After making 12,000 videos, you may think we don’t get overwhelmed by filming. Well, you’d be wrong.
One Simple Change That Made Video Content Easy
We made a shift this week that made content creation so much easier. The funny part is it’s in the context of the thing you’re creating right now. It’s hilarious because it’s so incredibly meta.
Let me back up. I’ve been working on Hiveway, which we’ve talked about in previous episodes before. So Hiveway is basically everything you need to make video content minus the camera and the editing. It’s guided prompts that I’m carefully curating, literally telling you every step of the way what you need to do.
- Stand in front of your camera.
- Now do this.
- Now do that.
This is for specifically for realtors right now, but basically anybody who needs to make local content. So local really, because it’s not even realtor specific currently, but really hyper local. Yeah, it will have every once in a while real estate specific questions, but for people who want to have a local content platform.
So like I have one for our town and that’s really helped inform Hiveway so much more because for our business, it’s called MAVEN. We fly all over the country to film with realtors in their market and we do hyper local content for them so that they’re the expert in their area.
We’ve done over 12,000 videos just in the last couple years. So a lot of videos and that’s not even counting my own content. So I’m sure that has to be at least 13 to 15,000 now. But anyway, it’s a ton of videos.
The Problem: Filming Alone is Terrifying
So through flying everywhere to film with people, making my own hyper local content, and then trying to make this product for sort of people similar to me, it’s been a really good learning experience.
When I go out and film in public, like if you’re not there, sometimes I have Jeff there who’s my videographer. But when you’re not there as my videographer, I am terrified to film in public by myself. It’s very stressful. I get in my head and then I forget what I want to do.
So what I’ve started doing was I had very carefully curated documented notes because again, we’re very anti-script. As we’ve said before in previous episodes, we don’t want you to be scripted at all. When you work with us, no scripting allowed. It’s purely just question based because then you already know your stuff. You just need a little bit of prep work behind the scenes, but generally not that much.
So that was what I was doing with myself. And then so that’s informed Hiveway where I’m going through this exact process. So now I’m like, “Oh, okay. This is what I need.”
If I’m filming B-roll on my own, which is supplemental footage that you put over the A-roll. So the A-roll is you talking and then the B-roll is just providing context. So it’s like if I’m talking about a tree and then you put an image of a tree over it. That’s what it is.
And doing that by myself, I’ve learned, oh, I need to have like a shot list essentially because even though I do this for people, when you’re doing it yourself, it’s like totally different.
Working Within Constraints
So anyway, so now we’ve been working within constraints. Hiveway is the do-it-yourself version of what we already do where we fly to people, film in their market for a lot more money. Not everyone can afford that. It’s a lot. It’s an investment to be able to hand off everything and have it done for them. So this is our way of doing as much as we possibly can for people who are the DIY.
So that’s what Hiveway is and it is structured as basically like every day you have a structured prompt.
The Marketing Strategy
So I’m trying to do a daily diary to document Hiveway. I’m trying to do a daily diary and it’s more so selfishly just for us. Like it’s not getting a ton of engagement, but it actually has gotten people because I have a CTA at the end that’s like DM me if you want to be put on the list. We have a good amount of people now who have actually DM’d that we don’t know at all.
And I want to throw one thing out there because I don’t think we’ve talked about it on this show, but I talk about it with people all the time that people we work with. The number one goal for social media is to connect with strangers. You don’t want to use social media to focus on connecting with people who already know who you are. Like that’s not the point. The point is to get strangers.
And the beauty of you documenting this journey. This is the marketing. This is the pre-marketing for the product Hiveway. The sort of pre-marketing is getting people to know about it, but get strangers to know about it.
So the engagement is not from people we know and that is the beauty of it and that is what you want with your local content too. Everything that you make, you want people who don’t know who you are yet to discover that you exist and that you have something to offer them.
And then there’s a whole mechanism beyond that that we call the machine that we’ll talk about at another time and it’s something we’re going to dive deep into in the future. But you need to have some way to get your strangers into not strangers and then into customers.
Keeping People Engaged
And I would say even too with the local content is keeping people engaged too. So people that already know you, why would they still tune into your profile if you’ve already sort of helped them?
So like specifically for realtors, why would they keep tuning into your profile if you’re going to be like, I just sold this house. I just sold this house. It’s like, well, yeah, that doesn’t matter. Cool. But you want to provide so much value and be incredibly useful, hence the name of the show, Useful Not Famous, and just be that go-to resource for them.
The Power of Constraints
So back to constraints. This basically Hiveway is a set of constraints on exactly what you should create and these are constraints that if we were filming together in person, you would be giving the person in real space.
So what I was saying before though was the Hiveway diary. That’s why I didn’t get to finish. So I’m documenting this selfishly just for us because I know in the future I’m going to look back and be like, “Oh my god, remember when we did this?” Because I do that now with stuff that I made four or five, 12 years ago. And just trying to get my thoughts out there, too.
I was running into an issue where I was trying to have a very perfectly crafted video because I had seen other people document their journeys of like launching software company or like whatever and I loved how they did it but it does have this artificial feeling to it and it’s too perfect like a perfectly crafted tweet. It’s nice, but that just isn’t me. And I was trying to sort of fit myself into that mold of making a video then.
But instead, I brought it up to you and I was like, “Okay, I’m struggling making these videos every day cuz I don’t know what to talk about and I kind of hate making them already and it’s only the fourth one.”
The Academic vs Internet Approach
Well, and the main thing that sort of you brought to the table there was I’m going to talk about this, this, this, this, this today in 40 seconds. Hey, I come from a history background and we tell you everything whether or not you want to know it. But that’s the antithesis of constraints.
Like it has a time and place for sure, but like what I learned in all my schooling was you write as much as you can and fill up as many pages as possible with every date, name, historical context, as many words as you can because you’re trying to draw it out and really get into like the nitty-gritty.
And I have always lived in the internet space where I’m just like tell me as few words as possible.
So that was something initially that we battled and I was like well first what does this word mean? Where does it come from? And you’re like holy crap.
But that was something that now we have converged because this is about effective communication where academia isn’t effective. It’s not meant to be effective. It’s meant to get grants and things like that where this is to be like okay how effective can we be at the lowest reading level possible because people don’t need to put effort in to understand. We want them to understand. That’s the goal is the understanding, not the creation of effort on their part.
The Solution: Our Own Framework
Anyway, so that was what you sort of helped me see with what I was trying to fit into what I wanted to be a 30 to 60 second video. It was like 3 minutes long and I was like, “Okay, I can’t edit this every day because I’m trying to take things out and then this doesn’t make sense and then I need to re-record it.” It was just very frustrating.
So you’re just like, “How about, okay, what are the things you want to talk about in the video?” And we literally ended up making our own version of Hiveway for me, which could theoretically be another product for people who are building these things.
Well, and just conceptually taking the concept of Hiveway that we know works because we’ve used it for so long and that’s how we’ve done everything and then being like, wait, why aren’t we applying this exactly this template to this type of content? Because it applies.
It’s not a structure that is purely for hyperlocal. It’s a framework that we’re applying hyperlocal to because we know the framework works and this is the way it works for hyperlocal works so well.
This framework now, let’s apply it to a pre-launch sequence, a diary of launching a product.
The Problem with Open-Ended Prompts
Because what we’d learned too filming with people so many times is that if you go, which I never would do this in my life because I’m too prepared. But if I was just like, “Okay, let’s go to an out and about, which is a local hidden gem highlight where you go to the business, whatever, you go in person, and then you record a quick little video.”
If we went with someone and I was like, “Okay, tell me about this restaurant.” And that’s it. It’s like, I could tell you everything about this restaurant. Do you want to know about the building? Do you want to know about the food? Do you want to know about the bathroom? Yeah, that’s you.
But most people, their response is, I’ll start talking until I get to something. That’s what I was going to say is like, if you come up with just that one prompt, it’s like, well, I’ll just keep talking for 75 minutes.
And then if you’re recording by yourself, what’s going to happen is you’re going to have a 75 minute long video that you have to chop down to 30 seconds. You’re going to have nothing. Like trust me, you’ll never do it.
So anyway, this is very long. But essentially, that’s what Hiveway is supposed to rectify is just making it as like no, just answer this one question. Don’t go off the rails cuz also too what can happen is your mind starts to wander.
So anyway, this is essentially like an accountability buddy is what I’m trying to make. So then that’s what we made for me to have the constraints.
I think more than accountability though, it’s literal what’s to keep you on the rails. Well, exactly because we’re removing the overwhelm.
But yeah, like the whole thing is mine says what people talk about when they have no actionable advice. So all we’re giving is actionable advice through this.
And we want to inspire, but more than anything, everyone has inspiration. Everyone sells inspiration. We want to give you practical like do this, it’ll work. Like if you want results, just do this. And we’ll inspire you along the way. But this is literal. The product itself is literally action.
And people everything can’t sell that. That’s why there’s so many events now too where it’s like no no no you don’t need more info. You need to just do it. It’s easy inspiration. It’s hard to get going.
Working on the Product
So speaking of constraints, this is to keep constraints on our show. So that’s what I’ve been thinking is if we have a five minute like how’s it going?
But anyway, so we’re not going to talk about automatic mechanical watches. However, they’re cool. But well, no, I mean working on the product is the thing. So this is sort of this segment is a sort of meta of everything because working on that product is everything.
We have a lot that we’re working on collectively but right now the phase that you’re in is the product phase and something that came up this week or yesterday I think was I don’t know what to do next.
And it wasn’t until we were talking through it that I realized like I think so differently as a programmer like sort of like having written a lot of code and doing the things like to solve those types of problems for so long. And I was just like, “Oh, just try to break it.”
And that was something that actually helped unlock what you were doing, which I thought was really cool, which I think is worth noting. Like, when you’re doing something, try to break what you think you’ve solved already, cuz that suddenly reveals all the other things that still need to be solved. So, until you try to break it, it’s really hard.
Finding Counterarguments
And I had thought about that afterward that that is something I had encountered writing my thesis is you try to find the counterargument. So it’s like well yeah you said that but you’re full of crap. Why would anybody believe you?
And I didn’t realize that because I was thinking that this was such a different like I’ve never built anything like this. And I think it was like, okay, I don’t know what to do next because it’s not as clear and defined as anything else I had done either because that’s a very set path of like writing a thesis. It’s just like you do this and this and this or like doing any other kind of project I had done before.
But that is a very clear path and that’s like, well, they’ve done it, they’ve done it. Like, everybody’s done that. But the difference with this is you can do absolutely anything you want. And that’s a little intimidating because to my knowledge, nothing like this exists in this format.
And it’s very exciting, but also very daunting at the same time because yeah, you’re literally inventing it. Like, I don’t know. It’s very fun and it’s not like I’m saving the world, but I just want it to be incredibly useful for people too because I don’t know.
I’m trying to think for myself like I get very anxious in social situations. So having this as like a tool where I can just like read this thing and I don’t need to look people in the eyes like that’s perfect while making content.
Current Projects
So anyway, we’re doing a lot of things. That’s what we’ve been up to. That’s what you’re working on and like I’m also helping.
And we also have a really fun video that we finished yesterday for a client. I’m so excited. I can’t wait to talk about it because no one knows who it is and no one who would listen to this actually has anything to do. But just in case, let’s keep it under wraps.
Well, it’s for a major movie that’s coming out in November. And it is a skit that we filmed with them months ago now. It was so much fun. Like we wrote it a little back and forth, but we wrote a funny 15-30 second skit that will be before the movie and it ties to the movie.
We have a movie poster. It has all these like humor points in it that I like punchlines but they make me so happy because we just added one more that wasn’t even from the filming. It’s merely an audible punch. It’s an audio punchline, but we’ll share it or something after. But it was so much fun.
And then doing an actual movie poster for it is just it’s fun cuz overlapping our worlds is always really satisfying. So, I’ve been a brand for so long.
And just on that note too, we just found out today that for a documentary we have that’s coming out in a couple months, there’s going to be an ad in Times Square for two months outside of the theater literal Time Square marquee with the stuff that you see on New Year’s Eve.
So once it’s out, we’ll probably be like, “Hey, if you live in the New York area, New York City Times Square area, could you take a photo in front of it?” because that’d be fun to like actually have a proper photo.
The Five-Point Framework
So how can someone who’s making hyper local content use these constraints? So obviously if it feels like too much and it’s like I don’t want to figure this out. That’s why we’re making Hiveway. Like Hiveway is so you don’t have to figure this out.
But let’s talk about just the framework of how someone can think about creating content in a way that makes it not daunting and doesn’t let it balloon out of control.
So there are essentially five main points you should be hitting in your video, which is like what we’re setting up with Hiveway. The first and the last will save for the end because those are sort of the most not most difficult but you want to spend a little bit more time on those.
So the three in the middle there three questions specifically that you should be answering. Now those questions are going to change sort of based on what the video is.
Question 1: Provide Context
Something that I always say you should talk about. I guess we’ll start with the first question. Typically what I would recommend is providing context. So what is it that you’re talking about in your hyper local content?
And you can think of it as generic as what I have for you. Like whatever it is, any type of content because this applies to what you’re doing too. Like you have to set the stage of what is this. You can’t just start talking about like I love their nachos and it’s like that’s cool. What is this? What am I watching?
So you want to start, we’ll just use Mexican food then as an example. So first what I recommend is set the stage. So what is this? This is a Mexican food restaurant called Taco Bell. So this is a Mexican food restaurant called Taco Bell and they’re located on this corner being more specific. So they’re at the corner of Maine and Maple. Whatever. Obviously, hopefully you’re not going to be talking about Taco Bell, but whatever floats your freaky little boat.
So then you’re setting the scene. You’re saying what it is, where it is, and like what it is for people. So Mexican food at this location, and this is what it’s called. That’s all in one question.
It’s one sort of conceptually like one sentence whatever one little section like my name is Amara when you first meet someone what do you say? Most of the time that’s how it happens when you get introduced to somebody.
But that’s typically the first step when you meet someone is you introduce them to something. So introduce people is the first sort of prompt.
Question 2: Add More Context
The second prompt is going to be let’s see if we’re doing a Mexican food restaurant. I would probably talk more about there are a couple different places you can go with it, but it could be something like talking about the vibe or talking about like indoor outdoor seating. Something of note. Something that provides just a little bit more context as to why people should care or even talking about their menu.
Like they have tons of different amazing things. It could be history. Like you might not know that this restaurant is actually in other locations. We’re not the only Taco Bell. They’ve been around for 73 years with 700,000 locations. Can you imagine 700,000? Like there would be one right here, right there.
Just something that sets a little bit more context.
Question 3: Something Remarkable and Unique
And then the third one should be something remarkable and unique about it. That thing where it’s either a recommendation from you like you have to get these nachos that have human feet on them. They’re amazing.
Or the story like there’s the story part right here where you can be like we worked with someone who’s a grandmother. She might say, and I have to tell you, my grandkids adore the Nacho Supreme, but what makes it special is they don’t do it with sour cream. They do it with peanut butter.
Like something that’s just like, wait, what? Like something that’s actually, it doesn’t have to be peanut butter instead of sour cream, but it can be the personal story. It can be the thing that you can only offer. No one else can offer this.
So just some sort of unique something at the end. And granted, not every place is going to have that, but if it’s like, oh, they have board games in the corner over here, like, don’t forget that. Or if you focus on dietary restrictions, oh, they actually have gluten-free options.
So just sort of following that framework like introduction, more context, and then something unique is kind of the overall framework you should be working within. Granted, like I said, it is going to fluctuate with whatever it is you’re talking about. Like a Mexican food restaurant is going to be a little bit different from like a walking path or something.
Or if you’re just sharing about your buyer seller process or whatever, like a thing to educate people, a thing to share about, like it’s a template, a framework that can apply across basically anything you do.
The Hook: Start Strong
So I think the hook should be last. So I was just going to say like we set the scene, but we’re not just going to say like I’m here at Taco Bell on the corner of Maine and Maple. Like, that’s not a hook.
Because you want to actually you want to create bait for someone to click. Click clickbait. Now there is someone had a great phrase recently that it was like truthbait or something. They said something that wasn’t lame like that, but instead of clickbait, because clickbait has a bad connotation.
Like we think of clickbait as someone convinced me to click and didn’t deliver. But when you deliver on it, clickbait is exactly what you want to do. You want to bait someone to click because they’re just like, I need to know this.
So like the same thing happens with the hook. So like it’s not a click. Like say you’re on TikTok or whatever and you want to bait them not to swipe away. You want to bait them to watch the video.
So you need to have something up top that sets the scene for what you’re going to that engages, creates curiosity about what you’re about to talk about without losing them in that first one to three seconds.
So whatever is the most sort of exciting or unique thing that you can know about this place. That’s what you put in your hook and you frame it as a question because that then people are like, “Well, now I need to know what the hell.”
Did you know that there are 5,000 cats in the basement of this restaurant? Hi, I’m here at Taco Bell. And then it’s like, “Wait, what?”
I want to add the one thing that we talked about the other day also as a statement that may or may not be accurate that makes someone question it. So it can be a question or a “I recently learned there’s 3,000 cats in the basement of this restaurant.”
So like that’s still a curiosity. So it doesn’t even have to have the question mark at the end. I think that the questions perform a little bit better typically, but it definitely can for sure.
And it feels I think it feels more natural when you’re learning how to do hooks to do a question for sure over a statement like that because you do have to have like get that perfectly right.
Both work both ways so you don’t have to be stuck because there is a way to create curiosity with questions and statements and it can be even a little factually nebulous because a video that I put out today for our hyper local channel it was about a walking trail near us and it’s the first ever proposed rails to trail trail in the country, but it wasn’t the first to open. Another one was first to open.
So I actually have people debating in the comments right now. They’re like, “What was the first proposed, but it wasn’t the first to open?” And I’m like, “That’s what I said.” Because I baited them into it because they wanted to correct me. So that’s also part of it is you can use that to your advantage.
Brand Closer: Your Free Advertising
And then finally, your brand closer at the end. Now, this is your free advertising and you need to use it. We’ve done a full episode or two on brand closers, but basically, who are you? What do you have on offer for the listener, the viewer, whatever.
You can just look up on our site whatismaven.com look up brand closers find the episode on it we dive into it but basically the standard sort of go-to there’s different permutations but I’m insert name here and I keep up on all things insert location here so you don’t have to because then that tells someone who you are brand and why they should follow why they should like why they should whatever subscribe.
Because you know what? They know what you’re giving. You’re giving the knowledge of this town. I keep up on this town so you don’t have to. So that’s like the standard. There’s other ways you can do it, but that would be the whole framework.
The Complete Framework
So you have your hook, which is the first one. So get them interested. Be like, “Hey, you want to know why there are 3,000 cats in this basement?”
Then you provide context. So where are we? And a little bit more context about the place.
And then the unique thing, which is, oh my god, look at how cute these cats are. They’re actually not cats. It’s just what they call their ingredients for their tacos.
And then finally, your brand closer at the end.
Wrapping Up
So anyway, if you are intimidated by the thought of creating hyper local content, don’t be. You just need to have more constraints on yourself. And again, shameless plug, that is why we’re making Hiveway.
I genuinely have been pouring every ounce of everything that I’ve learned and just have experienced into this product. I’ve been testing it. I’ve been out in our backyard looking like a lunatic because I’m like, and then taking sample B-roll and stuff, which that’s a whole other component that’s going to be in it. And then also testing it out.
So that’s it for this week’s episode. If all this framework talk about creating your own framework sounds overwhelming, the whole reason for Hiveway, so you don’t have to do that and you can just create the content.
So go to myhiveway.com or send either any of us a message that you want to get on the list and we will notify you as soon as it’s available which the countdown the constraint you gave yourself was actually pretty soon. We only have 12 days. So from when we’re recording this we’re actually recording early. Look at us. We’re back on track constraints.
Anyway, I think with that we’ll wrap and we’ll see you next week.