It’s hard to figure out what to say in your marketing videos, especially if you’re trying to produce content yourself without the help of a production team. When you’re just dipping your toes into this powerful medium to see what happens, it’s best to start simple. Good videos have a…

Sometimes, people don’t buy products. Instead, they buy stories. Depending on who you ask, it may be exclusively stories that people are buying. The classic example from the branding literature is Harley Davidson. Their motorcycles aren’t the product. They are selling freedom. (This used to be abstract; Now they are…

One of the biggest challenges that organizations face when they set out to create video marketing content is this: “What do I put in it?” Good videos have a message. Good videos have a story. In an earlier article, I offered four questions to help you find the story of…

Stephen Hawking did a lot to popularize information about black holes, but he never saw one. He began his work in 1965 and died in 2018. Imagine that: over fifty years studying something that he never even had the opportunity to look at. …

One of my favorite quotes about filmmaking comes from Hollywood director James Cameron: “A lot of people ask me, ‘What’s the best advice to someone who wants to be a director?’ The answer I give is very simple: ‘Be a director.’ Pick up a camera. Shoot something. No matter how…

The following is the transcript of a talk I gave at the Temple Terrace Uptown Chamber of Commerce’s Networking Women luncheon on July 27, 2023. Introduction My name is Joni West. My company, Big3 Communications, has been helping people tell their stories through social media and video for about eight years. …

Video marketing is an essential tool for moving customers through the buying journey. It builds credibility, boosts engagement, and is more memorable than text. …

In the past, if you wanted to advertise, it was complicated. There were a lot of steps and a lot of contacts to get from idea to impression, and not many alternative paths were available. Today, social media gives organizations a direct path from idea to impression. If you want…

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical works really well, and that’s kind of crazy. Rather than performing in full, mascot-esque costume, like Disney on Ice, or even using puppetry like The Lion King, the SpongeBob cast appears on stage in limited makeup and surprisingly normal clothes. …