Rx Catering: A Long-Term Case Study on Video Marketing (Week 2)
Progress Since Last Week
Rx Catering now has a YouTube channel! Be sure to subscribe!!!
Rx Catering also has a LinkedIn company page now. If you’re a LinkedIn user, be sure to follow the company page.
As of this writing, Rx Catering has 34 YouTube subscribers and 11 followers of its LinkedIn company page.
When Cheron gets to 100 YouTube subscribers, she’ll be able to create a custom link for her YouTube channel that uses the company name.
Why These Tools Are Important
YouTube
The YouTube channel is the foundation for the Rx Catering video marketing strategy.
Cheron’s YouTube channel provides an easy way for her to compile content that establishes her as an expert in her industry.
Her YouTube channel also provides an easy, fun way for other people to promote her business.
Cheron’s company page on LinkedIn is how she puts her content in front of one of the audiences she targets.
Corporate catering is a major part of Cheron’s business and LinkedIn is the social media platform where those corporate buyers are more than any other platform. A smart marketer brings their content to the audience they’re targeting, using the platform that those prospective clients are already using.
Rather than sending LinkedIn users to YouTube, Cheron is using YouTube to bring her content to LinkedIn users via her LinkedIn company page.
If Cheron’s videos were 10 minutes or less, she would be better off uploading them directly to LinkedIn. But since her videos exceed LinkedIn’s 10-minute limit, using YouTube or Vimeo is necessary.
[RELATED: YouTube vs Vimeo: Which One Is Right For Your Business?]
The Peanut Gallery
This is something you have to prepare yourself for when you start making videos.
Everyone is going to want to offer you “constructive critique.”
These folks are well-intentioned…kinda. They’ll mostly be friends and family who want to see you do well.
The problem is they’re prioritizing their needs over yours. They have to make themselves feel important by pointing out something they think needs to be fixed. But they’re not taking into account the impact of their critique on your development.
Critique delivered at the wrong time or in the wrong way and/or by the wrong person will not be constructive. It will instead set the recipient back.
And the deliverer of the critique will be completely oblivious to the adverse impact they’re having because their focus is on their needs and not yours.
Folks like that, no matter how well-intentioned, are completely unqualified to offer you advice.
“Expert” Opinions
You will get more unsolicited advice on how to improve your videos from people who don’t even have a YouTube channel than you will from people who have made hundreds of videos.
Without even looking, you’ll find experts in abundance offering you advice on how you can do a better job of doing something that they’ve never done.
Ignore these folks.
It may sound harsh, but you have to ignore them because the bad advice they’re offering will pull you in a bunch of different directions, at best. In the worst case, it will erode your confidence to keep hearing from a bunch of people all the little things you’re not doing right, as they see it.
You can’t have a bunch of competing voices in your head when you’re trying to deliver on camera.
Don’t Let The Peanut Gallery Steal Your Joy
Can you see the joy in Cheron’s heart when she’s doing her thing?
She has the enthusiasm that kids have before they grow up and become world weary. That light that’s shining from inside Cheron when she cooks is the secret sauce that’s going to make her cooking show a hit.
That inner light she has is something that can’t be taught.
But it can be extinguished by critiques from people unqualified to offer them.
As a beginner, your internal dialogue and insecurities will be enough of a challenge to overcome. You definitely don’t need anyone giving your more things to worry about or obsess over…especially when they don’t know what they’re talking about.
We’re just in week 2. The most important thing right now is for Cheron to have fun and enjoy the process of getting comfortable and efficient with her on-camera delivery. Detailed critique is not appropriate at this stage.
How To Avoid The Perils of The Peanut Gallery
It starts with building the right team. Video is a team sport and you want to establish your vision and build your team at the beginning.
You won’t have it all figured out in the beginning. And you won’t have the entire team that you need.
But you do want to at least have a plan. And a team of advisors you trust so you’re not susceptible to bad advice from the peanut gallery.
A good, general rule for your business overall (not just your video marketing) is to not take advice from people who have not done what you’re trying to do. Way too many people are eager to offer advice on how to do things that they’ve never even attempted.
You have to know yourself and know your goal and focus on staying true to your vision. You want to surround yourself with people who understand your vision and can help you achieve it.
You can be gracious in thanking your well-intentioned, albeit unqualified and unsolicited advisors. But you do not have to and should not take their advice. Most of the time, they don’t even bother to ask you where exactly you’re trying to go, so there’s no way they can credibly advise you on how to get there.
Feel free to share this page with your peanut gallery, if you need to. It can help if the “keep it to yourself” message comes from an objective third party. I’m okay with being the bad guy if that’s what’s necessary to protect the development of the person who’s brave enough to stand in front of the camera.
Most people will stop offering unsolicited critique once they understand how harmful it can be.
