by Nancy Calabrese | Feb 13, 2024 | Podcast
About Chris Weiher: Chris Weiher owns CLEAVER Creative, which produces high-quality videos to get clients’ ideas out into the world. They believe that now there is more need than ever to own and understand the value of effective video marketing, and they seek to not only tell the client’s story but make sure your audience hears, sees, and feels it. Chris started his career directing and producing short films before founding CLEAVER Creative in 2013. He grew the company by creating animation videos for companies including Accenture, Salesforce, and SAP. In 2019, before the pandemic struck, Chris discovered significant organic traction by creating videos on LinkedIn. Since then, he’s been helping businesses develop their video strategies through B2B videos on LinkedIn to grow their brands authentically. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Chris.
In this episode, Nancy and Chris discuss the following:
- The importance of video in the modern sales world
- Starting your way in video marketing
- First video creation suggestions
- The most beneficial places to post videos
- Chris’es recommendations of mixing personal and professional topics to engage viewers
- Why should your dress code match the style of ideal clients
Key Takeaways:
- The hardest part for most people is to try and get started.
- LinkedIn is still the best place to post business-related content and videos.
- I think where people go wrong with video is they want it to be perfect because we want to be seen as perfect.
- You must continue to be creative and think of other things, but that can be as easy as just going into your living room and filming a video there: it’s not rocket science.
“So, a really easy way to get started is to write out 10 FAQs, frequently asked questions, that you receive from your prospective clients. And then 10 questions you don’t get asked, but you wish somebody would, you wish someone would say. Well: “Why do I need to be using your service?” That’s often a question that people don’t come to me with because, by the time we’re talking, they know they want to use video, but they don’t ask why. And those frequently unasked questions are a good place to start because it gives you a chance to speak your mind about things that people aren’t asking you but are very important, and you want to tell them.” – CHRIS
“I recommend one video a week. There are a lot of folks out there who are in the social media game that are saying you need to have something out every single day. I disagree with that. For most people, it will burn out your audience, and they will ignore you. If you are a real B2B company, one video a week is plenty for people to see your face, see you. It’s just like going to a networking event. You don’t go every day; you go once a month or weekly. And then you want to have some other supplemental material you’re also putting out. That could be an article, that could be newsletter, or it could be other kinds of posts to supplement that video. But for some of my clients, they were doing one, one of my newest clients, he’s doing a video a week, and he’s already getting referrals from that.” – CHRIS
“Technology is moving very quickly. That said, the human component will be the hardest thing to replace. And if you can leverage video as a part of your communication strategy, I think that element is never really going to be fully replaced, but it will be supplemented, I think, by AI.” – CHRIS
Connect with Chris Weiher:
Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
Connect with Nancy Calabrese:
Voiceover: You’re listening to The Conversational Selling Podcast with Nancy Calabrese.
Nancy Calabrese: Hi, it’s Nancy Calabrese, and it’s time again for Conversational selling – the podcast where sales leaders and business experts share what’s going on in sales and marketing today and it always starts with the human conversation. Today we’re speaking with Chris Weiher, the founder of Cleaver Creative and a video producer with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Chris’s company has created B2B animations, sales presentations, and commercials seen by millions and now works with business owners to help them create their own videos and he only cares about the results. Chris believes that B2B sales require human connection. Therefore, it requires a strategic funnel that builds trust and moves people to make a decision. So they offer a solution. They help you make authentic videos that connect with your network and get your content seen. It is a pleasure to have you on the show, Chris. Welcome!
Chris Weiher: Thank you, Nancy. I’m excited to talk to you. This is a lot of fun. [1:20]
Nancy Calabrese: You know, this is a hot topic for me. You know, I’ve been procrastinating about doing video work. And why is video so important these days?
Chris Weiher: I would say that it is important because it allows you to, for most small and medium sized business owners, you as the business owner or your staff are the biggest resource and it allows you to scale your biggest resource, which a lot of people don’t think of it that way. [1:51]
Nancy Calabrese: Okay, but how do you get started in video?
Chris Weiher: I would say that is the hardest part for most people is to just try and get started. And there’s no other way to do it than to just do it and to allow yourself to fall on your face a little bit. I often tell people just because you record a video doesn’t mean you have to post it. But you do need to practice, and you do need to try and evaluate what you record and say why or why not, what about it is good, what can I do to improve on it? So usually when we start working with a new client, I say let’s work together for three months, let’s put out a video once a week, and let’s look at the results, let’s look at the reactions that you get and change your strategy based upon how people are reacting to it. [2:48]
Nancy Calabrese: Interesting. And so how do you make your first video? What are your suggestions?
Chris Weiher: So, a really easy way to get started is to write out 10 FAQs, frequently asked questions that you receive from your prospective clients. And then 10 questions that you don’t get asked, but you really wish somebody would, you really wish someone would say, well, why do I need to be using your service? That’s often a question that people don’t come to me with because by the time we’re talking, they know they want to use video.
Nancy Calabrese: Okay.
Chris Weiher: but they don’t ask why. And those frequently unasked questions are a good place to start because it gives you a chance to speak your mind about things that people aren’t asking you but are very important and you really want to tell them. [3:43]
Nancy Calabrese: Wow. And so, is there a certain place you recommend posting videos to get a big bang for your effort?
Chris Weiher: Absolutely, LinkedIn is still the best place to post business related content and videos. There’re people doing them know that weren’t doing them two three years ago but there’s still a very big opportunity to talk about real business issues. So, if you are a legitimate person with a legitimate businesspeople are hungry for that content. There’s a lot of people leveraging the social aspects, leveraging the, it’s my kid’s birthday party, or I just celebrated my anniversary, or I got a new job, the kind of fluff type stuff. But if you have real things to say, people are hungry for it on LinkedIn. [4:44]
Nancy Calabrese: Interesting. Yeah, you know, people have complained online that LinkedIn seems to be coming like Facebook. Do you agree with that?
Chris Weiher: It is in the sense that the algorithm wants to promote things that get eyeballs. And things that get eyeballs are never going to change. It’s the easiest step to engage with. And there is really nothing wrong with talking about your anniversary or your kid’s birthday party on LinkedIn, if the next week you talk about a client success story or a case study or a win or a failure of something that didn’t work out with your business, maybe last year or two years ago. If you intermingle those two, then the Facebook type content serves your other content because it gets people to know you and to like you. And when you do talk about maybe something that’s a little bit drier, they’re more apt to pay attention and more apt to then share it or tell somebody else in their network about you. [5:48]
Nancy Calabrese: Right. What’s your opinion on teleprompters when you’re recording the video?
Chris Weiher: So, I have been, like you said, been in video production business for a long time, worked with a lot of teleprompters. There’s no reason to be completely shy of them and say, you know, I’m never going to use a teleprompter. Generally, though, I try and advise people to work from notes, even if you’re looking down at your notes and then back to the camera to deliver your content it comes across more organically and naturally. And even if you mess up and you find a way to recover from that mess up, that tells us something about you. I think where people go wrong with video is they want it to be perfect because we want to be seen as perfect. And a teleprompter can give you perfection, but we don’t really relate to perfection. We relate to human and humans are inherently flawed. [6:50]
Nancy Calabrese: Oh. How long should videos be?
Chris Weiher: Generally, when you first get started, I say, let it be as long as it needs to be, because people are very forgiving when you first get started. As you keep going, you do need to improve your content, so it’s better to be short or get to the point. But when you first get started, I say, if you talk for four minutes for your first video and you like it and you think it’s quality, put it out there, see what people say. As you keep going, it is better to get shorter and shorter. But I’ve put out videos on LinkedIn that were eight minutes long tutorials, and because they were very valuable for my network, people watched them, and people thanked me for that eight-minute video, which, you know, if you have the content as good, the best rule of thumb I’ve heard is make it as long as it is good. Once it stops being good, cut it short. [7:48]
Nancy Calabrese: Right. Yeah. I’ve heard contrary to that, that they should be shorter, like four minutes or less. Have you heard that?
Chris Weiher: Oh, yes, in my mind, four minutes is actually very long on LinkedIn. But I don’t want to say that to people who haven’t gotten started with video because that then puts an added level of pressure on them. Like, oh, geez, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to get into three minutes. How am I going to do it? As you’re getting started, give yourself permission to do it a little wrong and to do it a little longer than it would be. And as you go, you can improve and make it shorter and shorter. But once you’re kind of moving along, I really recommend two to three minutes max. [8:31]
Nancy Calabrese: Two-three minutes. Yeah, I don’t have a long attention span. That’s my problem.
Chris Weiher: Nobody does, and our engine spans are getting so short right now.
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah. So, are there any particular skills that you have to have to create, you know, a video that’s worth watching or compelling videos?
Chris Weiher: There are skills and like I tell folks is that to do video it’s a skill and a talent. Some people are just naturally talented at this, and they just start doing it and it works for them and other people must build up the skills and it’s not unlike public speaking. I think we all remember probably the first time I got in front of a group. I hated it. It was terrifying. [9:18]
Nancy Calabrese: Hated it. Right?
Chris Weiher: Hated it, right. The worst feeling and it can feel that way too with video. When I first did my videos on LinkedIn, every time I put the upload button, I was like, oh geez, this could be the one that tanks and ruins my reputation. But you just, I don’t know, its practice makes perfect in a lot of ways. The skills are you know talking to an inanimate object that gives you no reaction. So, if that means you need to have a friend or a spouse or somebody behind the camera that can nod and smile at you while you talk, do it. To some extent, I think that ends up being my role with some of our clients is just to have a face on the other side of Zoom. Right, and go, that was really good. And then I also can go, that was not good. Do it again. [10:07]
Nancy Calabrese: All right. to be the rah-rah person. Okay. And so how much content does a businessperson need to put out to really start driving results?
Chris Weiher: I recommend one video a week. There’s a lot of folks out there that are in the social media game that are saying you need to have something out every single day. I totally disagree with that. I think for most people it’s going to burn out your audience and they’re going to ignore you. If you are a real B2B company, one video a week is plenty for people to see your face, see you. It’s like just like going to a networking event. You don’t go every day; you go once a month or once a week. And then you do want to have some other supplemental material that you’re also putting out. That could be an article, that could be newsletters, it could be other kinds of posts to supplement that video. But for some of my clients, they really were doing one, one of my newest clients, he’s doing a video a week and he’s already getting referrals from that. So yeah, it’s…
Nancy Calabrese: Right. Oh wow!
Chris Weiher: It’s just about showing up and being there consistently, providing value. [11:20]
Nancy Calabrese: Right. What about the cost? Is it expensive to do this?
Chris Weiher: It doesn’t have to be. It really doesn’t have to be. I mean, so for most folks when they’re getting started, I say use your phone. If you have a little tripod at home, then put it on the tripod and put it on your desk and write out your 10 questions and record them and see if any of them are good. And if they are put it out. That’s about as cheap as you can do it. You know for our clients for four videos a month, we charge $7.75. I don’t know if that’s cheap or expensive for people, it depends on your business, but I really do think it is, it’s an invaluable skill that I think people should learn because yeah, it’s just one of those skills that you want to have in your tool belt. [12:13]
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah, you know, you talked earlier about, you know, posting videos that you’re frequently asked question list. But what kinds of things should we be talking about besides the FAQs? Any examples?
Chris Weiher: Absolutely. So usually, I recommend that people pick three areas that they want to speak to and depending on how niche and narrow your business is, so one of our clients is industrial engineering consulting company and that when I first started working with them, I was like I don’t know how we’re going to make this interesting. To people who do process improvement and Six Sigma training and lean, they can talk about this for hours. So that’s one sort of area that Matt talks about. And there’s other things that he talks about as well, like he’ll talk about his family life, about vacations. So, he really kind of does just a little bit of the personal side. But the more niche you are, I recommend don’t go much more than three topics. Another one of our clients, Allison, works in the Caribbean, and so her company is based there. And so, they talk, she talks sometimes about just issues that are around the people of the Caribbean countries to get conversations started about like, not necessarily political, but things that are happening in the government or what have you. And that gets the conversation going. And then she also talks about her media marketing company. So those other topics bring people in and get them interested in you as a person and interested in what you care about. And then you can also talk about your business. And when you’re talking about your business, yeah, I mean, the key things to talk about are client wins, case studies of things that have gone well, projects that have gone well things that are new, so maybe if you have a new service or a new product that you’re working on, great, but then also talking about the challenges of your business and usually the bigger the challenge and the closer it is to current events, the more time you want to kind of give it. So, if you lost the client this month, you don’t really want to talk about it that month but maybe next year you do and you want to talk about how challenging that was and what you did to recover from it and how it felt because that’s what we really connect to is the emotional side of things. The good and the bad. Yeah. [15:09]
Nancy Calabrese: Sure, sure. Oh sorry, I think I cut you off. I didn’t mean to.
Chris Weiher: Oh no no, that’s kind of, I was kind of rapping, rapping him.
Nancy Calabrese: Okay, and so when you do video, do you make recommendations for the background, what it should look like?
Chris Weiher: I do. I usually help people figure out where they want to film things and oftentimes it starts out in their office, but I usually push people once they’re comfortable doing that in their office to say, okay, let’s change up the background. Let’s either film something in another part of your house or if you are going into an office, film something in a conference room there. Something that’s becoming a little bit more popular is like the walk and talk, which depending on your coordination levels, it can be easier or harder to do. I tend to like it. Yeah. But yes, I think there is a strong reason to change up your environment because, you know, you put out your first four videos and people will probably get a great response on LinkedIn. The fifth one, if it looks the same as the other four, it’s probably going to get a little slight lesseree.
Nancy Calabrese: Right. You don’t want to trip and fall.
Chris Weiher: So, you must continue to be creative and think of other things, but that can be as easy as just going into your living room and filming a video there. So, it’s not rocket science. [16:31]
Nancy Calabrese: And what about a tire?
Chris Weiher: I would say wear what you’re comfortable in, wear what you wear to work. Wear what’s going to attract your ideal clients. I’m sure you’re aware of a customer avatar and you’re marketing to one person that represents a bigger group of people. If that person is going to respond to you being underdressed, then you should probably dress up for your video even if you don’t have any meetings. [17:03]
Nancy Calabrese: Right. Yeah, yeah, you need to match their style as best as you can. I would think so, right?
Chris Weiher: Yep. And but also to do what’s natural for you. If you don’t ever wear a collared shirt, then don’t certainly put it on for your video. If people know you as the t-shirt guy who does six figure deals, then don’t change for video. Do what feels right to you. [17:25]
Nancy Calabrese: Right. Yeah, t-shirt guy. I like that. Who do you like to work with?
Chris Weiher: Hahaha! I like to work with small and medium sized business owners. I really like to work with a team that has maybe five to 10 people and work strategically with them where we’re really making a difference. We’ve done a lot of videos for big companies and obviously those are very fun too. But most of those videos are seen internally. And I really like to work with companies that were making a difference to their bottom line, they’re seeing results, and it’s more satisfying for me. [18:08]
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah. Last question. I mean, where do you see the future of video production going?
Chris Weiher: I think it is never going away. I think that AI is going to disrupt things. There is an app now that I was testing out this week called HeyGen, and you might be blown away by the facsimile that it can create of you on camera.
Nancy Calabrese: Wow.
Chris Weiher: I’ve shown it to a couple of people and they didn’t even realize that it was AI generated.
Nancy Calabrese: Wow, how do you spell that?
Chris Weiher: h-e-y-g-e-n, and I think it might be a dot com, I could be wrong, but it’s wild. Now, the longer the clip you watch of it, the more obvious it becomes that this is not a human, this is generated by a computer. But it is only a matter of time before it gets better and better and better, and in five years it’s going to be a very different landscape. [19:18]
Nancy Calabrese: Okay, cool.
Chris Weiher: So, technology is moving very quickly. That said, the human component is going to be the hardest thing to replace. And if you can really leverage video as a part of your communication strategy, I think that element is never really going to be fully replaced, but it will be supplemented, I think, by AI. [19:42]
Nancy Calabrese: Yep. Well, I’m with you about human conversation, human connection. Just like you said, that’s never going to go away. How can my people find you?
Chris Weiher: They can most easily connect with me on LinkedIn. That’s where I do most of my networking. They can just search my name, Chris, C-H-R-I-S, Weir, W-E-I-H-E-R, and I should come up easily there with my company, Cleaver Creative, and connect with me. And I’m always happy to have conversations and help people out. [20:15]
Nancy Calabrese: Awesome. Well, I told you before we went on, I was going to learn a lot and I sure have, and I’m sure my audience has learned a lot as well. Hey, take advantage of Chris’s expertise, get in touch with him, connect on LinkedIn. And Chris, you’re great. Thanks so much for being on the show.
Chris Weiher: Thank you, Nancy. This was a real pleasure. I really appreciate it.
Nancy Calabrese: I really enjoyed it. And until next time, folks, happy selling, happy video making. That’s all for this one, OK? See you next time. [20:54]
