Start Your Video Content By Hiring A Storyteller

start acuff

Courtesy: thestartbook.com

Here we go again. I had another pros and cons conversation recently with someone about do-it-yourself video content. Thankfully, I had a new argument to bolster my opinion courtesy Jon Acuff.

Acuff is a successful author. He started with a blog and his latest book, START (VIDEO BELOW), debuted on The New York Times best sellers list. I’m a big fan of his last book, Quitter, and I’m looking forward to reading this next one. He’s an entertaining writer, but even better he’s pretty inspiring.

I was listening to him talk about START during an EntreLeadership podcast and something really hit home for me. I run into a lot of leaders at success companies who think they can produce their own videos. “Tim in accounting has his own camera and his home movies are pretty good.” That’s an actual quote.

You can’t skip ahead to awesome

Acuff talks about these stages everyone goes through on the road to awesome… learning, editing, mastering, harvesting and guiding. If you’re going to be awesome at something, you have to go through each step. One leads to the other and nobody gets to jump ahead. You figure out what you’re passionate about, practice, hone your craft, see the benefits of your hard work, then help others who are starting out.

As someone who’s dedicated their professional life to becoming a great storyteller, that clicked with me. It’s also why most DIY corporate videos suck. Ted in accounting hasn’t gone through the steps. His boss wants him to be a professional storyteller, but he hasn’t spent enough time learning, editing and mastering.

When to DIY, When not to DIY

I’ve said it time and time again, if you’re a small business owner without any budget and believe in the power of video… have at it. Produce your own stuff. It’s better than nothing and nobody is expecting professional videos from you.

On the other hand, if you’re a leader at an established company, find yourself a video pro. They’ll do it smarter, more efficiently and better than you.

Why would you trust the image and reputation of your business to Ted in accounting?

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

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