The Proffitt Podcast
Are you thinking about starting a podcast? Launching a YouTube channel? Repurposing your old blog content into something fresh? Hi, I'm Krystal - host of "The Proffitt Podcast." And I'm happy to say you've come to the right place!
Business owners and content creators dream of building a platform where they can connect deeply with their audience, and marketing feels easy. But I also know what it's like to feel confused and overwhelmed.
Join us weekly as we strip down those processes and remove all the overwhelm with new tips, simple strategies, and great conversations with creators like you. Tune in to hear how I help creators start, launch, and market their content confidently. The motto here is, "We all have to start somewhere."
The Proffitt Podcast
Secrets to Video Podcasting Success: Behind the Lens
Emmy award-winning filmmaker Mariana Henninger takes center stage as she shares her insights into the business world through the lens of video storytelling. We talk about the secrets of creating brand videos that not only capture attention but also forge powerful emotional connections and build trust with new audiences. Mariana shares her fascinating journey from Brazil to bustling New York City and how this vibrant backdrop shaped her career in brand storytelling, ultimately leading to her role as the founder of Brand Magnetic.
Venturing further, Mariana helps us navigate the often daunting world of getting in front of the camera. She offers practical strategies for overcoming camera shyness by focusing on the power and essence of the message rather than personal insecurities. The conversation highlights the true essence of storytelling in enhancing brand identity, emphasizing that understanding your audience and crafting a relatable narrative can set your business apart in a sea of competitors.
This episode also shines a light on the art of scripting, consistency in podcasting, and the thrilling projects Mariana has lined up at Brand Magnetic. From exploring cost-effective ways to produce impactful videos to celebrating a year of podcasting success, we promise an engaging listen that is packed with actionable insights. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting your journey, Mariana's wisdom offers a guiding light in the ever-evolving landscape of online business.
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When I think about one of the most important pieces of my business today, video is at the top, and it is the thing that so many of you ask me about. You're like Crystal do I need to have my podcast on YouTube, crystal? Do I need to do reels on Instagram, crystal? How do I need to incorporate video into my business? And that is why I'm so excited to have Mariana on the show today. So Mariana is the founder of Brand Magnetic and she is a national Emmy award-winning, two-time nominated filmmaker. She's been dubbed the queen of brand videos and she empowers online business owners to use a two to four minute brand video to create an instant, personal and emotional connection with cold audiences, building trust faster, accelerating conversions and scaling their business on autopilot. And I have watched many of her videos and they're so good. Y'all they are so good, and so whenever we talked about her coming on the show today we're both members of Amy Porterfield's Momentum membership We've been kind of circling each other in the same atmospheres and I'm so happy to bring her expertise to the podcast today.
Speaker 1:So, without further ado, let's get right to it. Welcome to the Profit Podcast, where we teach you how to start, launch and market your content with confidence. I'm your host, crystal Profit, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me today, because if you've been trying to figure out the world of content creation, this is the show that will help be your time-saving shortcut. So let's get right to it, shall we All? Right? Prophet Podcast listeners, I have a special guest today. Welcome to the show Mariana Great to be here, crystal, yes, it's going to be so much fun. I mean, first of all, I have to the show Mariana Great to be here, crystal, yes, it's going to be so much fun. I mean, first of all, I have to tell you I'm jealous because we were chatting before we started recording and she was like, oh, I just was at the beach this morning and I was hanging out and I'm just like, oh, that sounds so incredible because it's still so hot in Houston.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I'm just like that sounds like a dream. So tell everybody where you're calling in from today, yeah.
Speaker 2:So hey everyone, I'm just. I'm based just outside of New York City. We did a kind of a pandemic move from the chaos of the city to Long Island, so I'm now 10 minutes from the beach and still still like a 30 minute train ride to the city. So it's, it's pretty cool. It works out well in the summer. In the winter I wanted to leave.
Speaker 1:That's so awesome. Have you always been there? Because I know we're going to get into your background, but I feel like that's like a hotbed for the entertainment industry and for having all the access to really cool agencies and maybe entertainers and equipment and everything. But have you always been like just drawn to be in a city, Like? What was that experience for you?
Speaker 2:Oh, that's so interesting. I don't think I've gotten asked that question ever. So I'm originally from Brazil. I've lived in four different continents, I think mostly urban areas. Now that I think about it, I'm a mom. Now I'm an official suburbanite, so things have definitely changed. Up until a year and a half ago I was at NBC at Rockefeller Center. Actually, you know, prior to the pandemic really, we were going into the office, so my commute was a lot easier if I was in the city. But yeah, new York City is a great place for documentary filmmaking, which is my entire background. Lots of news organizations here, lots of film. You know it's a bit different and LA is known for, like the entertainment and the fiction world. New York City is kind of the hotbed I love that you use that word the hotbed of nonfiction and journalism and documentary filmmaking. If I you know, other cities will probably argue with me on that, but that's great.
Speaker 1:No, I totally, because when I think of New York, I think of you know, speaking of fiction shows that are about the news, I think of, like the morning show and like some of these other ones, like they're all set in New York and and it's just so iconic for me. I went for the first time this year.
Speaker 1:I'd never been to New York and I feel like I was living my small town girl fantasies and, like you know, being obsessed with friends, like my whole childhood, like you know in my teens and early twenties and so I love the city so much and I think it was so much fun, but I could see where it has that like just draw of oh, there's so much going on all the time and I'm just curious, if you know, being into documentaries and filmmaking, has that been always something of interest to you, or something that you were had an option in school and you were like, oh, that sounds interesting, let me, let me try that.
Speaker 2:Um, well, that sounds interesting. Let me, let me try that. Well, that's funny. Originally I actually thought I was going to be a doctor. I was really interested in genetics when I was in high school and in Brazil, not to go into a ton of detail. But you kind of have to pick what track you're doing before you take a test to get into the university and, luckily for me, I did not pass the med school test, which is like mega hard and it's super competitive, and I barely made it and it was really the will of God. So the next year I was like I know it's journalism. I went in thinking I'd write for magazines and then I started photography midway, kind of inspired by a friend of mine, and then that quickly turned into video.
Speaker 2:When I was actually, you know, working as a photojournalist, I was in Jerusalem living in a hostel, selling photos by the day, pitching editors all the time, and after I worked on this one project with some Bedouins and I would lived among them for like a week and it was really crazy. When the photos were done and published I was like, wow, this is really cool, but I don't hear their voices, like there's so much that's missing and I love photography, but there's so much that's missing and I was like, oh man, I wish I could combine their voices. And then I realized, oh my gosh, that's already been invented. It's video. And that, literally, is how I transitioned into video. But yeah, I don't know if that answers your question.
Speaker 1:It does. It does, actually, it makes me. I have like 50 more from that. But I think you know, because there's a lot of people that are listening to this show, you know we were kind of talking about who the audience is that you know listens to this podcast and a lot of them I won't say the majority, but a good chunk of people listen to this podcast and they have the mentality of, oh, I'm gonna start a podcast just because it's audio only, I don't have to show my face or I don't have to be behind the camera.
Speaker 1:I'm a little shy, I'm a little nervous, but then we also have a group of people that are like, give me the microphone, like, give me the camera, like I was born to do this. So I'm so curious, in the work that you do, if there is someone that's a little shy and more reserved, do you have a hard time convincing them how important video is? Or, like, is there a strategy on helping people kind of embrace their own personality behind the camera?
Speaker 2:That's a great question, crystal. So I focus very specifically on learning how to tell your story, and then the step two is how to create a short video around that, so one video. I don't even focus on regular video content or anything of that nature. I don't even focus on regular video content or anything of that nature, and lucky for me, because I focus on the superpower of your brand video. I tell them like listen, you're going to go through this once and it's going to work for you for so long. Yeah, you know. We don't even talk about the benefits of once you do this, everything else gets easier.
Speaker 2:I kind of don't focus on camera confidence as much. It's not my forte. I love. Most people, first of all, are already convinced of the power of video, so I don't. That's just like we're past that and what I do focus on is listen.
Speaker 2:You're it's a little bit tough love too, and I know that you mentioned tough love with your audience. It's kind of like listen, this is a tool for your business. Your body, when you show up, that's actually doing it for your business and if you believe in what you're doing, do the tough thing, do the difficult thing. It's going to pay off. It's not about you. And one thing that I learned from somebody else so I don't want to take credit was from Kim Rittberg. She talks a lot about remember that you're the teacher. You're not a model, you're just the teacher, you're just the way that. I say it is, your body is just the vehicle of your message, and it's not about how you look, it's not about, it's not really even about how you feel, it's just about your message. It's about connecting with your audience. So I definitely go the tough love route. I don't have a ton of patience. If you're not willing to be in front of the camera, then my program is probably not going to be great for you, although I do.
Speaker 2:I kind of have it split into two now, because we were talking about this earlier, which is, some folks are kind of in the beginner stages of their business, and so what I've realized is that you might not be ready for a brand video, and we can certainly talk about when that is, but you should still be telling your story. So, even at the most basic level, I've kind of created I've essentially created a starter course where I help people like listen, your brand video not yet, but this you should be doing absolutely right now, which is connecting with people by using your brand story, and so we can definitely go over what that means, what that looks like. But there's, there's essentially an earlier component to that. The foundation of this is understanding what parts of your story are going to connect emotionally with your audience, are going to build that rapport, build that relationship, make you unforgettable, make you stand out, make you be seen as the go-to their person, right, and you do that through story and you do that through a very specific way of telling your story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think it's so important for everybody. You know, just thinking that if you just said, like you heard everything that Mariana just said and you're like I don't know that this is for me, I want you to take a step back and look at the brands that have done this really really well, like and how, if you have watched a video and we're not talking about something that's 20 minutes long, the ones that I've seen are less than three minutes- Like you know some of them even 90 seconds, and how powerful it is to see someone whether it's a transformational video or it's inspirational, motivational, like whatever, like you fill in the word of the synonym that's really striking that chord with your audience.
Speaker 1:And I know one in particular and we could talk about Casey's story. You know that you helped her and you know she's someone like she's in the same circles that we run in and it was just so cool whenever I found out that you two worked together on helping develop her brand story and the video and everything. So can you talk about what is the thing whenever someone comes to you and they're like okay, you know, I really want help with this. I want you know to for people to better understand the brand, how far into their journey do you recommend someone doing this? And if you could share a little behind the scenes about what, what, maybe what that process looks like? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:So I first want to address, cause you said some people might be hearing this and thinking it's not for them. Yeah, I just want to address, because you said some people might be hearing this and thinking it's not for them. Yeah, if you want your business to be harder to grow, then it's not for you. If you want it to be easier to grow, your business easier to be memorable, if you want every single piece of content that you work hard to put there your emails, your socials, your podcast episodes, every piece of content, if you want it to go farther, you want people to connect with it more quickly, then absolutely, this is the instrumental piece that you need to have, and so it does not matter at what point you are in your business. Now it kind of goes back to what I was saying before, which is there is the sort of foundational piece which is learning how to use your story to connect, how to tell your story, what parts of your story to tell what isn't interesting, how to engage with your story, where to use it, where do I place this story once I have it? It's not just on your About Me page. So doing that sort of foundational part is across the board for every single business owner. And the cool thing is you already own your story. You don't have to buy anything else, you don't have to invest a ton. It's just learning how to do it, which we'll talk about today. So doing that fundamental piece for everyone.
Speaker 2:If you are further along and I will say this because I'll break it down in a second but once you have a lot more clarity which comes from doing business so once you have had sales and you know your audience really well, you get to know yourself even better and once you have a lot more clarity in those fundamental pieces of that brand story, then putting that into video form is where that comes in, because that video is going to work on your behalf with so much more impact than just words on.
Speaker 2:And I love copy, don't get me wrong. Copy is really great, but we know that video is even more powerful. So once you create that into a video form, then you're getting like tears, then you're getting like chills, then you're getting all of these other emotional you know reactions that can come into folks when they watch something really well done, and then you get even more the power of becoming unforgettable, which is what I teach a lot. Again, if you think this is not for you, then you are okay blending in, you're okay being known just for what you know. And ultimately, we choose people not just for what we know. We choose them because we like them.
Speaker 2:We have rapport with them, we want to learn from them. We want to go on the journey with them to get to the results that they promise. If you're just going by the results that you promise, lots of people are promising results and the copy is getting better and better. So if you're just relying on that, you're going to have such a hard time competing against everyone that's offering something similar. I didn't answer all your questions. No, no, no it was great.
Speaker 1:It's great because I think that we needed to take a pause, because you're so right when people because people do, they come to me so often. That's why we were trying to I was trying to really hit on that subset of you that are listening to this right now and you're like, yeah, but you're the ones coming up with all the excuses of why this isn't important, and that's why I wanted you to really hear how doable this is and how, with the right person directing you, that it could be a seamless process. It could be.
Speaker 1:You know, I'm not going to say it's going to be completely painless, like right Cause it may, maybe it is, maybe it's like hard to revisit some parts of your story and I know that's how it is for a lot of people whether it's you know something that happened in the beginning of your journey, you made a big mistake, or something You're just like, oh my gosh, I don't want to go back and revisit that, but I think that so many of us for, whether it's content creation or being a business owner or whatever, those are the pieces that I really relate, like whenever I see Amy Porterfield, you know she's talking about her story and she's like my first launch I made $267. And we're like wait what? Like hang on.
Speaker 1:She's like, made hundreds of millions of dollars in her business, but she didn't start that way. So it's so powerful to hear the ups and downs and the messy middles, and I think that that's where doing it in this type of setting, specifically in a brand video, can make all the difference. And so I don't know. I'm just curious Cause you you said a little bit about, like you know, kind of walking through what that looks like, or maybe, um, if someone is just listening to this, they just launched their podcast, they just created their website for their business, like they're in the beginning stage right Right.
Speaker 1:Like big celebration. What would you say to them if they're like oh, this sounds incredible, but I don't really have that story yet, I don't really have the pieces laid out or I don't know like what my audience maybe they're still trying to figure out their audience Like, what advice would you give to them?
Speaker 2:If they're at that point where they're so early on in business where they're still trying to figure out that audience, take this episode, make a mark and come back to it soon once you have a little bit more direction. If you're literally like I talk to women, if you're at that point, then spend your time honing that in, because that's more important for your business right now for you to know who you're serving, what you're helping them with, how you're helping them, exactly what their pain points are. All of that really important foundational business stuff. But as soon as that's in place, you have what you need to learn how to tell your story. So let me dive into that framework so we can essentially understand how you put the pieces together. So the first thing you're going to do is understand your audience, and what I mean by that is not if you have like top level clarity, right, women in their forties, uh, and perimenopausal they need to lose the baby weight. Um, nothing's working anymore in terms of exercise and diet. Let's say that's. That's fairly specific. Actually, most people stop way before then where they're like I just want to talk to women who need to lose weight.
Speaker 2:Now you want to not only be a lot more specific and more nailed down or oh, lost the word more specific about your niche. But you also want to know them deeply. So this is the deeper you know them. We know that's amazing for copy. We know that's amazing for how you speak to them on your podcast and everything you write, all your content, so it goes across the board. It's not different from that, from understanding how to use it for your story. So, knowing them deeply, I go through this a lot in my course, which is we call it 14 levels deep. It is very deep and what I mean is also very micro specific, so it's not just painful. They're like they understand that they need to eat protein on all levels of the day.
Speaker 2:You know, they get tired of cottage cheese, anyway. So, knowing your audience. The second one is knowing yourself, and so this is where. So it's understanding what your audience connects with you on. It helps when you already have clients, right. It helps when you have people who are interested, who you're already speaking with. Also, one thing to be careful when you because I talk a lot about, or I teach a lot about research with your audience.
Speaker 2:The tricky part here is if you're talking to a client, for example, that worked with you, has been working with you for a long time or worked with you a little while ago, they might not remember what it felt like when they first connected with you. So you kind of want to talk to them as soon as they buy from you and understand what parts of your story or what parts of your content, what is it about you that made them connect with you? And that's like the critical question that we want to answer with you. And that's like the critical question that we want to answer. So notice, I didn't say go and take a retreat for yourself in the woods and understand yourself. That's. I mean you should do that anyway In terms of understanding your story, really like you're coming into your from your audience's perspective and you're kind of reverse engineering.
Speaker 2:What about you? They connect with? And so this is a little bit different. In fact, I know somebody else that teaches storytelling and he always talks about like you just have to be your authentic self and just show up as who you are and listen. I'm not saying don't do that, but when we're crafting a brand story, it is a curated version of your story.
Speaker 2:It is understanding which parts of your story are going to pack the most the heaviest punch and are going to connect the most deeply. You have the rest of your business life creating content to show up in all of these other ways, but this is the one piece of content that's going to live top of funnel. It's going to be the first thing people watch as soon as they go on your social media profile. It's going to be on your email signature. It's going to be on your about me page, your homepage, if you're the face of your brand. It's going to be essentially the thing that they watch as soon as they're hooked with some sort of value or a referral or some sort of like quick connection. This is the very next thing they see and that's where we want it to make you the most memorable.
Speaker 2:So there's a science to this which again, it's less about like just show up as yourself. You can do that later or in all the other content, but for this one, you're really understanding what parts of your audience connect with and then what you're doing is then finding that intersection. I know what my audience needs to hear, what they need to feel. I know what parts of me give them comfort. So what does trust look like? We know we talk a lot about building know, like and trust.
Speaker 1:So what does?
Speaker 2:trust feel like for your audience. Very specifically, it's confidence in what. What is it about you that they love? What is it about you that makes them keep coming back Right? And once you understand that, then you can look at your story and be like okay, so what parts of my personality or my story are going to help create those feelings in my audience? So, again, we're in a lab here. It's like a story lab in that we're really crafting this thing for the most emotional impact. And then, once you've done that, once you've defined the parts of your story, there's a small framework that I'm happy to talk about as well. There are two types of story. There's an overcome story. Most coaches will have an overcome story where they've overcome something.
Speaker 2:So, casey, you mentioned who's the sobriety coach. She overcame that hurdle, so her audience also overcomes that hurdle. Great, there's a very specific match there. But what if you're teaching your audience from a you know a place where you're not overcoming the same challenges, that they are right and so that's a passion story. So we lean into what parts of your personality give them comfort, what parts of you know, what tidbits about your story bring out those personality quirks or those? You know, that passion that you have for what you do it's a little bit of a trickier. Or you know that passion that you have for what you do it's a little bit of a trickier. Or you know not as clean cut framework for that time. That's kind of story.
Speaker 2:I have that kind of story, by the way, because I don't talk to filmmakers, I talk to business owners. But we do have that touch point, right, I'm also a business owner, so I was able to find the parts of my story where my entrepreneurship showed very early in, like kind of weird, funny, creative ways. So so much more to talk about. But I feel like that framework hopefully helps folks right Know your audience deeply and then understand. So I say, know yourself, but really is understand what parts of your personality, of who you are, of how you show up, most connects with your audience, most makes them feel trust.
Speaker 2:So once we know what that is and we look at the intersection of those two things, then we look at our story. We find those tidbits that bring those about. We put it into a framework and off to the races. You can use that framework, literally speaking to camera. There's a very rudimentary brand video for you. Or then the next steps that I teach in my course and I work with my clients is how to look for emotional visuals. How can your visuals really make us feel something? While we're watching this? We're not just illustrating your words, we're really creating an entire ecosystem of it. It's like we're essentially trying to make people feel like they're in the movie theater and there's nothing else happening and they're just being transported by your story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's so interesting. You know cause we were talking about. Okay, you know, if you're in the beginning stages, you know this may or may not be something for you, but I hope that everyone listening that has been creating content for a while, like your ears just parked up, because what I heard and everything that you just explained is you already have all of this present in your content or in your business. It's probably in your copy, it's probably in your emails, it's in your YouTube videos or your podcast episodes. It's in your Instagram posts that you've been creating. It's just about mining it out now and figuring out what actually goes in your brand video to make the most impact.
Speaker 1:Because, what I imagine is having, like you know, a sticky notes, like wall of like all the possible stories that you could tell and then just shedding things one by one, like yeah that's. That's a great story, but it's not relevant for this or that could be great for a podcast episode, but it's not for this, and I think that you can really uncover the pieces that would make someone say, oh, she's just like me, I want to buy from her or she's been through this experience, I know that she's the person to lead me through the path.
Speaker 1:you know, or whatever that type of connection is that someone's looking for. So it absolutely makes sense to me when do people get stuck? Because I feel like there's a few different places where people could easily like shut down right. It's like this is too hard, I can't do this anymore. Or this is like where they need the most coaching or guidance from you.
Speaker 2:I think it's just having feedback. You know the way that I describe it is like you can be the best surgeon in the world. I mean, I'm an Emmy award winning filmmaker and I still had a really hard time telling my own story. You can be the best surgeon in the world. Performing surgery on yourself is going to be tough, and so just having that sounding board becomes really critical and it's less about. I don't feel like I've had any students actually get stuck. It's almost the more you do it, the more excited you get. There's also a layer of confidence that comes with this crystal which amazes me every time. I never I never used that as a selling point, but it's a hundred. Maybe I will one day, cause it's a hundred percent part of this process. The more you do this, the more confident you feel like, because you, in order to really dig deep and do this well, you want to. If your goal is to create a video that's going to convert for you, which is the promise of the brand video. In my universe, in my ecosystem, the way I teach, it is like this thing is going to convert for you. Just watch, but we need to do it, right. Right, like you said, it's not necessarily painless, but it's a simple process. You just have to go through it.
Speaker 2:In order to do that, you have to have so much clarity in who you're serving. You have to have so much clarity in what is it about you that they love. With that comes so much confidence, right, when you know how people see you, when you get that data, that information, and that you feel that bond my gosh. I see it in my students. Every time when they graduate they're like hell yeah, like I'm ready to take on the world because I've had to have so much clarity, so much research. I know my audience in and out and they're banging out content so much faster. So you know, I kind of think about my business a few years down the road I lead with brand video because that's my specialty, that's what I want to be known for.
Speaker 2:Video because that's my specialty, that's what I want to be known for. But ultimately it is the foundational work of business that sets you up for a whole universe of success ahead of you when you do that because, I mean, you know about content creation, you know how much easier it is to create content once you know what you're talking about, you know who you're speaking to and how. So yeah, I don't feel like they get stuck. I just feel like it's really great to have that sounding board, whether it's another business partner you know, maybe it's not me and my program, maybe it's somebody else that you know can kind of give you good feedback on whether your story is landing, whether your hook is strong enough, whether there's a flow, whether you're saying too much, too little. You know, I've done this for 15 years so I can kind of do it in my sleep now where I'm like too many words.
Speaker 2:Let's cut, cut, cut, let's go or no, let's go this direction. But if you, if you have that sounding board, you're, you're not going to get stuck because it's so empowering to do this work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's so interesting to hear. That's where people because it's the same with podcasting, it's no different like what's the first thing that you record something? What do you want someone to listen to? It? Give you feedback, like you want someone to listen and be like this isn't awful, right, like you're like you don't tell me it's the most amazing thing. You can just tell me like you can actually listen to it and it's a it's not terrible, right. Like I've had so many people just send me their audio files and say can you please listen to this before we publish it, and I'm like, okay, like let's, let's do this, but it is, it's feedback is so important and that's what I love about you know how you've like built out the community of the people that you're connecting with and they can share it, and I think it's just such an amazing thing when, at the end of working with you, it's like okay, I have this thing.
Speaker 1:And like you said, it's not just an asset for today or the next 24 hours or the next, like you know, two months, like it is the longevity of your business. Plus, you can always tweak it and change it, you know, in 10 years or five years. If, then something else happens. So I think that's what's so beautiful about this, but you skimmed over it really quickly. Oh, I did Can we go back to this Emmy award-winning business Because that's a big deal, so talk to us about that.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, I was a documentary filmmaker for 15 years, lived in so many different countries, worked right out of my master's, actually, was doing stuff for the New York Times, wall Street Journal, time Magazine, was a senior video producer at NBC for the last five years of my W2 and then I graduated from being, you know, somebody's employee to just really needing to own my own business, be able to go to the beach in the morning, hang out with my kid, decide my lifestyle, not have to ever ask for a raise again. But the Emmy came from a story that I did about a man whose mom had dementia and he started documenting that journey on YouTube, created a big following and one of his videos went viral the day his mom forgot his name and I looked at that story. That story was actually brought to me by a reporter at NBC and they're like, oh, I think we should do a video about this. I was like, okay, what's his story? And it just got me thinking like everyone's talking about the mom.
Speaker 2:As you know, obviously, dementia the dementia victim, if you will it really is such a devastating disease. Those folks are at the forefront, as they should be, but we know that there's an army of people around them. You know where this disease takes a massive toll. So I focused on him instead and telling his story and you know goes to show I couldn't have done that myself. I did the story mostly by myself, but my original edit was like 30 minutes long and my boss was like, nope, shorter, shorter, shorter. She wouldn't tell me what to cut, though, so it was so painful, but it was a 10-minute documentary that won it. And you know, I don't know if it would have packed as big of a punch as a 40-minute documentary, but yeah, that's beautiful act, as big of a punch as a 40 minute documentary.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I was actually nominated for a second one last year which didn't quite make it, but oh my gosh. Well, I think that that's so awesome. Is that something that's public Like? Could we link to that in the show notes too?
Speaker 1:Yeah absolutely yeah, I think that it's really cool to see. I think that when people start creating content about their business and what they're doing, they shove themselves into these boxes right. They're like I have to do show notes this way, or I have to create content in a studio that looks like this, or I have to have this microphone, this camera. So they get so wrapped up in the mechanics of what is like you know the logistics that help them deliver their story, and they don't focus as much on the pieces of storytelling. So is there another way that we can look at content creation using some of the elements that you use in storytelling, Like if you're listening to a podcast or a YouTube video, like what are the mistakes, what are the big things that you see people making in content creation today?
Speaker 2:Oh, that's so interesting, crystal. I have to say I know this is not the answer you want to hear, but when I consume other people's content, I'm actually I know this sounds like a total Mother Teresa reply here, but I'm actually like go, you, you're out there, you're actually producing it and you're going to get better, you'll figure it out. So I'm less like critiquing what they should be doing different. It's more about like I wish I knew your story, so where?
Speaker 1:are you?
Speaker 2:telling your story that I don't see it so that that here we go. Here's my biggest critique.
Speaker 2:It's less of it's, less about how they're doing it, and more about the fact that so many people are focused, so many business owners are focused so much on giving value all the time and being like wanting to be known as the expert. And here's the tip for this, here's the hack for that, here's my masterclass, here's my. This, I know, I know, I know and here's I'm going to teach you, I'm going to help you. It's going to be awesome. But what's happening is, at the same time, they are what I call microdosing. Their audience, their audience, wants to know who that person is. You might not think they do. They absolutely do, because once they do, they can make that decision so much faster about whether to work with you or not. And so it's almost like we're doing them a disservice by not letting them know who we are by just having this sort of expertise authority.
Speaker 2:You know, facade that all we do is give, give content, give trips, what's going on with me?
Speaker 2:Tips and tricks and hacks, and in fact, truly, our audience wants to connect with us on a personal level. We know that because why is it that the Kardashians can sell billions of dollars worth of merchandise? We connect with people on a human level first, and I'm not saying don't show up as the expert, but make sure that you're allowing that space, ideally through a brand video, through your brand story on camera. If it needs to be right, very simple, right, but you have that one piece of content where people can look at that and be like I know who Crystal is now. I get her Like, I get her and I connect with her on her values. I know what she would be like to work with just by watching this one video. In fact, like when I was doing my own research, I was talking to a lot of business owners and the thing across the board, crystal, that people would say is like once I get on a Zoom call with people, they connect and they buy.
Speaker 2:I'm like well, what's going on in the Zoom call? What are you telling them in the Zoom call that you're not telling them on your sales page or on your content? They're getting to know you, they're getting to get a feel for you, and I'm not saying you know that they might not still want that, depending on if you have a high ticket offer or not right, and that's still valuable. But that piece is so important to determining whether you are the person that we want to work with to get to that objective. And so that's my biggest critique If you're not telling your story, you're missing out, you're making it harder for yourself, You're just making it harder for your audience to choose to work with you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think it's so funny Like there's people that still believe that if they do share something like it's like they're opening the floodgate. Or like the Pandora's box. It's like, oh, people are going to know where I live and they're going to know. And the Pandora's box it's like, oh, people are going to know where I live and they're going to know.
Speaker 1:And I'm like let's calm down, Like it doesn't have to be that personal Right I actually shared and this is something I've talked about a few times on the podcast, so the audience would be like, oh my gosh, this is so funny. But I got so many replies like people talking about this one episode that I did. It was like in a rush, it was right around the holiday season and I talked about I was in the closet floor wrapping Christmas presents because I had forgotten and I was like waiting till the very last minute. So I'm watching Emily in Paris.
Speaker 1:I had, like my iPad set up and I'm like watching Emily in Paris and I'm wrapping Christmas presents and I got this beautiful email from a woman in the audience and she was just like. This was so relatable.
Speaker 2:And it was just a throwaway.
Speaker 1:I didn't plan that. It wasn't in my outline to say that. I was just like oh my gosh, I was doing this and it was like kind of frantic and frazzled and everything, but I was just showing up as me. You didn't learn any more about where I live or where my kids go to school or anything. I was just sharing me and so.
Speaker 1:I want to bring this up just because it's so easy to share about yourself, and I do think that everyone is getting wrapped up in the. You gotta have five tips for this and seven tricks for that, and I need to teach, teach, teach, teach. I'm showing my authority this way, but it is those connecting moments that really grounds us into. That's the person I want to learn from. Totally, I would give them my credit card.
Speaker 2:So yeah, do you?
Speaker 2:have anything else about that, oh my gosh, like all day, every day, five times on Sunday, like that's exactly it. We connect with people on a human level. Stories are incredibly impactful for that. In fact, people remember stories 22 more times than they remember facts. They want to know who that person is, and that's what the basis of trust is.
Speaker 2:I mean, listen, the way that I describe it is like if your toilet broke in the middle of the night. You don't really care about who the plumber is, you need it fixed ASAP, right? But how many of the things that we're buying online are things that we're not buying for immediate fixes, or that we have the luxury of choosing who we work with, because there are lots of people offering this thing? And so that's where your personality comes in, and that is your biggest differentiator. Your DNA, it's your secret sauce is knowing who you are, or being able to connect with who you are, because you're sharing who you are, but also adding that little spice of life, those little, and that obviously is like throughout your content, not just in your brand video. And then the brand video is really where you understand which of these anecdotes, which of these parts of your story create the most impact, and you can know that either by telling your story regularly, which you should. You should be sprinkling the you know wrapping presents in the closet kind of thing all the time, but then also so Casey, for example, and when we worked on her brand video, she had so many stories to pick from.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because she had a podcast. She had been doing it for a while and she had shared so many stories and she told me the same thing that you told, that you just said, which is Mariana. Some of these stories I thought were just going to be total throwaways that people would not connect with, and sometimes there was, as you know, the ones that hit the most. You know, in her case it was looking at the bottles in the recycling bin in the next morning and the guilt that would come with that. The wine bottles in the recycling bin in the next morning and the guilt that would come with that the wine bottles in the recycling bin.
Speaker 2:So it's it's little things like that that not only do we remember, but move us emotionally and we connect with that person so much deeper, and that's where trust is. When you think about trust, it's not just about will this program work for me? Will I get the same results as these reviews it's like, like, will that? Will that interaction, will that relationship with the person behind this program be the most fulfilling for me and my results will come as a result of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh my gosh. Like this is. This is such a fun conversation Like I could just. We could go in so many other directions, but I want to talk to the process of how this works. Right, because you said, like you're in New York, I'm in Houston. Like I can't just be. Like Mariana, are you going to hop on a plane, fly here, shoot the whole thing, edit the whole thing. So can you walk us through what it actually looks like to create a brand video and how long it typically takes someone to piece this together? Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:So, crystal, we have a done for you service, the one that you described. I actually don't fly, so most of the folks will kind of land on this middle tier. We have a third tier that's more elite. It's for the nine 10 figure entrepreneurs. In fact, we're working with Amy Porterfield on her brand video in October. So I'm super excited about that. I should have said that, but it's not. It's not, it's official, but just not on paper yet. But anyway, here you, you have it.
Speaker 2:So we're doing that in October, for for those I typically fly out, it's multiple days of shooting and things like that. For the one that I did for Casey, for example, and we'll maybe include a link in the show notes, but did for Casey, for example, and we'll maybe include a link in the show notes, but I work with you on your script and so we know exactly what you're going to say. But we also know exactly what that film day is going to look like. We pack all of the filming in one day and I hire someone locally, so typically a cinematographer and either an assistant, somebody who will be kind of their helper that day, and that will be local to you. So we're cutting like transport costs. We're cutting a lot of travel and all of the costs associated with that, and that's because I have a really robust network and I know how to find the right people. So it's not just a lot of videographers aren't really trained or the right person I'm looking for for a brand video, and that's also because they won't have me as the director right there with them. So there's a whole gamut of things that I'm looking for in the right person to assign to a brand video. But that is that sort of middle of the road offer that we have.
Speaker 2:But the thing that I'm really excited about is that I have now been working with students on how to create their own brand video, which makes it so much more accessible, and the way that we do that the scripting is honestly the same process, so the same process that I do with my clients that pay me tens of thousands of dollars. I now do with folks in my group that to script their brand video, to think of which visuals they're going to film, and I now have a very simplified way that they can use their own phone film themselves. I mean, I'm so. I'm blown away every time of what people are getting when they film themselves, because you know it's kind of hard to film yourself. But folks that either get the hang of it or they, you know, elicit their husband or their, their friend or somebody who's doing a few of the shots for them and then how to edit seamlessly. I think the tools have improved so immensely.
Speaker 2:I would have never been able to create a course like this a few years ago, but now it's quite simple, it's? I simplified it even more. My first iteration last year, I was teaching more than what people needed, and so this time I'm like strip, strip, strip. What is the basic way that they can actually get it done? And I think you've hit this on the head a couple of times in our conversation, which is like there's so many things to do in your business, right, there's so many things that need to get done, and so my goal is to make it as simple as possible, because the one flaw of the brand video is that it actually won't work until you finish it and post it so yeah.
Speaker 2:I want to get you to the finish line. It's incredibly important and I've essentially really dumbed it down simplified how to get great visuals, creative visuals, but in a simple way. How to put that into a brand video, Like you said, anything from like 90 seconds to three minutes. We're kind of pushing the limit, but most stories I try to keep them around two minutes when I work with folks, so that's the way that I encourage most people to go, Like it's okay that you don't have a super budget for a really high end brand video. This is how we can get your brand video done really simply on your phone, no extra cost. Let's go yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. Well, I just love that you serve so many different aspects of the market. You know cause there will be people listening that are like, yes, I want like an Amy Porterfield level brand video like tomorrow. Like that would be fantastic and you know, go hire Mariana and her team to do that. But then there's also so many people that are like I've seen this. I know you know maybe they're already familiar with your work and they're like, oh my gosh, like this is exactly what I need, because you know this whole conversation today.
Speaker 1:I'm like duh, I like I need a brand video for profit media and you know my whole journey, because I do know, you know, and you kind of touched on this earlier is like where this would work so well.
Speaker 1:It's like man that first welcome sequence email, you know it's that reintroductory video that you put out on Instagram every once in a while. That's like hey, you know, I've gotten a few more, you know a hundred or a thousand followers, whatever. It's like this is who I am, or I'm thinking of even the, the main slot on your YouTube video. You know am, or I'm thinking of, even the, the main slot on your.
Speaker 1:YouTube video your YouTube channel. It's like who are you? It's like, well, you don't just have to put your most popular video, put who you are as a brand, you know, and all these other places where you could put it. But my last question about creating your brand video and this is because I'm stubborn. Okay, I'm going to tell you right now I'm so stubborn when it comes to content creation, like I want to do it my own way, and you've said this multiple times. It's like scripting, scripting, scripting. I don't work off of a script 99.9% of the time, but I do know how important it would be. Because I'm that person, I'm going to tell extra story. I'm going to share this. It's going to be a 75 minute long brand video.
Speaker 2:That is not helpful for anybody.
Speaker 1:So do you have any tips? For you know, you create this script and you have it, and someone that's like oh, it takes me 75 times to do this. Or it takes me, you know so many times like is there an art or is it really just practicing it and doing it over and over?
Speaker 2:Totally. I want to say one quick thing too. You were mentioning all of the places the brand video can go. I can't take credit for this one. Somebody did this to me where I followed them. He's I don't know. He's got a million, over a million followers. He, as soon as I followed him on Instagram, he DM'd me. I I always I'm always suspicious because I'm like it's somebody from their team.
Speaker 1:They're going to sell me on something.
Speaker 2:Here we are in the DMs already. Here we go, buckle up. No, his message was so cool because it had a little bit of it. A little piece of his message said this is actually me, this is not. And I was like I like you already my friend Anyway. So he sent me in that message.
Speaker 2:He sent me what could be considered brand video those I critique. I was like, oh, I would have done this differently, but anyway, it doesn't matter. He had one and he was able to send it to me and I was like love, this use for brand video. It's like it's you know how, like you want to connect with people in the DMs, you want to welcome them. I don't like being asked, like I don't want to be probed, I just got to know you, right? But he shared with me his brand videos like love this use for a brand video. So just another one to add to the list.
Speaker 2:I actually have a list of 50 places, but anyway, to answer your question about scripts, you already know why we have a script and you just said it which is it's a roadmap for what you want to include, right? So you have like that blueprint, the way that I recommend my students record their scripts when they're ready to record for their brand videos like this. You print it out First of all. You practice it, like I recommend, at least like 10 times before you're ready to record, so it flows, so you're actually telling that story. So one other really important tip here you have to feel the story more than you tell the story. So you really have to put yourself back in those moments, back in that situation, back in the pain, back in the joy, really relive it. So that's one In terms of the actual recording.
Speaker 2:Print out your script and read it line by line to the camera. Just make sure you're holding your gaze to the camera. This is a very practical tip. I love that we got it in there. Hold your gaze to the camera and say it line by line and then go back, look at the next line, so you don't have to memorize anything. So that. So I have my students do that twice and on the third iteration they can freestyle it. They know what they need to say and they can say it conversationally. And in the edit room, when they start editing their, their video, they can then pick oh, this part I said really well, really conversationally, it wasn't to a T what the script said, but I like this version better. So they have choices there. Does that help?
Speaker 1:Yes, a hundred percent, and that's why I was like I had to throw it out there, because I know that there's other people that are like me, that are like oh, scripts, like reading scripts are like nails on a chalkboard, like you know, because I do, because this is what I do, right. I'm creating the longer form. I'm doing it, but I love a short and concise brand video that gets straight to the point that hits on.
Speaker 1:all those important markers make all the difference, and it's not someone that's rambling on asking more questions or just dragging out this long thing You're getting straight to the point and you immediately know I want to learn from them or you don't, which is also great right. We love that clarity of the yes or the no. So I'm excited. I want everyone to go check out, so I know that you have a special gift for everyone. What is it? Tell us more about the cheat sheet that?
Speaker 2:you have. Yeah, so I have a cheat sheet that essentially goes. It reminds you of the steps of this process. It gives you some tips of for how to do each step. I don't remember what else is on there, but it's definitely worth checking out. If for nothing else, it will be that guide for to get you started, the thing I always say, crystal, is like work with me, don't work with me, it's all good, just do it. Tell your story. Like, do not go another day without telling your story in some sort of format that, like to your point, you can just upgrade and reiterate and improve upon with time, but make sure you somehow you were telling your story to everyone that comes into contact with you. So the cheat sheet will help you with that. Brand Magnetic brandmagneticcom slash cheat sheet is where you can grab that. And then, yeah, I'm on Instagram that's kind of my big place to be at Brand Magnetic and Empire Secrets, wherever you get your podcasts, yes, and we haven't.
Speaker 1:We didn't even get a chance to dive deep into your podcast, but I want to ask you. I want to ask you three rapid fire questions, and then I am going to ask you another question about your podcast. Okay, are you up for it?
Speaker 2:Let's go.
Speaker 1:Okay, so my first question is what piece of advice would you give to a brand new podcaster or content creator?
Speaker 2:Okay, we were talking about this before we record. I have had my podcast for nearly a year. I've been able to have folks with really big names on there. I think I've had like Kelly Roach and Laura Belgray and Allie Bjerk and Renee Warren. Who else? Little by little, I'm getting more folks in.
Speaker 2:Regardless of that, I don't have my podcast on my website. It's a huge SEO wasted opportunity, but guess what? It's imperfect, but we're doing it anyway and we're moving forward, and it's been an amazing thing. So imperfect action is probably the thing that you repeat on every one of your episodes, so important to just get started. The other thing I will say, though, is I've been able to do my podcast for a really low price, and I know that for some folks, it's the burden of taking hours and hours to edit your own podcast versus, like, do I have hundreds of dollars to spend on an editing or production service for my podcast? And I have been able to through trial and error wasn't the first person that I hired overseas, but I have landed on someone who's great, who's so reliable, so good at editing my podcast, and it hasn't taken a ton of my profit or revenue to cover his costs. So I do recommend, if that is something that's holding you back, if that is the thing that's holding you back, know that there are options that may not be perfect at first or it may take a couple tries, but for me I've been able to keep costs down on my podcast, which is not quite yet a revenue generator.
Speaker 2:We were just talking about how my focus for Q4, q1 of next year is to grow the podcast, but for now I focus on consistency. I focus on having it done every week and having great guests on. That's what brings me joy from the podcast right now. It's not millions of followers or a ton of growth in the download numbers. We'll get there. So essentially, I think it's brought me a lot of joy to know that I've had the podcast for almost a year and have not skipped or missed a single week and that's my marker of success right now. And you know, over time it's obviously going to hit numbers and things like that, but I think it's just it's cool to have one. It's so awesome.
Speaker 1:Yes, I mean I'm just like, yes, like all the claps, all the snaps, like we love celebrating consistency around here and that is a huge milestone to reach, because so many podcasters burn out or just stop creating. So, yes, congratulations, I think that's such a huge milestone and you are you're going to go on to do even bigger and better things in the future.
Speaker 2:So it's so fun.
Speaker 1:Okay, my next question is what is a dream podcast you would love to be on and who is your dream podcast guest you'd love to interview?
Speaker 2:Um, I think I would put Amy Porterfield's podcast right up there. Um, I would. I don't. It's funny. I have sometimes I think about the word dream and I'm like it's not a dream, it's, it's. It's going to dream, it's going to happen, it's just a matter of time. So that one would be right up there. And who would be a great person to have on my podcast. There's so many folks. You know what I think? Ed Milet. I love his story so much. When that man spoke on stage, when I saw him speak on stage, I was so blown away all by the power of his story. By the way, I was like in tears. It was transformational to hear him speak and I just like the guy. Again, I like the guy. I think he's super smart, but I like him. I like who he is. Yes, I think our values resonate and it'd be awesome to talk to him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, these are such such good ones. Okay, my last question is do you consider yourself a perfectionist?
Speaker 2:Oh, seriously If you're watching this on video. I just told you my hair. I just came from the beach. My podcast isn't perfect. No, I love essence, right, and even though I have a brand video product that's like a beautiful, polished, really well-looking brand video. The reason I created the course was because, like, those are all awesomes to have, but they're not need to have and ultimately, your story is what matters, what matters most. In fact, I had a student who just finished her brand video, all shot on her phone, all filmed by herself, all edited by herself. I didn't touch it. I did not touch any editing or any any part of it. I worked with her, yes, but and she just wrote me. She said somebody else watched my brand video. She said I moved to tears. She did this on her own. She barely knew what her story was when we started, you know. So, absolutely no perfection around here. We're just um connecting, moving forward, building relationships. That's what I care about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I think that you do this so well and I just want to say, like once again, like congrats on your podcast, congrats on, you know your program and everything. So someone is like they want to skip ahead. They're like, yes, I'm gonna go get your cheat sheet, but, mariana, I want you to help me with this brand video. I want to make it happen. Are they going to find more?
Speaker 2:information about how to do that by going where, where? Would they go to do that? Yeah, just my website brandmagneticcom is the best place to find all of that, depending on when this episode comes out I am launching, so I'm going to have a limited number of done with you cohorts in the future. In all honesty, they're a lot of work for me and also not everyone is ready to do it intensively.
Speaker 2:And so, with that said, I'm going to have one more this year early fall, probably next month. So I can't promise there will be more of those in the future, but I will always have some sort of support. So for folks who eventually buy the course, there's always going to be a way for you to ask questions. There's always going to be a way for you to ask questions. There's always going to be a way for you to interact with me. It just might not be in this sort of intensive, so, like you said, it kind of depends on where you're at.
Speaker 2:If you're like I know I want this, I want to get it done, so it's done before the end of the year. Jump on now, because I might offer it like once a year, but it's a lot of work for me. So, and when I do offer it, um, I'm a hundred percent available. Like people get, I'm in their script. I'm talking about every single shot in their piece. There's just a lot of handholding, a lot of care, uh, which is obviously not scalable. So I love doing it though.
Speaker 1:That's so awesome. We're going to link to you know, to your website. We're going to link to your website. We're going to link to the cheat sheet and we're going to link to your podcast in the show notes. But, mariana, this has been so incredible and I know that so many people are inspired to tell their stories and go check out other stories. We'll have links to those as well, but thank you for coming on the show today.
Speaker 2:Thanks, crystal, awesome having you.
Speaker 1:Or geez, you had me See. This is what happens when you're a podcaster.
Speaker 2:It's good, Thank you so much, I had a ton of fun.
Speaker 1:Okay. So it was good. Right, it was so good. And this conversation sparked like 50 other ideas that we actually went on to chat about for Mariana's podcast, empire Secret. So go check out her podcast, go there. And I also want you to go download her cheat sheet. So she has this incredible cheat sheet. Go to brandmagneticcom forward slash cheat sheet. We're going to have a link in the episode description, but I want you to go grab this because on the thank you page, episode description. But I want you to go grab this because on the thank you page. Okay, like, I'm actually looking at the thank you page right now, I just downloaded the cheat sheet myself.
Speaker 1:You're going to see examples of brand videos and I want you to watch them and then either DM me or send me an email. I want to know which one resonated with you and why. Because we talked about emotional connections and having this piece where people can really trust you as a creator and make that connection so much faster. We shouldn't have to have people in our audiences for years and years and years before they actually become paying customers. Like, how are you able to instantly make that connection? It's through storytelling, it is through the power of storytelling, and so I want you to go watch these videos. So go download her cheat sheet. Like that's step number one. Step number two is I want you to DM us and let us know which of those videos really resonated with you, because that is just the power and a great example of how you can use video to make these deep, fast connections with your audience to really create a bigger impact in the message that you're already creating.
Speaker 1:So, like I said, go follow Mariana and go check out what she's doing over at Brand Magnetic and go listen to her podcast, empire Secrets. I don't know if my episode's gonna be out whenever our episode goes out here, but it will be out soon, so go check it out. Go listen to our conversation over there, where we talked more about YouTube specifically and strategies that people can use for content. But go follow her. I am so excited about the upcoming projects she has. She teased so many really big name influencers that she's working with and people in the online business space that I just cannot wait to see what she comes up with and what she creates in the next 12 to 24 months, because I just know they're going to be incredible. But that's all we have for you today. So make sure you hit that follow or subscribe button wherever you are listening to today's episode and, as always, remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere. Thank you,
