The 10-Minute Video Strategy That's Killing Lead Services for Tree Companies

 

TRANSCRIPT

Monica: 0:08

If you've looked at the Google search results lately, you've probably noticed that more and more videos are starting to show up. So you'll get the AI overview at the top, and then underneath it, there'll probably be videos. Further down, there might be a whole video section. There might be a section called People Also Ask, and it can have videos in it.

So where are those videos coming from? And how do you get yourself to your tree care business to show up in those video sections?

It gives you a lot more visibility. Obviously, you're going to have to do videos to make that happen. A lot of people are worried about that. They don't want to be on film, they're nervous about it, they don't have time, they think it costs too much, they're not sure what tools to use, or that they need to get fancy cameras.

Well, if you're thinking about doing videos and you want to show up there, this is the episode for you. We're going to show you what tools to use, and it's really simple. If you've got a phone, you can do this. We're going to talk about how to be on camera, how to edit, how to get where to post things, how to post stuff, and it's a lot easier than you probably think it is.

I'm your host, Monica Hemingway, and today we're talking with Jeff Van Meter from Top Notch Tree serving the South Shore of Massachusetts.

Jeff: 1:30

Hi Monica. How are you today?

Monica: 1:32

Good. It's great to be here with you in your office finally. Why now?

Jeff: 1:37

Thanks for coming. The other corner of the country for you.

Monica: 1:40

Yeah, a bit of a trek, but well worth it. Always good to see you.

Jeff: 1:43

Yes, you too.

Monica: 1:44

So tell us a bit about your company. What kind of services do you do? How long have you been in business? I know you've been around for a while. Sure.

Jeff: 1:52

Yeah. So we primarily do tree pruning, tree removal, and stump grinding. Mostly crane removals, um, a little bit of kind of ornamental pruning and stuff, but, you know, those are the three main services that we do. We serve the South Shore of Massachusetts, about 10 towns. We do expand a little past that, you know, if it slows down a little. And we've had Top Notch Tree since 1999. So that's 26 years. 26 years this year, yeah.

Monica: 2:21

Congratulations, that is amazing.

Jeff: 2:24

Yeah, it's been a fun journey.

Monica: 2:26

You must have been in high school when you started.

Jeff: 2:28

Yeah.

Monica: 2:29

Where are you trying to take Top Notch? Are you trying to keep it going, growing it?

Jeff: 2:34

I'd like to expand a little bit. I've never been big on, you know, fast growth. I've just liked comfortable growth that kind of fits my style. And so I'd like to really get like a full pruning crew going, maybe even move into plant health care, but I don't really know much about it, so it's kind of that big leap. It always kind of stays on the list, but it's always down at the bottom.

Monica: 2:59

That seems to be where a lot of people are going these days, trying to get into PHC, and often having to hire somebody to get that part set up. So you're actually pretty well positioned if you were to do that, because you're doing something that most of our clients and I think most tree care companies don't do, and that's building your authority and your visibility online with video. One of the things we do know is that right now, there is so much opportunity to get found online and to completely outclass anybody else in your area by using video. And partially because so many people aren't doing it, but also because not just Google, but also all the AI platforms out there are looking for video, they're rewarding video, and it's showing up in the search results and in things like Chat GPT in multiple places, so you have much more opportunity to be found when you're using video.

Tell us about what you're doing with video. I know you're doing short form, long form, you're doing a whole bunch of different things.

Jeff: 4:02

I've always done little videos, kind of showing what we're doing on the job site, and then then one day I was like, you know what I'll do is I'll flip it around, I'll kind of say, "Hey, it's Jeff, this is what we're doing", and then spin it back around and kind of the storytelling of what we're doing as we're getting set up, why we're doing the tree removals, and how it's going. And I remember  searching online, I don't know when it was, maybe a year or so ago, and it would always pop up at the top, the AI response on Google, and then you'd see videos underneath that. And it was just like, all right, there's got to be something to this. I've never really been into paid Google ads, just because you get a lot of tire kickers, and I know it works for some people, but it just wasn't my thing. And so it was like we're just getting shoved down further and further and further, and then, talking with you a little bit and just asking around. And I always had this idea of doing frequently asked questions in video form. So it's on everyone's websites, all these frequently asked questions, and it was like, why not answer them in video form and then be the face where everyone knows me that's worked with us, but other people don't know us, and so that's kind of how it got started.

Monica: 5:11

So you're answering the questions that people are asking, things people want to know about tree work, about costs, about weather, about equipment, that sort of stuff?

Jeff: 5:25

Yeah, I think anything like that. I'd actually Google or use AI to come up with a list of questions that are the most searched questions, because that's what everyone's asking, and then just try and kind of answer those.

Monica: 5:37

Okay, so you use AI. So what what do you ask AI to come up with these questions?

Jeff: 5:43

So I'd say, what are the most common questions that a homeowner searching for a tree removal service or a tree service on the South Shore of Massachusetts would ask when hiring a company? And it instantly spits you off a whole list of different questions. And I think some of them might be like, I don't know if that's really that popular of one. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. And so then I just picked from that list and I hired a videographer who had actually done some filming and just other videos for us. And then you know, we got together and we shot a few different videos.

Monica: 6:17

So those are different from the ones you do - the short ones for social media, yes? So what platforms are you on with that?

Jeff: 6:24

Mostly Instagram, and then it you know automatically feeds to Facebook. A little bit of TikTok using that, and then the YouTube page doesn't have a ton of stuff on it, but we're trying to build that up.

Monica: 6:37

Okay, TikTok. That's something that you hear a lot about people saying, "Oh, you should be on TikTok", but I don't know very many tree care companies that are doing that. How are you finding TikTok?

Jeff: 6:48

I have two teenage boys, so they're definitely on TikTok, but I would do it kind of partially, a little bit. I think it was more just like I'd do a video, and then at first it was like them and their friends were the ones that followed me. I don't have a ton of them on there, but I know that it's something that's useful, and you know, it's different than the way that you write the captions for Instagram. You would write them a little different for TikTok too.

Monica: 7:15

How's it different?

Jeff: 7:16

I don't actually know 100%. What I do is I just ask AI and I'm like, "Hey, I'm gonna put this on TikTok, what should I do?" And then it just kind of tells you and walks you through it.

Monica: 7:27

Aren't you smart using AI for all sorts of stuff.

Jeff: 7:31

Yeah, yeah. I mean, they don't know the answers to all that stuff, so might as well use it and help with it.

Monica: 7:36

Yeah, there are so many terrific AI tools out there that you might as well use them. So, have you ever had anybody tell you that they saw you on TikTok? Any potential customers?

Jeff: 7:46

Not as much customers. I actually saw one of my friends, one of my son's friends, he was watching one of the videos on TikTok, and his older sister was home from college, was like, hey, that's the guy in the orange shirt, which I just thought was a riot, and they were laughing about it. But, you know, I don't know if I have that much exposure, and I don't really necessarily need to. I'm not trying to be like some influencer, I don't really care about that side of the whole thing. It's more knowing that you need to have video content out there and having the right kind of keywords in there so that you get found. Because in the end, I don't really care about being known as a TikToker or on Instagram or something like that. But I just want people to call us for tree work. So whatever I can do to get more customers to contact us, I want to do.

Monica: 8:37

You said something interesting. The guy with the orange shirt. Do you always wear your orange shirt?

Jeff: 8:42

Well, yeah, pretty much, because it's like that's the way it's been, we always have a company uniform, you know, with t-shirts and stuff, and so I'm always in the orange shirt.

Monica: 8:52

So that's part of your branding. Whenever anybody sees you online, they're gonna recognize you because you'd be in the orange shirt.

Jeff: 8:59

With the orange shirt, definitely. In the trucks, our trucks are bright green, and so they stand out too. So you know, the chip trucks are like solid bright green, and the other trucks are a mixture of it.

Monica: 9:11

So you're getting that consistent look across all of your videos. So the short ones that you do on job sites, how do you decide which jobs you're gonna show on video?

Jeff: 9:24

I've never really thought too much about it. It's more just hey, I'm here getting the crew set up and we're going over the job, and it's like, all right, just grab your phone and take a little video. It started off with just adding stories to Instagram, and I would just say, hey, this is what we're doing, and grab the phone and kind of just you know, and then that's when I decided I'll flip it around and do that little bit of personal branding, building trust with the audience, like a human.

Monica: 9:55

You don't use a selfie stick, you don't use anything.

Jeff: 9:57

No, I just hold it, hold it up like that and kind of say, Hey, it's Jeff. It's you know, we're we're here in whatever town we are, and I usually mention the town because you end up tagging the town, and um, and then do a quick, quick video with myself, maybe like showing the trucks in the background or something, and then stop that video, flip the phone around to a regular format, and then just kind of say, Hey, we're we're putting plywood or alternatives down and we're taking this tree down, this is why we're taking it down, and um just kind of a little bit about why we're there and what we're doing.

Monica: 10:28

So kind of an educational yeah, yeah, exactly.

Jeff: 10:31

Maybe someone could see it and say, All right, if they were in my yard, this is what they'd be doing, you know. And a lot of it's like taking care of the customer's property, too. So that's I want to kind of showcase that a little bit. You know, if we're driving the truck off of the edge of the driveway and it drops off a little bit, you want to make sure you map that up a little extra. So you know, maybe show something like that, or you know, so the stuff that shows you care.

Monica: 10:53

Yeah, exactly.

Jeff: 10:54

Yeah, try and go a little extra mile and you know, leave and make it not wreck anything. I mean, it's hard on a property with a lot of big, heavy equipment. But if we can do everything we can to minimize that, that's what we try and do.

Monica: 11:08

I like how you show that because it helps people understand what to look for when they hire somebody. And if they hire somebody, maybe based on price, for example, and they're not doing those things now they know, "Hmm, I should have gone with Jeff. There's a reason why I'm paying less."

So then you've got these pieces of video, and you've got to get them onto Instagram or TikTok or whatever. How do you do that?

Jeff: 11:38

So mostly with my phone. On Instagram, I've kind of figured that one out. I'm pretty good with that, so I can just write a quick post. And then that cross feeds with Facebook because it's all in Meta. So if you post on Instagram, you can automatically have a post go right to Facebook. TikTok, you have to kind of do it just you know on its own, but there's a little different way to write it. The way that you would caption it is different to get more people to see it. And then YouTube Shorts, same thing, it's just a little different process. So do you put you put like captions on it that has your what you're saying showing up on the so again, not as much on the on the Instagram ones, but I know on like TikTok they'll want kind of a good caption. And again, I'll use AI and just say, hey, this is what we're doing, what's a good caption? Give me five captions and I'll pick one that I think's the best. And same thing with YouTube Shorts.

Monica: 12:36

Is there any program or app that you use to put your I mean you've done a couple of short pieces and you're stitching them together?

Jeff: 12:44

So CapCut, that's an app, and you just load the two different videos and you just stop one and then you can shorten it and make it merge however you can. I've done a few videos. I did one, I was like, oh, it'd be cool to kind of say like "the day in the life of a log truck" or something, or like the afternoon life of a log truck. And so it was like the log trucks, you know, in the street, sitting there all alone, and then at the end of the job, it's super important. And then I showed it sitting there, and then I showed it back in the driveway, and then getting the outrage out, and I took a bunch of little short videos, and then I used Cap Cut to stick them all together, and then you just kind of mess with it. That takes a little bit of time, but I just did it at home, you know, one night and just kind of messed with it and then kind of made a cool little video out of it. You can do all that from your phone, and then you can add music to it, and you just kind of pick whatever you want. There's tons of different music that you can use.

Monica: 13:37

Where do you get the music from?

Jeff: 13:38

It's all through the app.

Monica: 13:40

Through the app, yeah.

Jeff: 13:41

TikTok's a little different because TikTok has more like trendy songs that I would know nothing about, you know. And they'll give you options that are the most trending ones right now, too. So it's kind of easy.

Monica: 13:55

Okay. So you don't have to go and find something, it's just pick what's there.

Jeff: 14:01

And I think one of the things too is like, for myself, it's like you want to try and make it right, but it almost doesn't matter if it's right or wrong. You just keep doing it, and then it ends up there's a bunch of it on there, and it's just kind of it's okay. Because I look back at some of the videos, I'm like, that one's terrible, or the way I was talking in the video was terrible. But you know, they just all end up kind of blended together. And again, the purpose is not as much for me to be on camera, it's to build the brand.

Monica: 14:32

Building the brand, the authority, the credibility, the visibility online. How long does it take you to do one of those short ones?

Jeff: 14:41

Start to finish, everything to get it filmed and online - like a quick little selfie one that spun around, it's probably about 10 minutes, with writing the captions and everything. It's pretty easy.

Monica: 14:55

So, for all of those people out there who keep saying, "It takes too much time, I don't have time, there's no way I can fit this into my daily job". You just heard it, 10 minutes, and anybody can do 10 minutes, right?

Jeff: 15:10

It's easy. You have to do it. Now you have days or a week where I'm like, I never even did it because it was like, I'll do that tomorrow or I'll do it later, and then it never happens. And then when you do it, you're just like boom, done, and then you move on with your day.

Monica: 15:22

How often are you doing this?

Jeff: 15:23

I try and post at least twice a week, sometimes more. There's been weeks where I've skipped it. I started, I don't even know when it was, but I started doing like a photodump Friday. They take a bunch of pictures throughout the week, and then I just click on 10 good ones, eight good ones, 12 good ones, and throw it on as a photodump Friday and kind of tag the towns that we worked in. And that was easy to do consistently. So I just put it on my schedule for every Friday - do your photo dump Friday. I've thrown them up on Saturday morning, you know, a little late, but you still try and do it. And that was it.

Every Friday we put something out, and then I'll try and do something on a Monday or Tuesday, do a story once a week, or just throw a quick Reel up. And it doesn't even have to be, like I said, it's not about making this perfect. And I think I thought that in the beginning too. They need to be perfect, but they don't, you just need to put another one up.  Consistency is better, I think.

Monica: 16:22

And once it's up there, after a day it's gone, pretty much, right?

Jeff: 16:30

Yeah, so exactly. All right, that one may not have been the best, but hey, a new one is coming out.

They even say you can recycle them. I mean, it could be two months later, you could put the same video up, and no one will even know that you already had it up, right?

Monica: 16:37

Unless it was in winter and now it's summer.

Jeff: 16:39

Yeah, that would be a little different.

Monica: 16:41

One of the things I hear people say is "I can't do this because I'm no good on camera", or I don't know what to say, or I have a horrible voice, or endless reasons, right? How did you get around that? Did you have any worries about actually filming yourself?

Jeff: 16:58

Yeah, I think I still do. You know, you just not naturally if it's not something that you do. And you just do it and you kind of become better. You look at anyone that's done a lot of videos, and if you go back to their early videos, they're never great. I'm sure there's some out there. I don't really know for a fact, but you know, I think you just get more and more comfortable with it as you do it. And sometimes I'll get my own head, and I'll be like, I'm not gonna do a selfie video today, I'll just do the regular one. I think it's just the more you do it, you get used to it. So yeah, it's a little weird seeing yourself on camera at first. Like anything that I remember being a kid, you'd record your voice and you'd be like, My voice sounds so weird. It's like, no, that's your voice. Everyone thinks it's normal.

Monica: 17:42

A lot of people don't like their own voice. Another thing I've heard people say is I don't want to be out there on social media. There are so many trolls, so many people making nasty comments. Have you had any issues with them?

Jeff: 17:58

Not really, no, like nasty comments. You know, I guess if we were doing something, we try and do everything, you know, safe. Every once in a while you get a comment or something that someone noticed. But I think that someone's gonna find something wrong with everything somewhere along the line. But overall, no, you get a lot of great comments. So I think it's do you respond to those? What do you think? Yeah, you try to, you know, like even if it's just like a like you like top notch is the best or something. If it's a customer, you just like that comment. And um, you know, sometimes it creates a little dialogue depending on what the comment might be. If they someone might ask you, like, you know, what do you think of that crane? Or, you know, why'd you do this? And then you try and start a little dialogue, I guess. And uh, but it doesn't, it's not like it goes into this big lawn thing. It doesn't that, I mean, I guess that takes a little bit of time, but you know, and then there's times where you're like, I don't have the time to do it, and you're like, I kind of blew that one off, which is the reality, you know, we don't all get everything done.

Monica: 18:54

Right. So, do you have any feeling for what percent of your audience is potential? Customers, homeowners, local people versus tree guys and gals. Because I know a lot of tree companies, they'll follow each other.

Jeff: 19:07

Yeah, I I think there's a lot of like other tree companies or tree guys that you know that follow a lot of it. I feel like a lot of homeowners might, because it's like I know it's like I'll scroll through stuff and it's not like I'm not it's like I don't like everything that I see and stuff, but you see it. So I think a lot of people see stuff. And I I think with names now it's like on Facebook you kind of know who the name is, but on like Instagram it could be like an abbreviation or your initials or whatever it is, so you almost don't even know who it is. But you know, you are getting out there in front of customers mention that, they're like, Oh, I saw you on Instagram, we've gotten jobs, and they mentioned that because I track, you know, how do you hear about us? And you know, whether it's like, oh, we just searched online or we saw your trucks, or you know, I saw it, I saw you on Instagram, and so it's like, all right, that's kind of cool.

Monica: 19:55

Well, so something interesting that I forgot to share with you earlier is we do all the lead tracking for your leads that come in and we can see where they're coming from. And you have of all of our clients, you've got the highest percent coming from social media. So it is working, it is definitely doing something. Well, that's good. Yeah. So there you go. You answered your own question. That's the short part. And then the other thing you do, and Jeff does a great job of this guy's out there. So if you want to go look at his YouTube channel, go take a look at these videos. You do these longer videos, the answering the questions that people are asking, sort of following Marcus Sheridan's People Ask You Answer or Endless Customers. Another great book, by the way. Go go read that.

Jeff: 20:41

I mean, I know you have, but I'm not reading it, but I listen to it.

Monica: 20:44

Yeah, listen to it, read it. Um you're looking for the types of questions that potential customers in your service area are asking about tree work, and you're giving them the answer. And you're not just writing it out, you're actually showing them, you're explaining it to them, you're giving them photos of it on your videos. Now that's something you have to hire. Well, you you hired a professional to help with that. So can you tell us about that? I how did you find the right videographer? How did you know they were gonna do a good job? Is there a problem when they're like a job site, maybe something like that?

Jeff: 21:20

Yeah, that's if they're on the job site, it gets a little tricky because you know they don't really know tree work, right? So they don't know like where and when to be. So we try and kind of keep them off to the side as much as possible, or keep it to like a shorter window that they're there because they don't necessarily need the whole job, they don't need to be there for hours. Uh, but with the videos, you just set the camera up and you know, you know, you you just answer the questions. And I searched again on Dedge Searched AI, kind of based on Marcus Sheridan's brings a bunch of questions and questions that I know or that I got all the time, or that I thought were important to inform a customer of all. Like one of them was like, Is the is a crane gonna crack my driveway, or is the tree equipment gonna damage my lawn? And it's to me, it's an important question because everyone asks that, or they're kind of curious about it, or after the fact they're like, Oh, like I wish I knew that that was gonna happen. And um, so I try to answer, answer those. I mean, the YouTube page doesn't have that much stuff on it, but I'm trying to get it rolling, and um, I guess I'll keep plugging away at it.

Monica: 22:24

Yeah, no, you you're doing a good job answering them. So, how do you come up with what you're going to say? Do you script it out in advance?

Jeff: 22:33

No, I you know what I I'll I'll I guess I'll script it out a little bit, but what it really when it really comes down to it, it's like, I don't know, I've done it for long enough where I think I know the the answer, I know what I need to say. So, right, maybe at the beginning of the video it feels a little scripty, and then you just kind of flow into what I would say if I was standing in someone's side yard talking to them about bringing the crane over there and setting it up to not damage their yard. So it kind of just flows naturally, I guess.

Monica: 23:00

It's not weird or intimidating having a videographer standing there.

Jeff: 23:03

Yeah, it is a little bit. I you know, it's I but I guess you just kind of get a little more used to it. The more you do it, the more you get used to it. And uh I think we've done three shoots total now. Um, you know, and I think I did we have like 17 videos, they're not all up yet because we're kind of you know, we're releasing them like through the website and everything. And um, but yeah, it's it's I think it's it's always a little bit awkward. But then, and I know I know the the videography company, I know there's there's a few different people that and they're all sometimes they're all there, sometimes one of them there, sometimes two of them are there. So it's kind of a casual conversation with us in between the videos. And if you mess up, they can edit it. The editing's unbelievable. You know, the video didn't go, you know, if it's a 58-second video, it's not like I just ripped it off in 58 seconds. Sometimes you're like, I just said that, or I totally fumbled my words or forgot what I was gonna say, and then you just kind of pick it back up and they they edit it and it comes out good.

Monica: 24:01

So that's a really good point. So a lot of people are worried it has to be perfect and you have to do it all in one take. You don't, right?

Jeff: 24:07

They just stitch it all together. It stitches all together and it it's unbelievable, kind of.

Monica: 24:12

So do you have any tips for people who are thinking maybe they want to try doing those sorts of longer videos? What would you tell them?

Jeff: 24:21

Just do it. Follow a local videographer, find someone that you like, you know, that you kind of get along with, that you have a good rapport with. Um you know, if if you don't get that kind of because you want to be relaxed when you do it. So if you have someone then you feel like I'm like, you know, in this like formal environment, then it's probably the not the right fit. So it's like hiring somebody, basically.

Monica: 24:43

Yeah, hiring someone for your company. Exactly, yeah. Make sure it's a good idea.

Jeff: 24:46

Yeah, yeah. You do like tree, you get three estimates for tree work, and you know, if they're all somewhat in the same realm, then you know, and and but go with the person that you like that you felt the most comfortable with. Yeah, and then you can ask them those questions.

Monica: 24:59

Okay. So you they come, they take the video, and then what happens to it?

Jeff: 25:05

Then I don't know, they go back to their place and then they send me a couple proofs, you know, to see, and then I go through those. And if I have any comments, then I can it's this frameio or frameio, I don't know how it's like said, but and they send it in that, and then I can comment on the video at the exact moment and just be like, oh, like this doesn't this doesn't look good or this is great, I really like this, and then that way when they then they edit it, they edit it down a little bit more, and uh then you finally you give the final approval on it, and then it's all set. It's done.

Monica: 25:38

Okay.

Jeff: 25:39

I like that that you can do that right online and say exactly instead of having to give them a timestamp and say, yeah, this is Yeah, it's like it's kind of it's it's it's not what it's not what I do for a living, but it's like just like we have all this like great modern equipment. It's like they have the same things too, the videographer.

Monica: 25:57

So that's why you hire a specialist to right instead of having the kids do it or something. I mean, if you've got nothing else, that can be great.

Jeff: 26:06

Which I think works, and I I think that a little bit of both, yeah, it can get expensive, you know, and so you like you you do have to be mindful of that. But to have some of those videos is really great. I really think too, a little bit of the professional, but also a little bit of just they just filmed, he filmed it on his own. It's not this perfectly shot, you know, video that's edited, it's real because you're human at that point. You know, if you're having a conversation with someone like this, it's like we're not gonna get every word right, everything's not gonna be perfect, and it's just that that's just how it is. And I think people like that human side to it, because everything nowadays with with AI generated thing, it's just it's sometimes it's like so computer generated as opposed to like the human element, it's so important, I think, still, especially if you're gonna be in someone's yard working in their yard.

Monica: 26:57

Yeah, it loses the the soul.

Jeff: 26:59

Exactly. Yeah, people it's like the people hire people that they like, you know, and trust.

Monica: 27:04

So be yourself.

Jeff: 27:06

Be yourself, exactly.

Monica: 27:07

Use your normal language, don't try to impress anybody. Exactly. Yeah. A lot of people are are worried uh about saying the wrong thing or coming across as unlikable, maybe. What would you say to them?

Jeff: 27:25

And some days I feel like you're just like I can't put my words together right, and it's just not right. So you're just like, oh whatever, I'll try it again tomorrow. I think it's consistency though. It's just even if it was one month at the end of a year or 12 of them, it's better than you know, you don't have to like you know, make it this like task that's impossible to achieve.

Monica: 27:50

Right.

Jeff: 27:50

So don't set a goal for yourself that you're never gonna hit that once a month is Yeah, you're better off with that, you know, or a little post once a week, you know, and then once a month do a video. Yeah. And feel funny about it, but literally in 24 hours it's like kind of gone. Yeah, onto the next summer. Onto the next summer, there's another video popping up on their feed.

Monica: 28:13

So what we do with your videos is we take them and we write, we expand them a little bit uh as a blog article. I guess it's more of a FAQ type article based on what you've said. We'll add some photos to it, we'll post that on your website and embed the video on it. So you've got your YouTube channel with those videos on it, those longer ones, and they're also on the website. So now you've got a second place where you can show up in organic search by having that video and the article together. So now you've gotten two opportunities to show up, plus in the people always uh also ask and a whole bunch of other sections in the search results. And the more videos you're getting out there, we've started to see them showing up more often in the search. Which is great.

Jeff: 29:03

Yeah, so it's working.

Monica: 29:05

It's working, yeah. And it's also one of those things, as you said, just just do it, be consistent, and you don't have to do a gazillion of them all at once. You can do one a month, and it does have an impact. We are we are seeing that. So people don't need to feel like if they're not doing it every day, or I've seen advice. You gotta post on social five times a day and put videos in this like you're running a business, yeah, right? You're you're busy, but you're still fitting this in, and it it is having an impact, even with one long one a month and a couple of shorter ones every week, and it's not taking you a ton of time. So very doable.

Jeff: 29:44

Yeah, it's definitely doable. Yeah. Like I said, just start start small, you know, one post a week. Try and do a video, shoot a video, shoot one video a week, and post one a month, whichever one came out the best. And it can be 30 seconds long. It could just be a quick story, too. I guess if you were like just thinking is you know, the story's gone in 24 hours. So if you felt funny about it, put it on your story, it's gone.

Monica: 30:13

Yeah.

Jeff: 30:13

You know, I mean you still have an archive, but yeah. Yeah. And if it did really well, then maybe you're kind of like, okay. And it feels funny at first. I remember the first time I did that, it was just like, all right, you know, and you critique yourself because it's just that's what we do. But um, yeah, just do it, you know.

Monica: 30:29

Looking at you on film, you always look like you're having fun, like you're having a good time. And I can I can see why people would want to hire you because you want to work with people you like and you come across as very likable um on film, which is really great. Every time I watch your videos, it makes me smile. So that's awesome. You are the the client we hold up as the example.

Jeff: 30:53

I guess which is pretty cool, you know.

Monica: 30:54

I guess yeah, so uh kudos to you.

Jeff: 30:57

Really great job with all of that. Yeah, no, thank you for all the help with it too. I remember when we first talked about doing the videos, and you're like, oh, this is great. And I I thought about the FAQ videos for probably two years, really, before I really did anything. So it's like for anyone that's not, it's like we all think of doing these things, but you know, just kind of jump it up on the list because that's really how you get found, you know.

Monica: 31:18

And I think right now we're at a point where you've got a window of maybe a year, I think, before we're gonna start seeing more and more people doing it with the help of AI, because you can create pretty good AI avatars that can they look like you, they sound like you. Pretty much people who don't know you would probably think it's you. It's kind of hard in a tree environment because you the the AI doesn't do all the trees and things around you. So you could be sitting in an office talking, but as that technology improves, I think we're gonna see more and more people starting to do videos that aren't real videos, they're AI videos. But those of those of us who are doing videos now and are getting out there and getting found on Google, getting found in the AI search, are gonna have such a head start that I think it's gonna be difficult for others to overcome that, even if there's all this suddenly all this AI kind of crap out there. So the fact that you're doing it now is setting you up really well to stay ahead. So for those of you out there who are thinking about doing videos, now is the time to do it. The longer you wait, the less effective it's gonna be. So get out there and start doing it consistently, even just once a month, it's gonna make a difference. All right, well, thank you, Jeff. It's been really fun talking about.

Jeff: 32:39

Oh, it's great to chat with you.

Monica: 32:41

Always. I look forward to seeing the rest of your videos coming out. All right, sounds good.

Jeff: 32:45

Thanks so much. Thanks.

Monica: 32:46

And there you have it. Video. It's not as complicated as you might think. So if you are looking at growing your authority online, being more visible, especially as AI becomes more of an important part of how people find tree service companies online, then use the tips, use the advice from Jeff from this episode, and start doing videos for your own business. Hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please give us a thumbs up, subscribe, there's a link down below, and leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you. You can find more episodes of the Tree Care Business Show on our website at treecare marketing solutions.com. Hope to see you soon. Bye for now.

---

Thanks everyone for joining us on this episode of the Tree Care Business Show, where we looked at how biochar. You can watch more episodes at treecaremarketingsolutions.com/tcmspodcast, and subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch more content created just for tree care business owners. Thanks again for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you again next time.