Elevating Brand Presence Using Story-Driven Video Content with Dusty Kennon

This episode is a captivating exploration of the power of storytelling through video content with the insightful Dusty Kennon. Dusty, with nearly a decade in content creation, offers tips on making your brand shine through engaging, story-driven videos on local business social media. Uncover the secrets to stand out, no big brand is needed.

Dusty shares insights on niching down for greater value and connecting with customers. Learn about tailoring messages for various businesses, and the power of storytelling in standing out. You'll also find out how to get the most bang for your buck with your content, ensuring it not only reaches but resonates with your audience.

In our exciting conclusion, Dusty simplifies video editing tools, emphasizing authenticity in content. Get budget-friendly tips and insights on connecting with Dusty for business help. So, tune in, and don't miss out on these invaluable insights that could potentially revolutionize your business's content strategy!

KEY HIGHLIGHTS 
[01:22] Dusty's background and personal info
[04:58] Thriving branding on a budget
[08:32] Elevating your video content
[11:37] Finding your WHY
[19:10] Building credibility and consistency
[27:23] Harnessing AI and video editing tools
[32:02] Investing in short and long-form videos
[38:42] Dusty's message for the rest of his life
[40:33] How to connect with Dusty

NOTABLE QUOTES
"The ‘why’ is so important especially in small businesses because you are your business." – Dusty
"For small businesses, I think one of the best things you can do is quality content." – Dusty
"The messaging is more important than the video quality." – Philip
"If you’re going to invest in a webcam, get something that’s at least 1080p. That’s going to be really helpful." – Philip
"I help people tell their stories with high-quality photography and videography because stories matter and they impact people in the professional and personal world." – Dusty
"When you’re able to really focus on [your] message, that message can focus on you." – Dusty
"If you’re a business, all of your content doesn’t need to be an ad. You need to give value to engage with people." – Dusty
"Whatever content you’re doing, it needs to provide value. It doesn’t just need to be content for the sake of content." – Dusty
"Make sure to niche down." – Philip
"If you’re just getting started, the biggest thing that you need to do right now is credibility." – Dusty
"Provide the value but leave them with a question." – Dusty
"Everyone isn’t going to need what you do all the time. But you want to keep yourself in front of them so that when they need your service, they’re not going to not think of you." – Dusty
"You want to leave them curious enough that they want to at least ask you a question and that gives you that warm introduction." – Philip
"Don’t think that you have to wait until you have a great spot to actually film yourself." – Philip
"When you’re thinking social media, you want to connect with people. People connect with people. People connect with stories." – Dusty
"Just be yourself because that’s the best version of you." – Dusty

RESOURCES
Dusty
Website: https://www.topshelfmediaco.com/  
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/topshelfmediaco/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustin-kennon-9a1655157/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/topshelfmediaco/ 
Email: dusty@topshelfmediaco.com 

Philip
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamphilipsessions/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@philipsessions
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-sessions-b2986563/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therealphilipsessions

Transcript

Philip Sessions: 0:15

What's going on, guys? Have you ever wondered about what a video can do for you, whether it be on social media or in the movie theater? I don't know if we're going to be in the movie theater, but, especially on social media, what videos can do for you with telling your story? Well, today I'm excited to bring on our guest, dusty Keenan, and he has been immersed in the realms of content creation and marketing for nearly 10 years. His journey has been on exciting exploration of digital dynamics, crafting engaging content and understanding the dynamic effect of intentional marketing strategies. Today, he is genuinely excited to channel this extensive experience to elevate brands of local business owners in the upstate of South Carolina and beyond, and his aspiration is to curate content that not only informs but also stimulates thought-provoking conversations, sparks curiosity and cultivates enduring brand loyalty for all of his clients.

Philip Sessions: 1:18

And I'm excited to get in this with Dusty, because this is something that I need help with, and I know all of you in the audience right now need help with video content making your brand that much stronger through telling your story. But, dusty, before we get into all that, tell us a little bit more about yourself.

Dusty Kennon: 1:37

Yeah, Amen. Also, if anybody's watching, I have a kit and there's a whole story. We rescued it, so he's just hanging out with me. Just he's not like a part of the uniform or anything, but yeah.

Dusty Kennon: 1:47

So, yeah, like you said, doing photo video work for 10 years well, almost 10 years, about eight at this point. But yeah, I mean that's one of the. What's funny is, when I got into video work, there was there's always, you know, on the front of the things where you kind of just take whatever you can get right Like you. Just you know they have a, they're gonna, and honestly, it's almost the thing of like, if they're gonna let you shoot the video, then yes, I'm there, I'm gonna do it. And what I've kind of early on, what I noticed I really gravitated towards was, rather than having just pretty videos and that, like they look good, they, you know, cool shots, whatever, that's great, obviously, but I always gravitated towards the storytelling component of it. So being able to have where you know you can watch that video and if it's an event, right, so being able to watch the video and even if you weren't at the event, it kind of does two things where you know it makes that event look like hey, oh my gosh, I wasn't there and I missed out, like this was obviously a great place to be, but also, you know, telling the story of it, of like, hey, you know, in this four minutes, five minutes. You know, whatever the video ends up being, I can get the story of what was happening there. I can.

Dusty Kennon: 2:52

Without having been there, I could still kind of be plugged in and still get invested in the core and the why behind that event and then kind of taking it over to businesses as well, where you know this 45 second a minute if it's a longer form interview being able to watch that content and really get an understanding of what they do, of the service they provide, of the you know the nuts and bolts of their business, but also the why behind it.

Dusty Kennon: 3:15

I feel like the why is so important, especially for business leaders, especially in small businesses. Because you are your business, you know you don't really have a whole lot of separation between you, know that front line, so to speak, and you. If it's, if you're like a solar projector, it is you, you are the front line, you know. So being able to have that why is always really important. But that was something that I've noticed on it really early on was, in videos specifically, being able to really dive in and really like emphasize the story equally, alongside the technical looks good, sounds good that part of it, that part of it that's always produced the best content and the most engaging stuff, for sure.

Philip Sessions: 3:51

Yeah, sharing that why is so important and I know I talk with this a lot about clients it's not about just sharing the data or what your business literally does.

Philip Sessions: 4:00

And this obviously applies a lot more to small business, because you, as the business owner or business leader, maybe you're just the face of the company, maybe you're not actually the owner, but having a face to that company helps out so much more.

Philip Sessions: 4:14

Because these big brands like Coke and Nike and BMW, mercedes, all of them they just have random faces at this point. Yeah, you might have a face like what LeBron's with Nike, I don't know. He's always endorsing these different companies and you see all these big time players endorsing these different companies because their face is familiar, but their face is not necessarily the brand per se. I mean, they try and put that as a brand to get catch people's eye, but when it comes to you, unfortunately you don't have that big name brand behind your name, like the rock, like LeBron James, going back to him, you don't have that name recognition. So how do we help go overcome this? Because, yeah, I'm not. I'm not this NBA player, this football player, this golf legend or any kind of superstar like that, especially a small business owner. So how do I overcome that One?

Dusty Kennon: 5:13

option is you just get like a couple hundred thousand dollars budget to like bring in. I'm just kidding. Yeah, I mean of course just throw money at it.

Philip Sessions: 5:23

Makes you think I was watching a TV show yesterday is, like you know, the best way to make a small fortune in racing is to have a large fortune and spend it all on racing Get a small fortune.

Dusty Kennon: 5:35

Yeah yeah, no, I mean the. You know, obviously, when you get bigger, you know, like you said, bigger brands, you know they have spokespeople that come in for long term or like for a specific ad or whatever right For, like, small businesses. I think one of the best things you can do is so content. There's always there's levels to it, right, because, especially if you're just getting started, you might not have the budget to bring in a professional to shoot the content. You know. So you're probably on a cell phone, which, in 2023, is not a bad place to be necessarily. You can do a lot with a cell phone. You don't have to have everything to make the content that make quality content, because the quality isn't just in the technical, it's also in the what you're saying and what you do, why you do it and having that really clear messaging. So that's actually one of the things. That's probably one of my favorite things about what you do specifically is like, because in that realm of like the public speaking, obviously great, live in person when you're in front of people yes, a million percent, but one of the like I call it secondary, but not that it's less important, just that it's not your public speaking. So you know, this isn't necessarily the public speaking part, but definite benefit or secondary benefit from that realm of things and really knowing what your message is, why you, why you do what you do, and being able to articulate that. When you have that really clear, defined message, it's great in person. But also when you get into content, being able to, even if it's just you with a cell phone, being able to like hey, this is like, this is what I do, this is why I do it, this, that messaging, and it makes it for really quality content, even if it's just you want a cell phone doing reels on Instagram or TikToks or if you're.

Dusty Kennon: 7:20

You know, one of my favorite things I've seen on that kind of realm of cell phone content is you see business owners especially.

Dusty Kennon: 7:28

Well, I've seen specifically with like service industry, so like landscaping, or usually they're outdoors for some reason, but it's like landscaping or tree removal or whatever, like that realm of things where those are going to be like hey, guys, such and such with this company, we're out here today, we're doing that.

Dusty Kennon: 7:42

I'm so excited to help them, you know, fix their backyard or whatever they're doing specifically, but it's cool because they I don't know it's being able to have that really clear messaging makes it through when you're doing the content on a cell phone, makes it a lot better.

Dusty Kennon: 7:57

But then, like, as your business grows, as your budget grows, you know you can kind of start to like, hey, yes, I need to do these videos right now. But then you get to a point where it's like, hey, you do this for a living, I'm going to let you like, here you go, I'm only like you start doing the content and then you kind of up that technical part and up the capacity where you know you start to work with somebody who does it for a living. And then they're like, oh, hey, listen, they kind of take that core message that you've already really been able to develop and really being able to strategize, and they can take that and just expound on it and just put it in more places in front of more people and just make it that much more effective.

Philip Sessions: 8:33

So what I'm hearing here is obviously well, maybe not obvious to everybody, but the messaging is more important than the video content itself. Right, you know how the video quality, I should say looks? Yeah, yeah.

Dusty Kennon: 8:47

There's definitely. Yeah, well, there's things you can do for sure to level it up, even if you're on a cell phone. So I mean, like a great example like right now I'm using well, if you're listening you can't see this, but just know you know I'm using AirPods. That's one of. That's always a really simple thing. You don't have to have to have AirPods.

Dusty Kennon: 9:03

It could be some off-brand, it could be just headphones plugged into the phone, whatever, but you know, being able to use some kind of just higher quality mic versus just the phone itself built-in mic, especially if you're like outdoors and a bunch of stuff going on. Another example is like right now I've got a like a light that's behind my computer monitor. So like just that little, just it's little things like that, where you don't have to necessarily go out and buy a $7,000 camera and lens and a whole setup to make a good video, right, maybe, if it's going to be something where you know it's it's what I call short tail content, where it's social media, really, it's like hey, it's going to be a post, it's going to go on TikTok. People are going to see it, but they're not going to be seeing it in six months necessarily like they would like that. I had a video on your website, you know.

Philip Sessions: 9:53

Yeah, and especially stuff that's just going to be consumed on the mobile phone. That's also another important thing, like if you're going at the 4k or 8k or whatever K they're at now that is not going to be really shown on a phone. Now if you're in a big movie theater, like you said on your website, something like that, that's going to be more applicable because people may also be on their computer or on some kind of TV or a larger display monitor when they're looking at that. So having that higher resolution is really going to help out. And speaking of equipment, I've got two little box lights here, one on each side of me. I've got the nice Audio Technica mic it's not the Shure mic, it's like everybody loves which is like $400. This was like $100. And then I've got a 1080 Logitech 1080p Logitech webcam as well to help me out, and I found that going to 1080 made a huge difference from 720.

Philip Sessions: 10:50

So if you're going to get something you're going to invest into, like a webcam, get something that's at least 1080p. That's going to be really helpful for you. You can find some cheaper ones. This one's got kind of this autofocus, which is kind of nice. I move around it, it gets a little blurry, but it also focuses in on me more versus the background quite as much and everything. So there are little things that you can do to build to up what you're doing without really spinning a ton on budget.

Philip Sessions: 11:15

But before we get into that, because that's definitely something, I want to go down that route software stuff like that everybody's going to want to do that. I do want to go back to what you mentioned about the power of you. You mentioned about bringing out your why when it comes to these videos, and so I want to start first with somebody that they're on this shoestring budget. They really can't afford somebody like you to help them out with the strategy and stuff like that. How can they, as a small business owner, be able to bring out their why, bring out their message in their video content so they can start reaching the people that are going to be potential clients for them?

Dusty Kennon: 12:43

Yeah, so a great way of doing that is being able to. So there's a statement almost where it's almost like one of the blanks. I mean there's different variations on the statement on it depending on who you talk to, but basically what it works or what it generally looks like, is I help people with blank because of blank. So that first one is your what? So I help people. So if I was filling in that statement, I help people tell their stories with high quality photography and videography, because stories matter and they impact people in the professional and personal world. So that's one of those things where, when you're able to have that statement and it's One of the things that I know helped me with specifically is you can really focus in on what you really want to do, because I know so even in the realm of content, there's a lot of different things that photographers, videographers can do. You've got everything from birthday parties and bar mitzvahs and weddings and maternity photos and family shoots and branding and content and live and sports, and I mean there's just so many different things that photography, videography can do specifically. And one of those things that's really helped me in being able to narrow in on like, hey, top Shelf does content for businesses, we do branding. We don't do maternity photos, we don't do lifestyle photos. I could, I've got the equipment, I've got the skill, I could do maternity photos, whatever, but that's not what I want to do, that's not what I want to focus in on. And one of the things that's helpful for businesses is that, honestly, there's almost a cyclical nature of it. When you're able to really focus that message, that message can focus you, because then you can focus in on what you really want to be putting your time and your effort and energy into. And there might be parts of your business that you kind of just do them because you feel like you have to Like, oh well, if I, if well, everybody else, that that is in my industry they do X, y and Z. So I have to do X, y and Z when really you want to do Y. You don't really want to do X or Z, but you really want to do Y and also you're really good at Y. You're better at Y than everybody else is, you know. So it's almost a cyclical part of that and that really kind of helps out. But yeah, that's a really, without going like, without having a whole class on it. A great kind of intro into that is really I do I help people with. I help people with blank because of why, and that's a great way. And then from there, that's the kind of okay, well, because I help people with this.

Dusty Kennon: 15:18

When you're thinking content, okay, well, how do I help people with this? How can I help people with this with the content? So great example, super cool. Well, goodbye, and we both know some really quality roofers, right, they do repairs, installations and different parts of that, right? So, okay, so we help people with their roof because we want people to have a roof over their heads or whatever. The you know, whatever the specifics of everything is Okay, great.

Dusty Kennon: 15:41

Well, then, from a content standpoint, how could we help them in our content? Right, because that's one of the biggest things with content is you want to give value. You know, 10 years ago, five years ago, you probably could have gotten away with, just, you know, some cool photos, video, whatever. But you know, or you know, on a website, specifically having you know blogging because you want to really hit the SEO and have the keywords and stuff in there, sure, yeah, that might help you now. But what's especially in social media, what's a lot better is when it's value based, when it provides value for people. So that's answering a question that is just telling them about something. It's telling your story. It's like giving some sort of value to where it's not just hey. It's. Especially if you're a business. All of your content doesn't need to be an ad.

Philip Sessions: 16:24

It doesn't need to be a hey hire me for this.

Dusty Kennon: 16:26

Hey, buy my product and you need to give value. That's how you're going to engage with people in 2023. On content, so take, you know, in that Roofer example hey, so, livson, it's October. You know, this time of year in this part of the state, you see, we see a lot of I don't know, I'm not a Roofer so winter storms or whatever, hail or whatever. These are three things you can do to get ready for that coming up. Or hey, I mean we don't really get a whole lot of snow in the update, but hey, we're getting into December, january, we're going to have snow. You know these things you want to look out for. Or, hey, just in general, like you know, when you're looking at your insurance for your home, these are three questions you want to ask your insurance person. There don't have to be three questions, but it's that value Like, hey, guys, you know we're out here on site. Have you ever wondered about doing this to your house? Like this is kind of what you would want to look at. Or really, that's cross-border content. Why is it for everybody where there's that value of answering those questions?

Dusty Kennon: 17:20

And then the other part of that is like I said that, that, what, that, why, telling that story and then being able to show the value that you provided to other people is always great.

Dusty Kennon: 17:28

One of the things I tell people is look first if you're already using cell phone for your content and you have a really satisfied customer that like they just they love you, they love your service, record them Like. You're like hey, listen, I'm going to hold my phone here. Can I get like 15 seconds of like why you enjoyed working with us, right? So there's a lot of different. There's a lot of different things that you can do with content to be able to kind of hit different markers and then be able to kind of engage people in different ways, even if you're on the same platform. So Instagram, facebook, tiktok, whatever. Definitely providing the value to some of that because I kind of rambled a little bit was you know, starting off as I help people with blank because of why? But then also, whatever content you're doing, it needs to provide value, doesn't just need to be content for the sake of content.

Philip Sessions: 18:16

I've heard that a little different. I like what you're saying there too, but I've heard like I help people with X, so you can, or so they can do. Why kind of similar thing there. So take that how you want, whichever way makes you think about a little bit better. But then also heard you talking about essentially niching down, because you mentioned with your business and similar with mine, I'm a public speaking coach.

Philip Sessions: 18:38

Everybody talks in public, so I can technically help anybody, but that doesn't really help anybody identify with me and how I can help them, because I'm just saying, hey, look, I can help you, cool. Well, got the same thing with water. Well, every one, there's a bunch of water out there and, depending on who you talk to, some people like I just give me anything. Other people like, oh no, don't give me this one, I only take this one, and so there's just different things within all of all of our video content and everything. So we really need to make sure we niche down. And I heard when you talked about the videos, all about education, education, education, education and eventually there's going to be that point where you're going to sell. So with that real quick, because it's like man, if I just pour out all this content, especially more from a coach's perspective.

Philip Sessions: 19:23

It's like that's my bread and butter. That's what I'm supposed to do is educate a client, a roof, or it's different. And you know these other let's call them product based businesses. It's different you can educate on your product, but they have to consume your product in order to actually get the value from that. But a coach, that's a different perspective. Because hey, I'm educating you, but now I'm educating you and you're learning all the good stuff and I say that with quotes but now I've given you everything and you don't need anymore. So, and I don't want to necessarily go down that rabbit hole of like, hey, make sure you just continue to provide value, but as you're providing this value, when you go in for the ask, when you go in for that sell per se, like, is there a certain time you would say to strategize with asking for the sale or anything like that as you're providing this content and this value, I think it's a balance.

Dusty Kennon: 20:15

So I mean it's going to look different for every business, because two examples I'll give is if it's if you're just getting started, like you, you know you started your company yesterday. Well, there's your goal needs to be. Well, a couple things you need to do, but overarchingly, the biggest thing that you need to do right now is credibility, like it's just people got to know that you actually know it. So, if you're a coach, you know what you're talking about. You provide a service, you know how to do the service. So you like that business.

Dusty Kennon: 20:44

And that stage is that third party validation of like, reviews of photos, the show that what you do video like, even if it's on a cell phone, like just something to show that you're doing what you do right. So, in that row of things you know, at that stage it's you just want to show people that you are legit, you're, you're a thing, you know what you're doing that kind of thing. When you get a little bit bigger and more established, right, you have this bank of content. You you know somebody could go on your Instagram, your Facebook, whatever. It's okay, they've been doing this for a minute and they also like there's this, this inherent value, spread across what you're saying your podcast, the post or whatever, right, so somebody in that. So I'm going to speak to the person at the beginning Honestly, yes, sell, because you know, make money and pay the bills. And yes, there need to be inherent, but I would say the focus in there is more just credibility, but someone who is more established. It's a balance where you know you want to provide that value, but also, I would say, provide the value, believe them with a question.

Dusty Kennon: 21:44

So like, take, like the Roofer where it's like, hey, you know you need to. So when you're talking to your insurance agent, you need to do act that, that you know these three things. You should ask them whatever, but you know, reach out to us so we can do this full thing. Or what I've really seen a lot of people do is they'll have resources where they're able to go, and so, like taking those questions, for example, like, hey, these are, you know, this is our guy, they're. So maybe the different way of doing that is, instead of, hey, there's three things to ask your insurance person, hey, we may. Hey, we put together this guide of this to how to deal with your insurance agent for your roof. Right, drop an email below or leave a comment, we'll shoot it to you, put your email in and we'll send that to you, whatever. So there's that inherent free part that, like they get the guide for free, you know they're getting that.

Dusty Kennon: 22:30

But then you now have a connection with somebody and you now have a their email address to be able to engage with this person that is obviously interested in roofing. Like they're obviously like they you know they didn't just randomly give this email like they obviously have like this, like, hey, there's this need that they have and that's part of it. When it comes to marketing, where it's, you know, everybody isn't, everyone isn't going to need what you do all the time. You know there's not going to be a. So using roofing, for example, hopefully Everybody doesn't need roofing all the time, because that is what you think. But you know, when you keep yourself you, you want to keep yourself in front of them so that when they do need you, when they do need well, excuse me, when they do need your service, your front of mind, right? So if you provide providing this value and this content, that's great, because they're they're going to keep seeing you that Part of it. But then you want to put yourself in front of them in as many ways as possible. So, going back to that email example, you know you've got the guide, okay, awesome, now you have their email. Well, now you plug them into an email marketing list that you have just every month goes out with some content, with what I always recommend for people if it's emails is having a mix of stuff. So maybe like hey, you know, this month we were able to help such and such with this thing that they were doing. Put the. You know you get like a review for that person. Awesome, get a different review, A photo. Hey, we were, you know whatever right, but you're, but you're.

Dusty Kennon: 23:52

Is that constant communication? There's that constant like they are seeing you in their inbox, they're seeing you on their instagram, their facebook, they're seeing you so that that when the day comes and they need a roofer, they're not going to not think of you. You know, I mean, there's no way you're not going to be that kind of first person in line. So I'm not sure if that answers the question, because I know with coaching it's like you said, it's kind of that's your bread and butter. You can't really just give all that away.

Dusty Kennon: 24:15

I think for coaching, what's helpful is, I would say probably do like, if you have like a class, like you have like this full Uh workshop that you do with this, call it let's call curriculum. You know, you probably, you probably put maybe step, you maybe harp on steps one and two, three Of this process of them really getting good at delivering their message and really getting in front of people and being clear and concise. So I would say like, if you're like coaching, you know, maybe you really harp in on like one, two, three. So maybe you talk about steps one, two and three all the time on social, on facebook, on everywhere, right. But then you don't really go into four or five or six unless you're working with them, right. So there's always this inherent like one, two or three you're going to be beneficial for a wider audience, no matter where they're at On that. But then if they really want to really get into it, you know that's where you really start to kind of get into that, those more, because you almost have but not a paywall, but you almost have this like, hey, generally speaking, I can kind of you know, here's a tip or whatever, but then you're disseminating the same information and, what's great, we're coaching standpoint, since you're disseminating the same information is I.

Dusty Kennon: 25:24

The way you get the variety is how it applies to different people in different industries. So like how that that messaging communication would apply for somebody like bigger chiropractic. He is in the health wellness realm of things, right? I don't say I don't want to say I don't know if it's medical technically, but it's health, wellness, medical, that part of things, right, but solar manure in that realm of things, okay, well, how has that been helpful for him? You know what's that been like for his story, what has that been like, you know, in that realm of things.

Dusty Kennon: 25:54

But then also swinging over to like set, a roofing company, where it's more service industry, not technically, only this construct is an aspect of construction but it's not, you know Well, to general contract, like. So you can kind of hit across these different things and I for you, because, well, everyone's story is different, like the nuance of what they do and why they do. I mean the one is to be the same but the why is going to change. So, from coaching, because you're working with all these people that are specific, well, what they, why they do, is specific to them, but across these different industries, that's what I would do from a content standpoint is and, honestly, you can even highlight, because, like one of my sorry, I'm just thinking, I'm thinking of all that's in my head while I'm talking, but maybe like one a month, honestly, Um, it's sitting down with them like, hey, how has it been helpful? What have you learned was how has it been beneficial?

Dusty Kennon: 26:42

And then you know, distributing that through something like a podcast or having I know one of the things beneficial for that is having like some piece of long form when you talk a lot and then being able to use something like like munch AI is Something I'm looking into right now, where it'll go. Take the long form, cut it into these shorters. Well then, now you have 10 to 15 clips, you schedule those out and now you have this consistency in your content and then you can add a photo here at this, whatever, but you have that baseline. Like you know that you've got stuff going out where, again, the goal is staying in front of people. There's media that the short tail content is just you just want to stay in front of people. That you wanted to see your name, you know you wanted to see you pop up all the time.

Philip Sessions: 27:23

Gotcha. So essentially, at the end of all of that is really just providing value. Of course, coming in from time to time with that sales Conversation, but you should be leaving them curious enough that they want to come to you, rather than you having to go to them. Not to say that you shouldn't, shouldn't still go to them, but you want to leave them curious enough that they want to at least ask you the question, and that gives you that warm introduction to then say, well, hey, here's what I can do to help you, kind of thing. At the end of the day, that's what you really want and why you're doing this video content. So that's really cool.

Philip Sessions: 27:57

And you mentioned I think it's get much. I looked it up. We talked about a little bit offline the munch ai. What are some softwares? Perhaps that that we should look into is with, with ai being such a hot thing right now, are there any good Softwares that we can use for video editing to make our videos Pop a little bit more? Of course, alex harmose is one of those that we think of like. How can we make it more alex harmose like? Or make it our own style? But be that how, alex harmose style.

Dusty Kennon: 28:28

Yes, so, uh, like the munch, ai is great for the long form to cut into short form. If you're doing social content specifically, I mean you can go, so it it's all about how much you want to do to it, so kind of it's going to speak to two different parts here. If you're just getting into it like you, just you have a cell phone and you just need to make some videos, right, so super simple, I would go probably something like cap cut. It's relatively easy to get into. You don't have to really be a, you know, really knowledgeable video editor. Captions are also something that works really well in social. So it, that's kind of built that. I mean this is the name, it's built into that. So I would say, if you're kind of just getting in, tap cuts great option, you can do. Depending on me, even with more involved stuff, you can do a lot with just the built-in editor of like instagram reels, that kind of thing. It's obviously not as it's. It's clunky compared to like an actual video editor, but that's not you don't want to do. Cap cut you don't want to do. I mean that's just the baseline.

Dusty Kennon: 29:25

I'd say next would be like cap cut, something like that, where you can kind of get into it, do a little bit more kind of beef up that editing, and then, if you really wanted to do it, I mean I use, I use Adobe Premiere. We use Adobe Premiere for video, photoshop in lightroom for photos. So I mean, if you really wanted to do that, I mean they have a mobile I'm thinking cell phone so they've got a mobile Rush, I think, or something like that it's. I mean, if you go to adobe and just put in video editing, mobile video editing, it'll come up. But I want to say it's it's rush or something like that. But if you're on a laptop or a computer, you know premiere pro is a great option there. Davinci resolve is another good one. Davinci is actually, I would say, better for like color grading and stuff. But I'm going to assume you're not going to be like color grading and doing all that stuff too. So, yeah, I mean those are great options there.

Dusty Kennon: 30:10

And then, along the same kind of lines, if you're looking at um, because that's editing is part of it, but also when you're actually doing the content right, like lighting, audio, you know things like that. So one of the ones I always recommend on the audio side, like I said it could be as simple. If you're doing, you know you're talking to the camera, reels, that kind of thing, airpods are a great option, that's. I mean, I don't know 200 dollars or something like that. It's a ballpark. Whatever you know, I have to get the pros. The normal ones will work just fine for it.

Dusty Kennon: 30:38

Honestly, if you want to put that, beat that up just a little bit more, do something like a road wireless go. Very simple, you need. You need to do if you've got a, uh, whatever the new iPhone plug-in is, it's to see whatever I forget the name of it but that you'll need to have a adapter to do a you know cable into that to record. But, yeah, uh, road Barless Go is a great option for like a mic if you want to have. You know, actually, speaking of Patrick in bigger chiropractic, I guess we're going to shout him out. I've been noticing he's been doing some. He had one video I think he was in a networking meeting or something and it was. It was great. It was a great example of just really quality content where it's informational but it doesn't necessarily answer every single question, but it's enough to get you interested.

Dusty Kennon: 31:23

And he was like talking in networking meeting about, like it was, you need to get chiropractic care before you actually need to care. You don't need to be like falling apart before you actually take these steps right, something like that. But it was great. I mean it was, and it was literally, from what I could tell, he set his phone up, he propped it up on something on a table and it's like the side angle of him like presenting. But it was. I mean it was good. I mean it really was. Like it was a great example of, you know, quality content that presents you and reinforces you as the professional in your industry. It was great. It looked good and, to his credit, like even off from a technical side, he had the mic just like to his shirt or something. It wasn't like he was using like a boom micro. I mean it was. It was good, you know.

Philip Sessions: 32:09

But yeah, I noticed on social media just to interrupt you real quick I noticed on social media that that seems to be acceptable. I've seen people the same thing with a podcast, so like if I'm interviewing you right now, so this is usually where it's done, where you have a video off to the side or your camera off to the side and you're just filming yourself talking the whole time and use that as content. It doesn't work as well when it's your own podcast. I mean you should already have the video right in front of you. But I've seen people do that when they're being interviewed on a podcast they'll have it off to the side, and I noticed that people still do watch that.

Philip Sessions: 32:43

It's not like, oh, they're not making eye contact with me, like, oh, that's so weird. It's becoming an acceptable thing as well. So don't think that you have to wait until you have a great spot to actually film yourself. Put it somewhere where you're actually going to be in the video and then just have good audio, have something attached to you somewhere where your phone can pick that audio up, and so that's just kind of interrupt real quick. I've seen that.

Dusty Kennon: 33:07

No, no one. And kind of what's great is speaking on that, specifically with content I mean, because there's really kind of two, obviously two kinds of content. But to simplify it, you know you've got your short form and your long form. So your short form is social, it's real, it's you can totally do it with cell phones, I mean it's it's people are going to watch it once, twice, it's going to be on your social media, whatever right. And your long form is going to be, you know the header on your website, right, it's going to be, you know people that probably going to be there for six months plus. It's going to be the first, probably like that first introduction that people are going to have to you, to your brand, to what you do. So on the long form, that's what I always recommend to people, especially if they're small, medium businesses. They're kind of just getting into content.

Dusty Kennon: 33:54

You know that long form that's where you invest in the technical, that's where you get somebody like me to come out and shoot that video, take those photos, or. It's professional, it's high quality, it looks good, it sounds good, it's well edited, it is I mean it's a professional piece of content because that's going to be in front of people for so much longer. So the ROI on that investment is going to play out a lot more versus. You know you investing all of that into something that maybe it's a real that people see, you know for a couple of days right, and then it kind of just gets shuffled into the black abyss of social content and people can go see it on your page. You know it doesn't disappear but it's not in front of people as much. So you know that's where you invest in the technical, especially small, medium, business, now large.

Dusty Kennon: 34:43

You know if you've got the budget for it and you're like and because what that kind of plays out, where people start investing in that, the technical for the short form or the short tail, is when it's. You know there's a convenience factor of like, hey, I as a business owner I don't have to think through filming these things, I don't have to necessarily like, I don't have to spend part of my time worrying about this content, I'm able to bring in a professional who's going to come in, do the. A lot of times when we're working with companies we'll do short term or short tail and long tail If we're doing everything for them, because then we can come in and say, hey, listen, we're going to, you know, shoot this content for the website or we're going to pull these clips for the social we're going to do, where there's this whole cohesive plan to it that you get when you have the budget, and when you have that you're able to make that investment there, but then you're able to kind of work that through where you can get that long form and long investment. Speaking specifically short tail though, you get this with social media in general, kind of going off what you're saying being more acceptable of it's a cell phone cropped up just on the corner. You could see him in the shot, that sort of thing. There is a wide it's acceptance.

Dusty Kennon: 35:52

But going a step before that, beyond that I would say almost preference of it not being this super high edited for call it a professional version of things. Like people will want to see the raw, the candid. They want to see that because there's this personality, like I don't say personal investment, but there's this personal glimpse into things that you're seeing. You're almost getting the behind the scenes. You're not getting the professional video as much as you're getting like, oh my gosh, like it's this raw, like behind the scene shot, access that I'm getting into this business and to what they do, why they do it. And that's one of the things that, when you're thinking social media and you want to connect with people, people connect with people, people connect with stories. Be great at what you do. Like, yes, you need to know what you do and know how to do it well, I'd be able to provide a quality service a million percent. But when it comes to content, there's a lot in there where you want people to be able to connect with you as a person, especially small media business, because you are the business. And one of the great ways of being able to do that in content specifically is, yes, the high quality, the professional version of it. But also it's like it is okay in the context of like a reel to have a like. Like.

Dusty Kennon: 37:14

So for me, right, if I was going to use an example, like I've got my computer here for editing, for videos and stuff, so like having a set myself phone up and having a live stream where I'm editing a video and I can just answer some questions for people like, hey, what have you wondered about? Like, what content you could do this month, or how you could approach this specifically. Or taking that same cell phone content filming me editing for a couple minutes not even a couple minutes, really 30 seconds dropping that on Instagram with some good you know? Hey, you know, actually, so I'll connect the two. Hey, when you're talking to a brand, a branding company, a marketing company, somebody to do content for you, these are three things you should keep in mind. Or, hey, you know, this is three things you could ask yourself and work through before you go talk to that person to help just expedite and just really level up all that you know. But real simple video, you know, doesn't have to be I don't have to break out the lights in the C70 and the, you know, the mics and all that necessarily for a piece of quality content that really connects with another good example. So we have a different, I have a different brand called the Phoenix Coalition that does weddings specifically and we deliver the film and the brides.

Dusty Kennon: 38:29

Best man, she sent the film to him and he was watched it and like recorded like a voice message and sent it to her about like how great it was and like emotional and like, oh my gosh, like this was incredible and such a great video and all that whatever, so not whatever, but he sent that to her.

Dusty Kennon: 38:46

Well, she shared that with us, which is awesome, great, obviously love that. You know something that we did, you know really touched somebody right. But then I shared it on social and literally how I did it was I was just at my desk and the videos on my on our Instagram on that Instagram I just sat at the desk was like hey, kind of real quick, this is kind of what this is, whatever the context for people, and then literally just played it through the computer speakers, like I didn't try to like run it into the, you know, but it took like five minutes to do, like it wasn't really like super big investment, but it played really well because there was that personal, there was that connection, that kind of candidness to it that I don't know that that more professionally shot stuff doesn't always get to that.

Philip Sessions: 39:30

Yeah, and that makes a lot of sense. But, dusty, we're coming up on the end of our time, so I do want to make sure we get to our last question. And, first of all, I do appreciate you coming on and sharing all this tremendous value. But if you could only share one message for the rest of your life, what would that message be?

Dusty Kennon: 39:47

I think probably the biggest thing is just be yourself. Like, whether that is, I don't know. Do something that you love to do, even if it's scary, even if there's, you know, you're not sure how you're necessarily going to pay the bills right off. Be yourself when it comes to what you believe, because I know a lot of people. They feel like they can't talk about what they believe or if they agree with something or disagree with something, or there's always and like what happened, like how are people going to feel about me If I go? If I go, like the whole thing of like, if I go on Facebook and like talk about this, like oh my gosh, I'm going to get these people are going to set with me.

Dusty Kennon: 40:19

So, but you just be yourself with, like what you want to do, with what you believe, with, because that version of you where you're just being your, you're just authentic self of who you are, Like that's the best version of you, no matter who you are, and that's the version that people should get to know, whether that's in the context of business, context, of a friendship, whatever that look, whatever that context looks like, like that's going to be. I don't know that's that's going to be. I feel like that's going to be the happiest version of you, but also the best version of you to share with the world.

Philip Sessions: 40:51

And I can definitely tell you do that every single day. Every conversation we've ever had is very authentic. You're just yourself, you're very natural. It doesn't feel like you're trying to be a certain person or anything. So I definitely can see that's the message that you're sharing, just even through your own personal actions, without even literally trying to share that message. But that's a great message to share that more people need to think about and try and do themselves. Just be their authentic self, be their true self and not trying to paint themselves as something that they're not. But, dusty, if people want to get to know you more, if they're at that point where they're like, hey, I need a strategy, I need help with content or I just need to offload this work to somebody. Where can they reach out to you to get to know you more, follow you and work with you?

Dusty Kennon: 41:38

For sure. Best way would be a website wwwtopshelfmediacom. We've got our studio in downtown Pickens. That's a great option. Love to meet in person, be a coffee person. We've got Instagram at Top Shelf Media.

Dusty Kennon: 41:54

I'm part of Liberty Networking, so you know, if you come out on that, just plug that. Come out on every Thursday or every other Thursday, panjia Unity Park, that whole thing, 9.15 every Thursday morning. We'd love to connect and answer questions, even if that's just consulting, even if that's just. You know you're maybe not at a point where you can offload the shooting and stuff yet, but you need somebody to come in and help with the strategizing of it so we can sit down, we can figure out some stuff, great content that you can do on a phone or you can do on your own to build to that point.

Dusty Kennon: 42:28

Happy to work with people, the biggest thing I want to do with Top Shelf is equip businesses with content that you know is going to share their story but also you know is going to make them money. It's going to be something that is going to allow them to expand that bottom line and to, you know, be able to do what they want to do with their lives. Grow the business, have more free time, more time for family, whatever that looks like. So, yeah, happy to connect a website email. Oh email, that's a good one too. Dusty at Top Shelf Media CO. That's a great one as well.

Philip Sessions: 42:58

Awesome. Well, dusty, once again, thank you so much for coming on the podcast, sharing all this tremendous value with us. And, guys, make sure that you go out there and do your next video, because your message matters.