Back in February, I attended the Funnel Hacking Live event with my Shirt Lab business partner Tom Rauen. He’s the Click Funnels master. I’m a complete newbie.
It was a fun and very informative event. By the way, we are already planning on going again next year, as we bought tickets for the 2021 event that week. It’s that good.
One of the presenters, Dave Woodward, gave a great talk about building “Customers for Life”. He says that “to create better customer engagement, you have to show that you are a likable and relatable person.” He suggested creating video-content for that. If you weren’t comfortable with using video, he suggested taking the “Facebook Live 30-Day Challenge”.
Why is this important?
Because video is the number one channel that people are consuming for content. As a writer, that is somewhat distressing for me.
Video is scary.
Challenge Accepted
Dave is right.
Blog and article writing have been successful formats for me, but to grow, I need to embrace the awkwardness of video. Especially live video. Which is like walking the tightrope without a net.
“What if I make a mistake?”
I think I write fairly well, but stringing a few sentences together and using the correct word choice while describing something or telling a story? Oh geez.
The only way I’m going to get better is to just do it. Like ripping a band-aid off my hairy arm. Just a quick zip and it’s over. At least that’s what I initially thought.
Here are the videos that I created during this challenge. As of the day I wrote this article, they have received 3,335 views, 368 comments, and 4 shares. Is that the best in the world for numbers?
Certainly not. But not bad for a whimsical project that was published at odd times, with shaky material, and by someone who isn’t quite comfortable doing live video.
The Videos
Day 1 – My hotel room at Funnel Hacking Live.
Here we go! I started the app and just started talking in my hotel room in Nashville, Tennessee. Off to a good start. Challenge accepted!
Stats: 196 views, 26 comments. 10:20 long.
Day 2 – Lunch Break with Mark Coudray
Found a table and quiet spot to record with Mark. He shares his biggest takeaway for the day, which was the importance of video content. Lesson: I need a better microphone, as Mark comes across a little soft, but still listenable.
Stats: 336 views, 15 comments, and 1 share. 6:36 long.
Day 3 – Break with Tom Rauen at Click Funnels
I grabbed a few minutes with Tom and chatted about the event we were attending. Just winging it, and you can tell we are making it up as we go along. Tom’s biggest takeaway from that day was “focus and follow up”.
Stats: 92 views, and 14 comments. 5:41 long.
Day 4 – At The Moxy Hotel in Nashville
We moved from the Click Funnels event hotel to downtown Nashville to hang out a little bit. Did this video after a massive Shirt Lab planning meeting with Tom. My talk was about consistently showing up, but looking back you can tell that my heart wasn’t in it, and I don’t have the same energy that I exude in later videos. (Compare!) Still a good one, as it was my fourth try.
Stats: 112 views, and 13 comments. 6:26 long.
Day 5 – Live at Southeast Impressions with the Jerzees Team
I stayed in Nashville to record the first episode of the Jerzees YouTube series “Adventures in Apparel Decorating” at Ben Spurlock’s shop Southeast Impressions. This Facebook Live was filmed with the team after our walkthrough for the following day’s video shoot. The video looks terrible, but not sure why. Lesson: you can’t get too far away from the phone when filming as it’s hard to hear. Huge thank you for the crew helping with this! (Austin, Christie, Donnie, and Nick) Finally, I love Christie’s comment, “There is no such thing as being overplanned.” Amen.
Stats: 329 views, 3 comments, and 2 shares. 8:57 long
Day 6.5 – Back in the Office
I skipped a day, so I guess I didn’t really do 30 days in a row. But that’s ok. Here, I named this episode Day 6.5 to highlight that. However, this was the first episode where I actually planned out what I wanted to say. I used part of the Tony Robbins presentation from Funnel Hacking Live to talk about “Naming what isn’t really working” as the basis for the video. Looking back, I think that simply jotting down an idea or two really helped organize my thoughts.
Stats: 120 views, 10 comments, 6:18 long
Day 7 – Good Work vs Bad Work
What’s the difference between Good Work and Bad Work? This was a good video and I outlined exactly what I wanted to say. Not a lot of people watched, but one of the better videos in this series.
Stats: 69 views, 4 comments, 7:58 long
Day 8 – Shirt Lab Discussion
This video talks about the upcoming Shirt Lab events for this year. Using some notes. Shout out to our sponsors. Get your tickets here.
Stats: 107 views, 10 comments, 1 share, 13:41 long
Day 9 – Hanging by the Pool On a Saturday
Talked about the XFL. I just watched the first game. Some thoughts on the XFL. Graphics, swag, and how they are trying to build excitement with the league.
Stats: 86 views, 7 comments, 6:00 long
Day 10 – Oscar Preview With Jack
I somehow convinced my son Jack to hang out with me and talk about movies. The Oscars were on later that night and we give our predictions and give our top three movies from last year. Of all the videos, this one was my favorite because Jack participated. He did a great job, even though he clearly didn’t want to be on the video.
Stats: 230 views, 23 comments, 8:25 long
Day 11 – In an Uber In North Carolina
I went to North Carolina to work with a new client. In my Uber ride to my hotel, I shared some lead generation thoughts. Map out who you are targeting for customers and develop a plan to go after clones of your best customers. Totally off the cuff. No planning.
Stats: 71 views, 2 comments, 6:59 long
Day 12 – From the Charlotte Airport
Waiting on my flight home, I posted this at the end of a long day. I can tell looking back that I was really tired. Not a lot of energy here. Process improvement and efficiency talk. Again, off the cuff without planning.
Stats: 70 views, 12 comments, 5:58 long
Day 13 – My Origin Story
For this video, I shared my career journey. Who am I and how did I get mixed up in this crazy industry? Watch the video and find out. By the way, my wife hated how the reflection from my computer monitor was present in my glasses. Good tip. I turned off the monitor after this one.
Stats: 92 views, 21 comments. 28:35 long – it’s a big one!
Day 14 – Discussion on Processes
In this video, I shared some of the challenges that I have been working with my coaching clients. The main part of the video is about Processes. It’s one thing to have processes, but we need to be making sure they are dialed in and working the way they should. Are these the results that we want to have? Shortly after this video, I published this blog about processes.
Stats: 84 views, 10 comments, 9:47 long
Day 15 – Halfway Mark!
This video was recorded on Valentine’s Day, so I talked about doing what you love. Time = Love. When we love something, we spend time with that.
Stats: 39 views, 5 comments, 7:51 long
Day 16 – Shirt Lab Tickets on Sale!
The website for Shirt Lab went live on this day, and I spoke about the events. Shirt Lab Chicago Women’s Nexus. Shirt Lab Dallas. Listen and watch my take on each event.
Stats: 107 views, 32 comments, 21:03 long
Day 17 – Relaxing Sunday
Update on what I’m doing on a Sunday including showing a watercolor painting of a cactus flower I started.
Stats: 69 views, 24 comments, 9:19 long
Day 18 – At Tiny Little Monster in St. Louis
I went to St. Louis to film episode two of this season’s Adventures in Apparel Decorating. For my FB 30-Day Challenge video, I sat down with Sloan Coleman with Tiny Little Monster and talked about her shop.
Stats: 157 views, 6 comments, 6:28 long
Day 19 – Early Morning From My Hotel Room in St. Louis
This video was about early morning habits that set up your day and was posted at 6:05 am. How prepared is your shop for the day? I walk through how to organize and plan for the day for the best results.
Stats: 78 views, 7 comments, 8:38 long
Day 20 – Importance of Shop Culture
Inspired by the fantastic shop culture of Tiny Little Monster, this video discussion was about how to curate that in your shop. Big thanks to the team at TLM, for getting me thinking about that!
Stats: 77 views, 21 comments, 10:56 long
Day 21 – The Concept of Me, We, They, You, Us
For content generation ideas, I share a technique called “Me, We, They, You, Us”.
- Me: Let me tell you a problem I’ve had…
- We: I’ll bet you’ve experienced this too…
- They: Here’s what authorities say…
- You: Here are some steps you can take…
- Us: Imagine how much better it would be if we all…
Stats: 60 views, 4 comments
Day 22 – Why Are You Doing This?
Brian Bufka asked me why I was doing the Facebook 30-Day Challenge. Here’s my answer: everything is moving to video and I need to learn. Getting better and getting comfortable with video is my main goal here.
Stats: 38 views, 6 comments, 7:46
Day 22 – Let’s Break the Internet
At ThreadX several people got together to film their own Facebook Live videos…all within about ten feet from each other. Hilarity ensues. Also notice that I mislabeled the day. It should be Day 23. Oh well.
Stats: 95 views, 4 comments, 5:14 long
Day 23 – Marshall Atkinson and Alan Howe Live
Before breakfast at ThreadX, I grabbed my pal Alan and we talked about ThreadX and also our classes at the upcoming ISS Atlantic City Expo. By the way, you can register for the class here.
Stats: 88 views, 8 comments, 13:59 long
Day 23 – At ThreadX with Ali Banholzer and Tom Rauen
During the lunch break, Ali, Tom, and I discuss our favorite ThreadX presentations so far, plus a discussion on Shirt Lab Chicago. Ali is one of the speakers there! Yes, I named the title 23 by mistake. Again.
Stats: 155 views, 6 comments, 11:08 long
Day 24 – Back in the Office From ThreadX
Still excited about hanging out with everyone that made the trip. It was fun to learn some new concepts and will be even more fun putting them into practice.
Stats: 72 views, 22 comments 10:43 long
Day 25 – Human-Centered Marketing
For businesses, the most human company wins. This video was a discussion on that concept and how you can apply this thinking to your shop.
Stats: 60 views, 7 comments, 15:09 long
Day 26 – Trying Something New
Bought a new webcam. I tried it out with my computer instead of using my phone to film and publish the Facebook Live post. This episode was oriented horizontally instead of vertically. The concept for that day was Simplifying Things. Question your priorities.
Stats: 95 views, 10 comments, 7:33 long
Day 27 – Saturday Hilarity & Mistakes
Goofing off on a Saturday. I Talked about my team, Florida State, losing to Clemson in basketball. Which prompted the discussion on mistakes. Learning from mistakes is how you grow. I share an update on my cactus flower watercolor painting.
Stats: 81 views, 16 comments, 11:04 long
Day 28 – Getting Ready and Preparation
How are you getting organized and ready to work? Planning is anticipatory decision making. Put the mental effort in early so you can move faster.
Stats: 47 views, 8 comments, 5:20
Day 29 – Shirt Lab
Before the video, I was working on Shirt Lab projects all day, so I discuss what that is like. Plus, an update on sponsors!
Stats: 67 views, 12 comments, 21:48
Day 30! Victory!
The final episode on this project. I share what I’ve learned. Huge thanks to everyone that watched, commented, shared, or agreed to be in the videos. You guys rock!
Stats: 176 views, 16 comments
Here’s What I Learned
After filming thirty-two videos for the thirty-day challenge, it’s evident that I can’t count. But, there’s no use crying over spilled milk. It was the journey that was important.
Key Takeaways:
- Doing something every single day is very difficult. I didn’t want to break the streak, but ultimately I did. It was ok. The sky didn’t fall.
- Be prepared. Simply jotting down some thoughts on an index card vastly improved the videos as it organized my thoughts and kept me on track. You should do this.
- Bring lots of energy to the videos. I think the best videos were when I was having fun and engaged with lots of energy. In the earlier ones, I didn’t let my personality shine through and were less engaging.
- Interviews work great. Some of the highest viewerships were when I interviewed another person or people.
- Give yourself the freedom to make mistakes. I’m not perfect and neither are you. Have fun.
- Sound quality matters. Use a microphone or stay close to one.
- Relax. Talk to the camera lens like you are talking to one of your best friends.
Overall, this was an incredibly fun and rewarding challenge. For the life of me, I don’t know why I was so hesitant to do a Facebook Live video before.
I’ll be posting soon! So look for those on Facebook. Thanks for watching!
“One picture is worth a 1,000 denials.” – Ronald Reagan
“A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.” – Groucho Marx
“I never said most of the things I said.” – Yogi Berra
