But too many people get hung up on doing it perfectly, so they don’t even start.
It’s time to just start. And this week’s podcast guest, Erik Fisher, is just the person to talk you into getting out of your way around video.
I spent several years not-so-mildly stalking Erik to bring you this episode and it does not disappoint. We talk about changing the way you’re framing video in your mind, why video is a must-do right now, the easiest point of entry if you’re new to video, what tech you need, and so much more.
About Erik Fisher:
Erik has been working in social media for over 10 years as a community manager and social media manager. He is also the producer and host of the long-running Beyond The To-Do List Podcast for almost 10 years. Connect with him on LinkedIn and follow him on Instagram.
Links & Resources:
- Join the Inner Circle
- SwitchPod (Pat Flynn’s camera stand)
Time Stamps:
[2:50] – Stalking people in a gentle, non-creepy way works
[4:22] – It’s the year of video (again)
[5:26] – How people sabotage themselves
[7:31] – Start with your phone
[10:04] – You don’t need the best, but you shouldn’t have the worst
[13:35] – Change the way you think about the fear of doing it
[15:26] – The value (or maybe not) of posting your podcast to YouTube
[20:57] – What’s the intention of using YouTube
[23:11] – “Best practices” doesn’t mean it’s the best practice for you
[24:20] – One of the easiest ways to start with video
[25:10] – Go where people are creating videos
[26:37] – Find lower barrier to entry tools
[30:44] – Other people are lowering the barrier of entry for you
[32:40] – It’s the year of (you name it!)
[33:17] – Amber takes a stand on Clubhouse
[35:18] – Minimum viable tech needs
[37:45] – Everyone starts somewhere
Transcription:
Amber Hawley 0:01
Business owners are increasingly being pulled in so many directions, feeling like they aren’t reaching their full potential in business and life despite their type aways. With my background as a therapist, entrepreneur, and as a.com dropout with ADHD, I interview and coach high achieving business owners like you who want to stop struggling for success by using psychological systems, strategies, and the occasional care for entation. This is the easily distracted entrepreneur, your place to slay overwhelm perfectionism and shiny object syndrome so that you can get done what matters most to you. Hello, hello, my seekers of sustainability. Summer is coming. If you are listening to the podcast, the day that it airs, I will be landing in Orlando for pod fest, which I’m so excited about. It’s one of my favorite podcasting conferences. And I absolutely love the people. The podcasting community in general is just so generous and brilliant and creative. So it’s always a blast. And I’m even more excited because this year I’m bringing my eldest daughter with me, she is 12 years old. And I asked her if she would be interested in going and told her, You would have to sit in breakout sessions and learn about video and podcasting, and she was all in. And that was even before I told her about the epic pool and all the other cool stuff that’s happening, so I’m pretty pumped about that. And speaking of sustainability, if you would like to focus more on sustainable practices for growing and running your business instead of chasing shiny objects, then head on over to AmberHawley.com/innercircle to get more information about the membership and how to join. As always, all the links will be included in the show notes.
Amber Hawley 1:57
In today’s episode, I get to talk to Erik Fisher. Erik is somebody who’s been working in social media for over 10 years as a community manager and social media manager. He is also the producer and host of the long running beyond the to do list podcast for almost 10 years as well, which makes him an OG podcaster. I have been a longtime listener of the podcast, and as I share in this episode, I have been doing some gentle stalking of him for quite a while. Hello, Erik, welcome to the podcast.
Erik Fisher 2:34
Thank you for having me. I am so glad to be here.
Amber Hawley 2:37
Yes, I’m so excited. I was saying to Erik, before we started recording that this is my longest stalking I have done for a podcast guest. Because actually, Melissa and I started stalking you in 2018 at Social Media Marketing worlds, because obviously, we’re huge fans of your podcast beyond the to do list. And we also you’re you’re very knowledgeable and entertaining, and you humored us. And so we’re like, we just need to get this guy on. So I’m so excited to finally have you on the podcast.
Erik Fisher 3:13
Well, it paid off. And so there’s the lesson there stock anybody you want to have on your? No, honestly, actually, it’s not bad advice if you can do it long term. And just kind of like that’s what I did like, other than the fact that I had a couple of ends when I started with a couple of big names that I could get them and then that opens the door for me to say, well, they’ve been on other than that, like it has been like long term sort of stalking on my part for guests that I want to have.
Amber Hawley 3:41
Yes. And I Yeah, same thing like we were fortunate enough to bring in like Pat Flynn and Natalie Ekdahl and some other people that we Denise Duffield Thomas who we loved and we’re like, okay, gentle stalking, of course non creepy, gentle stalking. But that is one of the ways to do it. Right, like keep the relationship going. But the best part is now we have you with four more years of knowledge.
Erik Fisher 4:09
I hope I hope so.
Amber Hawley 4:12
But I was really excited when you had posted about wanting to talk about video and social media. Because I mean, frankly, I think we’ve probably heard this for like 10 years like video is king you need to do video video is important. And it’s like this revelation every time because there’s so many of us who are like, and there’s a bunch of stuff.
Unknown Speaker 4:35
Did you know that this year is the year of video and last year was the year of video and the year before that was the year of video like that is that that drives me nuts. But yes, it’s been around for a while it’s gone through different iterations and morphing into different things like live video and short succinct video and now vertical video that loops which really is just vine all over again. In a way so anyways,
Amber Hawley 5:03
but yes, now it’s Yeah, I know that’s the thing, right? It changes like short videos, long videos this, this that the other so I am so excited to have an expert on here to save us from ourselves so we don’t spend all this time doing video in our business and then have it not worked out for us the way we want to. I guess when you’re talking to people, what is the what is the number one thing that you see that people struggle with? Or kind of maybe sabotage themselves with when they’re trying video out?
Unknown Speaker 5:36
Oh, gosh, well, first off, I think it’s that they when getting started with video, they feel like they have to go all in another phrase that drives me nuts sometimes where they’ve got to buy, you know, they’ve got to buy a soundboard and and it’s huge, expensive mic and then hide it off the camera from the video, and then get an amazing camera and have a video switcher to switch from multiple angles and have well lit backlit like, you know, tchotchkes on shelves and look like it’s gonna look right here. It’s got to be a studio production, like a YouTuber, like a professional YouTuber, which think about that phrase for a second, a professional YouTuber, how long is that? for that? That has not been around for that long either, right? But we see this comparison trap, just right there in front of us all the time when we go to the prominent or the what I should say is the video that gets displayed and shared the most often are some of those ones that are, you know, highly produced, or highly planned out, etc. It’s not necessarily do that you can do that. I encourage people to upgrade as you can and if you can, but you don’t need to start.
Amber Hawley 6:55
Yeah, and I you know what’s so important about that, I think when you when you to me, it’s just perfectionism, right? Like, that’s like making it. Like you said, I have to be completely professional, this has to be like professional grade, and then it keeps you from ever doing it. And so I think it’s not sustainable. Like for most people, most business owners are wearing multiple hats and doing so many things. And if they have to, then every time they need to record a video, get into full production mode or rent out a space, you know, like or whatever it is. They’re never going to do it. It’s just not going to happen.
Unknown Speaker 7:30
Yeah, I mean, you can get started literally with your phone. Most people could frame the phone up and use like, I don’t have it sitting here. But Pat Flynn, you know, the stand I forget why am I blanking on the name of it. I shouldn’t be? Yes. The not the standard. That’s the other thing. Wow, I’m really blanking on I am so sorry, Pat.
Amber Hawley 7:50
I know, I know, my brain is blank, too.
Unknown Speaker 7:53
I just I actually just had it in my hand earlier today. Because I was like, oh, I need that for a trip next week, because I’m going to be doing stuff in the office with my phone and filming things. But that’s what I’m getting at is we have you think about it, like we’ve got these super powerful mobile studios in our pocket. And we just don’t know how to use them that much. I actually one of the things has been kind of stunning me. And we’ll get into this maybe a little bit too is I have seen some amazing reels on Instagram, showing cool little tips and tricks that you can use, you’re like, let’s just move it this way, or put it on your put it, you know, put your phone down on a table. And then just use the table as a guide as almost like a dolly to get really cool smooth shots and things like that. So I’m getting at like, there’s this super versatile tool in your pocket that you can frame up, get yourself in the right frame, flip, flip it around, use the front facing camera, like you do with FaceTime or whatever. And make sure to look at the camera, not the screen. Because otherwise you’ll be like looking over this way as you talk the whole time, which is stupid. But then you can either use something that’s a better microphone that’s wireless that connects to it. There’s different ways you can do it like a lapel mic, things like that, that just up the ante up the the quality, just that little nudge or in post, throw it in like a tool like the script that will transcribe it, let you audio and video edit it. But then the secret sauce is you can throw that studio sound filter on it that removes some of the echo if there is any so
Amber Hawley 9:29
right I know and that’s the thing, we really have the ability to do really good quality videos that yes, maybe aren’t professionally produced. Of course, we’re gonna see a difference there. But that are that are good enough. And most of the time if you’re doing this for your business, it’s kind of one of those things like people are showing up for the information and as long as the sound quality is good, and you don’t like there isn’t something egregious about what’s happening, you know, in the video. I think it doesn’t matter, right?
Unknown Speaker 9:59
Yeah. And I think you just actually stumbled on something that I’m meant to say, which is, it’s not that there’s that you have to have the highest end, it’s that you need to not have the lowest and you need to not use the open air microphone on your laptop. And the 720 P may be camera that is built into most MacBooks. Up until very recently, that drove me nuts for the last few years when everybody had to suddenly be on these webcam calls all the time. And Apple products of all of them were like, substandard, like cameras compared to even their phones at the time. So it was just
Amber Hawley 10:39
so crazy, right? It’s but like you said that you can do small upgrades. And I think the nice thing is when you do record, you know if you can look at it without like judging yourself too much. And you listen or watch your videos after you learn like, oh, okay, stop wearing dangly earrings that make noise in my mic. Or next video, I’m gonna not do XYZ, like, I think when we give ourselves permission to grow, we’re more apt to do it. This is why so many people aren’t getting into video because they’re so worried. And I, I say this as somebody who’s guilty of that of like, Oh, God, you know, like, I don’t want to have to, I don’t want to have to put on makeup and look decent for video. And then then I really worked on not caring. And I actually went too far the other way where I had a guy I was working with and he was going to edit videos. He’s like, Did you do a video from your bed? That was like, Yeah, I was trying to get it in before like, It’s a 30 day challenge. And I was like, okay, noted, noted, that was too casual. That was not enough worry about what’s happening.
Unknown Speaker 11:46
Yeah, yeah. I mean, that the only the only way you figure that stuff out again, do a challenge like that, do something where it’s you’ve got, you have a deadline, and you have a quota, and you’ve got to meet it. And what that forces you to do is practice in public, even if you’re not showing, even if you’re not going to publish those videos, you practice those videos, you do. Here’s a trick a friend of mine and I have done in the past. Jeff see, you know who he is, he has a private Facebook group. And that is where he will lie and syndicate stuff that he’s testing. So he can see what it looks like to somebody else. When they go in. Plus, he can invite certain people to come into that group, and watch what’s going on, or give feedback or comment etc, as he’s doing stuff. But it’s a way to practice in public. So this, you know, here’s another option is you might get a small collective of people, three, four, or 510 people or whatever, who all want to collectively grow and get better and perfect their video and make it like a mini video mastermind of some sort, where you all just have that group and you stream stuff in there. And then you make comments and you say, Great job, you know, either it’s praised Great job, or, Hey, I noticed this one thing, and it’s a safe space to grow.
Amber Hawley 13:02
I love that idea. And that’s that’s the thing, right is having that makes it so much more manageable for people, for people who are really like sensitive to that feedback, where they feel perfectionistic about it, when you do it in that safe space with people you’ve hand picked it, you know, you’re gonna get such kind wonderful response. But having those people who will will give you the, like feedback to grow in a kind way it comes from a loving place does make it safe. I love that. In fact, I’m going to totally do that. happening.
Unknown Speaker 13:33
Yeah. And again, it’s the only way you’re gonna get any better at it is by practicing. And it’s not just practicing for yourself in a mirror, or a video camera. It’s by other people seeing it and you then saying, Oh, well, they commented they gave feedback. They said, You know, it’s because the the fear of doing a live or recorded video is never gonna go away. It will never, it’s just the you have the ability to change the pathways in your brain as to how you treat that fear.
Amber Hawley 14:05
Exactly. Yeah. And, and I noticed it’s one of those things like, you know, as a therapist, we say, when you have anxiety about something, if you go if you move towards it, you address it. That’s what decreases the anxiety avoiding it is what increases the anxiety. So, yeah, I did a challenge where I was posting on LinkedIn, you know, so of all the places, which hence why the bed shot was not such a good tick tock, no problem, Facebook, no problem. LinkedIn, maybe not so much. But that was the learning thing. And I knew me like, I knew that I needed to post it publicly. Because that’s the fear is, you know, that I would be like, Oh, my friends are being kind or I would just never get to posting it. Plus, it’s that ADHD thing like, oh, yeah, I need to actually post that. No, just do it. Just get it done. Yeah. I love that. So yeah, so So starting out, just getting comfortable and then doing incremental It upgrades not having not feeling like you have to have studio quality.
Unknown Speaker 15:05
Yeah, incremental upgrades for yourself and your own craft of doing it, as well as the tech.
Amber Hawley 15:11
Awesome, awesome. And so I know that they’re, you know, both of us being podcasters. And this, I remember seeing you, it was actually the last event before the shutdown and pod Fest in 2020. March of 2020. You were talking about video. And this is why I love you, because you’re very, like, you’re just like, oh, that’s stupid. And I love that you’re like, why are you posting your podcast to YouTube with no video? That’s stupid. Why are you doing that? So I wanted to touch base on that thought, because I know, this is something that comes up all the time. And people are still like, okay, now I gotta get on YouTube. And they start doing something like that, where they’re, they’re making a static image with sound. Yeah, I want to hear your thoughts, just because I appreciate them your knowledge base.
Unknown Speaker 16:05
So I want to reiterate what I said then, because some of that still applies. And yet, there are some things I think that have probably morphed a little bit in my mind as it comes to this perspective that I’ve had. So at the time, it was like, Well, YouTube is a video platform, people go to YouTube. And I was speaking a lot about my own experience, because even back then, and a few years prior there, there are times where I will sit down in front of my televisions that are large, and just go to YouTube and watch things just see what’s on YouTube. What if I say what’s in my saved later, you know, what’s my saved, watch later, because that’s, you know, productivity tip, when you come across YouTube clips throughout the day as you’re working. And you don’t want to be distracted, click Save to watch later, and then move on. And then you can watch them later when you have time. I love that. So I was very much a consumer. And again, I think this is kind of a slightly pre millennial approach is I want to sit down in front of the television and watch it as it’s properly intended to, you know, anyway, that said, so apply that to podcasting. It’s like no, but I’m never going to go to YouTube, look up a podcast and then hit play and sit in front of my television, listening to a podcast. If the podcast is on, like the, the two guys who play Merry and Pippin in The Lord of the Rings, they have a podcast, they do it on video, and it’s on video on YouTube. I would rather watch it on YouTube than but I do like listening to it on the go see, it’s kind of that disconnect of I want to listen to a podcast on the go and not have to pay attention to it with my eyes. Right? Yes. So that’s kind of where I was coming from. However, there has been some things Data Wise, when it comes to one discovery, slash just listening and consuming patterns that I’ve become aware of thanks to Tom Webster and Edison Research. And I know for a fact that podcasters that aren’t putting podcasts on YouTube are missing out. Because a lot of people are one. One YouTube is well if you go out if you go the real hierarchy, and don’t just say Google, but go one step higher alphabet, Alphabet owns Google, and also YouTube, etc. And so the number two search engine in the world, YouTube is connected with the first Google both owned by the same place. So Right. People are searching, people are searching in YouTube for the topic of whatever your podcast is about. For you to not be there is you missed you not being on one part of the internet as a whole.
Erik Fisher 18:54
So now the issue is, okay, how do you be there and not just automate being there. And yet, some people would probably say, at least if you can just be there in any way form fashion, like a static image and the audio. Apparently, a lot of people click play on things and then change the tab and go about their business while they’re doing work or whatever. Or, for that matter, I’m, I am I pay for you to music, and I really enjoy it. And so I use it and podcasts show up in there. And it’s like, okay, you need to you need to, you know, go back on what you said, however, you still need to have, what I’m saying is is ultimately what I’m saying is is my approach to this has changed. I still have not been putting my own show out on YouTube. But I know that I should and in fact know that I need to, but I still cringe when I’m like I just can’t automate it going over there for no reason yet. There’s been recent news, I think that I need to dig into a little bit more and again, I’m a little bit Like, okay, I’ll get to that. Because, you know, I am an early adopter. But I don’t always do that right away when it comes to really important things. I want it to show up there and look good and sound good and be good, versus just get auto imported, and it’s there. And somebody may watch it two or three times or get 510 plays or something. So, I don’t know, that’s a long winded approach to giving you an answer. But there we go.
Amber Hawley 20:25
I think that’s great. And, you know, and you’re so generous, because I, I could have been taking that line that’s stupid out of context, completely, but, and the fact that you remember,
Erik Fisher 20:36
I meant it, I still I still believe it. But I also kind of renege on it a little,
Amber Hawley 20:40
I totally feel you have that. That’s who I am, though. I’m that person who’s like, I have that opinion sometimes about something. And I’m like, well, that’s just dumb. And I’m not gonna do it. But like you said, this is the other thing. When I’m like talking to people, it’s like, well, what is the intention behind it? Like is, like you’re saying is, is the intention to, like capture this, you know, search engine, the number two search engine is the intention to grow a massive YouTube channel, and dominate and become a professional YouTuber, you know? And obviously, then you have to have a different strategy, right? Like, what is the intention or the goal, and I’m a fan of, you know, as a business owner not doing something until you have a little bit of clarity around that. So I think it’s okay, sometimes to be that, you know, take time, that doesn’t make you a late adopter just means you’re figuring out your strategy still, right?
Unknown Speaker 21:32
Yeah. I don’t want to I don’t want to come across as like, oh, no, I’m an Apple fanboy. But like, one of the things I noticed is that like, they don’t always come out with the feature that somebody else has already come out with. First, they come out with a more perfected or more user friendly version, not always, I will not sing the praises of Apple through and through their stupid crap they do too. But that’s kind of my approach is like, Oh, I see what you’re doing. How can I do that, but do it better. And for that matter, if you’re doing video, like speaking to this podcasting, and video, YouTube marriage thing you got, you need to have a strategy in terms of if you’re going to start pulling in or creating podcast videos, especially if you didn’t record video for that, how are you going to pull that into your YouTube channel? If the videos there are true video videos, you know, talking heads and production and all that kind of stuff, you’ve got to have a good strategy for both those things. And since, and technically, since I didn’t have like a YouTube strategy, you know, in that side of things, the podcast side of things is actually maybe a little bit easier for me. So there’s, there’s stuff in the works in terms of my approach.
Amber Hawley 22:44
Yeah, that’s how I feel about it, too. And recently, and I will say, having talked to you a couple of like YouTube experts, they were like, don’t do it don’t do the static image and said that it actually can hurt your algorithm. So I think there’s always things for people to research, and then you just go with what you feel is best for you and your business. And your thing, right? Yeah, yeah. Like you said, you have to sometimes we have to do the work to figure out what strategy makes sense to us.
Unknown Speaker 23:10
Yeah, you even even when it comes to when it comes to other, you know, quote, best practices. That doesn’t mean it’s the best practice for you, you can learn from watching what they do. And, you know, kind of creating a Venn diagram of all everybody’s best practices within squarely put yourself in the middle of it and say, No, this is what this aspect from them and this aspect from them and the way they do this thing, like merging those and being in the center of that Venn diagram, and make it work for you.
Amber Hawley 23:39
Yes, I agree. I agree. And sometimes you just look at you’re like, Oh, that’s so cool. And then you feel really tired thinking about executing that?
Unknown Speaker 23:48
Yes. If you can’t figure out a way to make it easy, that can be very disheartening.
Amber Hawley 23:55
I think that’s I think that’s a lot of people’s hold up with, with doing video is it does feel like work. Like I call myself a creative ease enthusiast. Like, I want to figure out the easiest way possible because I have a lot on my plate. And so it’s like, if I can’t figure it out, then I put a pin in it and I’m like, I’ll get back to that. Figure it out later.
Erik Fisher 24:16
Yeah, so
Amber Hawley 24:17
yeah, so going back to in general, not just YouTube, not podcasting, but in general for business owners thinking about doing video. Do you is there a strategy that you feel is the easiest as far as like starting with video besides the ones you already mentioned? But something else that you know people are like okay, I feel like I should do it or I want to do it and but I feel stuck.
Erik Fisher 24:44
Yeah, I think one go to this secret sauce this is what I’ve been doing. And and and this is me not this is me. Not creating video for myself but me like I’ll come on different shows. I’ll jump on yours or Are other people’s things and the works already done for me, all I need to do is show up and be me. Aside from that, secret sauce is go where people are creating videos like YouTube, like tick tock like reels, go look, go look up certain like keywords or things that are near enough to you without being dead on like looking. In other words, don’t look at your competitors. Yeah, that’ll drive you nuts. Find something. But if you’re like, for example, if you’re, I mean, if you’re a marketer, that’s there’s more than enough stuff there. But like, go look at like a recipe thing. Like, go look at somebody make something on a reel, and see how they’re executing it. Like they’re like, first you do this, then you do this, then you do this, but pay attention to how they’re crafting that video. And they probably they, well, they do have more experience then you because there are things already out there yours is not. But they’re not that far ahead of you. Trust me, they have just been playing around with it, go and look and see and like get inspiration, say, Oh, can you can you in other words, find something that you can make your version of find this find somebody’s video. I mean, it’s not stealing? Well, it’s inspiration. You know, the Great artists steal, and all that kind of, you know, pithy sayings.
Erik Fisher 26:25
But what you do is you go look and you bookmark different ones, then you go through and you analyze and reverse engineer what they’re doing. And then you come up with what you can do. And even again, even on real like, I’m I have started to spend more time, I’ve never been really a tick tock person, but reals is already built into an app that I use. So it’s like that’s, that’s a lower threshold, you no barrier to entry, and so on. And it’s one click away. So I’ve been spending more time in there. Plus, it’s been prominently pushed into the feed at large. When you’re starting to scroll through it, you see them. And as I click through and I look at them, I’m like, there are like, already pre made, like the audio exists, that’s half the fun of it is is like people are taking pre existing audio, and then creating new video to go along with it. Practice, do one of them, like take one like I did it. I was in Chicago for like a trip. And I took a video and then I saw somebody was doing like, Hey, throw this on your camera feet and throw this music on your last video from your feed and data, etc. And I did it. Well, it’s funny is the first real I ever did. I mean, seriously, I’m talking like to less than two weeks ago, this is this happened. And suddenly I get all these likes, and I got some followers even and I’m just like, that’s just a scenery of like, like video of people walking around downtown. It’s a great like framing up and everything. And it’s got this cool like music over it. But it’s like it got seen and liked and engaged with and like I barely tried some like, Okay, I got I did get some of the like endorphin rush from the likes and the follows from it. And I’m like, Oh, I gotta do more of these. So you made that it may be as simple as that for you. Like, go look, get inspired, get inspired, and reverse engineer and try something short and sweet and see if anybody sees it. And it doesn’t get engaged with it. I mean, seriously, mine was crap, compared to what I could have tried to do, you know, or what I know some people can already do, even without having done any yet. And I’m telling you, that might be the way to like dip your toe in.
Amber Hawley 28:38
And I you know what I love about those. And it’s so weird. We’re on this parallel track, because I literally did my first Tic Toc, like two weeks ago. And it was one of those where it’s yeah, it’s like a trend, right. And so I use the audio and just kind of did my version of it, which is really easy, because they already have a trend. It’s already there. And I thought I had this idea of like, Oh, I could do this with it. And and I was like that didn’t happen. And like I’m like, I was hoping because I couldn’t get a squirrel to cooperate with me because of course they’re everywhere until I need one those little bastards. But it was one of those things like you said, where I was like, Oh my God, are people going to think I’m stupid or whatever. And then I’m like, just put it out there and you do it. And if you do get a little endorphin rush from it. Yeah, but it was really easy. And of course, I’m not going to compare somebody who’s been doing it for you know, long time or this is their big thing that they do. But it was easy because it was just like like you said the audio is already there. The trend is already there. Start there start easy, but it felt good. And I think my other suggestion would be do not talk about this with people who are anti reel or anti Tiktok.
Erik Fisher 29:50
Yeah,
Amber Hawley 29:51
because they will make you doubt yourself so hard.
Unknown Speaker 29:54
Totally and I’m not anti I just I’ve always seen like the The genius in the way it’s implemented. And, I mean, trust me, I have sat and I mean, here’s, again, I’ve mentioned this earlier reels and tick tock are just the current iteration of what vine was 10 years ago, 10 years ago, seriously. And that, I mean, I have sat with my kids again, on YouTube, and watched people who have compiled all of those vines, and now other things into just a long cut of 1015 20 minutes, and we just sit there laughing. And it’s just joke after joke after joke, because it’s video by video by video. And that’s what this is, other than it, it will loop if you don’t move on yourself, choose to move on yourself. And I don’t know I again, it’s, it’s highly addictive. It’s it, which I’m also kind of apprehensive about, but it can’t deny the power of it can’t deny the creativity that’s being poured into a lot of these videos. And, and, for that matter, the lack of creativity, because it’s super easy to do. And it doesn’t require a lot of creativity, it requires, again, you get inspired, you hear you see somebody else do something with something somebody else did first, and it lowers the barrier of entry for you.
Amber Hawley 31:19
Exactly, yes. This was the thing that I why I have waited it is it’s too addictive. Like for me, I have lost, I have lost like I have, like started I was like, Okay, I’m going to shower, and then it realized an hour later at the shower still running, and I’m sitting there, and I’ve missed my shower window for the day. And I was like, dammit, I have missed it. So it’s so so dangerous. Because it’s fun. And maybe that’s the other tip is like approach it as a fun thing. Like it doesn’t have to be, you know, like the most profound, this is going to change somebody’s world or you know, catapult my business just make it fun at first. But you’re right. I mean, it is interesting to see people being creative, but a lot of people have a lot of feelings about it. And I know like I’m sensitive when people when I can hear people like talking and then I’ll hear them in my head if I go to record. So I need to just not think not talk to them about that. Be around. Maybe that’s where that small group thing is be around people who are like, Hey, we’re just going to experiment and see what happens. Right? Yeah, totally. I love that. Yeah. And like you said, it’s it’s just the current iteration. So I guess you can figure it out, like what works for you and how you want to use it for your business. And it’s also okay to say no, because next year, guess what I heard? Thanks. Two years gonna be the year of the video.
Unknown Speaker 32:44
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Next year is the next year this year and next year or the year video the year of podcasting the years, reels and tick tock the year of Oh, clubhouse. What else? No, I can’t remember anything else.
Amber Hawley 32:59
But then I can’t be with you on that one. I’m like no. Mostly because i know that i i would i would cease to do anything. And it is so overwhelming. It’s like Twitter. For me like Twitter and clubhouse. Like, it’s just so overwhelming. There’s just too much going on. It’s like, it’s like the bad Vegas. It’s like, Yeah, cuz I like Vegas. But like the bad Vegas like too much. It’s overwhelming. I’m gonna say officially, clubhouse is stupid. So that’s what I’m gonna take a stand. If I have to take a stand, because it overwhelms me
Erik Fisher 33:37
see, and I think, I think I’m gonna agree with you clubhouse is stupid. But there is something to the idea that if it could be if it could be implemented correctly, which I think no iteration of that whole audio room thing, other than maybe Twitter spaces a little bit. I’ve I’ve attended one or two in the last month or so. Where it actually was interesting. It was a it was a live podcast, basically. And I then would set the phone aside and listen to it while I was doing something else. It leaned into that strength of things, but yeah, I don’t know.
Amber Hawley 34:12
Anyway. Yeah, well, I mean, again, I’m just saying something is stupid because I don’t have time for it. So
Erik Fisher 34:19
we can we can call everything we don’t have time for
Amber Hawley 34:21
exactly so if you are looking to start a clubhouse or Twitter like engagement small group do not contact me and don’t listen to me because I will I will make you doubt yourself.
Erik Fisher 34:32
prove her wrong is what she’s saying.
Amber Hawley 34:36
Yes, prove me wrong. Don’t tell me about it. I don’t want to talk about it but I was just getting well yeah, so I think hopefully people are you know taking away like this can you can do this. It can be easy if you’re choosing to add video. Otherwise, you can wait like, what is it seven, eight more months for next year, the year of the video? Yep, to make to start then go weigh in with a bang for 2023. Yeah. Is there anything like any last piece of advice for somebody who’s who’s still kind of, I know people always have tech questions like, they’re always wondering like, what’s my minimum viable technology need, which you said, like, we could do this with our phones. So there’s that option. But if they feel like I want to show up, I want to show up and be professional, not in the content per se, but in making sure that it shows up and I don’t seem like I’m the low level the worst, the worst? Do you have any suggestions for people on that one?
Unknown Speaker 35:38
Yeah, I can, I think it’s, it’s more an issue of we know, bad video and bad audio when we see it. In fact, seek those out, ask your friends, ask on social, anybody have great examples of really bad video, or I mean, and I would say, disclaimer, don’t go tagging those people in when you reply, otherwise, you’ll embarrass them. But go looking for bad examples, yourself, or bad referrals or referrals for bad examples from others you trust, and then go look at what they’re doing. And then realize you’re already ahead of them. That’s the thing is like, because, because again, I could do this, I could, I’m going to do this for a reason I’m pulling my microphone really far away from me, and you can see and hear the difference in the quality. And then if I just pull it closer, like it’s so much different, it’s so much better. And it’s like, if you can just, again, it’s some people forgive, I forget how the phrase goes, but some people forgive bad video, if there’s great audio some and vice versa. And some people forgive bad audio, if the video is great. But if you can just kind of have both of them at kind of this base level of it’s someone passing through it and seeing it won’t say look, and cringe, you know, like, we know we can in other words, we can more easily identify what’s bad than we can what’s good and why. So find those bad examples. And then realize you can pass those that threshold fairly quickly. With minor tech or light, you know, tack lighting, audio video, like equipment, etc. It’s not hard. It’s not hard love that fix those small problems with a little tweaking.
Amber Hawley 37:27
Yeah, and I guess I’m gonna go back to my therapy roots, we would call that good enough, like kinda like yeah, enough mothering good enough video, like good enough? Yeah. I like the cringe test. Maybe that’s what it should be. If no, one cringes, you’re good. You’re golden. And it makes me think about I bet if you go back and watch people, not the professional YouTubers, but other business owners like on YouTube or tick tock or whatever, go back to their first few videos. If you scroll all the way back down or wherever. I’m sure you’re going to see how far they have come like in in a very short time as well. Like from where they started. Everyone has to start somewhere.
Unknown Speaker 38:10
Right? Well, even the professional ones, like I’ve seen fairly recently, I think one of the ones that I left that I like watching their reviews and things of different tech pieces. Like they posted a read they did a repost on YouTube of their very first video. And I looked at I’m like, Oh my gosh, they were such one. They’re so young to their baby and three. Like they didn’t have it all together then but like they started anyway. And they’ve come so far since then. So yeah, go find a YouTube go find one of your favorite YouTubers, or people that you know, creates content, go back and listen or watch their first thing. Yeah, in their feed. You’ll be amazed.
Amber Hawley 38:49
I love that. I love that. Yeah. Because it’s we just have to normalize that it’s a journey, I think. And although I will say speaking of speaking of journeys, I think my favorite thing I learned in this episode is that Merry and Pippin have a video podcasts that I have been watching. Yeah, I am like so sad. How have I not known this? Yeah, I shall. I shall go take a take a look at that one for sure. Well, I you know, I want to be respectful of your time. And thank you so much for responding. And for all of you out there. Remember the gentle stalking? It took some time, but he is here.
Unknown Speaker 39:29
Yes. Yeah, it worked. Yes. It’s been great. Yeah. It’s been great talking with you. This has been fun. And I hope somebody got something out of us just talking.
Amber Hawley 39:40
I’m sure they will because I think I think the big barrier is just either not knowing where to start, but but most of the people I talked to you either when I ask friends or coaching them there, it really is that perfectionism and that feeling of like overwhelm of like it has to be a certain level to even put it out there and it keeps them from Getting started. And it’s like, you know, progress over perfection. You know, all of those things that we say but but it’s really true. And it’s, we just have to get started and put ourselves out there and you know, it’ll grow from there, right? Yeah. Yep. Awesome. Well, if people would like to hear all Well, first of all, all those great productivity tips that I know you have, and they want to learn more about the things that you think are stupid. Just I just love that so much. That’s why I can’t let it go. Where where’s the best place to go stalk you?
Unknown Speaker 40:36
Yeah, I mean, again, I would start with beyondthetodolist.com. That’s where you can find the podcast. And then after that, you can find me on any of the socials that I’m on like Instagram like Twitter, LinkedIn, it’s at Erik J. Fisher, Erik with a K. The letter J. F. I S. H. E R
Amber Hawley 40:57
awesome. Awesome. Well, we’ll have that all in the show notes. And I just want to thank you again for coming on. And, you know, if you want to post your very first live or video or real or whatever, feel free to tag me and maybe take Eric as well, just so we can give you that feedback that it definitely passed the cringe tests.
Unknown Speaker 41:17
Yes, yes. I will. I will give you a thumbs up on not cringing.
Amber Hawley 41:22
Yes. All right. Thanks so much.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
The Inner Circle
a unique membership for ADHD {and ADHD-ish} biz owners who live in Distraction City, with shiny object syndrome, and live life with other tendencies that keep us from doing our best work.
You want a sustainable life. A work/home/school/family stability that WORKS, functions on good habits, systems, and approaches that set us up for immeasurable success both personally and professionally.
Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!
Join The My Biz Bestie Community today: