[00:00:00] Aaron Witnish: you'll get the content that you need. Won't get replicated because it's authentic to you as a personal brand and you won't have that experience where it takes five hours and you feel like you didn't get one of the takes right.
[00:00:11] Dave Polykoff: That's Aaron Witnish, A.K.A. the Video Content King. Aaron is the Managing Director of Content Only, a video marketing agency helping personal brands like you and I create 30 days worth of content in only 90 minutes per month.
[00:00:24] Dave Polykoff: And that's what today's episode is all about.
[00:00:26] Dave Polykoff: How busy entrepreneurs can go from feeling overwhelmed and being behind on their content calendars, to being flush with ready to publish content their audience will love.
[00:00:34] Dave Polykoff: On this episode we'll learn how to find client attracting topics your audience wants to hear you talk about.
[00:00:40] Aaron Witnish: in the space of 30 seconds, you can get your content ideas that your target market are typing into Google and know exactly what you can start talking about.
[00:00:48] Dave Polykoff: Tips and tricks on how to look and sound your best on camera.
[00:00:52] Aaron Witnish: Think about what you need to feel good and give yourself that little warm up, a little bit of runway before you get started with the other person that you're talking to. And you'll [00:01:00] probably find you're relaxed into it and 15 minutes into the conversation, you'll forget it's been recorded and you'll just be having a great chat.
[00:01:06] Dave Polykoff: and how being a guest on someone else's podcast can help you generate content and exposure for your personal brand.
[00:01:12] Aaron Witnish: Podcast guest appearances is steroids for your personal brand because you're getting exposed to an audience you didn't have to build.
[00:01:19] Dave Polykoff: So let's learn all about how to grow our personal brands through video together on this episode of brand science.
[00:01:25]
[00:01:25] Dave Polykoff: Welcome to the brand science podcast. Um, all things personal branding and content creation, which is speaking of content creation. I am joined today. By Aaron witness, a co founder of content only, which is a three step system, uh, to create 30 days of content in 90 minutes. Lovely. Love all that.
[00:01:49] Dave Polykoff: So Aaron, appreciate you coming to the show today, man.
[00:01:52] Aaron Witnish: Dave, very excited to be here and chat with you, mate.
[00:01:54] Dave Polykoff: Absolutely. So what I love to do at the beginning of every episode, being that this is [00:02:00] a Uh, podcast for personal branders, large part of personal branding is that personal part is your backstory. So I want to start with what is your backstory and what led you, what journey heroes journey did you go on that inspired, uh, content only.
[00:02:15] Dave Polykoff: And this, um, you know, 30 days of content in 90 minutes, uh, process.
[00:02:21] Aaron Witnish: Interesting thing about the story is it all kind of happened by accident. There's a lot of businesses do. So initially if you rewind the clock back 14 years, I started selling information products online. So I'd write. Copy for sales pages. I'd run a Google ad and I'd sell digital products, which back then that was quite easy to do.
[00:02:41] Aaron Witnish: So a few people knew what I was doing. They said, Hey, you know how to set up pages and advertising. Can you help our business do that? So that's how an agency started. And then if we move along the timeline, uh, we're sort of a end to end service in the agency front and slowly but surely that started to niche [00:03:00] into a specific platform, specific outcome, and we were doing a strategy that would help our clients open up business opportunities.
[00:03:08] Aaron Witnish: But in order to achieve that, we would. Do content creation to help position them, to make them more palatable when they're approaching for these joint ventures. And so what was happening was our clients networks were seeing their content and they were coming to those businesses and saying, Hey, who's doing your posting?
[00:03:25] Aaron Witnish: And they'd say, Oh, it's the agency was called TDMA, the digital marketing agency. com. au. So they'd reach out to us and say, we just want content. We only want content. And I really love content and I've always created content. Since the inception of social media, since I've had accounts, something I've always loved to do.
[00:03:46] Aaron Witnish: So it was a product that was always in the back of my mind and content only started so we could have a service that just focused on content creation and didn't cross pollinate or interfere with what we were doing without more established agency. [00:04:00] So kind of happened by accident. We had, I think, four clients that.
[00:04:03] Aaron Witnish: We're pre sold and ready to go before we even launched the business. So we're able to build it with revenue from day one, rather than self funding the company. So it kind of happened by accident, but it's now where I spend 95 percent of my business time, and I just love creating content for business owners, personal brands, and people in that space.
[00:04:22] Dave Polykoff: Sure. That's a, that's great. It sounds like it kind of came out of necessity. It was something that you, you love doing already, but then you found there was a high demand for it. So you were like, well, this is. What a, what a meeting of, of kind of two passions there. That's great. Um, And so, you know, you mentioned kind of this, this process for creating content.
[00:04:44] Dave Polykoff: This is like a huge problem with people who want to get into personal branding is they don't know where to start because this Herculean task of creating content, tools, content, ideation, you know, [00:05:00] how to show up. On camera, what camera do I use and how do I edit content and all that kind of stuff? It just feels like an elephant.
[00:05:09] Dave Polykoff: Um, and they say the best way to kind of eat an elephant is one bite at a time. So help us help us eat this elephant one bite at a time. Walk us through what, what it's, what's this process for creating 30 days of content in 90 minutes, because this is another thing too, is what we hear all the time from our clients is.
[00:05:27] Dave Polykoff: I have a full time job, you know, like I'm a realtor. I'm always out there selling houses. I'm, you know, I have an agency to run. Right. So time is of the essence with, uh, with, with, uh, you know, business executives and such. So this 90 days is a pretty sexy number. I'm sorry, 90 days, 90, 90 minutes is a pretty sexy number for those who want to create content.
[00:05:48] Dave Polykoff: So help us understand kind of what that process is and where that 90 minutes is put towards. And
[00:05:54] Aaron Witnish: professional building, your personal brand is one of the best things you can do while you're [00:06:00] in a career, because if you can stand out in your industry and in your marketplace, the opportunities that come your way. And if you want it to go out into business or monetize as a personal brand, you create that opportunity.
[00:06:11] Aaron Witnish: So knowing what your. Specialization is, is a really good place to start and don't feel bad if you're not sure because you can just start creating content, talking about the things that you want to talk about and let it take shape. But if you know who your audience is and what your specialization is, the first step is going, okay, who am I creating content for?
[00:06:30] Aaron Witnish: And that's a really important question because a lot of people try to entertain and create content to get likes, clicks, engagement. But in a business sense, that's not the right strategy. In an entertainment sense, if you're an entertainer, that's a great strategy. So it just depends where you're sitting.
[00:06:46] Aaron Witnish: So then you go, okay, which platform is that audience on or spending the most of their time and consuming their content on? So you can start to simplify it a little bit. Okay, I'm creating content for this group of people. They're on this platform. Let's say it's LinkedIn as an [00:07:00] example. And what time of the day are they?
[00:07:02] Aaron Witnish: Consuming this content and you're like, Oh, it's in the mornings on their commute to work or in the evenings after the workday's done. And you can work out your content strategy very, very quickly with those simple questions where I'm going to post it. What time I'm going to post it? Who am I posting it for?
[00:07:16] Aaron Witnish: The next part where everyone gets stuck is, well, what do I post now? And the first step in the 30 days in 90 minutes content creation system is we call it research. So there's research, repurpose. Sorry, research, record, repurpose. And the easiest thing to do is you take a keyword from your niche. So let's say you're a real estate agent or a realtor and you might take a keyword like the property market and you go to Google and you type That in, you press enter and you scroll down.
[00:07:46] Aaron Witnish: There's a people also ask section on Google and it'll just have questions and queries that people are typing in looking for that content, looking for that information if you keep clicking down, it'll just keep giving you question after question after question. So [00:08:00] in the space of. 30 seconds, you can get your content ideas that your target market are typing into Google and know exactly what you can start talking about without overthinking, without getting overwhelmed, without running out of ideas.
[00:08:12] Aaron Witnish: So that, that's step one. I think that solves a big problem for a lot of people.
[00:08:16] Dave Polykoff: I want to emphasize this point too, because I think we get a little too in our heads with what we think needs to be our topic for our piece, that it needs to be this topic that's never been talked about before, and this original thought with this hot take, and that's the only thing that's going to get engagement, um, or, or, you know, be, uh, relevant for our, for our client.
[00:08:43] Dave Polykoff: But the thing is with content creation, really like the one on one content, the frequently asked question content is typically the stuff we see is, is the most needed. And yes, there's time and place for like the hot takes and, you know, the, [00:09:00] um, you know, if there's some, some news that's coming out and you want to kind of add your perspective to it, but don't overthink it, it sounds like it's kind of the first step is just like, go to where people, you Are already asking these questions and seeing what the most asked questions are and just start there, especially because, you know, starting content creation is difficult.
[00:09:18] Dave Polykoff: So like. You know, the, the lowering the barrier to entry with just figuring out what to talk about is, is probably the most ideal thing for personal brands. But you're saying like, just go to Google and see what people are already searching.
[00:09:32] Aaron Witnish: Well, if you're solving the questions that people are typing in, They're relevant and that's what people want to know. And if you become the solutions to people's biggest problems, they see you as the biggest expert in the space. So as a personal brand, if you're meeting the market and your audience with the questions that are going on in their head and you're answering them, then all of a sudden they're like, you've got to go listen to Dave.
[00:09:58] Aaron Witnish: Because he has all the [00:10:00] answers that I need to know about getting my home loan or where to buy property, the property market, what's happening, depending on what the specialization is. So you're absolutely right. Just see what people are asking and then go answer those questions.
[00:10:13] Dave Polykoff: Yeah. And it's, that's kind of the, uh, the trick too, right. Is. When you show up answering the questions that most people have, it gives this concept of like, wow, he really knows. He's really inside my head. You know, he knows what I'm thinking. He knows my problems. Um, and People think, oh, wow, this person knows, knows my problems inside and out.
[00:10:38] Dave Polykoff: They're going to assume he knows the solution or they know the solution too. So, you know, if you're too everywhere with your strategy and you're kind of talking, you know, whatever the latest trend is or whatever, um, you know, you're, you're sometimes not speaking your, your, uh, your audience's language.
[00:10:54] Dave Polykoff: That's, that's really great. So first one is research. One area you mentioned, okay. [00:11:00] Is Google going to Google and finding what the most asked questions are. Is there any other places that people can go to, to find kind of their topic muse, if you will?
[00:11:11] Aaron Witnish: Yeah, there's vidIQ. So if you're creating video, Content and you want to see what the demand and competition is like in different niches. You can do the exact same process that I just mentioned that you did on Google. So you take any keyword that someone might type in in that niche or searching for that information, you put it in there.
[00:11:36] Aaron Witnish: And there's a questions tab that comes up. And if you click on that, it'll tell you how many people are typing that in to YouTube every single month. And then also how much competing content's out there. So every now and again, you'll see something that's green and that'll be a low competition search. So if you create a video.
[00:11:56] Aaron Witnish: That has the title that people are searching for [00:12:00] and you answer that question and you use the title, the start of the video, you're optimizing for YouTube, which is a search engine and you're also putting content out that doesn't have a lot of competition at the moment, which can help you get that 24 7 real estate when people keep looking for that online, which can give you a 24 7 asset that keeps So, very much.
[00:12:20] Aaron Witnish: Get getting attention and view viewership and driving people towards your personal brand.
[00:12:27] Dave Polykoff: Sure. Yeah. I love, uh, I love the concept of like this 24, seven asset, because what we like to say is, um, Content is like your little mini sales soldiers out there that are always selling for you, no matter what you said, 24, seven, you know, for example, you're in Australia, I'm in Philadelphia, very different time zones.
[00:12:47] Dave Polykoff: So I got, we had to sleep sometime, but our content doesn't sleep. That's always selling for us. So, you know, no matter, no matter when, uh, what time of day, you know, you're all, you always have a piece of you out there kind of [00:13:00] pitching and selling your service. I love that. So first. Step is research. Now you said second step is to actually record
[00:13:09] Aaron Witnish: Yeah. So the easiest way to do this content creation is hard. If you set up a camera and you go, I've got to film videos and you're staring down the camera, you get awkward, you get unnatural, and it's usually take after take after take, and you still don't feel like you've got it. So what you do is from those questions that you get from your research that You compile a list of say 12 each month, and then you get a colleague, you get a client, you get a friend, someone that you have great rapport with.
[00:13:36] Aaron Witnish: And all you're going to do is jump on a platform like Google drive. So Google meet or zoom, and they're just going to chat to you. So they've got the questions you're going to show up on your iPhone. So you can record it the best, uh, format for short form. So you get it in the right dimensions. And that's it.
[00:13:54] Aaron Witnish: They're going to ask you the question, you'll repeat the question to them and you'll just talk to them and answer the question. [00:14:00] And if you go through and do that, you'll find it's such a natural delivery style. You won't be in your head because you just feel like you're talking to a colleague or a friend.
[00:14:07] Aaron Witnish: You'll forget that you're recording after question two or three. So you get the most authentic style. And because it doesn't matter if you mess up or you need to do a double take or you want to add more because that gets sorted out in step number three, repurposing, you'll get the content that you need.
[00:14:23] Aaron Witnish: Won't get replicated because it's authentic to you as a personal brand and you won't have that experience where it takes five hours and you feel like you didn't get one of the takes right. So that's been, yeah, yeah, that's been a transformation and that came about with a conversation. I was having one of my clients who was a bricklayer and he said he wanted to do some videos and we were on zoom at the time.
[00:14:46] Aaron Witnish: I'm just going to start asking you questions, mate. Let's just talk. And we hit record, asked him questions, he answered them. We finished the conversation. I gave it to my editing team and then they gave me back 12 clips that we could use on social media from a [00:15:00] spontaneous 20 minute conversation. And I was like, that's exactly how content needs to be created to keep it original, authentic and on brand for people.
[00:15:09] Dave Polykoff: right? Yeah, it's the kind of model we, we go with is, you know, everything is content. And so in this case, it's a little bit more like, Hey, we're going to set up a time and place and list of, of, uh, questions that we're going to ask you. Um, so it's a little bit more prepared, but it's, it's, it's. In your case, it sounds like even it can sometimes be impromptu.
[00:15:31] Dave Polykoff: Like if you are just having, um, you know, a business meeting, you know, everything's remote nowadays. So we're always, you know, uh, at our desk at our house, um, zooming. Uh, and so you just got to press or Google meet. Um, yeah. So in those cases, if you guys are, if you're with a business partner or your team, and it sounds like if you're just kind of in a zone where you're like, wow, this is actually a really good conversation, just press record.
[00:15:57] Dave Polykoff: And that can end up being some impromptu [00:16:00] content as well. Right? So I guess could be. One could be, let's have, let's set up time and place. Cause then that way, you know, you're getting it for the week or for the month. Um, but you know, as long as you're just recording or you're just in a, in some sort of zoom or Google meet, it sounds like you could still probably get some good content that way too.
[00:16:20] Aaron Witnish: Definitely spontaneous works really well because then it really is off the cusp and most differences with step one is you're answering questions, you know, the marketplace and your niche is searching for. So you're creating that relevant content that is solving their problems. Option number two is great.
[00:16:36] Aaron Witnish: If you really want to just be Have fun. If you've got someone that you have a really good energy and you have great chats about your market, then you can do that and not even have to go to the research step and just start with a fun, easy, relaxed conversation and show up and record it very simple.
[00:16:53] Dave Polykoff: And, and so I want to spend some time on this, this, uh, step too, because [00:17:00] actually pressing record is a pretty nerve wracking thing for people who've never been on camera before. And I know you mentioned having these types of conversations where it is a conversation versus you alone in your apartment and like going up, pressing record, walking back and like doing a talking head video is, is kind of a what, how can people kind of prepare?
[00:17:23] Dave Polykoff: Either mentally or with equipment or scenery to help them show up their best on video, where it is authentic, where they're not overthinking it, um, and they can present, know, the best, their best version of themselves and also the best iteration. Of a response. Should they be prepping for their responses?
[00:17:46] Dave Polykoff: Should it be off the cuff? Is that most naturally kind of, what are best practices for just showing up on camera?
[00:17:52] Aaron Witnish: Well, first of all, is being in a space where you feel good. About being on camera. So you're wearing what you'd wear for work. And if you feel good [00:18:00] in those clothes using your iPhone, you're going to get pretty good or a smartphone. You're gonna get pretty good quality video. So you should look pretty sharp on that using a backdrop or space that you like being in that environment.
[00:18:11] Aaron Witnish: That's all going to help you feel good about the end product and what's going to come out in the recording. We have clients that show up to the sessions and they don't. They have, we have the questions that we have others that are meticulous that prepare a lot. And so I think it's how you feel confident.
[00:18:28] Aaron Witnish: So if you're someone that's a natural communicator, you're probably going to be fine just showing up and jumping into the questions and talking. If you're someone that likes to prepare, I would say do that. So you stick to your strengths because if you need that for the confidence, you need to review, have a couple of, Dot points that you've taken in advance, and that's just going to help you deliver the way that serves you best.
[00:18:51] Aaron Witnish: I would say also have a warm up, like have 10 minutes of chatting before you dive into the content because that relaxes you into the [00:19:00] process and you'll already have the energy because there's another person on the other side of the conversation. You have leaned into that. You'll feel good at already be flowing and just give yourself that freedom and flexibility for it to not go well and to feel unnatural, to feel awkward permission to stuff up because in step three, you'll see it doesn't actually matter if you do mess up, if you lose track, if you, um, you are, you say, you know, all the time because that's where it gets ironed out.
[00:19:31] Aaron Witnish: So I think just. Think about what you need to feel good and give yourself that little warm up, a little bit of runway before you get started with the other person that you're talking to. And you'll probably find you're relaxed into it and 15 minutes into the conversation, you'll forget it's been recorded and you'll just be having a great chat.
[00:19:48] Aaron Witnish: Scripted,
[00:19:49] Dave Polykoff: Yeah. I mean, in, in full transparency, I get, you know, the, the pre stage jitters every time I do a podcast. Right. Like, and it's funny because I'm just the host. [00:20:00] I mean, I won't say just the host, but like, you know, the, the eyes are typically on the guests to kind of show up, but I still feel this pressure to do it.
[00:20:07] Dave Polykoff: And so. You know, before this podcast, we had, you know, a few minutes of kind of a warm up. And I, I do that for the guests, but I largely do it for myself so that I can. Get the warm up myself and feel, you know, comfortable, um, you know, being able to, to talk into a camera and, and, and show up. So totally get that.
[00:20:27] Dave Polykoff: Um, one thing I know is somewhat of a, kind of a debate, if maybe that's the wrong word to use, but a discussion is the idea of scripting versus kind of off the cuff and the pros and cons of each, um, Do you have clients that prefer to, well, I know this is more of a conversation, but is it, is there ever kind of an, a point where they're like, you know what?
[00:20:51] Dave Polykoff: I really need this to be. Scripted out word for word. And I'll just read that. Um, and, and what do you see as kind of maybe the pros and cons of being [00:21:00] overly prepared versus kind of letting things just fly off the hip?
[00:21:05] Aaron Witnish: you're in your head. So you'll see that in the footage, you can tell when someone's reading a script. Very easy to see. So it's less authentic. So if it's avoidable, then I would say drop the script. You've got the answers, you know your craft, you're a personal brand, you're an expert. Trust that it'll come out when you're having the conversation.
[00:21:24] Aaron Witnish: If it's something where you have to deliver word for word for whatever reasons, maybe it's a sensitive area and you've got to say the right thing. Words use the right language, or you're doing a call to action. That might be a video where you're asking people to do something very specific. Then by all means, that might be appropriate at that point.
[00:21:44] Aaron Witnish: We might have in the 12 questions that we asked the client, they might have one where they've actually prepared some variation of a script where they have to say something quite specific in that response. But generally speaking, you're going to get a very different, Style of [00:22:00] content and off this authenticity when someone's scripted versus unscripted and I think you'll find that not scripted is going to Connect more with the audience and bring out the best version of yourself.
[00:22:11] Aaron Witnish: So that's my take on it.
[00:22:13] Dave Polykoff: Yeah, no, I a hundred percent agree. I mean, it's something I've, I've battled with early on in content creation and largely why I wanted to start this podcast is because there is no script here, right? There's like, you know, we're not, we're not actors here. Um, so we have to be able to, to shoot off the hip.
[00:22:32] Dave Polykoff: But yeah, I agree with the idea that there's like little quirks to you that don't shine through when you're too in your head, as you're saying, trying to read, you're not able to express yourself naturally. And people, people can clearly see that. Um, so maybe what you're saying is like, On point, but just the way you're saying it.
[00:22:53] Dave Polykoff: I just don't feel like I can vibe with that. And that's the personal part as we're talking about with personal branding is anyone can [00:23:00] read a script, but I want to know like specifically you, why do I want to work with you? Um, so yeah, a hundred percent. And so we talk about kind of being comfortable. On camera with kind of the clothing you're wearing, who you're talking to the environment, maybe what you're saying, um, what other elements to video creation specifically help support the end result of, of the content?
[00:23:30] Dave Polykoff: Is there equipment we think to thinking about things like lighting and audio and all that kind of stuff, what are best practices for ensuring if you're going to capture video content, that it's going to come out in a way that. It's going to be prime for where you're trying to publish it. Most likely social media.
[00:23:47] Aaron Witnish: If you're a personal brand, also think about that audience and what you want your brand to look like, because we have some clients that are in, say, trade and construction. So aesthetics is less important than a client [00:24:00] that might be in a very specialist consultive type brand. Uh, and if you're in a space where you want to be, Perceive as high end and that's your audience, then aesthetics might be more important.
[00:24:13] Aaron Witnish: So you might want to deliver at a higher quality, which means you do get some lighting, which you can get lighting rings on Amazon. You can get a Bluetooth wireless mic for about 50 next day delivery. And that can give you really nice high quality sound, but don't overcomplicate it because I think where most people stumble is they don't get started with content because they put all these variables in the way that go, I need.
[00:24:36] Aaron Witnish: The microphone, I need the camera, I need the lighting and they never get started. The best thing you can do is have the journey of your content starting somewhere and getting better as you go because you can always add those things in because content is about adding value to the end user and the audience.
[00:24:53] Aaron Witnish: So if you can just start by saying helpful things that solve problems and you focus on [00:25:00] what's in it for them and not what's About yourself and how can I deliver value for even if it's just one person that hears this message and forget about the metrics, that's the mindset will get you to show up because it's more about the habit in the beginning.
[00:25:12] Aaron Witnish: So I would say if aesthetics are important, get those basic pieces of equipment, make sure that you feel good about that. But more importantly, it's about building the muscle. And we have clients that really don't care about the quality. They just want to say great things. So as long as the actual content, what comes out of their mouth is brilliant.
[00:25:32] Aaron Witnish: How it looks is less important. Then we've got the other end of the scale where they've got high end cameras. They've got everything to a T and that's fine because again, they're creating the content for their end user that represents their brand. I think that's, that's really important. Your choice. And that's what you get to choose, but get started first and foremost, don't complicate it because you'll get better and you can layer things in as you go.
[00:25:56] Dave Polykoff: Yeah, the, uh, that's, that's kind of core tenant. [00:26:00] Number one, I would say is the first phase when you're starting a personal brand is just understand what you want to say and make sure you consistently show up and say it the, how you say it will, we'll craft that over time and we'll polish that over time.
[00:26:17] Dave Polykoff: That's the makeup that will you put on and everything, you know, it's the video editing and all that kind of stuff. But yeah, I agree. The, the. The day one focus is just actually press record and then more importantly, press publish after that. Um, but yeah, being able to show up consistently and speak on a topic.
[00:26:39] Dave Polykoff: Uh, in the right messaging is like. 75 percent of personal branding and all the other kind of stuff is the icing on the cake. And I think we get, we flip it. We think, Oh wait, I need the icing before I can, before I can start creating content. Um, but it sounds, I think that's more of like, uh, our excuse [00:27:00] cause we're too nervous to, to get started.
[00:27:02] Dave Polykoff: So, um, so it sounds like kind of a lot of the content that. Is you would be able to create with this system is a lot of like talking head videos with kind of thought leadership ideas, FAQs, misconceptions, things like that. And you're able to create 30 days worth of that content to publish. Is there. On the back half of that, when you actually go to, when you're publishing this content, obviously the goal is we're not looking at kind of fluff metrics, like views and likes and all that kind of stuff, right?
[00:27:43] Dave Polykoff: We're looking more so, am I impacting my audience in a positive way? And ideally, at the end of the day, that translates into some sort of ROI for me, because that's kind of why I'm here too, is I do have a business to run and I'm trying to attract clients. So if I see clients go [00:28:00] up, that's one indicator that I'm being successful.
[00:28:03] Dave Polykoff: Is there a certain type of content that We've that you feel translates the most into that type of result, you know, for example, you know, you can be publishing content for the sake of. Attracting eyeballs. But then at the same time, you still kind of, you need to convert those eyeballs into clients. So how do you think about that in terms of like, okay, it's not just showing up and talking about FAQs, you still need to turn eyeballs into clients and that still takes a different style of content.
[00:28:38] Dave Polykoff: So is that an arena that you play in as well?
[00:28:41] Aaron Witnish: Depth is the key. The most important aspect, if you've got a business component to what you're trying to achieve. So the more narrow you go, the more specialist you are, the easier it becomes to monetize because you're solving more specific problems and people will usually pay more money for bigger problems to be solved.
[00:28:58] Aaron Witnish: So some ways [00:29:00] that the narrow you go, the less you get the vanity metrics, because there's a smaller pool, a small audience, but the more money you make, Because you're specializing and I think that's really key to understand and one pivot that we've noticed has a massive impact on the business side. When you're creating content is something we call the one URL rule.
[00:29:18] Aaron Witnish: And this is where you can send all your traffic from your content to one place. And you could just say, go check out the link in my bio as an example. So in our business, we have the 30 days in 90 minutes content creation system, which we give away for free at contentonly. au. So by having that in our bio on all our social media profiles, when we come on podcasts like this, when we say that, if we want to put it as a call to action in the content, we can just keep sending traffic to the one place.
[00:29:45] Aaron Witnish: Now we've become known very quickly for the 30 days in 90 minutes content creation system. So if you as a personal brand go, okay, what's my system or what's the outcome that I can deliver? And you can put that into a sentence like the 30 days in 90 minutes content creation system. What's [00:30:00] your, uh, Version of that very quickly in your industry, in your space, people will start to go, Oh, that's Dave who does this.
[00:30:07] Aaron Witnish: And that helps people come to you for a very specific outcome. And that's where it becomes really easy to get clients and also them knowing what you do for them and conversion goes through the roof, getting people that are coming to you that know exactly. What you can do for them makes life so much easier in a marketing sense.
[00:30:26] Aaron Witnish: You're not filtering through all these leads that don't really quite know how you can help them. So you spend a lot of time with people that are unsure and they're not 100 percent certain you're the right fit. People are like, okay, this is exactly what you do. So if you can come up with your version of that and you can have a place where you can send any organic traffic in your bio, in your content, from your profiles, you'll find that.
[00:30:49] Aaron Witnish: Just showing up and doing content consistently will actually drive a lot of business opportunities your way. And I think that's been a really important shift for people that are going down the road of producing content.[00:31:00]
[00:31:00] Dave Polykoff: Do you, so do you think is it best to kind of pepper in some calls to actions within your videos itself, or should you keep it more so thought leadership, value driven, and then if they're. They'll swipe off into your profile, stumble upon your link and go, Ooh, okay, there's some free lead magnet. Let me opt into that.
[00:31:24] Dave Polykoff: Um, you know, which is there, is there a preference there?
[00:31:29] Aaron Witnish: If you look at the content that you're creating, I would say if you've spoken about a specific problem and then that resource can help solve that problem, you can mention it then. But I think if it's not quite a fit, then you just add the value because people, if they're sitting there, they're retained and they've watched you for 40 seconds, they might go look at your profile.
[00:31:51] Aaron Witnish: And then if it's sitting there, they go, Oh, look at that resource. So. I'm not a big advocate of CTA, CTA, call to action, uh, send people, [00:32:00] uh, to, to the lead magnets and all that sort of thing, but strategically using it where it's a fit or appropriate, let's say you've talked about it and saying in the, in the text PS, we've got it, go to the boat or whatever, and download it or having it in the comment section below that, that can be a really good, Simple way to get some hands up and to drive some opportunities for your business.
[00:32:22] Aaron Witnish: But if you look at my content, for example, I very rarely. Tell people to go to the website. It might be one in 10 pieces of content that I do that. So the bow it's probably an 80 20 is probably how I look at it with our clients as well. We might have 20 percent of posts that direct them to do something, 80 percent of just value delivering.
[00:32:43] Aaron Witnish: Information that's going to educate the end audience, make their life better and build that relationship, build the expertise, build the positioning and then I'm sure when that person gets curious or the time's right, that's when they'll start exploring and go have a look and find a way to potentially get [00:33:00] further help from there.
[00:33:03] Dave Polykoff: One common concern we'll call it that we always hear about people who. We'll say either want to start their personal brands or have started creating content and publishing content is they are weary of publishing too much value content, you know, informational content, because they don't want to feel like they're forcing FAQs down people's throats.
[00:33:31] Dave Polykoff: And they're just constantly showing up, especially if they're starting to publish this content on there. Personal Instagram or their personal Facebook, where they typically would show, you know, them in a coffee shop or them with family. And now all of a sudden they started their personal brand and they're starting to shove like one on one content down your throat.
[00:33:48] Dave Polykoff: And so they want to avoid showing up with that type of content. Cause they don't want to be. Seen, I guess, as you know, a try hard or no at all or something. Right. Um, [00:34:00] so do you feel that there's maybe a balance? What would you say to those people? First of all, and two is maybe there are a balance of value content and maybe story driven content and maybe personal content that kind of evens out, uh, everything in the end where you don't feel as though it's just constantly a dictionary spitting facts at you.
[00:34:22] Aaron Witnish: For me, I grappled with this personally because when I decided where I wanted to go as a personal brand, I was like, Oh, I've got all my friends and family, and they're not going to be interested in content and me talking about content all the time. So I sat there, but when I actually got aligned. And went into that and go, well, what's my vision and what do I want to achieve personally and how does that tie into the business?
[00:34:45] Aaron Witnish: I just let go of that and just said, I just want to create the content I want to create and they don't have to watch it. They don't have to follow. They can unfollow me. I wouldn't be offended because I understand it's not relevant to them. They're not interested in it. for me, that was a big moment because I went all in and I [00:35:00] stopped filtering and I stopped worrying about it.
[00:35:03] Aaron Witnish: But I think it's also important to put in some of your values. What are some of the things that you enjoy? What are some personal stories? Are you a parent? Are you married? What do you like to do? Because that's the human side. So if you're delivering education and helping people in your area of specialization, but they also see, hey, that you go to the football on the weekend and you're a dad, that's more connection.
[00:35:22] Aaron Witnish: They go, Oh, they're like me. I'm a dad. I've got kids. I go to the football and that more humanization actually accelerates the relationship with your audience and you're more approachable, which can actually help on the business side. So for me, I'm like put in the stuff that matches your values on the personal side, wherever it seems appropriate, share it.
[00:35:41] Aaron Witnish: But if you put too many constraints and you try to I guess push down, uh, what you actually want to do. I found that that created a lot of inner conflict. And when I let go and stopped judging myself and stopped judging what I wanted to do and just went all in, it was just freedom and not worrying [00:36:00] about what other people think.
[00:36:01] Aaron Witnish: Because like I said, every piece of content I do, I just want one or two people that really needed to hear that message or get that value. I made it for them, not for my mom, not for my dad, not for anyone in my family. Family and then I found that they're extremely supportive. Anyway, they like stuff. They probably don't watch it, but usually a thumbs up or something like that comes through.
[00:36:18] Aaron Witnish: So I think just let go, do what you want to do and forget about other people and just give the value.
[00:36:24] Dave Polykoff: Yeah. And I found that. It's scary to begin a personal brand and to start showing up with content and presenting this different version of you online. But I think we overthink the idea of what other people are thinking about us. Um, because yeah, nine times out of 10, it's usually people who are like, you know, giving us the, Hey.
[00:36:48] Dave Polykoff: Way to go, like way to show up. I could never do that. Like good, good on you for, for, you know, putting yourself out there. And so, so, you know, as long as you're doing it in a genuine, like authentic [00:37:00] way, there's really no reason anyone should have an issue with it. If in fact, most of my experience through my personal brand journey has been like.
[00:37:08] Dave Polykoff: I'm motivating other people to be like, you know what? Maybe I should do that too. So yeah, by you, by you not showing up almost, you're doing, you're doing your audience and family and friends like a disservice. Cause you, you actually do end up becoming more of like a motivational muse than, uh, then the opposite of what you think in terms of like, people are kind of snickering behind closed doors.
[00:37:32] Aaron Witnish: The people that do get triggered are the ones. That are going, I know I can't do that, but I really would want to do that. They're the ones that are generally the ones that are going to get upset by it. You will inspire people and they, some of the people who inspire, you'll never know. It's interesting because I'll hear from a a friend's friend or something like that.
[00:37:51] Aaron Witnish: Oh, I've been following you for two years. And I had no idea cause I've never engaged with anything. And you you help me. Decide to go talk about my [00:38:00] podiatry on Instagram or something like that. So you never know you have this ripple impact and the the people that you lift up by doing the activity and being consistent and focusing on service is really profound and probably underestimated by people when they step up.
[00:38:18] Aaron Witnish: But also I look at it from a standpoint. For my son, and I understand that I, um, from a legacy, legacy standpoint, um, I'm not going to have like this insane legacy, but for him, he can see my journey and I go, isn't it cool that I'm actually documenting what I'm doing, everything that's going on as I go, because if he wants to look back at what was dad doing when he was 38 or whatever it is, he can go see that, see what I was talking about and see parts of that journey.
[00:38:47] Aaron Witnish: So I think I'd love to go back and see what. I don't want to say my grandma yesterday. She passed away at age 88, but wouldn't it have been cool to go back and see what she was talking about, what she was doing at my age and what she was focusing on. So I think if [00:39:00] anything, uh, one, I get to feel good about showing up and not holding back with.
[00:39:07] Aaron Witnish: What I have to share, but number two, my son can go and he can look at that and maybe future grandchildren and people in that lane can go that that was great. Granddad as or whatever, um, he did. So I think that's kind of cool to be able to have a little trail there for the future, if they're curious and they might not be curious.
[00:39:25] Dave Polykoff: Sure. And one of the kind of side benefits is when you first start, you're not going to be great. Some people are going to be just natural storytellers, natural on camera, and just crush it for the majority of people, most of us. Me included, you're not going to be able to just press record and, you know, be a hundred.
[00:39:50] Dave Polykoff: So there's going to be a learning process. What I call kind of the puberty phase where there's going to be the awkward figuring things out phase, [00:40:00] but you still need to show up. You still need to press record. You still need to press publish, but, and you need to go through that. You need to learn. And after a few months, even you can look back at the posts you did.
[00:40:12] Dave Polykoff: You know, three months earlier and see how far you've come, you know, just being a bit more smoother and fluid in thought, um, looking more comfortable on camera. And so I think people are worried, Oh, I'm going to look so terrible, you know, and awkward. And like at first, probably, but we all do. And, you know, give it another three months, give it six, give it a year, uh, you know, a year from now, give it five years from now, you know, that I love seeing these like, you know, influencers who have hundreds of thousands, millions of followers and they'll go and they'll like review their first post or something.
[00:40:48] Dave Polykoff: And it's just so night and day of, of how they are now. Um, cause everyone starts somewhere. So yeah, you have to go through that awkward phase, but it's [00:41:00] like, to your point of like being documenting. And being able to reflect and look back, whether it be for, you know, others or for yourself to see how far you've come, it really, it's fun to kind of see, you know, the improvements there.
[00:41:12] Dave Polykoff: Um, so we've talked about the research recording, and now there's a third step that we still need to get to. So let's walk through that.
[00:41:23] Aaron Witnish: Yeah. So you've got your content ideas that you got in step one that are for your target audience in your niche. You've had your conversation, which is where this 90 minutes comes in talking to your colleague, your friend and recording that. Step three is the repurposing. So this is where you convert that conversation into all your different content formats for the next step.
[00:41:43] Aaron Witnish: 30 days ahead. So depending on where you're at, if you're bootstrapping, you're new to a personal brand, there are tools like Opus Clip that will take that conversation and turn it into videos for you with AI in about 10 to 15 minutes. And you just have to go through and edit the captions. The [00:42:00] challenge is it won't necessarily cut the content that you want.
[00:42:02] Aaron Witnish: It just intuitively cuts it and gives it to you, but it can be a really good place to start if you don't have access to editors and you don't have capital to invest in this. And you can take the. Transcription of your video, you can take the video, sorry, to rev. com and you can get a transcription of that.
[00:42:18] Aaron Witnish: And so then you've got the text and then you can use tools to get that rewritten into your written content. But if you're at a stage where you'd like to do it at a. Production level that's on brand and you know, what you want to achieve with the content. You'd take that video recording, you'd go to a freelancing platform like upwork.
[00:42:41] Aaron Witnish: com and you just give them the instructions. Hey, these are the 12 questions that we've answered in this conversation. Can you cut a clip for each one of these questions and put my branding, my text. In captions on the videos, because 90, I think it's 92 percent of videos get played without sound. So if you don't have the captions on there, people don't [00:43:00] know what you're talking about.
[00:43:01] Aaron Witnish: So you don't get the attention and they can do that for you. And then they send you back your 12 or however many videos they cut. That's ready to go for the month ahead. And then. And you can also do the same thing with that transcription, get someone who's a content writer on a platform like Upwork and say, Hey, these are the 12 questions that I answered.
[00:43:18] Aaron Witnish: Can you take what I've said here? And can you convert it into a social media post with hashtags? That's for my target audience. This is my target audience. So that way, all you've had to do is have the conversation. You're either using some tools like Opus Clip, or you're using someone that's a editor offshore that you can get done relatively cheaply to do the lifting for you to cut all the content and you got your 30 days ready to go.
[00:43:40] Dave Polykoff: Sure. So there's a couple of things here. I want to, I want to dive into one is you mentioned a few times the concept on brand. Video editing and the editing process. You mentioned captions being a very large part of that. Um, [00:44:00] but in mostly like on Instagram, we see this a lot, the kind of degree of editing that goes on.
[00:44:10] Dave Polykoff: On with these reels that are created, you see everything from just bare bones, just captions, maybe even using the captions, the default captions that come with Instagram, all the way to these like highly produced videos that require. A professional editor and custom graphics and animations and sound effects and all that kind of stuff.
[00:44:32] Dave Polykoff: What is, I want to understand, or I want to know kind of your take on where is the highly edited stuff necessary at some point? Um, do you find that those. Work better than others. What's, what's kind of your take on how much editing is required in one of these types of clips, um, given obviously, you know, resources and time and budget and such,
[00:44:56] Aaron Witnish: Interestingly, my less produced videos [00:45:00] outperform my heavily produced videos. And maybe there's more realness in the less produced videos. And there's something in that, I think, but again, it's situational. It's like, where are you at? What's your brand? Who's your target audience? And it's again, getting started is step number one.
[00:45:18] Aaron Witnish: I'd say if you can just start with some basic, if you're not sure what your branding looks like and you haven't got to that phase, just start with some nice white captures. And it could just be the Instagram captions themselves to, to get going. You can just have someone cut the clips out for you and then add them in.
[00:45:33] Aaron Witnish: And that can be a really simple place to start. So I think it's about removing the barriers to entry. And having the path of least resistance. So you get in the game and then as your business grows, as your resources grow, as your income grows, you go, okay, now I can reinvest or repurpose this into the next level that I might want, which might be a little bit of B roll or a little bit of production.
[00:45:54] Aaron Witnish: So, um, I personally, I don't, if you look at my more recent [00:46:00] reels that I post myself, it's just captions. I went through the stage where I did the B roll. I did all the emojis. I just like nice, clean captions at this point. And a lot of my clients do too. Uh, we have some that do like extra production put into it.
[00:46:13] Aaron Witnish: But at the end of the day, I think sometimes less is more, but modeling is also smart. So if you go, who's leading in my niche, in my space, who's getting the engagement, who's got the audience, who's getting the followers and go, how are they. Producing their content. What's unique about that? Why is it working for them?
[00:46:31] Aaron Witnish: And borrowing some of the ingredients that go into that can be smart because it's kind of like a shortcut for success. So I wouldn't try and reinvent the wheel. Just go, who's doing really, really well. What are a couple of the points that are similar between them and the other. Two or three people that are the leaders in this space.
[00:46:48] Aaron Witnish: And what can I borrow based on where I'm at, maybe I can't do the full scale production, but maybe I can leverage a couple of basic things that they're doing and, and start there rather than trying to connect all the dots, because [00:47:00] modeling is probably the easiest way to get the answers as to what's going to work well in your space.
[00:47:04] Dave Polykoff: yeah. And when we say modeling too, in this case, you know, a large problem with people who do start their personal brands is they come in and they try to not just model, but replicate. Verbatim, if you will, who's being successful. And I think what we're discussing here is more so pinpointing who's successful in your space and analyzing what has made them successful, and then determining how you can translate that into what's unique for yourself and authentic for yourself and representing that.
[00:47:41] Dave Polykoff: So if they're not, if they don't have highly polished and edited videos, it's probably because the audience within your industry prefers. Less edited videos. So lean that way, but you don't necessarily have to edit your videos exactly like they do essentially. That's, that's mostly what you're saying.
[00:47:58] Dave Polykoff: Correct.
[00:47:59] Aaron Witnish: [00:48:00] Well, there's the people that get paid the most is Elvis Presley, not the Elvis Presley impersonators. So for me, I'm like, you've got your own unique craft and gift and no, and you want to get to the point where people imitating you, right? That that's the flattery. So be you. And that's, that's what separates you in the marketplace, but you're absolutely right.
[00:48:20] Aaron Witnish: It's boring. Maybe some of the qualities in that they've used in their, say, production side that that's worked well for them, or even just when they're posting the content, how often they're posting just to get some clues as to how they're going about it strategically, but the minute you start. Being someone else, you know, on the inside that it's incongruent and that shows up.
[00:48:45] Aaron Witnish: And I think for the average person that can cause some pain when, when, when they go down that route and I understand too, cause you get excited to hear something from someone that that's famous or they're an influencer, they have a great idea and you like want to share it with [00:49:00] other people cause it's really cool information.
[00:49:02] Aaron Witnish: And that's, that's okay too if you do that, but credit source say, Hey, I heard this, it was so good. I got it from Dave. Uh, so if I share something and sometimes I do, cause I think it's really valuable information. I'll always try and credit the person that I got that idea from where I can. I'm probably not perfect all the time, but if you can be you, uh, you're going to feel like, so for example, someone might comment on your posts.
[00:49:26] Aaron Witnish: And say something that's not very nice, which will happen if you're doing a lot of content, but if you're being you, it doesn't affect you. But if you're being someone else and you are imitating, that's when it hurts, because you know, there's probably some truth in that. So do you, and you'll get the best results long term for your brand, because it will be your brand, not someone else's brand that you're replicating.
[00:49:46] Dave Polykoff: On that point, this is the other topic I wanted to talk about with the idea of it being authentic and original to you. Is you, you even mentioned it kind of [00:50:00] incorporating some AI elements into the content creation process. And now the idea of AI and content creation is obviously a very hot topic right now.
[00:50:10] Dave Polykoff: Where do you see AI playing a role in content creation? Where should it play a role? And what are some of the mistakes that people could make with. Where they're trying, they're currently trying to use AI and it kind of leading to maybe a misrepresentation of who they are or, you know, content that just.
[00:50:31] Dave Polykoff: You know, isn't, isn't quality a
[00:50:33] Aaron Witnish: Start with original human input. I think that's the key to being, being a personal brand. And if people are going straight to the AI tools. And they're spitting out something. All they're getting is a duplicate that's been pulled from the web that's predicted the next thing to say. So it's not their content, essentially.
[00:50:52] Aaron Witnish: So if you've got original footage, which is why we love the model that I shared about with the record, that's you talking, that's. Not [00:51:00] existing somewhere else on the web. So you're starting with original human input. Then you could use an AI tool like Opus clip to accelerate the production side and get those clips, which is still you.
[00:51:08] Aaron Witnish: So it's authentic. It's original. You're just using it, leveraging it to get an output. And then with the text, you've got the transcription. It is AI that's transcripting, but it's your words. They've come out of your mouth. So when you use this model. It's all authentic and original, but you're just using AI tools for efficiency and to get things out faster than you would if you're trying to do it all manually.
[00:51:30] Aaron Witnish: So it's finding that balance. And again, it depends on where you're at in the journey, and you might need to lean into that a lot more starting out because you just don't have the money to invest in an editor and you can get in the game with AI. So you embrace it and you use it. I always look at it as.
[00:51:45] Aaron Witnish: The driver of the AI is what's going to get the quality of the output. So poor drive is going to get a lazy, very low quality, and that won't perform as content because people are going to read it or say it or watch it and go [00:52:00] next. And so the algorithm will punish that because there's no engagement, there's no retention.
[00:52:04] Aaron Witnish: So again, it has to be great content, but it has to be quality where people get value. It stops them in their tracks. They click on it, they consume it. That's what's When the algorithm shows it to more people. So again, it comes down to quality content and quality output. So if you're using AI, the end product has to be really good or else it just simply won't perform.
[00:52:24] Dave Polykoff: hundred percent. And, um, you know, one, one area I know is, was kind of part of your process as well, which I think is very apropos for us to talk about today is another form of being able to create, uh, recorded content, which is. Podcasting or showing up on other people's, uh, podcasts as a guest. And so largely why part of why I started, uh, this podcast was for exactly that is, as I mentioned, I was doing, you know, talking head videos and I still do those, but it, to, [00:53:00] to kind of get a bit more of a natural me on camera and to be able to have great conversations and to be able to kind of think, you Um, you know, again, off the hip versus anything too formatted.
[00:53:12] Dave Polykoff: And what I felt was kind of enclosed, um, you know, talk 30 second reel that I was trying to record. I enjoy this format a lot more. Um, and it's. It's something you can consistently create and there's a bunch of benefits. So kind of walk us through these, this idea of kind of podcasting and, you know, being a guest on someone's podcast as another form of video creation.
[00:53:37] Dave Polykoff: And then what are the benefits of doing that when it comes to growing your personal brand reach? Additional content you can create for social, et cetera.
[00:53:47] Aaron Witnish: Podcast guest appearances is steroids for your personal brand because you're getting exposed to an audience you didn't have to build. You can go and build an audience organically by yourself. That's going to take time, but you've got amazing [00:54:00] podcasters like yourself, Dave, who spend hours mastering their craft every single week.
[00:54:05] Aaron Witnish: They edit it, they produce it for you. Then they distribute it to this audience that you haven't had to build. So for me, that is one of the best opportunities for personal brands. And there's tools like Podmatch, which is where we met and you can find hosts and podcasts that are in, you know, Your industry and in your niche.
[00:54:25] Aaron Witnish: So they've already got access to the exact people that you want to share your message with. So you can show up, have a relaxed conversation, and then the host goes and does all the heavy lifting in the background and then promote you and put you out to this large audience. So for me, as a personal brand, there's no better strategy.
[00:54:43] Aaron Witnish: And then a lot of hosts too will share the assets with you. Here's the video file. Here's Parts that we've cut and then you can get content generated for you from those efforts as well. So if there's been one thing that's really accelerated our agency this year, it has [00:55:00] been podcast guest appearances. I have my own podcast, but that's, I've got to do all the work.
[00:55:04] Aaron Witnish: I've got to build the audience. I've got to do everything involved. I've got to pay for the production and all the moving parts there. But when I get on someone else's show, Uh, it's a dream for me because I just get to talk to Dave and then I jump off and his team goes and does everything else.
[00:55:18] Dave Polykoff: Yeah,
[00:55:18] Aaron Witnish: yeah, I mean, and the upside is for, for, for Dave is I'll go push it across my network.
[00:55:24] Aaron Witnish: So he gets to get new listeners into his show, he gets that reach and exposure. So there's not like there's nothing, and if it's a good conversation, it's quality for the listeners. So it does go two ways, but if you're a personal brand, the positioning and dynamics of being interviewed as a guest on a podcast is really powerful.
[00:55:40] Aaron Witnish: People assume if you've been interviewed that you're an authority and you haven't had to convince anyone of that and you get edified by the host. So I'd say if you're a personal brand, check out Podmatch and start getting on podcasts because that's really going to accelerate where your personal brand grows in the next 12 months.
[00:55:57] Dave Polykoff: Yeah. Big shout out pod match. I [00:56:00] just got onto that. Uh, you know, right after I started the, uh, the podcast, cause, uh, you know, quickly, uh, exhausted my immediate network of people that I was like, Oh, I could, Throw them into a podcast interview and yeah, found pod match. And it's, um, it's been great. It's like a, it's like a dating app for pod guests and hosts essentially, you know, matches you up with people who you think would be a great host or, um, you'd be a good guest on, so yeah, a hundred percent.
[00:56:29] Dave Polykoff: Um, and, and on that point too, as I've been. Interviewing more and more people over the last few, a few months, the, I'm trying to understand what a great guest would be able to contribute. What is, what, what's the definition of a great guest? Um, you know, for, for me specifically, but in general, and one of the kind of concepts that I'm, I'm playing with [00:57:00] is I know a conversation is going to be great.
[00:57:04] Dave Polykoff: When I can see that they already have an existing framework, or a really interesting story, or Unique perspective or unique method or a lot of hot takes on something. And the only way that I know that they have that is that they need to publicize that somewhere, right? A blog, social media, you know, courses they have, what have YouTube videos.
[00:57:29] Dave Polykoff: Um, so that's just, you know, for, for our listeners right now, one of the main benefits of. Or one of the other, I should say, sub benefits of publicizing your strong opinions, your framework showing up and not gatekeeping things is that you need to show media opportunities that you have something of interest to say, because then they're going to want you on their platform to say it.
[00:57:55] Dave Polykoff: Uh, that's how they get views is because they're kind of like borrowing. [00:58:00] Your fun tidbits and your, and your, um, you know, your, your boilerplate, uh, remarks that they can spin into really engaging content. So show up and say it, don't be afraid to say it because it's actually going to open doors for you.
[00:58:11] Dave Polykoff: But what's been your experience, I guess, so far in terms of, uh, your. You know, uh, not just a guest on podcast, but you're also, uh, um, you know, you host one where, where do you think people should start? I mean, we both know what it takes to, to, uh, run a podcast and I would, I would never, uh, advise someone day one to, to start a podcast.
[00:58:33] Dave Polykoff: Um, how would you, uh, advise someone who would want to start being a guest on someone's podcast besides using pod match, what are some things they need to think about before going into starting to be a guest?
[00:58:46] Aaron Witnish: You need content out there because the first thing the host is going to do, they've got any level of established podcast is go have a look. Is this someone that would be a good guest and can add value to your show? And if there's nothing they can find that ticks [00:59:00] that box, they're simply not going to put you on.
[00:59:01] Aaron Witnish: So build a, Profile and build a portfolio of content to get started. And what's helpful for myself is having the 30 days and 90 minutes content creation system, because that can be the foundation of coming on and doing an episode as a guest. So what is it that you can talk about? What's that in elevator pitch or that one sentence that you can contribute to a show?
[00:59:23] Aaron Witnish: So coming up with your hook. Something that would be really valuable to an audience and a host to put you on, but then having a feed on different platforms or your primary platform that actually showcases some of your expertise and you on video talking about it. And the great thing is once you do get on a couple of episodes, you can add those links of those interviews to your profile.
[00:59:49] Aaron Witnish: You can, if you're on pod match, you can add that to. Uh, where the, the host can have a look at that and they can see your style, see how you deliver and that can help you get a [01:00:00] check mark to come onto a show that you might not have got a shot at if you didn't have those assets in place. So start creating content because if you don't and you've got nothing to give certainty to the host, they're not going to put you on their show.
[01:00:14] Dave Polykoff: Yeah. And I mean, I haven't faced this yet because everyone that I've had on my shows has had a very good, um, we'll say, you know, had good charisma and was comfortable in front of the camera and could hold a conversation. I do think that is important, important skills to have to, to help support a quality show is, you know, practicing those skills, being able to hold conversations, be able to, answer questions and have good being, being good at being able to really provide a thorough answer to, to a question.
[01:00:49] Dave Polykoff: Um, and not many people are again out of the box good with that. So I would say probably to like, you know, hone in on some of those skills, but, um, [01:01:00] you know, cause you can be And you actually mentioned this as, uh, as well, uh, you know, uh, some of you may have heard this before on other, uh, episodes, but I do this, uh, questionnaire that I sent to all my guests.
[01:01:11] Dave Polykoff: And one of the things I always ask is, um, you know, what's a little tidbit about you that people wouldn't know. And you mentioned that you're actually introverted. And social media sometimes kind of rubs you the wrong way. Um, or you kind of, you know, put off by it a little bit and how, how have you been able, cause I can sense great charisma from you and you're able to, you know, speak fluently on things and you seem comfortable in front of the camera.
[01:01:35] Dave Polykoff: What was that journey for you? Cause you're usually introversion, maybe sometimes means a little bit more. Quiet, less spoken, if you will, um, was, what, what was the journey for you to be an introvert, but be able to be kind of natural on camera and be able to be a guest on, on a podcast and still show up in a way that's going to, you know, be engaging for people
[01:01:59] Aaron Witnish: I [01:02:00] remember Travis Jones, who's a fit person. Pro business owner down here used the term ambivert. So if you went into an event or a room, you'd mistakenly think that I'm extroverted because I can. Do those situations, but I love my own company. I love my own space. Nothing makes me happier than being on my own.
[01:02:20] Aaron Witnish: And I, do get social anxiety in large crowds, but people naturally think that I'm extroverted because I can get on stage. I can do podcasting. So it's a very interesting dynamic, but with doing it, it's like going to the gym, you start lifting weights. If you keep doing it, you start to build a muscle. And you get stronger, you get better.
[01:02:43] Aaron Witnish: The content speaking, it's exactly the same. Like you, like you were saying earlier, when you first show up, it's terrible. And you go back to anyone that's built something. Now look at their first videos. You'll see what you'll see. Perfect examples of that mindset. Well, my, my [01:03:00] content, I don't watch it because I know that I'll get in my head about it, but for me, it's, again, it's coming from a place of.
[01:03:08] Aaron Witnish: So it's not about me. It's, it's for the other person. I want to add value and do it for them. And on the social media front, I'd actually don't like it. I think for so many reasons, it causes a lot of pain for a lot of people. Comparison. I think you get a lot of fake news, things that are untrue that causes fear and scarcity.
[01:03:29] Aaron Witnish: And I think if there wasn't, A place for it in, in what I do professionally, then I probably wouldn't have it at all. And it just happens that it's a little bit hypocritical given that our business is around content, but the way I look at it is we get to make the newsfeeds a better place. So we create content that adds value, makes people's lives better, as opposed to puts them in a place of fear or misleads them or makes them compare themselves to someone else and have expectations that are not a great fit for their happiness.
[01:03:58] Aaron Witnish: Sorry. Yeah, it's, it's a [01:04:00] bit paradoxical, um, but by getting on the field, doing the reps, I've become very comfortable talking, being on stage, being in rooms, being around other people, but I crave that solidarity. I crave being on my own and I try to lap that up when I get the opportunity to do it.
[01:04:19] Dave Polykoff: Yeah, that's so funny. Um, I definitely feel that a hundred percent. And in fact, right before this podcast, there was a business networking expo. Uh, at, uh, uh, a club about a couple of blocks from here and I bought the ticket and I had all these plans to like go and just mingle with everyone. And I went in, I actually went, I went in and I did like one lap and I was like, all right, this is.
[01:04:45] Dave Polykoff: Too much for me right now. I'm just going to leave and I just couldn't take it. Cause it's just, you know, sometimes these, these big events can be a little bit, um, overwhelming too much stimulus at once. And I'm like, all right, I'll just, I'll go back to my social, uh, connections here.
[01:04:59] Aaron Witnish: That's me [01:05:00] too.
[01:05:00] Dave Polykoff: yeah. Yeah. Um, well, and this has been awesome.
[01:05:04] Dave Polykoff: I think the in summation, the core thing that we learned today is that we need to get out of our heads a bit. When it comes to thinking that we need the lights and the perfect camera and all this to get started. And really we need to start with just the level 100 stuff. And we know where to find that, as you mentioned, is just go to Google and find what people already want to know and just talk on that, right?
[01:05:35] Dave Polykoff: Don't overthink it. Um, and then, you know, pressing record is. One of the most critical things, but also you want to press publish, um, the idea of how to present yourself on camera. So you're being most authentic and comfortable, so you can get that best content and then how to spin that content into even more content.
[01:05:58] Dave Polykoff: Uh, in fact, you know, 30 [01:06:00] days worth, um, and just 90, 90 minutes. So I think, uh, our audience has a good takeaway here to hopefully if, if, if there's just one listener out there who hasn't created one piece of content right now, in fact, what would you, what would you say to that one listener that hasn't posted anything yet?
[01:06:18] Dave Polykoff: But, uh, after, after this episode, what's the, what's the one call to action you give that, that, uh, listener.
[01:06:25] Aaron Witnish: Pull out your iPhone, hit record and post something. Step one, always the hardest. And that could be the post just saying, this is something that I generally am terrified to do. And that's so vulnerable and it's so real and it's so authentic and so many other people will be watching that going, I'm so afraid to do that too.
[01:06:42] Aaron Witnish: But I just listened to Dave and Aaron and they challenged me to do it. So here's me doing my first piece of content. I promise it's going to get a lot better when I start talking about some ideas about XYZ area specialization, but this is step one. Uh, thank you. Something like that. Off you go.[01:07:00]
[01:07:00] Dave Polykoff: The point that you mentioned in there too is so underrated because To say, to, to have the vulnerability and honesty to say something like, I promise it'll get better. You know, this is my, my day one, you know, I'm going to work on it. Like, that's what people want to see anyway. Like we do the overly polished stuff sometimes just doesn't land, but to be just like warts and all like, Hey, I'm here for you.
[01:07:26] Dave Polykoff: I'm getting over a fear. I'm sure you all have the same fears anyway. Like. Yada, yada. That's what we want to see. So like, you know, give us that don't overthink it. Um, but now Aaron, this is, this has been awesome. And so if anyone was interested in the, um, you know, your three step system, once all this content, um, and wants to learn more about your services, where can they go and how can they find you
[01:07:50] Aaron Witnish: So we give the system away for free. So we've got a tutorial that shows you how to do exactly what we spoke about in the podcast episode. So the 30 days in 90 minutes content creation system. So you can [01:08:00] download that at contentonly. au. And then you've got your two pathways. One is you go and do it yourself, which we're big advocates of.
[01:08:06] Aaron Witnish: Number two is you're in the position where you go, Hey, Aaron's team has the resources set up. That sounds easier than you have a chat to us about that. So it's absolutely free. Go get it and I'll show you how to actually put into action what we just spoke about.
[01:08:19] Dave Polykoff: also love it. Thank you, Aaron. This has been awesome.
[01:08:22] Aaron Witnish: Thanks, mate. Appreciate it.
