1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,520 Kevin Mako: Hello, product innovators. Today we learn from an expert of video marketing on both why a product video is critically important and how to make your first one. 2 00:00:10,900 --> 00:00:20,940 Narrator: You're listening to the Product Startup Podcast, the show that helps bring your product idea to life by chatting with successful inventors, product developers, 3 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:31,180 Narrator: manufacturers, and hardware industry professionals. Our goal here is to get to the bottom of what makes a product successful, from initial idea to getting your product on store shelves. 4 00:00:31,180 --> 00:00:44,420 Narrator: We're taking you step by step to build a functional product and scale your product business. Hosted by Kevin Mako, one of North America's leading experts on hardware development for small product businesses. 5 00:00:44,820 --> 00:00:46,520 Taylor Ryan: Now, on to the show. 6 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:48,280 Taylor Ryan: Welcome back, everyone. 7 00:00:48,620 --> 00:00:59,640 Kevin Mako: Today I'm excited to introduce Taylor Ryan to the show. Taylor is the founder of Klint Marketing, a mid-sized marketing company that has worked with many consumer product companies. He is a six-time startup founder himself as well. 8 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:11,400 Kevin Mako: Today, Taylor is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventor, startups, and small manufacturers should use video to showcase their hardware invention and some best practices when creating your first product showcase video. Now, on to the episode. 9 00:01:12,510 --> 00:01:15,530 Kevin Mako: Taylor, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. Really excited to be here. 10 00:01:15,750 --> 00:01:27,730 Kevin Mako: Looking forward to having you on to talk about videos today. But first and foremost, I was impressed by your story. Six years ago, you moved from the U.S. to Denmark, and now you've built a world-class 20-person agency. 11 00:01:28,690 --> 00:01:29,450 Kevin Mako: That's incredible. 12 00:01:29,450 --> 00:01:39,030 Taylor Ryan: Well, thank you. It's been a heck of a journey. I'm originally from Washington, D.C., but I've been in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the last just under six years. And, you know, every day's 13 00:01:39,030 --> 00:01:45,530 Taylor Ryan: a little different. And it kind of feels unique being in a place like this, trying to grow big from such a small place. 14 00:01:45,730 --> 00:01:59,430 Kevin Mako: That's an impressive story. I mean, especially, it's one thing to do it in your backyard, but even more impressive. There's always cultural differences and unique spins. I mean, I've lived in numerous places around the world and to actually settle in and create a business and to have it. 15 00:01:59,450 --> 00:02:12,530 Kevin Mako: grow and flourish. That's impressive. Today we're here to talk about videos and the importance of videos for consumer products. I know you've got a long history working with different consumer product companies, different products in their videos and such. So can you just give a quick bit of 16 00:02:12,530 --> 00:02:24,690 Taylor Ryan: a background on your firm and what you work on and then we'll dive into it? Sure. So Klint is named after the Danish word for a cliff. So like where the water meets the mountains. The thought process is 17 00:02:24,690 --> 00:02:35,630 Taylor Ryan: we build up companies from zero or in many cases new innovation projects than larger companies from zero. So that means the full spectrum of marketing. I've never really thought that marketing 18 00:02:35,630 --> 00:02:48,070 Taylor Ryan: in any field or facet was existing on an island. So they're all kind of connected. And the thought process is we infuse growth hacking with lots of interesting and new and different types of products. 19 00:02:48,070 --> 00:02:58,610 Taylor Ryan: We do work with hardware companies that have super interesting ways of entering the market and and kind of unique things. I've always wanted to play with lots of different products. And so I've had the 20 00:02:58,610 --> 00:03:10,590 Kevin Mako: chance to really get in with some cool companies and continue to mix things up. Let's talk video. First and foremost, why is video so important when it comes to presenting your product? Yeah, I mean, there's so many 21 00:03:10,590 --> 00:03:23,790 Taylor Ryan: different ways to look at it. But I would start with the thought process of video isn't something that's going away. And a lot of people have really latched on to video more recently with the explosion of TikTok. And 22 00:03:23,830 --> 00:03:36,290 Taylor Ryan: the amount of time that the average consumer spends on TikTok, I think last I checked, I think the average person was spending close to 43 minutes on the platform versus Instagram, which was much closer to the 20 minute mark. 23 00:03:36,790 --> 00:03:49,850 Taylor Ryan: So people are constantly watching and looking for all kinds of things. And the amount of people that are actually purchasing off of that platform is staggering. And there's so many great statistics behind video when you actually think about it. 24 00:03:49,850 --> 00:04:03,130 Taylor Ryan: The amount of landing pages that convert when it has video, the amount of products that could fund it when they have a video associated with it. It's always going to be an ever present part of marketing. So you better learn how to kind of get yourself together and do some 25 00:04:03,130 --> 00:04:17,710 Kevin Mako: decent video work. The beauty of it, you look at pretty much every platform, even Amazon's starting to promote video. There's even video insertion ads in Amazon now. There's obviously video ads across various channels, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, you name it. But it all 26 00:04:17,710 --> 00:04:29,690 Kevin Mako: trickles down to telling a story. The easiest way to understand the power of video is look at the highest funded either Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaigns. Unanimously, 99% of them have a video and 27 00:04:29,690 --> 00:04:39,910 Kevin Mako: generally a good video or at least something that really tells the story. And then let's get into that. What things can, especially startups do to make or start thinking about how they plan the story 28 00:04:39,910 --> 00:04:49,470 Taylor Ryan: of their video when they're presenting their product. I've definitely been a part of a handful myself and I've also worked with companies that have had successful crowdfunding. But you're trying to 29 00:04:49,470 --> 00:05:01,290 Taylor Ryan: cover the main areas to start with. And it works really similar to a pitch deck. And I find that if you look at it from the standpoint of kind of a checklist of things and you're knocking these off and 30 00:05:01,290 --> 00:05:16,290 Taylor Ryan: you're using inspiration from companies that have already done really well in those platforms, you're nearly two-thirds of the way there. And I would say most of the Kickstarter campaigns that you watch, there's really some basic things that are there. The first is kind of the what, 31 00:05:16,290 --> 00:05:25,950 Taylor Ryan: the why. And then it's sometimes the how. But for the most part, it's also highlighting the team and this story of how the product came to be. 32 00:05:26,830 --> 00:05:38,390 Taylor Ryan: And I would say that some of the more interesting Kickstarter campaigns that aren't even for great products have taken off because they've done amazing work within the actual explainer video and not necessarily building an 33 00:05:38,390 --> 00:05:43,270 Kevin Mako: outstanding product, which is pretty wild when you think about it. Yeah, that's very powerful Intel. 34 00:05:44,210 --> 00:05:56,770 Kevin Mako: And something that really, it's a highlight for me is the fact that you're bringing the story into it. I think this is particularly important for early stage companies or startups. It can even be established companies, but a big thing that's emerged, and you'll see that across numerous 35 00:05:56,770 --> 00:06:07,630 Kevin Mako: of these products that have kicked off, especially if it's the individual or the startup's first product to market, is they're using that backstory. Historically, this is actually relatively 36 00:06:07,630 --> 00:06:21,710 Kevin Mako: new. If you looked even 20, 30 years ago, very rarely would you see behind a product, would you see a face that was associated as the owner, the founder, the inventor, the creative, the creative team behind it, whoever it is that, you know, you think is most important 37 00:06:21,710 --> 00:06:32,470 Kevin Mako: to that product, showcasing it behind the product. That's incredibly powerful. It gives everybody that kind of personal touch, they understand the entrepreneurial dream and it really 38 00:06:32,470 --> 00:06:46,670 Kevin Mako: can help sell a product, both from a marketing perspective, but also looking back. as well from a leniency perspective. They understand it's your first product, especially when you're looking at Kickstarter and Indiegogo. They're ordering something. They may not get it for six to 12 months. 39 00:06:47,130 --> 00:07:00,150 Kevin Mako: They're willing to take that risk or they're willing to pay maybe a little bit more to help that not just the product succeed, but the people behind the product succeed. And that's a very powerful tool and it's free. It's something that every founder, every startup can do. 40 00:07:00,490 --> 00:07:09,560 Taylor Ryan: Just get behind it, prove that you actually care about the product, prove that you're putting your name behind it and get that thing out there to the market. Really well put. 41 00:07:09,900 --> 00:07:15,520 Taylor Ryan: Yeah, you know, and it's one of those things as you were saying that I'm constantly reflecting on what used to work. 42 00:07:16,540 --> 00:07:19,120 Taylor Ryan: You know, I think with my area, 43 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:30,180 Taylor Ryan: specifically within growth hacking, I try to combine things that either have worked in the past or different tools that currently work now in order to come up with something that's new or different. 44 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:44,660 Taylor Ryan: You know, and especially within some of the Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaigns that have done so well, they have. They have the fragrance of these late-night infomercials, but they're less over the top. 45 00:07:45,020 --> 00:07:57,600 Taylor Ryan: And I think a lot of really tactful ways of reducing risk and some type of overall commitments inside of the videos is one of the things that they do. There's a, but wait, there's more. 46 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:05,080 Taylor Ryan: You know, you keep spotting these little things where it's like, that sounds like the guy from Slapchat or that's, you know, Billy Mays. 47 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:14,780 Kevin Mako: Like, he's quoting Billy Mays over here. what the stuff works. And that's the crazy part of watching people that are kind of picking it up and infusing it into their own products now. I really admire it. 48 00:08:15,340 --> 00:08:27,580 Kevin Mako: I think that's an important point, too, that it's key to look at what has worked over the last hundred years, right? What worked on radio, what worked in newsprint, what worked on early television, 49 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:39,760 Kevin Mako: what worked on later stage television, you'll notice some common threats, things which historically have always enlightened the human hearts. and got somebody to want to purchase that item. 50 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:55,300 Kevin Mako: So if you can combine some of that historical value with some of these modern trends, maybe it's the platform you're using like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, maybe it's TikTok or Instagram or direct-to-consumer videos via Shopify on your website. There's many different ways to sell using video. 51 00:08:55,540 --> 00:09:06,690 Kevin Mako: Crowdfunding is only one of them. It's a spectacular tool right now, but there's many others as well. No matter what way you slice it, I even say even if you're talking to a super old-school buyer 52 00:09:07,910 --> 00:09:20,350 Kevin Mako: at a major retail store, and you can show them a 60-second minute-20 video that's done well, that not necessarily, again, we're not talking expensive here, but we're just talking 53 00:09:20,350 --> 00:09:33,050 Kevin Mako: using some of those foundational platforms as well as like modern methodologies for putting it together. Even if you're talking to that old-school buyer, it's still going to give them that initial spark. And then, of course, you're going to have to follow it up with everything else, 54 00:09:33,150 --> 00:09:47,950 Kevin Mako: but that's a great way to get in the front door. So video can be used in a number of different ways. One of the ones I really wanted to talk to you about Taylor, because I know you've got a strong history with growing products digitally, using video to actually expand their digital 55 00:09:47,950 --> 00:09:59,630 Taylor Ryan: presence. How can you use video to drive more traffic to your website or to your Shopify page or to your crowdfunding campaign or whatever medium you're trying to do to attract traffic? How can we actually 56 00:09:59,630 --> 00:10:09,160 Taylor Ryan: use modern technology to start driving that video to get more eyeballs on it and to get those eyeballs to actually convert to at least potential customers. Definitely. 57 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:22,340 Taylor Ryan: That super broad area and I'll try to break it up into pieces because yeah, it's one of my favorite areas to talk about and I think the way of growth for any product is always a bit unique. 58 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:33,680 Taylor Ryan: But if we're specifically focused on video, let's say you spend a fair bit of time and maybe, yeah, a decent amount of money on making a nice explainer video. The thought process for me is to try 59 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:45,520 Taylor Ryan: to get it out into as many different platforms and chop it up in so many different ways, if possible, to be able to at least reuse every bit of the buffalo. So like the thought process is, 60 00:10:45,860 --> 00:10:56,000 Taylor Ryan: hey, you should have it on obviously TikTok and Instagram, but it should be also on LinkedIn and YouTube and in the other platform that it kind of makes sense for. I would say that some of the 61 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:01,200 Taylor Ryan: underutilized places that a lot of people miss are Facebook groups, Reddit, Quora, 62 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:14,940 Taylor Ryan: and forums that are specific to either an industry or a niche. So, you know, like if you're, I don't know, producing a new type of foldable chair, let's say that's one, then I would go across as 63 00:11:14,940 --> 00:11:25,940 Taylor Ryan: many different Facebook groups that are available for people that do lots of hiking, lots of outdoor stuff, and constantly pepper in my video. If I have a 64 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:31,120 Taylor Ryan: central place where I'm usually using this video. It's almost always YouTube. 65 00:11:32,020 --> 00:11:43,260 Taylor Ryan: I don't know, maybe you have like some special setup with hosting. But with YouTube, there's a number of things that you can do that would set you apart. So I try to do a little bit of keyword research to see 66 00:11:43,260 --> 00:11:55,060 Taylor Ryan: what are people searching for in order to find this product and take a look at the top ranking videos and start to collect the keywords from those. And you can also go into a YouTube video, 67 00:11:55,060 --> 00:12:08,900 Taylor Ryan: hit the Control U button, and that will bring up the source code for the page. Then you hit Control F, and you can type in the word keyword, and that will show you all the tags that they've used for the most high-ranked popular video 68 00:12:08,900 --> 00:12:11,340 Taylor Ryan: within the specific keyword that you want. 69 00:12:12,260 --> 00:12:24,780 Taylor Ryan: That should be basically what you directly copy in terms of the tags, because you can have upwards of 50, depending on how short they are. And that gives you a little bit of momentum to actually start ranking, 70 00:12:25,060 --> 00:12:39,060 Taylor Ryan: organically on YouTube for people searching for your stuff. YouTube is the second most popular search engine, obviously behind Google. And the thought process would be if you have a guide to something or a tutorial or a how-to, 71 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,980 Taylor Ryan: those tend to do really well and actually outrank anything else 72 00:12:43,980 --> 00:12:56,540 Kevin Mako: that would normally be served up on a standard Google search because that's what people want to see. Like if you've tried to figure out how to do something these days, doesn't matter if it's tying your shoe or, I don't know, replacing your oil, 73 00:12:57,420 --> 00:13:11,880 Kevin Mako: you're going to see that YouTube videos are the first thing that ranks. And obviously, YouTube is owned by Google. So they want to make sure to support that and put it up towards the top. So there's lots of little things that you can do in order to see a little better ranking. That's powerful. 74 00:13:12,780 --> 00:13:23,080 Kevin Mako: Keywords behind video is so core to searchability for those videos and it's such an easy thing to do. The other thing that you mentioned as well is splicing up the video and getting it on different platforms. 75 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:36,800 Kevin Mako: I want everyone to understand that it doesn't necessarily mean you have to spend money on all these different videos. In fact, generally what most people are doing, especially in the startup space, is you start with your anchor video. That's your core, let's call it two to three minute explain your video. 76 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,520 Kevin Mako: You'll obviously show the product, show yourself, 77 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:55,300 Kevin Mako: a bit of the backstory, what you're doing, where you're at in the process, whatever else, whatever you find, you know, working with somebody like Taylor to actually make the video or whatnot, whatever you find is best to present that. Now, what you're going to do after that is take that explainer video and simply slice out pieces of it. 78 00:13:55,660 --> 00:14:09,280 Kevin Mako: So you can have little five second clips for maybe an intro advertisement on YouTube or maybe you'll have a 30 second clip for Instagram or whatever else. And that's essentially the key to having an anchor video and having all your different pieces. 79 00:14:09,460 --> 00:14:15,220 Kevin Mako: Of course, all those little pieces you can actually break out into their own videos with their own keywords, with their own traction, with their own social media channels. 80 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:27,680 Taylor Ryan: So it could be very powerful using just one initial video and maybe spending some money. doing it right, understanding the background. If you're going to be doing the video yourself, do the research into best practices. If you're going to be working with an agency, 81 00:14:28,660 --> 00:14:39,660 Taylor Ryan: be prepared to spend a little bit of money, but it's just on your anchor. That is arguably the most important thing when you're showing the facade of what your product does and then allows you to then splice it and use it across many platforms. 82 00:14:39,820 --> 00:14:45,740 Taylor Ryan: You really get a lot of reach with a relatively small kind of upfront initial investment, whether it's time or money or both. 83 00:14:47,060 --> 00:14:55,540 Taylor Ryan: Strong. I think, you know, on top of that, one of the areas, that I've been playing with a lot more recently is a lot of influencer marketing for a handful 84 00:14:55,540 --> 00:15:07,820 Taylor Ryan: of crypto launches and a handful of other products. It's super interesting to start to work with influencers because that space was just super bizarre to me. I could never understand how somebody was 85 00:15:07,820 --> 00:15:20,700 Taylor Ryan: able to make money just by, I don't know, being a personality on certain platforms. But it is a thing. So there you go. But I've found that especially if you're an early stage startup, people are a little 86 00:15:20,700 --> 00:15:26,800 Taylor Ryan: bit more understanding of that. They're not expecting heaps of money in order to review a product. 87 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:38,520 Kevin Mako: But I found that within that, if you can get somebody to use their own tone of voice with minimal directions and kind of explain, review, and hopefully a positive way, what it is that 88 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:44,820 Kevin Mako: you've built and go over some of the things that they like and maybe the things that they could see for improvements, who knows, 89 00:15:45,780 --> 00:15:48,640 Kevin Mako: those tend to have a lot more traction than if somebody's doing 90 00:15:49,080 --> 00:16:02,900 Taylor Ryan: almost an attempt at a Billy Mays style commercial. And I've certainly seen traction with my clients. So it's an interesting inroads, still using video, but kind of giving the reins to somebody else that, you know, does that as kind of a vocation or a job. 91 00:16:03,470 --> 00:16:16,570 Taylor Ryan: So what sort of tips can you give us? I know obviously a big one is getting, ensuring that you have captions in your video because most videos watch without sound, especially on social media. So what other tips do you have for somebody who's preparing maybe their first video 92 00:16:16,570 --> 00:16:29,750 Taylor Ryan: for their first product just to make smooth in terms of both structure and other kind of more technical elements to do a good job of it out of the gate. Yeah, I mean, there's so many different areas to go into. And, you know, 93 00:16:29,830 --> 00:16:40,050 Taylor Ryan: from the standpoint of actually using it for ads, I think there's a lot of different things to bear in mind. You have that first one and a half seconds to really grab somebody's attention, 94 00:16:40,630 --> 00:16:51,050 Taylor Ryan: whether it's on Instagram, Facebook, or even TikTok, at first one and a half seconds, if it's not either an immediate face that people tend to pause when they see faces and movement, 95 00:16:51,770 --> 00:17:02,170 Taylor Ryan: or it's really closed up on the project and rapid cuts throughout that really short period of time, you're going to lose them. Within an explainer video, I think some of the bigger points are just, 96 00:17:03,090 --> 00:17:15,030 Taylor Ryan: I don't know, you could do a Google search for this stuff, but, you know, it's good lighting, good sound. But I really encourage people not to start with like a five-second roll-in of a logo that doesn't really go anywhere. 97 00:17:15,670 --> 00:17:29,190 Taylor Ryan: And, you know, if you start taking notes as inspiration for the different ads that you see, it becomes fairly easy to stack these things up. I always encourage people to have a few different iterations of not only their explainer video, 98 00:17:30,070 --> 00:17:38,610 Taylor Ryan: but also just their attempts at ads, because ads by and large are the highest converting media type within any platform. 99 00:17:38,610 --> 00:17:47,770 Kevin Mako: But unfortunately, you know, what you would imagine would do really well, doesn't always convert the types of people that you really wanted to buy your product. 100 00:17:47,910 --> 00:17:59,070 Kevin Mako: And so I've often found that sometimes a more simple and kind of rough around the edges version can really move the needle more than something that's overly produced and very expensive. 101 00:17:59,350 --> 00:18:13,330 Kevin Mako: So I think trying lots of different things is often what pans out and gives you at least the confidence to know, hey, you know, we tried all these different things. across all these different platforms. This is our best channel, and this is our highest performing campaign 102 00:18:13,330 --> 00:18:25,190 Kevin Mako: because of this video. There's a common thread through our conversation today, and that comes down to authenticity. We open it up talking about being the real person behind your product, and I find it 103 00:18:25,190 --> 00:18:36,770 Kevin Mako: very interesting here. You're talking, a big high production video might not even yield the results that potentially maybe just a small influencer talking about your product or reviewing your 104 00:18:36,770 --> 00:18:46,590 Kevin Mako: product might. That in itself can be your ad. And this is what's so interesting about video is there's many different formats. There's many different ways that videos are put together. If you look 105 00:18:46,590 --> 00:18:57,930 Kevin Mako: at the videos that are put on Kickstarter Indigo, they're a certain theme generally through them. You'll see the explainer of the product, maybe some folks reviewing it, background of the individual, 106 00:18:59,150 --> 00:19:07,570 Kevin Mako: why the product's so amazing, the features on it. But then you look at some other ads and it's simply a testimonial. You know, I had this problem as an individual, 107 00:19:08,530 --> 00:19:19,210 Kevin Mako: and this product solved it. So you relate with a person that had the problem. It's not even about your product at that point. Your product is the byproduct, essentially, of what solved that person's problem. 108 00:19:19,350 --> 00:19:32,470 Kevin Mako: And, of course, by extension, then, you know, they may want to click your link if they have a similar one. So the authenticity, when you weave that through, I think that's very important for startups to understand that that is really what's going to shine at the end of the day. 109 00:19:32,470 --> 00:19:37,530 Taylor Ryan: it's you and the product combined and the pain point that you're solving done an authentic way 110 00:19:38,970 --> 00:19:49,490 Taylor Ryan: and anything can sell so try a bunch of different things and i think that's a great thing that you ended that last note on is exploring different opportunities even if we were talking about the 111 00:19:49,490 --> 00:20:00,090 Taylor Ryan: original anchor video splicing it into pieces you may try on the same ad platform three or four different pieces of that anchor video and see what is performing better than another it's a simple 112 00:20:00,090 --> 00:20:10,850 Taylor Ryan: A-B test, which is very traditional in almost all types of advertising, you're trying two different ads, running them simultaneously to the same demographic and seeing which one performs. The better performing one, you put more budget into. 113 00:20:11,210 --> 00:20:17,870 Taylor Ryan: The less performing one, you either tweak and adjust or you start to reduce the budget on that. And that's very powerful when it comes to video. 114 00:20:19,260 --> 00:20:19,740 Taylor Ryan: Well put. 115 00:20:20,260 --> 00:20:32,760 Kevin Mako: Yeah, to that point, I do think it was one of the more interesting, I would say, influencer marketing keynotes that I watched, it was one of the founders from. an app called Reflectly. 116 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:46,420 Kevin Mako: And he had the segment that I remember him talking about where he was like, no creative judgment on quality. We're like people were, you know, there was noise in the background. There was somebody yelling from across the room. 117 00:20:46,960 --> 00:21:00,660 Kevin Mako: And sometimes those campaigns ended up doing better than the ones that were really highly produced. And this is specific to influencer marketing and the influencers creating this stuff. But it is that aspect of authenticity. 118 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:15,960 Kevin Mako: where sometimes people do hate to be sold to. They hate to feel like you're getting one over on them. And to come off, as you've already stated, in an authentic fashion, it does move the needle, especially where people are able to notice that stuff more so these days than ever. 119 00:21:16,980 --> 00:21:22,880 Kevin Mako: Yeah, the market's getting smarter. It's as simple as that. They're more educated. They critique harder. 120 00:21:23,780 --> 00:21:30,800 Kevin Mako: They understand advertising better. So the more authentic you can be, the more, it's opportunity. 121 00:21:31,660 --> 00:21:45,860 Kevin Mako: The fact that they're critiquing, essentially big business, is a great opportunity for small businesses to come in and say, hey, we're different. This is the real story. This is our, you know, we've poured our heart into this. And I can tell you, I've worked with over a thousand hardware startups. 122 00:21:46,860 --> 00:22:00,880 Kevin Mako: All of them are very dedicated, very passionate to their product. And that will come out in the video that you're producing, especially if you're starting with that concept of authenticity, but also not forgetting that there are some traditional things. 123 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:14,860 Kevin Mako: that help sell. There are some traditional values in marketing that you don't want to just completely ignore. And that is really what differentiates, I would say, between two authentic videos, one which has done well, one which has been researched, 124 00:22:15,460 --> 00:22:27,200 Kevin Mako: one which is you can tell they put effort into, and another one which they just threw it at the wind. You'll know right away. Everybody's seen a video that just bothers them and then they've seen another video, which for some reason just hooks them in. 125 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:42,040 Taylor Ryan: Start to watch, and you already brought it up, Taylor, of watching videos, that are successful, watching videos that you personally are really attracted to. And then just start making notes of what they're actually doing. How quick do they come into the statement? How quick 126 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:55,320 Taylor Ryan: is their introduction? Do they waste time, like you said, with that five second logo, which means nothing to a prospective buyer? What are all these little characteristics that as you start to look at all these videos, you'll notice patterns. And those patterns, you can start to build into your 127 00:22:55,320 --> 00:23:09,380 Taylor Ryan: own storyboard before you even spend a dollar on a marketing budget or a video budget, as an inventor or as a startup or as a product developer, you can just start jotting these notes down. Just as you did for your initial invention idea, as you start to either sketch that idea 128 00:23:09,380 --> 00:23:23,660 Taylor Ryan: or research it or Google it, do the same thing with your video. Look at your video as your invention of your invention. So you're inventing this video, which is going to be the face of it, at least for that first video that you put out. 129 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:31,720 Taylor Ryan: And I can assure you that your second video will be better as all of ours is when we get into the video game. Totally agree. Build it up and start. early. 130 00:23:32,970 --> 00:23:37,010 Taylor Ryan: Yeah, it's a great point, you know, and I think the more that you watch other people's stuff, 131 00:23:37,210 --> 00:23:43,070 Kevin Mako: the more that you discover. And I've done this with a lot of my videographers where I try to find 132 00:23:43,930 --> 00:23:55,390 Taylor Ryan: great examples of explainer videos that kind of speak to my taste. And it's a matter of kind of putting down notes. And if you're able to point to it, see, this is what really good typography 133 00:23:55,390 --> 00:24:05,370 Taylor Ryan: looks like when you're doing a flashy video with lots of single words on the page. And having a version of that is something that, you know, it's kind of cool. I do think pattern interruption is something 134 00:24:05,370 --> 00:24:16,630 Taylor Ryan: that, especially for those in the audience, myself included, that, you know, it's just super ADHD and scattered. If you just have the same shot for 30 seconds, you're going to lose people. And if you 135 00:24:16,630 --> 00:24:30,350 Taylor Ryan: watch other videos that are successful, you'll start to see this time and time again. There's something that's popping up. There's something that's happening. There's something that's keeping people engaged. And if you continue to take notes on this stuff, you will, as you've mentioned, get better. 136 00:24:30,370 --> 00:24:43,690 Taylor Ryan: better in an iterative way each time. And I always tell my videographers and content writers and designers, your first project isn't anywhere good as your 10th, which isn't anywhere near as good as your 100th, you know, 137 00:24:43,930 --> 00:24:45,770 Taylor Ryan: and it's just enough times as it bad. 138 00:24:46,880 --> 00:25:00,170 Taylor Ryan: That's great advice. Is there anything else you want to leave everyone with before we say goodbye in and around using videos to showcase their products? Yeah, you know, from my standpoint, I think there's so many different interesting avenues 139 00:25:00,170 --> 00:25:11,650 Kevin Mako: when it comes to getting early traction and from a six-time startup founder, I can tell you, early traction is one of the most important things that you can do for your business and also for 140 00:25:11,650 --> 00:25:21,850 Kevin Mako: your sanity. And I would say that, yeah, it's great to have this explainer video and something to kind of come out of the gates with. I think it's also incredibly important to tailor your 141 00:25:21,850 --> 00:25:35,110 Kevin Mako: video to at least what your hypothesis is of your target audience. And I am consistently surprised, even though I've been doing this for, man, way too long. I've been doing this for like 13 years now. 142 00:25:35,470 --> 00:25:39,430 Kevin Mako: And I'm, I would like to think I have some business acumen and marketing acumen. 143 00:25:39,950 --> 00:25:52,110 Kevin Mako: And what I initially set out to do and what I thought my audience would be and what they would really enjoy is almost always somewhat different because, you know, you have to test things. 144 00:25:52,550 --> 00:25:59,810 Kevin Mako: And so I encourage people not to get frustrated and find themselves in a, well, this doesn't work. I guess it's not, it's not meant to be. 145 00:26:00,700 --> 00:26:04,960 Kevin Mako: maybe you just haven't found the right type of buyer and you're not trying enough different 146 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:15,560 Taylor Ryan: things. So I encourage you to experiment, get your hands dirty, and yeah, get out there and make something cool. I love that, Taylor, because we talk a lot on the show about product feedback and 147 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:28,300 Taylor Ryan: how important it is to listen and consider adapting and use that feedback, both negative and positive to either improve your product, to change it, maybe to build an add-on product. The same principles 148 00:26:28,300 --> 00:26:36,940 Taylor Ryan: apply to your video. Make sure that you're using that feedback from the videos, both on your product, of course, because that's probably what they're giving you feedback on, but also on 149 00:26:36,940 --> 00:26:51,180 Kevin Mako: that video. You may have missed the mark, both on the way you presented it or the audience you presented to or something else, but like you said, your 10th is going to be exponentially better than your first. So keep trying and experimenting different avenues. Doesn't mean your product's 150 00:26:51,180 --> 00:26:59,920 Kevin Mako: a failure if your first video doesn't exactly hit the performance that you were looking for. And especially it's not a loss if you use that feedback. 151 00:27:00,300 --> 00:27:03,500 Taylor Ryan: The only way it becomes a loss is if you take the L on it, 152 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:17,680 Kevin Mako: don't listen to any of the feedback and cave it in, right? But if you use that feedback, then it wasn't a loss. It was an investment like everything else in this business. So Taylor, really appreciate this messaging. Where can people learn more about doing a video with you 153 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:30,150 Kevin Mako: or working on their web presence with you? Sure. So if we looked it up just recently, there are apparently a lot of Taylor Ryan's out there. but I am the only Taylor Ryan located in Copenhagen, Denmark. 154 00:27:30,670 --> 00:27:44,850 Kevin Mako: I connect with everybody on LinkedIn, so feel free to look me up on LinkedIn. I am also located at Klint Marketing, K-L-I-N-T Marketing.com. I have a Gross Secrets Masterclass, and that's at GrossSecrets.org. 155 00:27:45,270 --> 00:27:57,090 Kevin Mako: And I also do tons of workshops for accelerators, incubators, and a handful of corporate innovation programs, and that usually goes through Taylor Ryan.io. so lots of irons in the fire. 156 00:27:58,340 --> 00:28:09,620 Kevin Mako: Taylor, I appreciate it. And as always, I'll be putting all of those links into the show notes below. If you're listening, just scroll down on your iPhone or whatever your device you're listening to on whatever platform that you're listening on. And you can pick up 157 00:28:09,620 --> 00:28:14,440 Kevin Mako: the notes there. Taylor, thanks again for all your insight on the show about videos. We appreciate it. 158 00:28:14,540 --> 00:28:25,320 Narrator: Thanks, Kevin. Take care. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Product Startup Podcast, the show that teaches you what it really takes to bring your product to market and turn it into 159 00:28:25,340 --> 00:28:37,720 Narrator: a big success. This podcast series is brought to you by Mako Design + Invent, the original and leading firm in North America to provide global caliber in-to-end physical consumer product 160 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:51,000 Narrator: development to startups, inventors, and small product business clients. If you're looking for product development help on your invention, head over to Mako-design.com. That's m-a-k-o-design.com. 161 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:59,280 Narrator: for a free consultation from one of Mako Design's Ford Design Studios from coast to coast. Thanks for listening and see you next time.