Author: Michael Nelson

Are you looking to kick off 2025 with strategic focused efforts geared towards bringing in new business? Looking for the one magical thing you can do to increase brand awareness and bring potential clients your way? Tired of social media chewing up your budget without much ROI? Then focus on one thing: Winning the “Google Game.”

Winning the “Google Game” often seems like some sort of magical contest, where only a chosen few are able to rise to the top. The simple truth is that there is nothing magical about it — like any other game, it is a simple matter of understanding the rules and using them to your advantage.

Google’s Search Engine is in the business of matching up search queries with search results. It incorporates things like Bounce Rate, Load Speeds, and Backlinks to differentiate good search results from poor. The list of things Google takes into consideration is not short, and can be a bit technical — but there are a few straightforward steps any local business can take to start winning.

Read the full article on Buying Local.

One of the most common conversations I have with clients is about whether it makes sense to pay someone to handle their social media. It’s a fair question — and an increasingly difficult one to answer in social media’s favor. Here are my top three reasons why social media is no longer the marketing powerhouse it once was.

The Cost of Audience Development

Not long ago, businesses had it made. Building an audience on social media was as simple as creating a page and posting content. You could garner likes, shares, and followers with just a few clicks — and it was completely free. Every post seemed to gain a new follower, every offer attracted a new client. Until suddenly, it didn’t.

All at once, brands that used to get hundreds of likes dropped to three. Brands gaining dozens of new followers a day dropped to zero — unless they wanted to pay. What used to happen organically now has a price tag, and it rarely offers a sensible return. By some estimates, a new Facebook or Instagram follower costs between $2 and $4. The math isn’t difficult: at $2 per follower, gaining 10,000 followers costs $20,000. And that’s before you factor in the algorithm.

The Algorithm

The algorithm decides which posts are seen by thousands — and which are seen by no one. It’s spawned an entire industry of people who claim to understand it and promise to optimize your results. That promise is rarely kept.

By our estimates, organic posts are seen by less than 4% of your total audience. At $2 per follower and 10,000 followers, only 400 people would see any given post. Of those, how many will interact — let alone make a purchase?

Don’t take my word for it. Look at the engagement rate on a recent organic post from any major brand — add up the interactions and divide by their total followers. The result will be eye-opening. The algorithm has made organic reach nearly irrelevant for most businesses, and there’s no reliable way to outsmart it.

Social Fatigue

The social media companies will tell you fatigue is a myth because their overall user counts keep rising. What they don’t address is how many of those accounts are fake, duplicate, or simply inactive. They also don’t talk about how many real users have quietly stepped back.

Most people I speak to aren’t enthusiastic about social media anymore. They complain about the toxicity, the politics, the misinformation, and the noise. Over time, that frustration turns into disengagement — fewer posts, less interaction, and eventually, logging in less and less. The audience businesses paid to build is increasingly checked out.

The Bottom Line

Social media still has a role to play — just not the one it used to. Our current guidance is to use it as a communications and credibility channel rather than a primary marketing driver. It’s less about finding new customers and more about reinforcing trust with people who are already paying attention.

For most businesses, we recommend handling social media in-house and directing marketing budgets toward strategies with a more dependable return. If you’re still hoping for results like it’s 2016, social media has left the building.

As a content creator and videographer, I really want to tell you that your video inbound marketing efforts need only custom video creation. As a business owner, I definitely want to tell you that you need custom video creation.

The thing is, that is not always the case. On some occasions, stock video is the perfect solution — whether it’s for television, social media, YouTube, or your website. Let me lay out the pros and cons for you.

Pros

Cons

I don’t want to spend too much time on the “how to.” There are plenty of resources out there that cover the mechanics of starting and publishing a podcast. What I want to focus on is the why — because that’s the conversation most people haven’t had yet.

Here are four reasons a podcast might be worth your time:

1. It can position you as an expert and leader in your field.
2. It’s a great top-of-funnel asset for inbound marketing.
3. It gives you a natural opportunity to showcase your products and services.
4. It can be a remarkably effective way to open doors for sales relationships.

Let’s take a quick look at each.

It Can Position You as an Expert

To be clear — I’m not advocating “fake it till you make it.” A podcast won’t position you as an expert if you aren’t one. What it will do is make sure people know you’re an expert when you already are one.

Right now, you may be highly skilled and well-respected within your existing network, but unknown to the broader market you’re trying to reach. A podcast is one of the most effective ways to move from unknown to known — introducing your perspective, your experience, and your value to an audience that hasn’t found you yet.

It Multiplies Your Content

A single podcast episode doesn’t produce just one piece of content. At a minimum, it gives you three: the audio itself, a written description or blog post for your website, and the video recording. All three can be used across social media, your website, and email campaigns. The video, when uploaded to YouTube with the right tags and description, can also contribute to your organic SEO and build a native audience on the platform.

That’s a meaningful return on a single recording session.

It Lets You Showcase What You Do — Organically

A podcast doesn’t need to be a commercial to serve your business. The key is weaving in references to your work naturally — defining your expertise through the conversation rather than stopping to pitch it. A brief intro or outro, 30 to 60 seconds, that speaks to what you do is completely acceptable. Listeners won’t be put off by it when the content is genuinely worth their time.

It Opens Doors Without Forcing Them

This is the most underrated benefit of a podcast, and it requires a little patience to execute well.

Say your target market is downtown retail businesses in your area. Rather than knocking on doors looking for sales conversations, you create a podcast that tells the story of your downtown — inviting city leaders, real estate professionals, and business owners as guests. You’re not selling anything. You’re creating something worth being part of, and in doing so, you’re meeting the exact people you’d eventually like to work with.

Done right, this builds relationships that lead to business on their own timeline. When the guests are ready to explore a partnership, they already know you, they’ve likely come to like you, and you’ve had the chance to establish trust. Don’t force the sales conversation — if you’ve put in the effort to make the show genuinely worthwhile, it will come.

Have questions about starting a podcast? We’d be glad to chat.

Cell phone cameras have come a long way. What used to require professional equipment can now be captured on a device that fits in your pocket — and for many businesses, shooting your own video content is a completely reasonable approach.

The difference between footage that looks good and footage that looks amateur usually comes down to a few basic mistakes that are easy to avoid once you know what they are.

Here are the most important things to keep in mind when shooting video on your phone.

Always:

• Shoot horizontally. Hold your phone in landscape orientation for anything that will appear on a website, in an email, or in a standard video player. The exception is content made specifically for TikTok or Instagram Stories.
• Shoot in 4K. Most modern smartphones support it — use it.
• Shoot interviews at 24 FPS. This is the standard frame rate for cinematic-looking footage.
• Shoot B-roll at 60 FPS. The higher frame rate gives you the option to use slow motion in post.
• Upload directly from your device or SD card. Texting, emailing, or using AirDrop degrades both video and image quality. Upload to Google Drive or a similar service directly from the device.
• Shoot interview subjects looking slightly off camera rather than directly into the lens.

Equipment and Setup:

Device. Use a recent model smartphone — anything from the last three to four years from Apple or Samsung will do the job well. Older devices, particularly anything pre-2019, may not have the camera quality needed for usable footage.

Tripod. Interview footage should be shot from a tripod whenever possible. Shaky interview footage is distracting and hard to edit around.

Stabilization. For B-roll, use a handheld stabilizer. They’re inexpensive and make a significant difference in the quality of moving shots.

Distance. Get closer to your subject than feels natural, especially for B-roll. Most DIY shooters stand too far back.

Aspect ratio. Use 16:9, not 4:3.

Shoot to edit. It’s easy to overshoot, which creates more work in post. Have a rough idea of what you need before you start rolling.

Audio:

Audio quality matters more than most people realize — arguably more than video quality for interview-style content. People will watch slightly shaky or imperfect footage, but poor audio is an instant click-away. Muffled sound, background hum, or inconsistent levels will undermine even the best visual content.

For interviews, a lapel mic connected to your phone is the best option. A shotgun mic works too, but a lapel keeps the subject’s voice consistent regardless of how they move. Shooting in a quiet environment is just as important as the equipment — sound pollution is hard to fix in post.

The Two Biggest Mistakes

Incorrect orientation and bad audio are by far the most common issues. If you remember nothing else, remember those two things. Shoot horizontal, and take your audio seriously.

Download our DIY Video Shooter Cheat Sheet for a quick reference you can keep handy on shoot day.

Most business owners, marketing managers, and salespeople are wrestling with at least one of three problems — and often all three at once.

The first is a thin sales pipeline. Traditional prospecting methods like cold calls and networking aren’t delivering the way they used to, and organic social media or paid ads aren’t converting the way they should. What they want are qualified buyers who are already somewhere in the buying process to find them — and to choose them.

The second is a hiring pipeline that’s just as thin. They need talent to grow, but the usual channels aren’t producing the right candidates. They want people to seek them out, not just respond to a job posting.

The third is differentiation. They’re competing on price because they haven’t found a compelling way to explain why someone should choose them over the competition. Their messaging sounds like everyone else’s, and their competitors have the reviews to match.

All three problems have something in common: they require a way to attract the right people, tell a compelling story, and communicate value before a conversation even begins. Video does all three — and these four types are the ones worth prioritizing first.

The Sales and Lead Generation Video

This is the most versatile video a business can have. It works as a prospecting tool, a digital leave-behind after a first meeting, a piece of website content, a social media asset, and a cross-selling tool for existing clients. A new team member can use it to understand your value proposition. A networking partner can share it on your behalf.

At its core, it’s a short video — typically one to two minutes — that explains not just what you do, but why a qualified buyer should choose you over the competition. Done well, it does more work than almost any other single piece of marketing content.

The About Story Video

Every business has a story, and most businesses aren’t telling it. Beyond the technical details of what you offer, there’s a human narrative — why the business exists, what the founders faced, what they’ve built and why it matters. That story creates connection in a way that a list of services never can.

Prospects who understand your story don’t just know what you do — they feel an affinity for it. That emotional connection influences buying decisions in ways that logic and pricing alone don’t. An about story video is one of the most effective ways to make that connection at scale.

The Hiring and Recruiting Video

The best candidates have options. They’re evaluating you just as much as you’re evaluating them, and a lot of that evaluation happens before they ever apply. A hiring video gives potential candidates a genuine look at your culture, your team, and what it’s actually like to work at your company.

Done authentically, this type of video doesn’t just fill open positions — it attracts people who are genuinely excited about what you’ve built and want to be part of it. That’s a fundamentally different candidate than the one who just responded to a job posting.

The Testimonial Video

Written reviews are valuable. But a real person, on camera, describing their experience in their own words carries a level of credibility that text simply can’t match. Testimonial videos go beyond star ratings and short comments — they tell a real story about who you help and what that help actually meant to them.

For a prospect who’s close to a decision but not quite there, a strong testimonial video can be the thing that tips the balance. It’s social proof in its most human form.

These four video types aren’t the only ones worth considering, but they’re the ones that tend to have the most immediate and measurable impact on the top of the funnel. If you’re not sure where to start, the sales and lead generation video is almost always the right first move — everything else builds from there.

Curious how video fits into your marketing strategy? We’d be happy to talk it through.