Watch the YouTube version of this episode HERE
Are you looking to dedicate more time to content creation? In this episode of the Maximum Lawyer podcast, hosts Jim Hacking and Tyson Mutrux delve into the nuances of content creation, emphasizing the importance of simplicity and client-focused messaging.
When it comes to getting a start in content creation, Jim and Tyson talk about the need for the process to be simple and manageable. Most people think that content creation needs to be complicated and advanced, with theme music, the most up to date camera and a dedicated editor. The reality is this can be done using basic equipment and some research. Creating good content also involves answering the questions people want to know. If someone searches a question up years later, they will fall into your funnel through a video that is focused on that topic.
Consistency is key in the content creation space. In order to make an impact or get people to listen to what you are generating, there needs to be a consistent schedule to put content out. It may feel like generating multiple videos a week is a lot or you feel like you have talked about a topic too many times. But, the reality is not every person is going to watch the same video. Different videos are going to impact different people.
Listen in to learn more!
02:00 The importance of simple content creation
07:07 The significance of listening for new content ideas based on how people phrase their questions
09:49 Consistency and authenticity in content creation
12:16 Focus on one social media platform
13:45 Having a distinct voice and incorporating humor
18:35 Keeping content creation simple
19:27 The importance of delegating finance-related tasks and the benefits of outsourcing
Tune in to today’s episode and checkout the full show notes here.
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Visit maxlawevents.com for full event details and to grab your ticket today. Run your law firm the right way. This is the Maximum Lawyer Podcast. Maximum Lawyer Podcast. Your hosts, Jim Hacking, and Tyson Nutrix. Let's partner up and maximize your firm. Welcome to the show. Welcome back to the Maximum Lawyer Podcast. I'm Jim Hacking. I'm Tyson Nutrix. What's your name? How are you doing? I'm doing great. I'm getting ready to leave tomorrow to go to Kansas City for a big softball tournament for Nore and I'll be passing through your Feinberg early afternoon tomorrow and then she's got a little competition and the games start on Thursday. Well, you should leave a little early and we can grab lunch or something. Oh, I'll see. Maybe. That's a lot of work. Yeah. Your intro was a little different. A lot of times you have a lot of energy. This was a little flatter almost like you meant to be flatter with it. It was different. Oh, no. I was just up late last night. We went to the Sarah Maglochlin concert at the St. Louis Music Park and we didn't get to bed until about midnight. Is that the one that does that sad dog song? She has a lot of sad songs. One of them is the one you probably are thinking of it's from Toy Story to because you love me. She didn't play that last night but it's the 30th anniversary of an album that came out the year. Monty and I started law school so we used to just wear it out. All right. So I'm thinking of the animal cruelty video is what I'm thinking of. Oh, that's her. That's her. Yeah. I got to turn that thing off so quickly. Whenever it's on, I was like, "I can't hear this. I can't hear it. Keep going. All right. So we are going to talk about content and how some people like to make content. Creation overcomplicated. I think I tend to over process it a little bit sometimes. But let's go back to your original video setup that you had. And it was super simple. Like that's how you started. It was in a little closet with a green screen, a little bit of video recorder. And I mean, you took, you did a video. You hit like a couple of buttons on the computer and then it was done. Now yours is way more advanced than what it used to be. But that's how you started, man. That was it. Click, click, click. It was a Kodak high eight competitor to the flip cam. It had a little port that could let me plug into my desktop. I would download the video, clear out the green screen. But you know, my early videos are terrible. And if you watch them, they're funny and how boring. Hi, I'm Jim Hacking. Let's talk today about getting your citizenship. And so it would just go on and on and boring as heck. But that's okay because you get better and better. That's sort of one big thing is that people put up all these hurdles to make it hard. They're like, I have to have the perfect camera. I have to have an editor. I have to have theme music. I have to have an intro. They make it way much harder than it needs to be. I do think it depends a little bit on like what kind of video you're recording. Because it does seem like the higher performing videos on YouTube. And I'm talking more long form, medium to long form. Do seem to be a little bit more produced. But if you compare that to the short form, like the minute videos, like TikTok type of videos, the YouTube shorts, those do seem a little underproduced. You know what I mean? I'm not saying there's no place for highly produced videos. I think it's fine. I mean, I don't know that the world needs another lawyers walking up the courthouse steps and slow motion videos. We want to know, let's be very clear. No, we don't need any more of those videos. Let's make it very clear. Right. I just always remember Brown and Crouppen had an ad where they were walking down the hallway with law books on the side. And they said, "Today is going to be a bad day for the insurance companies." And so, you know, you can do all that stuff all day long. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is creating meaningful content that answers questions. Meaningful content that answers questions. It's not branding. It's not about how great you are. It's not about how many years of service you have. It's answering a specific question for the exact purpose of obtaining long tail search. That is search where people months or years after you make the video. They want to know the answer to that question. They do a search. Google and YouTube are symbiotic. YouTube is the second biggest search engine as of now. And they find the answer to your question and then they fall into your funnel or they fall into a situation where they're consuming lots of your content all at once. Yeah. So, I think that that's dead on. So, instead of you making about you walking up the courthouse steps like a jackass, you make it about the actual potential client. That's what marketing is. If I go back to marketing school for me, that was the number one thing. Everything is about the client. You make it about the client experience. So, check this out. Two of our newest employees. I had them write down 10 questions you would have if you were injured in a car crash. I gave them a little index card and they both wrote down these 10 questions. So, they're very, very tiny writing. So, these are all things I can use for content. Which, it's interesting because a lot of them are similar to other questions I've gotten. But I've actually never gotten this one. How can I help, how can I get help for myself in the other driver? I found an interesting, interesting question. But, I think that's actually a valid question. And that's, I can do a lot of good content with that. So, that's a very simple way of doing it. As just asking your people for questions that they have or your clients. Or just, you talk about this all the time. Repeatedly, all the questions you get on a regular basis from clients. Record videos about them. I love the point that you just made. That you've already made videos about how do I get help after I'm in an accident. But, then someone asked you, it's slightly differently. They said, "How do I get help for me and the other person?" If you start walking around listening for content ideas, your ear will get better at hearing the phraseology that people use. And the great thing is, is that if you're listening to the phraseology, that's probably the thing they're going to type into Google. So, you can really become attuned. Like, when I do my immigration answers live show, someone will say something about a topic that I've talked about many times on that show or in separate videos. But the way that they frame it is a way that I haven't thought of saying it before. And it gives me a different entree into making a lot of the same points that I like to make, but in a totally new and different way. I think we did this training in the guild, and all of you remember this, but it was on videos. And we were looking at one of your videos that I think is either your best performing video or one of the top. And then you had created or you were going to create a similar video just to see how they tested, because I think the old video wasn't as polished. And so you were going to redo it. Have you ever redone that video? Do you know what I'll talk about? Yeah, I know which one it was. It was the five biggest mistakes people make at their immigration interview. And the thing about that thumbnail was the five was huge. I don't know. So we did try to recreate it, and it did about one third as well. It still did really well. People love to know about mistakes, hacks, secret tips, if anybody, especially in my realm, but certainly in your realm too, how to deal with the insurance company. Like the six secret things, the insurance investor doesn't want you to know. I mean, having a number on it makes them want to watch till the end of the video, which will make your video perform better, which means more people will see it. And then it's a virtuous cycle. That's a good idea. And what is it about the blank number of blank, whatever, like the six secret tips? I don't know what it is about, but with that, sometimes I'll get into this mode where I'll think, "Oh, this is obvious. No one knows that." And the reality is the average person doesn't know it. It's just obvious to us because we do it all the time. Like, there's immigration stuff that is absolutely obvious to you, right? But I don't know it. I'm a lawyer. I don't know this stuff. I mean, I'm constantly asking you stuff. Like, we call him professors in Jiu Jitsu, my Jiu Jitsu professor. He has an immigration issue. They ask questions on it. And so, it was not an immigration issue, it was a tax issue. He had issues on it. And I referred him over to Mark Milton. Are you tired of the marketing guessing game? Does your website feel more like a digital billboard than a client magnet? If you're nodding along, you're not alone. And it's time to stop the uncertainty and start getting real results. Let's talk about your marketing spend. Are you just shelling out money every month and crossing your fingers? Do you ever wonder what impact your marketing is really having on your revenue? Well, it's time to take the guesswork out of the equation with Rise Up Media. We've been working with them for over a year, and the feedback from our fellow members has been fantastic. Rise Up Media is here to take your marketing to the next level. They'll even perform a full audit of your online presence, giving you the good, the bad, and even let you in on what your competition is up to that you're missing out on. And the best part, there's no obligation, no catch, no pressure. If you decide to work with them, their contracts are month to month. That's right. No long-term commitments tying you down. So, what are you waiting for? To learn more about how Rise Up Media can transform your firms, visit RiseUpMedia.com/maxlaw and Rise is spelled with a Z. RiseUpMedia.com/maxlaw. Mark was asking about his immigration status. It's like, "I have zero idea what he's here for work." That's all I know. I don't know what that's a visa or a green card, what that is. But like, to you, that's obvious, you know what I mean? Like, you know right off the top of your head what he's here for. I don't know. And so the average person, even though it's obvious to you, and the point of this is that it may be obvious to you, but it's not obvious to the average person. So, just because you think it's obvious doesn't mean you shouldn't record it. Go ahead and record whatever that question is or whatever that topic is, because most 99% of the people that are searching for that topic don't know. And besides being obvious, a lot of times people will say to themselves, "Oh, I already talked about that a lot," or "I'm creating too much content." And they're talking about creating too much content like two or three videos a week. Nobody's sitting there watching your entire feed. I mean, I do have like some people's Twitter's tweets alerts for, because I like their content or, you know, you can subscribe to a YouTube channel. But at the end of the day, most people are not going to see because there's so much content being created. They're not going to see all of your stuff, so you really don't need to worry about that. And it's probably just something you're telling yourself to keep you from doing more content. Speaking of getting alerts, the only person I get alerts for on X is you. For some reason, every time you go live, I get an alert and I don't know why I do. I must have clicked something. Yeah, I was thinking about following you the other day because I wanted to find out what happened with your truck. But, yeah, I mean, lives are different. Lives are just the platform alert too, if you're someone who either follows them or that stuff. But I do think there's just so much baggage that comes with creating content. You know, how do I look? Is my hair right? You know, lots of just things that we say to ourselves that are really just an end run around not creating content, where if we said to ourselves, I have to create a piece of content every day. It's just one piece of content every day. It could be a LinkedIn article, it could be a YouTube short, it could be a TikTok, whatever. You don't have to make it your manifesto, your big long list of things or telling the whole world everything. And you also don't have to do it all at once. One of the things that I've really adopted doing in the last six months is if I'm sitting around waiting for my daughter or my wife to come out to the car, I'll get out of the car, shoot a TikTok and edit it while I'm waiting for them. You can do it that quickly and you don't need to make it so super complicated. Yeah, and something we talk about in maximum minimum time is the start, focus on one platform. Don't focus on all the platforms because that's one of those discouraging things where if you focus on too many of the platforms, it's kind of like the Jason Selkes stuff. You know, if you focus on everything, you're going to focus on nothing. So focus on one of those social media platforms, dominate that first, then move on to the other ones. But trying to scatter it all over the place is not a very effective technique. Are you still creating as much TikTok content as you used to? I don't see as much as I used to. No, we're not because we were just weren't getting the results for the effort. And it wasn't like we didn't give it a shot. You had good stuff, I thought. It was for the effort that we were putting into it and the results that we were getting. And I'm not talking about like views, I'm just talking about it. I don't, it wasn't leading to clients. And so there was no, I could point to zero connection between the number of views and all that to actual conversions. And so the only, the closest connection we could make is some of the videos that were being watched on Facebook. And that was, I think that was the closest connection we could draw to it. But that's why we've not put as much of an emphasis on it. So what content are you creating these days? So I do put a lot on X and then we do, we are doing occasionally YouTube. But we're not doing, it's on a regular basis, but we're not doing, like I was doing a TikTok/YouTube short a day. So I was doing one a day, which was a lot. And we did that for several months. And it was, I mean, we got, we got great views, but just the amount of effort that we're putting into it. And then we had switched to longer form videos that essentially what I would do is I would record these really long videos and then they would be cut down. And those were, those were pretty effective. And so we've done more of that over the last year or so. Let's talk about another topic when it comes to content creation. And that is having a distinct voice. I think it's really important that you have a distinct voice and that you try to bring out some of your personality. You know, I like to make silly faces. I like to point out dumb things the government does. I like to point out when they screw people over. I mean, if I was creating content for car accidents and stuff, I would be clowning on insurance companies all the time. Like I would, if I saw a state farm sign and I knew that state farm had just screwed over one of my clients, I'd hop out of my car. I'd show myself with their logo and I would just be dogging them right there on video. I think, I think if you take sort of like a gorilla, G-U-E-R-I-L-L-A approach to it where you're just sort of like a quasi-Gonzo journalist with your phone. And just, you know, like popping up and just, you know, making faces and going like this. I think, I think that goes a long way. When I put a little pizzazz into the TikToks, they perform much, much better. Yeah, you're definitely really good about having like the fun with it. And I would say just whatever works for you, like whatever style, it does seem like the more, the higher performing videos are, there's a little bit of humor mixed in. And so like if you're, if you're doing like some sort of like lawyer video, it's the humorous ones or the usually the ones that perform the best. Like if you look at like TikTok lawyer and there's a couple of people that we've had on, was it TikTok Barbie? Is that, was that what she went by? Yes, mixed in a little bit of humor into her, into her stuff. So I think you're right. I think putting in those kind of smart quips, those clever quips, yours are always, you say, your big head. It's always your big head. But yours are consistent though. Like if I go to your video, I know, I know what I'm going to see. I'm going to see these like quick cuts. Jimbo's big old head, something pretty funny. It's going to be high paced, but I think being consistent is really what's important, most of all. Yeah, and I think that you should spend some time. If this is something you really want to do, number one, and you said earlier about learning the platforms, you need to spend time on the platforms. I mean, TikTok is insidious in that they make you sit on TikTok while your video is uploading. So at the very least, use that time to see what other people are doing. Follow the kinds of people that you want to have your channel be like, you know, if TikTok's the channel that you choose. But if you haven't already, there are two great books Gary V has put out. One's a little dated, but it'll still drive home the point and that's jab, jab, jab right hook. That's about learning the rhythm of the content. You know, obviously I'm going to be much more buttoned up on LinkedIn than I am on TikTok or YouTube shorts, right? I'm not going to be as silly as I am on LinkedIn, although sometimes I do. And actually sometimes being against the grain on a particular platform works well too. Like you could act all nerdy and studious. If I made a bunch of silly videos on TikTok and then I made one very academic, I think people would, you know, it's a pattern interrupt. And you want to have those pattern interrupts. So check out jab, jab, jab right hook, but then Gary V's new book is day trading attention. And I got to tell you Tyson, it's some next level stuff. It's the stuff they're doing for their clients. And I consider myself to be pretty well versed in this stuff. I spend a lot of time thinking about it. And there's stuff in there that I barely understand. Like there is some next level ninja crap. And I'm like, holy shit, this is the Bible. This is the next 2.0 of what we need to be doing in content creation. And it's like, it's literally mind blowing if you really dig into it. Nice. So he said, this is a, this is a fall to my 2013 book, jab, jab, jab right hook, which was a guide on how to make content on the social platforms of the day. Yeah. All right. All right. He said, he said he wanted to call it jab, jab, jab left hook to talk about, you know, because the concept between jab, jab, jab is that you give free content, you give free content, you give free content with your left hook. And then the right hook is when you actually make the ask or the pitch for what it is that you do. So you might have 9 really good pieces of content that don't say anything about how great you are. And then the 10th one is like your offer or your pitch or something a little more salesy. So he wanted to make this new book to talk about, A, the things that have changed in the last 11 years. And two, to help people sort of make that transition into actually using the platforms to drive business. All right. I'm going to, I'm going to jump on this right away. Nice. Of course, get, of course, get the audio version because he's got such ADHD that, you know, every other paragraph, he's jumping off on some tangent and cussing, which makes the book 10 times better. All right. I'll take it out. Very good. All right. Jimbo, anything else you want to add? We're going to wrap things up. Just keep it simple, stupid. Just don't make it hard. Make it easy. And don't be hard on yourself. Don't, I mean, don't look at your numbers. Don't criticize your skin tone. Just get to work and make some content. Sometimes those crappy ones are the good ones. That's crazy. For sure. All right. Let's wrap things up. Before I do, check us out on Facebook. Go to maximum lawyer inside of Facebook and search and you'll find us. If you want to join us in the guild, you'll have maxlawguild.com. You can join us at one of our quarterly masterminds. We've got Charlotte and Vegas at the end of this year. So we're looking forward to that. And while you're listening to the rest of this episode, if you don't mind us, help spreading the love, give us a five star review that would be greatly appreciated. We would love it if you did that. So please do so. Jimbo, what is your hack of the leak? We talked to a lot of lawyers who struggle with delegation. And they struggle with letting things go. And they struggle with not being in every aspect of the business. But I really want our listeners to spend some time thinking about could I outsource or delegate a lot of the stuff related to our finances. Obviously, you're not going to give control of the bank account. But I think that when we talk about exercising that muscle other than having a personal assistant to really do a lot of the stuff, if you're trying to develop that muscle of delegation, finance is something that you can really get bogged down. And it can really take a lot of your time. We noticed that Amani was spending way too much time in the finance realm and sort of directing too much of the finance stuff. So we're going to shake things up in finance. And I really think that people need to figure out what do I need numbers wise and reporting wise to feel comfortable to let someone else do the day to day matching up with transactions, balancing out the trust account and the operating account. You don't need to be doing that stuff. That is low level work compared to what you bring to the table as a lawyer and as a law firm owner. So I would implore you to really explore the possibility of outsourcing as much of that as possible. That's great advice, love it very good. For my tip of the week, it's related to today's topic and it comes from my buddy Jim Hacking. So let's say you get a question from one of your clients. If you type that into Google, right, Google's going to give you, let's see, I'm looking at it right now, eight or so related searches. So you're now taking that one question and you've now multiplied that times what? Nine. Do you have nine topics? No, not just eight. Or one. You have nine total. So you can go and record videos on each one of those related searches. So Jim, thanks for that hack you gave me a while ago and it's very, very helpful. So if you have a question and you're like, "Okay, I've already recorded this video. What are some other ideas?" Just type it into Google, it's going to give you related searches and you're now you've got a bunch of other content. So that is my tip of the week. So good talking to you, Jim. Do you see my new hammer? So yeah, like it on the wall? What do you do with that? That's my hammer. So it's for like our hammer letters. Oh, I see. Or hammer in the chimney. Could I ever tell you about the time my dad, during summer vacation, he said, "Jimmy, go back with the sledgehammer and break up the concrete. We had a little lip of concrete." So I went out there and I kept hitting, instead of hitting the hammer part, I kept hitting the stick and I broke the stick on my dad. It was my father's father's sledgehammer, so he was so pissed. That's one way of getting out of work that's, listen, concrete work is awful. For anyone that's done concrete work, it sucks. I've done one day of concrete work in my entire life and it stopped. It told me enough, I never want to do concrete work. There you go. Holy crap, that sucked. All right. Good talking to you, Jim Bo. Thanks for listening to the maximum lawyer podcast. Stay in contact with your host and to access more content. Go to maximumlawyer.com. Have a great week and catch you next time. Before you go, have you heard Jim and Tyson talk about the guild on the podcast or in the Facebook group? If not, you're missing out on some really exciting things happening with guild members and their law firms. The guild includes a community, accountability, trainings, group coaching and in-person events like our quarterly masterminds. Inside, you'll gain support, tap into a network of connections and continue learning, a common theme among successful entrepreneurs. Investing in a community is like the self-care of business ownership. Surrounding yourself with other people who get it is crucial when you're creating a rock solid foundation to build your business on. One that's strong enough to withstand setbacks, transitions and growth. So head to maximumlawyer.com/theguild to join now and get started today.
