Written By Max Hoffenheins
So far, we’ve started this new podcast series, where we talk about our journey through the Digital Marketing space. If you’re not aware, we’ve made a tweak to the title of this podcast series from #DigitalFacesTalkShow—streamed as the first episode—to #TheJourney.
In today’s episode, Shannon and Joshua dive a little deeper into the roots of how Digital Faces started. For those who have seen the first episode, we touched on this a little bit. However, in this second episode, you’re going to learn a lot more about this.
Once more, you’ll also be getting extra tips that will help you as a business owner create more content, know the common pitfalls, and how to avoid them as well as several video making tips.
And that’s not all of it. At the end of this podcast, you’ll also get to discover an exclusive bonus value that Digital Faces will be offering to all filmmakers out there.
The Origin of Digital Faces
It’s impossible to document our journey as we advance without discussing where we come from. What exactly was the light bulb moment that sparked the name Digital Faces?
During the podcast, we had our Founder—Shannon Horton—take us down memory lane, which, according to him, was around three months after his high school days. Surprisingly, he’d already gotten himself familiar with the order of the day, which was Facebook Business Page. Even though he wasn’t entirely sure of what it was at the time, he’d already started to try out many things on this platform.
Honestly, this is one of the many lessons to be gotten in this episode. You’ve probably heard this many times, but it’s about time you started acting and trying out new things as a business owner. It turns out that many businesses saw what Shannon was doing and the results he was getting, and they decided to hire him.
How Did The Name Digital Faces Come About?
When we think of individuals, one of the things that creates a touch of uniqueness is their faces. What’s to say that this cannot be transformed into the online space? A business’s identity is more or less their ‘faces’—how people see them.
The great thing about businesses is that what works for them outside of the digital world is not to be totally dismissed. What makes the difference is understanding how these offline experiences can be taken and optimized to fit into the digital world.
That’s exactly what sparked the name Digital Faces! It’s always been about taking the unique factor—their faces—of a business and putting that online.
Tips For Small Business Owners Who Are Just Starting Out
Here’s some valuable advice from Shannon to every business owner out there:
- Listen to podcasts and apply the tactics with clients.
- If your business has never implemented marketing before, you’ll need to try new things and be patient to see results. Invest in ads or hire an agency if you’ve got spare money.
- Create content consistently. Consumers decide before they reach out to you based on the value and volume of your content.
What Are Some Traps Small Businesses Can Avoid?
It’s easy for new business owners to fall into several pitfalls in the digital space, especially if they’re unable to stand on the shoulders of others with ample experience. According to Shannon, here are a couple of things that he wished he’d avoided when he started out:
1. Giving up too early
Perseverance and consistency are invaluable for success as a business owner. Don’t get frustrated because your first Facebook ad campaign didn’t get many converts or active engagements.
Here’s what Shannon says about this:
“80% of the people that have done business with me on social media rarely like or comment on my videos. They will watch, and then, one day out of the blue, they’ll message or call me.”
The reality is that this is all part of the process, and you’ll need to put in more effort at creating content. Do this and prove the people that are expecting you to stop wrong.
2. Never starting out
On the other hand, for some people, one of the biggest landmines is never actually starting. Social media is not rocket science, and you do not have to overthink the process of getting involved.
As you participate, you’ll learn a lot of things, even if this involves making mistakes. You’ll never know how to be innovative and adjust to meet the needs of your specific audience unless you start.
3. Not focusing on giving value
Let’s be real here, how many times have you heard this? We’re willing to bet that you’ve probably lost count. However, if we try to find out how many people actually put this into practice, the statistics may not match.
There is nothing that beats valuable content on social media. Stay focused on adding value to your audience rather than trying to sell them on that next product of yours.
Video Making Tips
With over five years of experience as a filmmaker, Joshua’s undoubtedly the right guy to listen to for advice on making fantastic video content.
According to him, one of the most essential elements in making quality videos is creating a feeling in the viewers’ minds. Rather than making statements or just reading out the scripts, you want to ‘show’ it to people watching. As a practical example, if you’re a professional in a particular field, you want to go deeper into things that the layman does not know about the topic.
Another big question to answer is, “Why should people believe you’re an expert and listen to you?” You’ve got to be able to show this reason and make them feel it.
Lastly, every good story shot on the camera needs to have a three-act structure. This means that it needs to be segmented into three parts that seamlessly segue into one another.
The most basic structure of any story includes:
- The beginning
- The Middle
- The End
All three segments should flow in a rhythm, which creates a feeling in the audience’s mind.
Exclusive Bonus For Small Business Owners
In a bid to do what we preach at Digital Faces, we always want to offer value to business owners. For all those who need someone to look at their videos and provide constructive feedback, please feel free to reach out to us here. We’re happy to provide valuable feedback that will help improve the quality of your videos.
If you found this helpful, subscribe to our YouTube to watch the next episode of our podcast series.
As a good negotiator, you must remain calm, confident, discreet, and respectful throughout the process.