Transcript:

Brad Powell: 0:00

The dream, the big dream that we all have is to be able to attract clients who are ready to buy, but when it comes to content marketing, most of the content marketing strategies end up doing the exact opposite. The sheer volume of content tends to overwhelm and it leads to confusion and it actually delays the buying process. So today I want to flip the script. If you’ve been told that you need to post more or go viral or scale your content, this episode is your permission to stop, because here’s the mic drop truth. You don’t need to scale content, you need to scale trust, and trust isn’t built by being the loudest voice or posting daily. It’s built through trust signals, the subtle, specific signs that tell your audience that you can believe me, that this will work for you and you’re in the right place. So today I’m going to show you the five short form videos that send those trust signals instantly and will turn your viewers into confident, ready buyers. Welcome to the Standout Business Show, the show for expert entrepreneurs who want to make a bigger difference by showing up differently. I’m Brad Powell and I’m a video strategist who helps experts turn one hour of their life into a whole month of trust-building video content without becoming fuel for the never-ending content machine. This is episode number seven in our current series on ditching the content machine. If you missed the earlier episodes, definitely go back and check those out. I’ll link to the playlist right up here. But today I want to show you a way to market your business that feels less like marketing and more like being the brand that people already trust, because if your content isn’t creating trust signals, your best clients are probably going to scroll right past you in the feed. So I’m going to break down my video first trust signal framework, which is five simple types of videos that make people feel confident about buying from you. These videos will work, even if you hate marketing and even if you’ve been feeling invisible online, and by the end of the episode you’re going to know exactly which one to start with this week. And if you want a shortcut, grab my Trust Signal Framework PDF. It’s free, the link is in the description and it’ll give you the cheat code for sending trust signals to your audience.

Brad Powell: 2:52

Think about the last time you made a high stakes decision online. Maybe you were hiring a service provider, or you were booking a retreat, or you’re buying a coaching program. What made you feel safe enough to say yes. I’ll bet you weren’t just looking at the product or the promise. You were looking for proof, little signals that said this is legit. These people know what they’re doing. I’m not going to regret this. And that’s what trust signals are. They’re not features, they’re not benefits. They’re little indicators of credibility. And when you use short form video to send those signals, clearly, your sales get easier, referrals increase and people stop asking what do you charge? And they start saying how can we work together, how can I give you money? And they start saying how can we work together? How can I give you money? So let’s break down the five types of videos that send the strongest trust signals.

Brad Powell: 3:54

Imagine your buyer standing on the shore staring out at a foggy sea of options. Every website, every LinkedIn post, every marketing message it’s all just hazy in the mist and they’re squinting and they’re trying to figure out who should I trust? Who really gets me? This is where your clarity video comes in. It’s kind of like the foghorn. It’s the sound that will cut through the haze and says hey, over here, this is what we believe, here’s how we help, here’s who we help, and if this is what you’re looking for you’re safe right here. I had a client who’s a corporate business consultant and we recorded this simple 60 second video for LinkedIn and in it she explained what personal branding really means in a corporate context. Not using jargon, not using a script, just her speaking clearly about how she helps leaders get noticed for the right reasons.

Kathy Robinson: 5:00

There’s so much out there about personal branding and, while I absolutely agree that you need to know what your brand is in the marketplace and you need to, where you worked, what you did, all sort of past tense kind of things which are wonderful and you need to have a story about that but what the personal branding advice out there is missing is that, in fact, the strongest personal branding is a windshield what’s emerging in your space, what opportunity is on the table for all of us? And your brand needs to be the person who is defining that future market or defining the opportunity. You do have to have the story of your past, but if you stop defining your personal brand as what happened in the past and start defining it as the future you’re going to create, you will see so many more opportunities open up for you.

Brad Powell: 6:10

That little video got shared across her entire network. It even led to a keynote speaking invitation. And here’s the mic drop. Truth While confusion will kill confidence, clarity will help you sell.

Brad Powell: 6:24

And the beauty of video when people can see you and they can hear you and they can actually feel your confidence, that little foghorn turns into a beacon. So if clarity videos are the foghorn that cut through confusion, proof videos are more like this warm campfire. Imagine your potential buyer sitting out in the dark wondering will this actually work for me, or am I about to make a mistake that I can’t afford Now? Picture you inviting them to sit around a campfire. The sparks rise into the night and you begin to tell a story, Not some loud ad, not some flashy testimonial, but a story that lets them see themselves inside. I’ll never forget one of my clients who’s a wellness coach, who was working with a woman recovering from cancer. We made this short video where she told the story of her client’s journey. There were no scripts, just a real story told in her own words in her own living room.

Tess Masters: 7:34

It is just so thrilling when we can help somebody reach their health goals and, even more importantly, help them find their self-love. Karen joined the 60 Day Reset and on the very first day that we started she got diagnosed with breast cancer. And it was a shock, right and very emotional, and I was so inspired by her choice to go. Well, I came into this program just to improve my health. Now I’ve got a really powerful why. She just went in in consultation with her doctors, followed our health advice and started eating really well and exercising, and then we just got the most incredible email from her. Yesterday she has been given the all cancer free card from her doctors and they looked at all of her blood work and test results and just couldn’t believe how quickly she was able to recover and thrive. She did a mixture of medical treatments with her team, but also these diet and lifestyle practices, and when you put these things together, that’s when the magic happens. It’s pretty amazing to be a small part of that.

Brad Powell: 8:32

That video didn’t just say we changed lives. It actually showed it and the people watching they weren’t thinking, wow, what a great testimonial. Instead, they’re thinking this could be me. Most testimonial stories point the spotlight at the business and they’re saying look at us, look how great we are. Proof videos do the opposite. They hand the spotlight to the viewer and lean in with. This could be your story next. If proof videos are the campfire, presence videos are the handshake before the sales call.

Brad Powell: 9:16

Think about the last time you walked into a meeting with a stranger. Your guard is going to be up. You’re looking for clues like who is this person? Can I trust them? Do they get me? Now? Flip that script.

Brad Powell: 9:31

Imagine a potential client already feeling like they’ve met you before. They’ve heard your voice, they’ve seen your smile and they know the kind of tone that you bring into the room. This is what a presence video does. I was watching a video series by my past guest, marcus Sheridan, which he created for his own sales team. Each salesperson made a 60-second video that basically introduced themselves. It was saying like who they were, what they love about helping customers and each one had a little personal anecdote that made them more human. So when prospects booked a call, they would get a video by the rep they were going to be speaking with, and by the time the Zoom meeting started, it wasn’t a cold call anymore. This is true for me and my business as well. It’s really common, whenever I get on a sales call, for the person who I’m meeting for the first time to say something like I feel like I already know you. So here’s the thing I want you to take away A presence video will let them meet you before they actually meet you. So presence videos are the handshake.

Brad Powell: 10:43

Transparency videos are the open kitchen of your brand. Now think about a time when you’ve walked into the kind of restaurant where you can see the chef doing all their cool stuff preparing food. It completely changes how you can feel more confident in the meal that you’re about to eat. You can trust what you’re going to eat when you can actually see how it’s being prepared. And this is exactly what a transparency video does. It shows the parts of your business most of your competitors are going to be hiding.

Brad Powell: 11:16

One of my clients is a high-end landscape design company called the Narrow Lane, and they absolutely nailed this with a single video I got together with their operations manager. Who’s this really nice guy named Scott? And we recorded a video so he could answer the one question that every homeowner is secretly thinking how much is this going to cost? And instead of giving a vague answer, he broke it down really honestly, talking about how budgets work, how installing in phases can save you money and why their process makes sure that their clients get an accurate estimate before committing to a project.

Scott Koenig: 11:59

Of course, the question we always get asked right is how much is it going to cost? Is it expensive? As expensive as renovating my kitchen or adding an addition to my house? The short answer is per square foot no, it’s not as expensive, but it can be pricey. That’s why we like to work with you with a budget in mind and design to that budget, rather than designing to the max of what it could be Right. So part of that collaborative process is getting an idea of what your budget really is, so that we can create something for you that would work for you. That’s not out of the realm of possibilities. We’re working with plants. Plants grow. You can get smaller plants, so there are ways to do it in phases that don’t break the bank. Our goal is to get you an accurate estimate up front that captures all the costs. Give us a call. We’d love to guide you through what the options are, what the industry looks like, just to give you a better idea of how it works and how we might be able to help you.

Brad Powell: 13:00

And what was the response to this video? Homeowners didn’t just watch the video Now. They trusted Scott and they reached out knowing exactly what to expect. So here’s the mic drop. Truth Building. Trust skyrockets the moment you start saying things your competitors won’t so. If transparency videos are the open kitchen, relatability videos are when the restaurant owner steps out and starts chatting with you like an old friend. These are the moments where you let people see the human behind the business.

Brad Powell: 13:37

These are your quirks your thoughts, the messiness, because here’s what’s going on. In this morass of polished, overproduced content, being raw is kind of rare and it builds trust. One of my favorite examples that I’ve seen online is with Dr Becky, who is a parenting expert, who’s built this empire simply by sharing unfiltered thoughts on Instagram. She talks about the struggles of parenting in her living room, in her car, and there’s no fancy lights, there’s no teleprompter, it’s just real life.

Dr. Becky Kennedy: 14:15

Do you, like me, feel like you have the best conversations? You actually learn the most information from your kid when you’re driving them somewhere in a car. Here are three reasons why I think that happens. Number one you are gazing in the same direction, right. When you’re driving, you’re gazing forward and your kid in the backseat is also gazing forward. Often we approach our kid at the dinner table and we’re on one side and they’re on the other side. Unconsciously, when you’re on opposite sides of the table it can feel like you’re oppositional.

Dr. Becky Kennedy: 14:43

When you’re in a car, you’re already gazing in the same direction, almost like you’re saying we’re a team. Two you’re already more connected. Often when we’re driving we’re taking a kid to soccer or to a play date we already have this moment of kind of sameness and connection, and with connection comes trust and cooperation. Three there’s no spotlight on a kid. I’m not staring at my child, kind of looking at them in the moment. They’re about to reveal something In a way. Having a little more distance allows for more closeness. Let me know in comments what happens when you’re in the car with your kid. I can’t wait to hear your story.

Brad Powell: 15:16

And millions of parents have leaned in and said finally, someone who gets what’s going on with raising kids. A relatability video could be you sharing a lesson you just learned with a client, or pulling out your phone after a tough day to talk about what that experience taught you. Remember that the future is human and your humanity is your very best marketing strategy, because people buy from people. They feel like they know these five types of videos. They’re not about putting on a show. They’re about sending the trust signals your future clients are already looking for. Imagine your videos helping you become a familiar face so that when someone scrolls past, they’re thinking finally, someone who gets me, somebody I can trust. That’s exactly how your next client will feel when they see a clarity video or they watch a proof video and think this could be me and the best part.

Brad Powell: 16:16

You can start with just one of these videos this week no script, no performance, no never-ending content hamster wheel. When you make one simple, honest video that helps one of your people feel seen, you’ve already started building a brand that they can believe in. So which trust signal will you send? First, If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with another expert entrepreneur who needs to hear this and if you’re ready to start creating trust building videos without the grind, grab my Trust Signal Framework PDF. It’s free, the link is in the description and it’ll give you the cheat code for sending trust signals to your audience. Next on the show, I’m going to be talking about how to be the expert people remember in 30 seconds or less, and I’m going to share my relatability framework, which I designed to show exactly how you can show up in a way that makes you memorable. Thanks for tuning in. See you next time.