Part 3 - Time for Answers
Let’s talk how to answer questions.
There’s a wide range of ways to do this - blogs, emails, telephone calls, social media etc.
I’m going to show you the most powerful.
Let’s get started
In the olden days (pre-internet) customers would call us or come to our place of business.
We’d basically be answering their questions one at a time.
Nowadays we can answer an individual’s question so that it helps many people.
Individual has a question → the entire audience gets the answer
This is powerful because if one of your potential customers has a question you can bet your nelly that many other people have the same question.
This one person has asked it for the rest of them. What a hero.
So now we want to answer using a format that everyone can access - we won’t answer 1:1 in an email, meeting or telephone call but instead we’ll use social media so that the question helps as many people as possible.
Video time
You know me by now - you knew this was coming.
The best format to answer questions is using video. Ta-da! Big reveal!
Video
- is fast to produce (you can therefore answer more questions)
- has high engagement (ie. people want to watch rather than read)
- builds the most trust because it’s “really you”
- can be repurposed into audio and text to further your impact
I’ve written a whole Prompt Playbook on short-form video. It’s accessible in The Vault if you need the extra assistance.
Here’s an amazing example I’ve seen recently
This guy sells life insurance on Tiktok.
Old school industry.
And when I say old school I mean OLD school.
People have been doing what he does since the 18th century!
Curtis has just brought the practice into the 21st century.
And by doing so he has 1.5M followers and has sold lord knows how many policies.
Go and study his profile and videos.
Each of them is answering a specific person’s question. In the video above it’s for user @noyondosh - he basically runs through a calculation for them. That’s it. Super basic and super valuable to his audience.
@noyondos gets their answer and maybe buys a life insurance policy.
And other people (1.5M of them) see Curtis in action. Each time they see him builds trust. Until one day they think “hmm I need life insurance. Let’s see what that Curtis guy can do”.
Masterful.
Shooting
This is covered in the full Prompt Playbook on shooting short video in The Vault but we’ll cover the basics.
For equipment your phone is more than enough. We are going for authenticity, not polish. At least initially. We also need to start and if you begin faffing around with what equipment to use I can guarantee you won’t start.
For software, I recommend using the built in video recording function in Tiktok. If you don’t like Tiktok or if it gets banned (currently pending!) then the record function in Instagram is similar. Which you use is unimportant - go with what you feel comfortable with.
Get yourself in frame, overlay the question (or part of it) and then just answer the question. You are the expert in this area and therefore can give value. Answer as if someone came to your business in person, by phone or email. And deliver the answer as if you were explaining to a friend.
If you are struggling and need some assistance let’s use ChatGPT
Act as a short video script writer.
I want to answer my customer's questions in a manner that highlights my expertise and builds trust whilst remaining authentic
My customer question is [copy paste question]
Here are some basic points I'd like to make (in no particular order): [any specific points]
Please write a basic bullet pointed talking points script for me.
No stage directions, only the talking points.
60 second video max.If I plug in the following
My customer question is "what are the most exciting trends for actual businesses who want to use AI?"
Here are some basic points I'd like to make (in no particular order): not research/tech focused, focused on what's actually useful, I think Microsoft's copilot is most exciting for small businessesChatGPT gives me some talking points
Notice it’s quite generic. That’s fine for this task because we shouldn’t simply be reading what ChatGPT gave us.
Instead focus on the main bullet points and talk using your own expertise. After enough videos you’ll find you can just talk without having to script too much.
There’s no need to overcomplicate it. Especially at this stage. Later, in the last Part, I’ll talk about refinement.
Right now just start with quick direct to camera videos to practice and get your reps in.
Premium Prompt - Hook
One caveat is that you do want to make sure your first sentence is strong.
The first sentence is what will keep people watching. If it’s weak you’ve lost them.
You also need to make sure the first second isn’t silence or an intake of air.
Let’s adapt the prompt
Act as a short video script writer.
I want to answer my customer's questions in a manner that highlights my expertise and builds trust whilst remaining authentic
My customer question is [copy paste question]
Here are some basic points I'd like to make (in no particular order): [any specific points]
Please write a basic bullet pointed talking points script for me.
No stage directions, only the talking points.
60 second video max.
Give me 5x strong hook first sentences to ensure people watch. Tease the outcome. Don't be salesy.I’ve added some additional Narrowing constraints on the end to generate hook sentence ideas:
Adjust the prompt as required to match the style of hook you want. Of these I like #3 the best and would use it as a jumping off point for my own hook.
Another tip when recording is to avoid the Millennial Pause. I only learned about this recently!
Basically hit record and GO immediately. Do not leave a gap.
Do not even take an intake of breathe after hitting record. Instead take a breathe in, hit record, talk using the exhale.
Sounds minor but this little tip will make your videos (especially the beginning split seconds) much better.
Pulling it together
In the next Part we’ll look at how we can take our short video and publish it in multiple places - most importantly on a website for Google juice.
A reminder of what we’re covering
- Part 1: Questionable Content
- Part 2: They ask, you answer
- Part 3: Time for answers!
- Part 4: RIP Yahoo Answers
- Part 5: Q&A ouroboros