:07:16:22
Unknown
Yeah. But then all you are is a generic good company. What you need to do instead is start with the context of who are you speaking to, who’s your target client and what do they want to hear. Like what. What can you provide in your market that’s different? Because if you can’t tell your story, like that primary glazing example, the story for them is not this is the year we were founded.

00:07:17:00 – 00:07:37:15
Unknown
This is the names of our, you know, the founder and his wife, and here’s our children and here’s what we like to do on the weekends and stuff. The clients didn’t care about that, that the story was in our market. The glass industry is dated and aging. We are the new alternative. That’s the story that they’re telling.

00:07:37:16 – 00:07:55:13
Unknown
So then our videos, our copy on the website, the About Us, the testimonials all need to tell that same story. Yeah, yeah, that’s what I mean by storytelling. It’s not. Once upon a time I started this company because I tried this, the one thing and I didn’t like it and I liked it, but then I quit and did that.

00:07:55:16 – 00:08:21:11
Unknown
That’s just a list of details, right? So what is what would you say is the, like, risks of having your About Us page? Essentially like about your story about you rather than your clients. Yeah. I mean, the biggest risk is that because everybody does this, is that you list all of the good things about your company without.

00:08:21:13 – 00:08:48:01
Unknown
It’s one of those things where people try to appeal to everyone and everything, and they end up appealing to nobody. So if it’s kind of like a lot of Apple TV shows, I, I can be it’s not seven knots, Evans. Not the good ones. But, they put they put out a lot of TV shows that are trying to hit every demographic so that everybody can watch it and hit a wide range when I’ve heard of Apple.

00:08:48:03 – 00:08:57:05
Unknown
Yeah. And the apple. Yeah, it’s 100% y. You know, people don’t buy their phones, or all of their machines.

00:08:57:05 – 00:09:11:05
Unknown
go ahead, take a single topic to discuss. Like, you can’t differentiate yourself in some way because what’s happening in the homeowners mind is they’re thinking in their head in the context of a story. Like that’s just how everybody thinks.

00:09:11:07 – 00:09:27:23
Unknown
And if they can’t get a single idea for your this option like that primary glazing example, there’s a new option and that makes sense to them. Then they just think then they’ll make up their own story about you. They can say this is like a regular contractor. Or maybe this looks like a chaotic contractor, that he’s kind of struggling.

00:09:27:23 – 00:09:49:10
Unknown
He’s trying to make it work. But I think the biggest differentiator is how much does it cost? And that’s what they’ll keep going back to if they can’t come up with a better reason to think, yeah, yeah, 100%. I mean, people buy from people they like or their friends. It’s the same thing with, like, influencers, like they want to follow somebody who they consider as a friend.

00:09:49:12 – 00:10:12:13
Unknown
So if you really if I have no emotional ties to a company, it really just comes down to, okay, are you cheaper? Yeah. Are you going to cost more? If you’re going to cost more money, there needs to be a reason why. Yeah, yeah. And one of those reasons can be that I do like your story hundred percent and like you seem to be the perfect fit for my problem.

00:10:12:13 – 00:10:33:06
Unknown
Yeah. That’s that’s the thing is, what that means is. And you guys have heard this stuff before. I mean, this is essentially the same thing as niching down and differentiating. Like there, it’s applied in different ways. Once you get down the line and talk about how they apply to your website, copy, how to apply to your feature project pages, how they apply to your testimonials.

00:10:33:06 – 00:10:53:05
Unknown
Hear about this video. That’s what you could get in the story. Templates are basically the same thing. If you have to decide what you are and what your If you can’t do that for people, they’ll decide for you. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. So, what about bad storytelling? Like, how can that hurt you while you’re trying to upsell or market?

00:10:53:06 – 00:11:22:12
Unknown
Yeah, I mean, it’s it’s it’s exactly that. It is. You will always be playing the price game until you can decide what you are. And so it’s scary for people. I’m not a contractor myself like so I don’t understand the fears of that. But part of that is I’ve seen a bunch of contractors and I’ve, I’ve gone to a bunch of different people, I’ve talked to people all over the country and I’ve the same thing is like, well if I niche down I’m limiting who I can sell to, you know, and I need the work.

00:11:22:14 – 00:11:40:06
Unknown
But then it’s like, that’s fine, you can do that game, but then you’ll just be a generalist and then you will play price game and that, you know, for some people I think that maybe is their sweet spot. Like, yeah, okay, maybe that’s where you’re at for the time being, but don’t trick yourself or have split goals.

00:11:40:08 – 00:11:59:01
Unknown
Like if you’re going to be the value contractor, do it. Yeah. Make sure that’s your thing then, you know, you have to own it. Yeah. Yeah, I love it. You got to love it. You got to love it. So don’t try and be everything, or else you just end up being happy. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.

00:11:59:03 – 00:12:19:10
Unknown
So if you’re already got an About Us page, if you’re listening right now, you’ve already got the Baros page. You know, check your story is, are you falling into some of these faults? Are you telling a bad story? Do you just have a list? Double check that and make sure that you’re not one of those people telling a bad story, right.

00:12:19:12 – 00:12:44:00
Unknown
Well, remember again what that story is. It’s not a series of events. It’s a, relevant events that, when put together in the right order, tell a single message. Yeah. Everything else gets lost, it gets forgotten. Make it out. But stories are get. Forget all the relevant details. Here’s the important things. Yeah. And if you haven’t read or listen to Story Brand either.

00:12:44:02 – 00:13:05:19
Unknown
That’s also a great one to go look at. I enjoyed it. It’s very simple in the way that it delivers its message. But you’ll sit there and listen and think, oh man, I already knew this stuff. But it didn’t. I didn’t connect it. Really? So it seems obvious, but it’s, you know, I found it to be quite a bit helpful when trying to tell stories.

00:13:05:20 – 00:13:13:05
Unknown
So moving on to, like, what does, you know, storytelling, effective storytelling actually look like. Right? So

00:13:13:05 – 00:13:27:11
Unknown
What does a real story look like in a, like, remodeling company? Real story. So, like Integrity Home Pro is an example of a client that we went out to. And he he knew his story in Maryland.

00:13:27:13 – 00:13:49:12
Unknown
Yeah. Faith based contractor. He worked for contracting company I mean this is a lot of people story like he worked for a contracting company didn’t like the way it was. Yeah. He said they did a lot of like sketchy deals which just made him feel morally or just made him feel bad on the inside.

00:13:49:14 – 00:14:13:07
Unknown
And so he felt led to start a company and call it integrity. And so what we then did is went through in his About Us page and his story. We tell that story knowing we’re specifically reaching homeowners that are concerned about getting taken advantage of, like that now becomes his main selling point. You can show the quality of work through the photos.

00:14:13:07 – 00:14:34:18
Unknown
Obviously, you need to do good work like, but don’t. The main thing that his clients are going to be concerned about ideally is can they trust him? Yeah, and that’s a huge thing in the contracting world. You going to have people in your home for so long and you’re going to pay so much money, and there’s so many bad stories and bad experiences out there with anyone remodeling.

00:14:34:20 – 00:14:56:17
Unknown
That’s like the number one thing that you hear, like, can I trust this contractor? Does he do good work? I got picked up, and it’s not only in contractors. This is a little, a little off, but I was getting my car worked on, but. Personal story. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, like personal stories. Yeah. So I was getting my car worked on a couple weeks ago, and I had an Uber driver pick me up to, to go and take me home while they worked on it.

00:14:56:17 – 00:15:09:14
Unknown
And the first, first thing they said to me was like, I didn’t know this was here. Do they do good work? I was like, yeah, I mean, yeah, they’re pretty nice. And she stopped me. She goes, do they do good work? Like that’s literally yeah. And I was like, oh, well, I guess I never thought of it that way.

00:15:09:14 – 00:15:28:04
Unknown
But yeah, they do. Like that’s why I keep going back to them. But, it’s kind of odd that my first thing was like, I like the people. Right. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, it was just a little anecdote, a little side note. Yeah. You loved it. Yeah, it was great. Yeah. Really good at storytelling.

00:15:28:04 – 00:15:54:18
Unknown
so. Okay, so that’s a good example of, like, a classic story. Another example is, next week, we’re traveling out to a deck building. Right? Yeah. Renaissance. Renaissance. And the specific story for his company is he’s kind of a loan man operation. Like, it’s this isn’t a massive company. You’re going to go in and, like, it’s going to be very pristine on how everything is laid out in timeline.

00:15:54:19 – 00:16:19:22
Unknown
You know that this is going to be your one man is fully committed to your project. He’s going to be doing specialized work. It’s like artisanal, like you’re getting a very specialized, his name is like Michelangelo. Yeah. Which which makes the company name so much better. You know? So. So then the story for his company. Like, if you weren’t thinking about it, you would go in and in these testimonials, you would say, he does quality work.

00:16:20:03 – 00:16:39:03
Unknown
You know, if the client says anything about it, gets it done time. Let’s go ahead and include that. And they talk about like just enjoying him as a person. Let’s think that if we really like all this stuff, like let’s list all those details. But the the, the thing that we will fail if we don’t get across is like when you’re hiring this company, you are hiring Michelangelo.

00:16:39:05 – 00:17:03:07
Unknown
People connect well with him and he really cares about your project. Does incredible. Artesian, artesian. Oh, yeah. I’m pretty sure the word yeah, we use uses artesian to work. He does Earth. That’s a good idea. The main thing is you’re getting him and he’s going to personally work and care about you. That you’re doing a specialized professional to work on your project.

00:17:03:08 – 00:17:22:10
Unknown
Yeah, that’s not going to be a great fit for everybody. Some people want you to get in and get out quick. Yeah. Some people like the idea of hiring one person. They have a good relationship with him, you know, priority. So that’s the story that we need to tell for his company and that that is another good example of entirely different from integrity.

00:17:22:10 – 00:17:43:17
Unknown
Hell, bro. Yeah. But nonetheless, like equally valid. You can figure out what your niche is and make sure there’s a market for it in your. Yeah. I mean, so it sounds like you really have to understand who you’re selling to, right? So you have to find out who you’re selling to. Who do you want your ideal client to be and then design your story?

00:17:43:19 – 00:17:57:16
Unknown
Kind of sounds bad to design your story around that. But like, your story is what it is. It’s just how you deliver that story. Right? And you have some wiggle room. Like, there are things you can decide you want to specialize in. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, we have a few different things going for you.

00:17:57:16 – 00:18:17:02
Unknown
Like, I imagine if you’re listening to this podcast, you’re you’re thinking in your head, well, maybe we should specialize in this way, or maybe we could specialize in this way. One thing that can help you make that decision market one. Like what? What is there a need for? Where are the gaps in the market? Yeah. West McDowell is somebody that I follow on YouTube.

00:18:17:04 – 00:18:37:15
Unknown
Here’s a good video on ChatGPT. If you don’t know who your ideal client is, you don’t know how to figure that out. Like previously, you’d have to hire a big marketing company to do a bunch of market research. Yeah. Don’t take forever to. Yeah. And it’d be very expensive if you’re listening to this right now and pay the 20 bucks for the first month.

00:18:37:17 – 00:19:04:18
Unknown
ChatGPT. Where you can get deep research how to do deep research on you and your competitors, feed it all of your reviews, feed to some of your competitors reviews. Get a good understanding of your market. You can feed the demographic data of your of your, ideal locations. And use ask it to help you create an ideal client like figure out what’s their demographic data like, where are they located, how old are they, what’s their income level, that kind stuff.

00:19:04:20 – 00:19:26:09
Unknown
But then also stuff like their psychographics where they worried about what are their fears, whether their goals, what is their main problem? Why are they hiring you and what are their values. And that’s huge pain points. Yeah. Right. Then once you do that, once you figure out who you’re talking to, then deciding what your story needs to be makes such a big difference so much easier.

00:19:26:09 – 00:19:45:08
Unknown
At that point, I say, you know who you’re talking to. So now that we know who we’re talking to, how do we make the story more about them, less about us? Yeah. So it’s just a matter of going through. It’s like an empathy thing. It’s understanding this is who they are. This is what they need. Here’s the main problems.

00:19:45:10 – 00:20:06:11
Unknown
How can I fit into that? And it’s not here’s one of the things I wasn’t even bring up because it’s like, well then well then don’t yeah I probably yeah it is skip that. But yeah, I guess to me it seems room entry, but I, it’s not for a lot of people. So you also have to remember when you’re doing storytelling and stuff, you are not the hero.

00:20:06:13 – 00:20:23:12
Unknown
Yeah. Sorry. Brain goes into that like it’s your client. Think about it from their perspective. They’re the hero of their own story. They have a problem that they’re facing right now. Everyone’s the main character in their own eyes. Yeah. You’re right. So they’re not going to hire another main character. What they want is a guide, you know, with their column.

00:20:23:12 – 00:20:39:13
Unknown
So you have to go through and think about what’s the problem. They’re really dealing with like kitchens or something. Like most of the time what it is is they are maybe it’s social pressure, they’re embarrassed or they a lot of times in the stories we go with is they have a big family event. It’s not it’s not used.

00:20:39:13 – 00:20:57:19
Unknown
It’s not practical to use. Yeah, yeah I see that a lot. You know, sometimes it’s like if you have to have, you know, the grandkids and everybody come back. Sometimes it’s like, hey, we just moved it for the first year. We’re hosting Thanksgiving here. Think about those things. And then within that story think about how you come in and help.

00:20:58:01 – 00:21:16:03
Unknown
But all if you don’t frame it as like, we’re the best company, we do this and we do this and we do this. It’s like, you need these things. We can help you along with that. Yeah. And so that would that would change your testimonials from just being a list of the clients saying good, good things about you and how they found you and what they like about you.

00:21:16:05 – 00:21:34:11
Unknown
And most of our testimonials now is here’s a summary of our our big problem. This is what we’re trying to do with that hopefully aligns with a bunch of other people in the area. And here’s how they came in and helped us. And here’s all the things you love our new space. Now like all all the problems we missed at the beginning.

00:21:34:13 – 00:21:53:05
Unknown
Boom. Here’s how it’s fixed. Here’s how the fix. Here’s how I love it now and then something at the end of like 100% we recommend them or we love them so much. We’re using them again for this project. Like that’s the very simple outline. And how to use it. You know, who does this really well is oh you.

00:21:53:07 – 00:22:17:14
Unknown
Yeah yeah yeah. That’s right. Yeah. You started this as you’re not a contractor, you’re not a remodeler. But yes. You you. Yeah. That’s what I was going to say. No. Regular Weidmann does a great job of this. Right. So. And they were, Peter Ranney was just on the last episode, but their whole thing is that they come in and a lot of people will have a, you know, I need a remodel.

00:22:17:14 – 00:22:34:01
Unknown
My my kitchen for one reason or another. And it’s not that they’re going to, a lot of remodelers will come in is like, okay, let’s just remodel this Peter Ranney and you know, Dan Weidmann, they they come in and they actually find out what the problem is. What are you going to use this for? What are your actual pain points.

00:22:34:03 – 00:22:53:02
Unknown
Now what is the solution of that? We’re not just remodeling your home or your kitchen. We are solving a problem. If we don’t solve that problem, then you know, you get this new kitchen, you spent a lot of money on it and you still have that issue, right? You still have that problem and a lot. And what he was saying is a lot of times you come in and you think you just need a new kitchen.

00:22:53:03 – 00:23:16:10
Unknown
Like, no, no, no, no, you need a new kitchen, you need remodel, mudroom, your den like the fact that like one of the things yeah. With him talking about done in Georgia Roswell. Yeah I’m a name every every name where we were each time. He he would say like like let’s say a lot of people would. They want to put like their shoes and their jackets where they come in.

00:23:16:12 – 00:23:50:17
Unknown
And then somebody, some client will come to them and say, hey, we went put it right here. He’s like, well that doesn’t work. Right there the door opens and now you’re walking in. And so for a company like them we need to make sure that in all the testimonials the coffee like the main thing on their website is we talk about like design focused remodel like functionality focused, designs that really solve your deeper problem, not just, hey, we’re going to do whatever you want, but like, we’re going to actually go and take the extra steps to diagnose what are you really dealing with and what are the real steps to take

00:23:50:21 – 00:24:11:00
Unknown
to fix that. So that’s their differentiating factor as opposed to somebody that can come in and be like okay, maybe it’s even somebody that makes pretty stuff, but they don’t have that thought for the functionality behind it. And so then when people hire them, they want them to think like, oh shoot, if I don’t go with Ranney Blair, I might forget about something.

00:24:11:02 – 00:24:27:11
Unknown
And then I’ll have this pretty looking remodel that I never use or I never fully get my money’s worth out of. And so then you switch the the question in their head of who is the lowest price to like? Well, if I don’t go with Ranney Blair, I might be missing out on on functionality of my space. Right.

00:24:27:15 – 00:24:48:09
Unknown
So that yeah. So how do we go into, emotion in the story without being, like, cheesy or fake? Yeah, that’s a that’s a big issue. I’ve, I’ve heard from a lot of our clients while we were going out there is, you know, they don’t want to get emotional and they feel like they’re being, you know, cheesy and they’re going to look a certain way.

00:24:48:14 – 00:25:12:19
Unknown
Yeah. There’s there’s two things like you can think about it in your About Us videos, about this page or your client testimonials. I’ll, I’ll share a quote. Can I please do this as a podcast? Yeah. I’ll make it quick though with. Sure. Yeah. So, we work so long on these videos. There is a said videos we did for the contractor fight.

00:25:12:21 – 00:25:50:04
Unknown
They hired us to make testimonials for the fight. Their group. Yeah. Flew out and did testimonials with contractors who had joined and had some sort of transformation. And then at the end of creating all these final over making these, we we displayed them, on the big screen for everybody at the big conference. And, one of the worst moments of my career I like is where this is going was there is this moment in the video where something really heartfelt was happening.

00:25:50:06 – 00:26:09:08
Unknown
And Dan, the other videographer, and I were like, this is going to know, like people are going to be they’re going to be crying. Or maybe they’ll like, yeah, maybe though. Yeah, it’s going to it’s going to tug at the heartstrings. Yeah. Which is the, the greatest thing of any storyteller when you can make someone feel an emotion.

00:26:09:10 – 00:26:34:02
Unknown
And we said, this is it. Yeah. And right when we expect everybody going. We got scattered Laughter oh no I do remember that. Oh. Oh man that that crushed me dude. It’s like when you were trying to make like a horror film and it everyone’s just laughing at it. It was the exact opposite. And I was struck by that for a bit.

00:26:34:04 – 00:26:54:07
Unknown
And I’ve seen it a few different times looking back now, but the the reason that will happen is you overplayed your hand. Yeah. There is genuine like, there’s part of it where you have to find the genuine emotion. Like if you’re doing a testimonial, there is genuine emotion behind I want. I’m a I’m an empty nester.

00:26:54:10 – 00:27:16:09
Unknown
No, I need to have my kids over that. They enjoy being in so I can see my grandkids when I want to have that time with them like that. That’s a heavy pull and you need to get to that. But what might happen is if you overplay your hand, you do like you make them really dwell on. Maybe you play the sad music, you have a sound effect, or you zoom in or something like that.

00:27:16:09 – 00:27:40:15
Unknown
Like if you overplay it, it comes across as like sarcasm and comedy. Yeah. And if maybe you scaled back the production of it, if you just had to simply say the thing that, from what I’ve seen, often speaks more than all of the bells and whistles that you put on it, because then you’ll have a moment where you’re like, this is going, yeah.

00:27:40:17 – 00:28:08:14
Unknown
Yeah. Just and that’s humiliating. Everybody just laughing. Yeah I made the video. I just sure. Yeah I specifically or I looked out the window, I just, I was like so you looked out the window and then there was rain coming down and then sad music played in your head. In my head. Like. Yeah. And then the camera just slowly credits just jibs away and jibs away, and then the credits roll.

00:28:08:16 – 00:28:19:10
Unknown
Yeah. It was. Yeah. What a great ending. I would watch that movie. Yeah, the place blew up or something.

00:28:19:12 – 00:28:37:22
Unknown
Or it’s, All right. So how do we balance the story with strategy then at that point too? So now we’ve we’ve talked about the emotion strategy because there still needs to be a strategy in that story because this is marketing after all. Like it is your story. It is who you are. But at the end of the day, you’re trying to sell something.

00:28:37:22 – 00:29:06:00
Unknown
Yeah. So what is that strategy? Yeah. So a lot of times you get very caught up in the visual is you want the website to look great. You want the video to look, everything to like. You just look at it, you go, okay. Yeah, that seems good, but the contents of it aren’t functional. And so one of the things we found is like, we’ll go through and look at people’s testimonials they’ve had other companies make, and they will look incredible, like it’s not hard to find somebody that knows how to work a camera.

00:29:06:05 – 00:29:28:06
Unknown
Yeah. Make something. And again, I said it yesterday. I mean, cameras these days are almost work in themselves. There are people way better than me and making something look pretty. Yeah, I not even some people like, but maybe probably most videographers who are really into this. Yeah care more than me about making something. Look what I’m saying. Yeah I see some stuff out there and I’m like, oh my God, what a beautiful shot.

00:29:28:08 – 00:29:50:11
Unknown
But I have no interest in watching the rest of this because there’s nothing else here. Yeah, because it looks pretty. They’ll have beautiful B-roll of the kitchen, which is just footage of the kitchen. Yeah. Talks about beautiful footage of it. And then they’ll just have it overlaid over seven minutes. A client just listing questions in order of how they were, and so it’s just random detail out there.

00:29:50:11 – 00:30:10:12
Unknown
And if you tell it’s unfollow. Yeah. You don’t have a common thread, a common goal that you’re guiding the viewer towards. It’s unwatchable. Like the thing that needs to happen is I may, at the end of the video, needs to think to themselves where the page where they’re dealing with your content, they need to think themselves like, this was a good use of my time, and they don’t like it.

00:30:10:12 – 00:30:35:06
Unknown
Doesn’t reflect well on the company. Yeah, basically, whether you’re doing this yourself, you’re hiring somebody. However it is, it get website, video, whatever a single page on your website. You have to start with who am I talking to? What is the one thing they need to get from this? Then how do I functionally carry that out? So then you go through and analyze all the different details.

00:30:35:06 – 00:30:55:19
Unknown
How is this contributing to that overall story? Is it taking away or is it kind of just irrelevant. And I sometimes it’s like, I like this piece. Like it’s really cool how much they loved this specific thing we did. Like they mentioned this crew member and they really liked them. But if it doesn’t fit with the overall story, it might just be detracting rather than helping.

00:30:55:21 – 00:31:14:10
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, the story. You don’t want it to be disjointed for any reason just because you want to fit something in. And that’s a hard part about, something. I definitely struggle with editing where it’s like, man, I really loved this part. I love this line. I love what they’re saying, but it has. No, it does not bring us to the next part of the story.

00:31:14:10 – 00:31:39:16
Unknown
It does not. It’s not adding anything to this video other than the fact that it sounds nice or it’s a cool thing, or this or that, and that’s a really tough thing as an editor to, you know, cut that. Yeah, but you have to the story has to. Every scene needs to add to that story. Yeah. You know, and and that’s the that’s all I hope you take away from this conversation is that is not just true with video.

00:31:39:18 – 00:32:09:10
Unknown
It’s everything that with your communication, your entire brand, everything needs to build. Yeah, each other. Otherwise people get lost. I’m trying to follow you like Then they don’t know what to think about you. And again, they go back to that common denominator of price. Yeah. So it’s I mean we see it even in like, logo designs when, you know, people want to add a, a certain like icon into that logos like that doesn’t add anything to your logo.

00:32:09:12 – 00:32:39:23
Unknown
Yeah. And they’re like but it looks really cool. It’s like awesome. But that doesn’t make sense. Like if you’re trying to differentiate this is a good example that like bring it back. It’s the same thing as video. If your overall story is that you’re the top kitchen remodel or whatever, and but you have a really, really nice Asian place project that you did for like Amazing Couple and it’s the style is not quite right, but you are happy with it and you really think like, oh, I’m really proud of this project.

00:32:39:23 – 00:33:00:23
Unknown
It’s not our traditional thing. It’s like, you could be proud of that project and maybe you have on your website, but don’t feature it as the the biggest thing like you do. You need to in the same way in the video we have to cut lines that we like. Same thing for your online presence. It’s like if something you’re like I personally love this.

00:33:00:23 – 00:33:30:13
Unknown
It’s like great for your ideal clients personally does it resonate with them. Do they get it. Yeah. Because if not. Detracting from your overall. Yeah. Or you’re spending time energy and money to create that thing. And people just overlook it because there’s like I don’t know what that is. I’m trying to move on. Yeah. It’s like that’s good that you love it and you can decide to do that, but you just have to have the, the, the sense to realize you’re doing it at the cost of the company.

00:33:30:15 – 00:33:53:01
Unknown
Yeah. You’re fine making that choice. You know, nobody can stop you. But yeah, just make sure it’s an important decision, I guess. Yeah. 100%, 100% agree with you. Yeah. Genius. Yeah. You’re welcome. That’s a great question. We moved on to, how to use a storytelling to attract premium clients. Right. So what does storytelling actually like?

00:33:53:01 – 00:34:24:00
Unknown
How do you change the way you do video in this like in the sense for the storytelling. Yeah. So one of the things I appreciate about our approach here is the fact that it’s cohesive between the website branding, like getting the logo and you in your overall branding and colors and in the video, as well as you can take the same message, and have it echo through all those different channels.

00:34:24:02 – 00:34:47:04
Unknown
So I’m saying, like similar to the design build like that rainbow player where you’re talking about like that Ranney, Blair, Weidmann, they’re like, yeah, yeah, it’s hard because when we first met him it was just Ranney Blair and then well there is no you know there is no partnership between them. Well I think you said it was a partnership.

00:34:47:06 – 00:35:06:20
Unknown
Yeah a partnership. So with that example, they weren’t just started by looking nice, but there’s functionality to it. Yeah. Same thing with that’s, that’s how at least how I think about how I do the projects for our clients is. That’s great that this shot looks good. But does it solve your function of communicating with your ideal client? Same thing.

00:35:06:20 – 00:35:35:09
Unknown
That’s that’s really our ideology for the marketing. I know that’s ours when we do video. I know that’s especially when that’s when they’re creating the website as well. It’s not just can we make a pretty website, we have good photos, communicating the right message to the right audience so that you’re standing out. Yeah. I know that’s what we do in everything because, I mean, like when we started this, you know, storytelling might be a buzzword, but there’s a reason why it’s a buzzword.

00:35:35:11 – 00:36:03:14
Unknown
I mean, we’ve been telling stories since the dawn of humanity, right? So it makes sense that everything we see and do it is all story. So how does, story help contractors land those premium, like, high end clients? Yeah, I think it’s it’s what we’ve been talking about. It’s just that when you differentiate, you can, start competing on a price level and compete on you separate yourself from.

00:36:03:16 – 00:36:07:13
Unknown
Yeah. The only option you put yourself in marketing one, so to speak.

00:36:07:13 – 00:36:22:15
Unknown
So where is this? Where is this heading? So what’s next in the evolution of, like, storytelling for contractors? Yeah. I mean, so, you know, nothing new under this, like. Right? Like what? There’s nothing new under the sun. Everything okay? The tactics are staying the same.

00:36:22:15 – 00:36:43:18
Unknown
Like, if you could just simplify it down to understanding what story your client is already and and inserting yourself into that, the things that are changing is the methods. So obviously social media is getting bigger. People are consuming more information on social media. People are finding information on each activity now. So there’s different methods. Yeah, I use it.

00:36:43:19 – 00:37:05:21
Unknown
I use ChatGPT for a lot of search nowadays for a lot of. Yeah. It’s interesting. Yeah. So it’s more conversational. Yeah. Okay. You know, and so then that goes into updating your website. That’s outside my wheelhouse. I think we have other podcasts with a good old piece on that. Yeah. Patrick, for anyone else who, who’s outside of and and he did do a couple podcasts and he is very eager to do more.

00:37:05:21 – 00:37:30:23
Unknown
So he’s our SEO specialist. That’s the thing is then that but from my perspective, video has never been cheaper or easier to get into. And so people are more likely to consume the story if they have to put in less effort for it. It’s easier to watch a video. They can read a story. Yes. The number one way people consume content is through video.

00:37:30:23 – 00:37:51:13
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’re at that point now. Yeah. I heard it said maybe a couple of years ago. Somebody was I can’t remember who said it now, but the idea is that since the time of the printing, before the printing press, spread information, was your word of mouth? Yeah. You just yell it, you just yell.

00:37:51:15 – 00:38:02:10
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. You get those like. Yeah. You say a. Yeah, but most of the time that’s the way you express, word of mouth.

00:38:02:10 – 00:38:08:15
Unknown
ever since the time of freedom press, that’s when things switch in the written word. Fastest way to us, right? Yeah. It was.

00:38:08:15 – 00:38:25:01
Unknown
Up until very recently, where now the spoken word has more, again, because. Yeah, yeah, just speak like a podcast, like, reach more people than if we wrote it down. And then sent it out in an email or something,

00:38:25:01 – 00:38:31:09
Unknown
for the first time in a long time, the spoken word is now more powerful and can reach more people.

00:38:31:11 – 00:38:53:12
Unknown
Written word. And so it also helps that everyone has a phone in their pocket. They have access to the internet at all times of the day. They have a phone in their pocket. They have a camera in their. Yep, microphone in their pocket. Yeah. So now that everybody has access to that and YouTube has made it super easy to share online videos and find it, and it’s the second largest search engine, in the, in the universe.

00:38:53:13 – 00:39:18:05
Unknown
In the universe that’s accurate. That’s accurate. All of that in mind, you should be making video content. I’m not saying you have to hire for video content. I’m saying you should be getting video content in some sort of way. Yeah, you’re doing it. You need to make sure that you have a structured plan for your own shots. You’re not wasting your money dealing with tons of facts and having a seven minute testimonial.

00:39:18:07 – 00:39:46:07
Unknown
You’re getting a quick 92nd testimonial that targets your specific ideal client, hits the pain point that they want addressed, and it shows how your company can alleviate that. That’s all you need to do, and you need to do it with at least higher quality media. That is, you’re not make your work speak for itself. Basically, have a camera, have an audio equipment that is in alignment with the level of quality of work that you’re doing.

00:39:46:09 – 00:40:01:07
Unknown
If you do that, you’ll be a okay, get stick around. That was a great wrap up of basically everything we’ve talked about in this. Yeah. No, that was great. I’m complimenting you. Yeah. It’s like you’re really good at this.

00:40:01:07 – 00:40:23:17
Unknown
So storytelling isn’t a luxury, you know? It is your edge. So if you want to charge more, get higher end clients, and not just be another option, then your story needs to be, needs to be. Explain your background. It needs to be a top notch. So and that’s essentially what we’ve talked about today.

00:40:23:17 – 00:40:34:09
Unknown
that’s our podcast. Thank you Aaron for joining us on this for this show about storytelling. I thought it was great. Listener did you think it was great? If you did, definitely the book.

00:40:34:09 – 00:40:44:14
Unknown
Comment down below. Subscribe for more. Listen to the next show. Yeah, I apologize, I was a little attached. I hope the information was helpful. I think the information was 100% helpful.