How we avoid failed solar video shoots

▶ 0:00Okay, so we've done 70-ish solar shoots over the course of this and we've done the longest in space and we've got a whole lot of experience on how to actually make sure that you get the most from the day and it all goes swimmingly. So I'm going to take you through basically some of the things that we've put in place to ensure that that all goes to plan. So we've only ever had one shoot where we walked away and weren't 100% satisfied with the content we got and a lot of the things I'm going to talk about basically ensures that that doesn't ever happen again.

▶ 0:28So first thing is that we actually sign people that are going to be good on camera. We're unapologetic about this. There are agencies that will potentially help anyone. Unfortunately, if you're not enthused by the idea of getting on camera, presenting your business and the hard work that your team do, then we're not the agency for you.

▶ 0:47I said it. It's unfortunate, but this is a style of advertising. There are many, many styles of advertising and if you don't think that you or someone within your business is going to get on camera and present it in the right light and be able to get past the initial awkwardness and difficulty and get some practice in before the shoot, if that may be the case or they need to happen, then unfortunately, try a different advertising route, right?

▶ 1:11There's plenty of other ways you can generate business. This is for people that really want to stand in front of their work and be super proud of it, like Fraser there, laughing away. So next thing is we write a really strong shoot brief for every shoot and that has an agenda with like literally down to the minute on to be sure that when I'm there, I'm making sure that we get to each site on time.

▶ 1:32It factors in the different driving times between so that we can cram in as much as possible. I mean, the most we've ever done in one day is nine sites. This shoot brief also gives you an idea of the content we're looking to capture on the day and make sure that we hit your key USPs. So there's a lot of feedback that goes into that shoot brief.

▶ 1:47Next up, pre-shoot checklist. This is a growing checklist of things that people have either forgot or didn't quite consider or didn't realize the importance of before a shoot. Things that we've also just preempted might happen. There's some simple, really simple stuff in there like get a haircut and clean the van. But there's some other stuff in there that's a bit more advance or things that we only really discovered after doing say 30 shoots, 40 shoots, 50 shoots, etc.

▶ 2:14That are really helpful. Next up, watch some of our top performers. Success leaves clues. So what we're not saying here is that you should watch them and try and like copy the tone, copy what's said, copy the comments benefits that talks about with the kit because that's the opposite of what we want. And that will hurt your performance because we want you to show originality, especially with lots of other agencies rolling up video ads and make sure that you're different.

▶ 2:39So the thing with watching top performers here is all about just understanding how the person on camera positions themselves and how also just like becoming familiar with the fact that they're talking in a very conversational way. They're not doing line by line by line. They're quite often just talking as if they're talking to a friend.

▶ 3:00You watch the ad and you almost feel like you're there. That's the whole idea. But simple stuff like, for example, we had a shoot recently with Tony from TGS Solar and he had watched some of the other ads. And when I was directing, I was like, how does he know to do that? That's really good. For example, he was talking about the Fox stackable battery and when he walked over to it, he crouched down and put his hand over the battery so that we could get him and the battery in the same shot.

▶ 3:27And I was normally I have to tell people to do that. But because he'd watched the ads, he realized where he needed to be in order to get the best footage. So there's some preparation that could be done there. Next up, we use very experienced and expert videographers. We don't hold back. This is not one of them. That's just me holding Richard's gear.

▶ 3:48It's these two primarily. And we're also hiring some more videographers, which if you're interested in, definitely apply somewhere. So we've got Richard, Jay and Perry here. All of them have got like over 10 years experience in their fields. So they're absolutely fantastic. And they have unbelievably high quality kit as well.

▶ 4:04We really don't hold back on that front. You can definitely tell when ads are shot on iPhones, especially when it comes to B-roll. So when the shots, when someone isn't actively talking at the camera, those shots seem to really suffer when you're on an iPhone. It just kind of, yeah, it doesn't. If you're a premium business or a quality business that's been around a long time, it will be obvious if your ads are shot on an iPhone and it won't present you in the way that you want to be presented, unfortunately.

▶ 4:29Next up, we've got Sola Steven Spielberg, according to others. That is a real quote. Someone called me Sola Steven Spielberg. But at the moment, I'm coming to every shoot and directing. I'm not going to say that that is always going to be the case because let's just, let's be realistic. There is a certain point where that becomes unfeasible.

▶ 4:47But what we will always ensure is that there is someone there on the day that actually understands Sola and understands what we're looking to get on the day from an ads perspective. We are not just hiring a random wedding videographer and expecting them to come on site and know exactly what we want without direction and things like that, right?

▶ 5:05And we're certainly not expecting you to come on and know exactly what to say, when to say it, what to say next. So you definitely will need some guidance and direction. But yeah, there's basically the main things, to be honest. The core one is just actually, you know, it's foundational. Signing people who look good on camera.

▶ 5:23I've turned down quite a few people and we've just had a really honest conversation. I've said, look, are you just doing this because you don't think you can get results elsewhere? Like, do you actually want to be on video? And they've said, I just don't think I can get the results I want elsewhere. And I've said, look, there's other avenues that you should probably try.

▶ 5:41You don't have to get on camera to generate leads, although it's our preferred approach. But it's definitely very foundational. And so, yeah, hopefully very soon we'll have done 100 video shoots, all solar or vast majority of solar. We've got bollars in here somewhere, there you go. But yeah, we're getting super experienced in this process.

▶ 5:59And as I say, out of 70 shoots, only one of them, we've been moderately dissatisfied with the content that we got. So we've done a lot to prevent that ever happening again. So, yeah, hopefully that was useful. And if you want a solar shoot and the ads that are run off the back of it to generate hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not millions of revenue, then click book an appointment, do me a call, well, book a call, and then we'll chat and see what we can do.

▶ 6:24Cheers.