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If you're a coach or consultant, video content is no longer an option, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming or time consuming. In fact, it can become one of your best lead generation strategies. That's what we're going to talk about in this week's podcast episode, so stay tuned.

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From burnout to breakthrough, we'll rewrite your story with AI strategy. Let's amplify your authority.

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Hello and welcome to the Amplify Your Authority Podcast. I am your host, Marissa Shadrick, and today we're going to talk all about videos. Now, I'm one of those people that kind of resisted videos, but I'll tell you, the stats are showing promising results for us coaches. And so I've decided to implement more videos in 2026. And I just kind of want to share behind the scenes what I'm doing and why I'm doing it with some stats and some tips as well. So as coaches and consultants, it's a very personal type of program that we create. It's very intimate. We are instructing, we are giving insights. And so we need that initial trust from our audience. And video allows us to do that because in text, it'll inform people, but in video, you can hear the tone, you can hear the humor, you can see the personality, you can see the delivery, you can hear the empathy and the energy of the person that can potentially be your coach. And a lot of people make a buying decision that is emotional first. So when they resonate with you, they connect and they're more likely to either join your email list or book a call with you. And video provides that opportunity to be able to make that connection with your audience, more so than text. Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with text. I think we need to have a blend of content, but I think we shouldn't ignore video, and it's easier than ever to create video content. So let's move on. Let's talk about the ROI. Everybody wants to know what's the ROI, the return on my investment. Now, some things are a return on a financial investment, while others are a return on the energy or time we invest. So in this case, we're looking at the time invested versus other forms of content. Now I want to share a few stats that I found in the WISO 2026 report. It said that 91% of businesses now use video. That is quite telling. And 63% of people say they prefer learning about a product or service through short video over text. That's also very helpful to know. Now, here's the bottom line from what we're seeing: 85% of marketers are saying that video content has helped them generate leads. That's quite significant. So this isn't about becoming a YouTuber and creating 20, 30-minute videos on YouTube. This is about meeting your audience in the format that they prefer. So let's look at the most common misconceptions. And I'm going to share some stats to back this up. One of the first ones is that we need to have long-form video content that's at least 7, 15, 20, 30 minutes long to establish credibility and give value. Now there's a place for long-form content. However, companies that were surveyed showed some telling numbers. So when we look at videos that are under 30 seconds and videos that are up to three minutes, there's a big difference. And here's how it's scored 30 seconds or less, 20% effectiveness. 30 to 60 seconds, 51%. That's more than half of the companies that were surveyed said that the 30 to 60 was most effective. 1 to 2, 20%. 2 to 3, 5%. And 3 minutes, 4%. So our sweet spot based on this survey should be around 30 to 60 seconds. So that misconception that it has to be long is not very accurate. Now you could do a combination of long and short. That would be ideal. But these stats are showing us that the sweet spot is 30 to 60 seconds. Now we can do that, right? We can do that. So let's look at misconception number two. If video works, I should post everywhere all the time. That is a great way to burn out. I think the reframe on that is not to think about all the places you can put video, but rather what can you consistently do so that you don't burn out as far as creating video content. Misconception number three is I don't know where to start. That's a common one. Well, you already have long form content. Most likely you've created a blog post or you've created newsletters or you've created emails for your email list. You have content, you may have a framework, you may have a blueprint, or you may have a course. All of this has rich content that you can take just a sliver, just a slice. And we're talking for short videos, just a little bit of content to be able to create something that has a lot of value. Video is not creating new work. Video is redistributing what you already have. That's the powerful reframe. So some practical tips for you. Number one, how do I turn my long form content into 60 second videos? Here are some examples of things to consider when you're trying to take long form and create short form videos. And by short form, again, I'm talking about 30 to 60 second videos. My sweet spot is just right around 58, 59 seconds. I can say a lot in that amount of time, and you get better at it. Now, here are some examples. The first one could be a quote. Maybe something that you wrote, a blog post. There's a quote that you can create, an original quote, and then you can unpack it in the video. Or you can do a key tip, maybe from a course, or one misconception, or one framework step. If you have a framework, you can share one step of it. And then you can always have a call to action if you have a lead magnet that unpacks the entire framework. You can do a client story and just show the transformation that you provided. You can do a frequently asked question. What are people asking? And can you give them an answer in 60 seconds? I bet you could. And the objection you hear all the time. What is that objection? And how can you provide value and give them a different perspective to that objection? A mistake that people make. People don't want to make mistakes. Maybe you can give them a tip that way. Here's a common mistake. Here's a better way of doing it. A myth to correct. What you're trying to do is give them one micro win in video form. So you could easily create out of one long form piece of content, or maybe if you want to have some variety, maybe three pieces of long form content, and you can create 10 video scripts. If you do a video once a week, I mean that's more than two months worth of video content that you can create. And you can always point it to a long form video or point it to a blog post or point it to a LinkedIn newsletter or free resource. Now, what's the format look like? The format is where people get tripped up. Now, if you're trying to do under 60 seconds, you're looking at no more than a hundred words. No more than a hundred words. It's almost like the same length as a commercial. So you're looking at something that's short and to the point. You don't have a lot of time when you're talking about a hundred words. And the reason why I say a hundred words, you might want to script it out so they can see how much limited time you have. And if you want pause and you want to put your personality in it, you might even want to condense it to 80 words. And you want to start with a hook. And this is something that I often forget too. You start with the hook. Let them know what this video is about. We don't start, hi, I'm so and so, and I do this. I'm so glad you're here and hope you're having a great day. We want to get straight to the point. Like, do you want to add more leads easily every single month? That would be a hook. And then you move into why it matters to them. For example, for coaches and consultants, it's important to have a lead generation system that brings new leads into your pipeline. And then after you tell them why it matters, you give them the tip. Have you ever considered short form video to generate more leads? It's easier than you think. And then you have the call to action. Click here, join my upcoming workshop where I'll show you how to create short form video, edit it, post it, and begin to generate more leads. See how simple it is? You just go to the hook, why it matters, you give them the tip, and then you give them the call to action. Now, if you find you have a little bit of extra room, you can elaborate and maybe add a sentence or so, but you want to have just the skeleton and then add from there. Once you get really good at it, you have the idea, you have the tip that you're gonna give them. And oftentimes you don't even have to script it. You can just go on your phone and go ahead and just say what you need to say. You're in, you're out, and done. And you begin to get a feel where you instinctively know when to transition to the next section of your video. The next thing you should consider is whether you're gonna use a teleprompter or not. Now, these days there are teleprompters you can use on your desktop, there's teleprompters for your phone, but doesn't necessarily work for you. I'm terrible with teleprompter. I use them sometimes when I have a lot of content, a lot of things I want to share in a podcast, but they're so uncomfortable for me. I'm not that good at it. I only use it when I have podcasts that have a lot of details and I need an outline or notes in front of me to be able to make sure I deliver all the content. But when I create a 60-second video, I don't use a teleprompter. It's it's more of a hindrance to me. I'd rather know what the topic is, what the tip is, and what the call to action is, and just shoot a video. Now, if I make a mistake, I'm gonna share a tool that I use to edit that out. And it's pretty easy to do. So when I'm recording, if I make a mistake, I just keep going and then I cut out the section where I made a mistake. And we'll talk about what tools I use in just a second. The third thing to consider is platform clarification. Rather than think which platform should I put my video on, think about which platform is my audience most engaged in. Are you a LinkedIn person? Are you an Instagram or a Facebook person? Are you already on YouTube? You can start there where your audience is. And then if you want new people, you can use that same video to go on a second platform since you've already created it. But start slow. Start with the platform where your audience is at. That way you'll get some good feedback because if they already follow you, they're gonna comment or they're gonna like or they're gonna say something to give you some feedback on the content. And then you can take that and put it on a platform where you maybe want to expand your reach and get new people to discover you. Number four is the funnel reminder. So when you're creating these short form videos, they should be more than just brand awareness. That's a good thing, but you want to be able to consider, first of all, the platform and the video. What am I trying to accomplish? Am I trying to grow my email list? Am I trying to get people to book a call with me? Am I trying to get people to go to my website for website traffic? What am I trying to accomplish? And make sure that those videos and the platform that you're on is going to do that for you. So give all of your content creation efforts direction, clear direction. My primary direction is typically to grow my email list. There are, on occasions, a workshop that I'm doing, or if there's a free masterclass that I'm offering, that direction will change. But primarily, my direction is to grow my email list because I can always invite them to other things from an email. All right, number five, equipment. The good news is you don't need a lot of equipment. All you need is a phone, you need a microphone, and you need a tool. And what I use is Cap Cut. So if you have a phone, you're going to be in the video mode of the phone. You're going to use either a wired microphone or a wireless microphone. I started with a wired microphone and it served me really well. I just ordered a wireless one because I want a little bit more freedom when I'm creating these videos. And so I've just ordered one that's wireless. But either way, they usually just plug right into your phone and they'll clip onto your clothing, and then you can record yourself and you get a nice, clear, clear audio on your video. And I think that's really, really important. Now, when you use a tool like Cap Cut, I like it because oftentimes I don't use a selfie stick, it's just more stuff to do. And so I keep it really simple. I just hold the phone up, I click the button, I record, and Cap Cut has a way to stabilize the video. So that little bit of shake that you have from your hand, Cap Cut will remove that and it will stabilize it. There's also background noise removal so that if for some reason you're recording outside and there's a plane that flies by, or sometimes I do it in my back patio and the air conditioning goes off, I can cancel out that noise. You can also put text overlay over your video. So there's a lot of features in it. Those are the primary ones that I use. So it makes it very simple from start to finish to not only record, edit, and then from your phone, you can upload it to the platform of your choice. So just remember for coaches and consultants, short form videos, specifically 60-second videos, as we've seen now from surveys, they seem to perform better, are really a great way to generate leads because people hear your heart, they hear your personality, they see your humor, they connect with you much better than in text. I'm not saying to get rid of text or articles because they all have a function, but I'm just saying this is something that you can do because you already have written content. Why not repurpose it and create short form video? So remember that video isn't about chasing trends, it's about helping your audience relate to you. Start with 60 second videos, but remember to keep it around 58, 59 seconds. That way you can put that video on any platform. You can put it as a video short, you can use it as a story in Meta, you can use it on LinkedIn as a reel. That is a great sweet spot. So those 60-second videos, which are technically 58, 59 seconds, are perfect. If coaching is built on trust and trust is built on connection, then video is a great way to build that connection. I hope this was helpful for you. And if you enjoyed it, I would love it if you would subscribe to my YouTube channel or if you're listening in one of the podcast platforms. I would love it if you would rate and review as well. Until next time, take care.