Last month, I had the opportunity to interview John Pollock Certified Tax Coach in Dallas, Texas. John has built a phenomenal video blogging system at his website www.dallastaxcoach.com. We discussed why VLOGGING is the wave of the future and what you can do to catch it!
DM: You’ve invested over $50,000 and hundreds of hours creating over 500 posts in the last 3 years. Why?
JP: Simple. Because it IS the future. Wayne Gretzky says, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” The future of connecting with your market, internet searches, and best marketing practices lies in video blogs. To stand out in my field, I wanted to be where the market was moving toward, rather than stay in the past.
DM: How long do you spend each week creating your video blog?
JP: That is one of the keys to my success. I have studio set up and ready to go in my office. I can stop in the studio and record anytime I get an idea. I am disciplined and record 5 VLOGS each week no matter what.
DM: Wow, 5 VLOGS?! That must take a lot of time. How long does it take you?
JP: Not really that long. Once you get used to it. If you surf YouTube, you’ll notice the most popular videos are all under 3 minutes. I use this as a guideline and target my VLOGS to no more than 3 minutes in length. So let’s see, if I record 5 a week, and they are 3 minutes long, that is about 15 minutes total each week.
DM: Where do you find inspiration for your topics?
JP: Anywhere and everywhere. Surf the internet, watch TV, there are plenty of things to talk about for 3 minutes.
DM: Any success tips you can offer our readers?
JP: Not many CPA’s are VLOGGING. This makes it easy to stand out. Do something every day, and BE REAL. Be yourself. People want to do business with people. Don’t script it and don’t worry about it being perfect. Find an hour each week to seek out content.
DM: Any tips to leverage your time?
JP: Use easy resources available. I recently video blogged about the Charlie Sheen email. It was great. You don’t even have to write anything. You can merely be a clipping service for your clients. Aggregate content and include links to content on other blogs. Have your equipment set up and ready to record at any moment.
DM: So let’s talk results. What has this done for your business?
JP: This is the tough part to measure. I am making improvements to measure exactly what traffic is coming in through my VLOG. I can tell you that people pay attention. People are commenting on my videos. They say things like, “I like the one when. . . ” My web traffic is increased. It is frustrating that I cannot tell you I’ve made “x amount of dollars,” from this. But it is much easier for my clients to refer by forwarding my VLOG posts. Videos give my clients and prospects a chance to see me. But by the time you post this interview, I’ll have more than 700 posts to my site which is more than ANY other tax professional out there. And you don’t need to have over 700 posts to stand out in the crowd.
That’s right John, you don’t need 700 posts to stand out. But boy, do you stand out! if you haven’t tried VLOGGING, give it a try! What are you waiting for? Skate to where the puck is going to be and get started today!
