Have you ever wondered how a high school photography buff evolves into a media virtuoso with stints at CNN and Hollywood? In this episode, we welcome Scott Markowitz, the brains behind Reinvention Studio.
Today's digital terrain demands savvy marketing, and Scott shares his arsenal of tactics to leverage video in catapulting business profiles to new heights. Learn how to counter negative feedback like a pro and grasp the sheer magnetism of video content that can transform scrollers into customers. We dissect the anatomy of videos that work—breaking down everything from human expressions to captioning strategies, and the significance of placing them wisely within your business funnel. It's all about captivating, nurturing, and converting your audience, and this episode hands you the blueprint.
Visit us at jenniferannjohnson.com and learn how Jennifer can help you build the life you dream of with her online academy, blog, one-on-one coaching, and a variety of other resources!
Have you ever wondered how a high school photography buff evolves into a media virtuoso with stints at CNN and Hollywood? In this episode, we welcome Scott Markowitz, the brains behind Reinvention Studio.
Today's digital terrain demands savvy marketing, and Scott shares his arsenal of tactics to leverage video in catapulting business profiles to new heights. Learn how to counter negative feedback like a pro and grasp the sheer magnetism of video content that can transform scrollers into customers. We dissect the anatomy of videos that work—breaking down everything from human expressions to captioning strategies, and the significance of placing them wisely within your business funnel. It's all about captivating, nurturing, and converting your audience, and this episode hands you the blueprint.
Visit us at jenniferannjohnson.com and learn how Jennifer can help you build the life you dream of with her online academy, blog, one-on-one coaching, and a variety of other resources!
Today, we welcome into the studio Scott Markowitz. Scott is the owner of what is the name of your company.
Scott Markowitz:Reinvention Studio.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Awesome. Okay, so I've known you for a while, you've done some video for me and it's turned out amazing, and that's what we're going to talk about today. But how did you get started in this whole realm of media and doing video and all of that? I'm just curious. I know the story, but I really want our listeners to understand where you come from, because you come from many different aspects that all kind of converge into the business that you're in, which is awesome.
Scott Markowitz:Yeah, it's a very interesting story and the journey that I've taken has meandered through a very unusual pathway. I started out, actually in high school, taking photography as an elective and I fell in love with the way that you can use light to capture images from your surroundings, and then it became just an obsession of mine to be able to tell stories with those images that I created, and I thought that was just the coolest thing to be able to pull in the light from the world and tell something that reflected part of myself and part of my soul with other people around me and that turned into me going into broadcasting.
Scott Markowitz:I studied broadcasting in college and from there I got my first job at CNN in Atlanta, which is so cool.
Scott Markowitz:They were very much involved with serious journalism and that was the main driving force behind the company and I really enjoyed being part of something that I felt was bigger than myself.
Scott Markowitz:You're taught that, no matter what the information coming in, there's a formula to follow in order to tell a story effectively and correctly, and so I took that with me as I branched out into some more commercial areas of the business.
Scott Markowitz:And after Ted Turner sold CNN, I left and I went to seek out my fortune in California and I learned more of the entertainment side of the business and I got involved with doing commercials and I got involved with uh, with learning from some of the great crafts people in Hollywood and uh, it was just a journey that that allowed me to explore my own personal desire to express myself, because I always felt as a child, I felt like it was difficult to express myself because I didn't always feel welcomed in the world and so I felt like an outsider a lot of times and the best way to express myself was like in this, in this medium of video and film and animation, I also learned oh, wow, animation and things like that. So, um, you know, long story short, I I got involved with bigger and bigger commercial projects and, uh, at one point I was working for a company up in Philadelphia where I was doing political ads.
Scott Markowitz:Oh gosh, I got so good at editing and post-production that I became what's called a session editor Okay, consulting firms, in this case to do the things that need to be done on an editorial level at a very high technical skill level. So, for example, like political advertising, a lot of times is reactionary and something will happen in the political arena that requires the PR firm to respond immediately. So what happened? They would give us what's called shoebox commercials to do. What that meant was they would literally hand you a shoebox that had like a couple of photographs in it, maybe a photograph or two that related to their script and their script, and then your job was to make a 30-second TV ad From that yeah, from a couple of photographs and their script, and then your job was to make a 30-second TV ad out of that, from that yeah, from a couple of photographs and a script and maybe a shoestring.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Maybe there was a piece of floss in the box MacGyver the MacGyver of video editing.
Scott Markowitz:Yeah, so in that job I learned very quickly how to get creative with your storytelling and how to use the visual mediums and animation and sound and the juxtaposition of sound effects and music and things like that and you are a great storyteller you personally because I've heard your stories.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:They're great and I see how they can relate to to the video. But I have a question you said something about in political ads it's usually reactionary, yes, would you ever suggest? I'm guessing I know the answer to this. But for a business to do something reactionary, or is it just out of necessity for video?
Scott Markowitz:Oh yeah, I mean sometimes, for for a business, doing something reactionary is necessary, because a lot of times in a business there's something that happens outside of your control and in that case some kind of reactionary response can be beneficial. Now, in general, I think the vast majority of time for a business, you want to be strategic, right, and you want to make sure that you're doing things in a way that you can control and in a way that you can define what the story is about your business. However, there are times that you know like what if somebody writes something on your Yelp that's not positive, that's an opportunity for you to take control and react to that in a way that to flip the story things but people don't necessarily always it's not always top of mind.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:They think, oh, I need pictures, right, how important is it, like, what are the benefits of using video for your business to promote it? And you know like behind the scenes stuff, like how important is video?
Scott Markowitz:As a video producer, of course, I'm going to tell you.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:I know.
Scott Markowitz:That video is supremely important, but the reality is that when you're dealing with promoting your business, you need to cut through a lot of noise, and there's nothing better at doing that than video, because people will flip through their feeds and there's ads and there's all kinds of things that they've seen before. But if there's a human being engaged in speaking to them, and of course I would always encourage you to use captioning for your social feeds Okay, so that they can see Right.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Most of us scroll with no audio.
Scott Markowitz:Yeah, so that's a powerful combination. Most of us scroll with no audio. Yeah, so that's a powerful combination If they see a person speaking to them through video and then they see words that you know. If there's one or two words in there that hit on something that they're interested in, then they're hooked, because, as human beings, we're psychologically conditioned to react to human faces, and video does that better. There's nothing. So it's basically the second best thing to tapping somebody on the shoulder and saying, hey, let me tell you about my business.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Right, you know I laugh because I'm one of those that scroll. I'll wake up at four in the morning and I'll lay there and I can't have the sound on. And these stupid cooking videos, oh my God, they get me every time. And then I'm like, oh, I need that. You know, I need to go buy all the ingredients because I need to make that. But you're right, I'm not. If there was not captions on it, I probably wouldn't stop, I would watch for a second and I'd move on. The captions are really a key element.
Scott Markowitz:Is that easy to do? Nowadays it's very easy to do. There's all kinds of artificial intelligence-driven software that will automatically do it for you. Three years ago, you'd have to manually figure out what's being spoken and type it out yourself and line it up. Now it's a press of a button. That is crazy, and it's interesting that you say that you know the recipe. Videos stop you, because that's another psychological thing that we're conditioned to respond to, like people need food and people need human interaction. So those are. Those are two things that are very powerful. Yeah, very powerful.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:But you know you have to. That has to be your. Like I own a clothing store and a consulting business. Like I can't do a cookie, but still human to human. It definitely stops you. I can see that Absolutely.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Is your closet overflowing? Or maybe your kids' closets are as well? Or maybe you just want to redecorate your house. If you're wondering what to do with all that stuff that you've accumulated, bring it all to True Fashionistas, or even ship it to them for free. They'll sell your unwanted items for you. Take away all the hassle by doing all the work, and all you have to do is sit back and collect your money. You can check them out online at truefashionistascom. Come into the store or check them out on Facebook or Instagram and that's truefashionistascom. Welcome back, friends. We are in studio with Scott Markowitz and we are talking about using video in your business. So what types of videos can we use? How do you know what is the best type for your business? And then, once we know how we're doing it and what we're doing, where the heck do we put it? How do we use it?
Scott Markowitz:Those are some great questions, I know loaded.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:That's a long question.
Scott Markowitz:Well, let's break it down and think about it, like if you are familiar with your business's funnel, you know, like, how do you get customers? Like, for a lot of businesses, there's a process by which you first get people's attention and then you teach them about your business and then maybe you nurture that relationship in some way and then there's some way to propose your services or your products to them. Then there's a purchasing exchange and then there's nurturing after the sale, right, and maybe there's even some outreach after that. And that entire process. There's probably two, three, four different types of videos that would correspond to each step of the client getting process for each individual business, and that's going to be different for every business.
Scott Markowitz:But, for example, you know, you know, in the marketing arena, to help people become more aware of your business, yeah, social media videos and short, like just FAQ videos could be very effective. You know. So, like, if there's questions that you frequently find yourself being asked by potential clients, that would make a fantastic video. Just answering, just picking one of those questions that you're frequently asked and answering the question in a short video, that would be a fantastic way to gain awareness. Maybe there's a video that you could do to talk about your pricing structure. Maybe that's something that A you also are asked frequently, but B maybe there's something in your pricing structure that sets you apart from other people in your marketplace, that makes you more valuable than them. This is a great video. It's a fantastic way to express why your prices are maybe a little bit higher and why you're so much more worth.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Right, Because you can't always do that in the written word.
Scott Markowitz:No but you can very often display that and show people and demonstrate why oh this company really goes out of their way or they bend over backwards for their customers, and that's a possible way to demonstrate that.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:You know I don't want to get you off track, but do you think that doing video accelerates? That know, like trust factor.
Scott Markowitz:Oh, there's no question that it does, especially in today's marketplace where there's a hundred choices. Whenever you say I need a mover or I need X Y Z service and you go to Google it, there's going to be a hundred things popping up, right.
Scott Markowitz:So video is a fantastic way for them to A be like oh, this company actually has the resources to make a video and they care enough about me to answer my question. So A that's already getting them into that psychological cycle of having a problem that you have solved for them and relying on you for the solution. So already they're beginning to trust you, Right? And then, of course, as long as you're a positive, upbeat person in your videos, which I always suggest you do- Wot, wot.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Right, you have to be yeah.
Scott Markowitz:Yeah, as long as you're presenting like a positive outlook, then people are going to like you and so that like and trust just starts to build for every video that you produce. Absolutely.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:So we make them, we use them. How do we make them? Do we hire? Do we always need to hire somebody to do it? Is doing something on a? I know I get this question a lot. Can I just do it on my phone? Or is that? I mean, obviously there's lots of tools out there, but if you're not looking to do something really big and fabulous and you just need a quick video, yeah.
Scott Markowitz:So the best way to start is yes, pick up your phone, start shooting yourself. Even before that, you can just practice in the mirror, even you know. If you're, if you feel uncomfortable picking up the phone and recording yourself, just practice in the mirror a few times. The the act of recording yourself on camera is unnatural. We're used to talking to people. We're used to talking to people. We're used to interacting with other human beings and I don't know any business owner who's uncomfortable talking to a potential customer, right, Right, and so, yes, if you pick up your phone and you practice and you start talking to the camera like it's a customer and you start training your mind to think of the camera lens as a person, as another person that you're talking to, you will start getting fantastic at it.
Scott Markowitz:That's a good tip, yeah, and then the more you get good at it, the more practice you get. Then you're going to be promoting yourself to the point where you can hire a professional production company to come in and do some bigger productions for you, right?
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Right.
Scott Markowitz:You know, it's like asking. It's like asking a child who's never performed in their school play to go to the Met and talk in front of a theater of people, exactly. So yeah.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Terrifying. It's terrifying. We don't like to see ourselves, we don't like to listen to ourselves. We're our worst critic.
Scott Markowitz:Yeah, and a lot of times you know, businesses put like too much pressure on themselves, like, oh, I need a marketing video, oh, I need to have a video that is an anthem for my company. Well, maybe slow down a little bit. Maybe you just need to kind of get yourself and your employees used to performing in front of a camera first, and then you're going to be ready to do that.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Get out there kind of thing yeah, start somewhere, start somewhere, start somewhere, absolutely, absolutely.
Scott Markowitz:Start somewhere, start somewhere, start somewhere Absolutely.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:So, as you're going, you know people are delving into this, whether they're seasoned at doing video or they're not. What common mistakes do you see small businesses making when we're talking about video, besides not doing it at all?
Scott Markowitz:Yeah.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Right, like that's a big mistake. Not doing video at all is a big mistake.
Scott Markowitz:Yeah, and the second biggest mistake is jumping into video, knowing that you need to do it but not having a plan. That's the second biggest mistake I see all the time is people will will turn their camera on. Maybe they've worked up the courage to turn the camera on, but now they don't know what to say.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:And and that's just as bad, just I have such a hard time because I'm like I don't know that I never not know what to say didn't meet a camera. I didn't like you know.
Scott Markowitz:But I agree, you're right yeah, and sometimes it's it's, it's something that has to go back to like the actual business plan. And why are you in business? Just the basics your marketing plan?
Jennifer Ann Johnson:yeah, your marketing plan.
Scott Markowitz:just you know. Going back to the basics like why are you offering what you're offering? What is it that gets you excited about servicing your clients in the way that you do? What is it that makes you unique? Understand those things very clearly so that you can tell anybody at any time and then practice it before you turn the camera on Right and have, before you create any single video, you want to make sure that there's an end game for that video. What's the purpose of that particular video? Do you want to send people at the end of the video to your website?
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Call to action.
Scott Markowitz:Yes, a call to action. Exactly Do you want them to pick up the phone and call you to make an appointment? You want to know that before you actually start the video and backward engineer everything up to that point to the call to action Makes sense.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:What trends do you see happening this year in video? Anything new, anything that's worth trying or anything that is not there yet.
Scott Markowitz:Yeah, that's a great question. I think the big news in the video industry are the trends that are dying off actually. Oh, really. So 360 video is something that so what is 360 video?
Jennifer Ann Johnson:So?
Scott Markowitz:360 video is VR.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Okay, it's.
Scott Markowitz:VR. If you think about it as VR, it's video that can be captured with a camera that sees all the way around you.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:So you do that when you do that with your iPhone.
Scott Markowitz:Well, there's specific cameras that would do 360 views. So certain action cameras have 180 degree views and if you put two of them together, it used to be that you'd be able to stitch together a 360. But there's also. For many years, there was a big trend with 360 degree cameras, like the. Insta360 was a popular camera it still is, but a lot of companies would try to use 360 to to show their entire say, like their entire um showroom, and people would be able to look at the video and, uh, within within YouTube or whatever Facebook, they could actually, as the viewer, select which point of view they see.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Oh, is that like how they do it on real estate? Yeah, and you can click and you go to a different room.
Scott Markowitz:It's similar to that. It's very similar to that, but uh, the the viewer would actually be able to choose the point of view that they actually are experiencing the video through oh, and that was a. That was a big hot trend for a while, but um, I would, I would suggest not doing that what is not a trend 360 video.
Scott Markowitz:Yeah, I think that anytime you're asking your audience to put in the work, you're asking too much. You're right, and it's better to be in control of the message than to just randomly allow people to see things. So I think the trend that we are seeing is more vertical videos. Okay, explain so. As human beings, we have two eyes that are side by side and so like. For a long time, video was like a wider aspect ratio format Used to be like television was four by three. It was four wide, three tall.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Oh, my gosh Things you don't think about, right.
Scott Markowitz:And then HDTV. That's 16 wide by nine tall, nine units tall, and those were wide format videos. But then, as people started using their cell phones more and more to consume video, the trend has been, and it will continue to be, more vertical aspect ratio. So instead of 16 by nine, it's nine by 16. And so that's a trend. I think, um, my industry has resisted, like as professional videographers uh, we've resisted that trend, but it's. There's no denying that. That's how people seem to prefer to consume their video nowadays, and I think that trend is going to continue.
Scott Markowitz:So, if you are thinking about creating video for your business, consider doing more vertical videos than you are doing horizontal videos. Some other trends are really just delving deeper into who the creator is. Okay, people really are interested in the behind the scenes. So anytime that you can show and reveal behind the curtain of what your business is about, those are things that are very worthy of your time to create, Because people love to see the behind the scenes and it also builds trust. The more open and vulnerable you are to your customers, the more they're going to trust you.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Makes complete sense. I just was on a Zoom call the other day and I had to take my computer with me to go do something and they're all like what is all that behind you? I'm like, well, this is behind the scenes and they were all eating it up. They're like wait, wait, wait, go back, go back. I'm like this is not why we're on this call, but okay, you're right, people are very interested in that.
Scott Markowitz:Yeah, and that's a trend I think is going to continue for sure.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Yeah, that's very, very cool. Well, it's been a pleasure chatting with you today about video and how we can use it in our business.
Scott Markowitz:If our listeners would like to get a hold of you, how can they do that? I would encourage everybody to write me an email. Okay, yeah, I read all my emails. I respond to them. Scott at reinventionstudiocom is the best way to get in touch with me. I'm also on X at teachvidscott. I love to help people learn more about video production, and those are two great ways to get in touch.
Jennifer Ann Johnson:Fabulous. It's so funny to hear X. I'm not used to that yet. Well, it has been a pleasure having you on. Thank you so much.
Scott Markowitz:Jennifer, thank you so much, it's been a pleasure.