Investor Videos Seal The Deal 250 Times with Danielle Johansen

Investor Videos Seal The Deal 250 Times with Danielle Johansen (Episode 84)

video marketing podcast Nov 26, 2021

Danielle Johansen: I tried to film the investor video myself. I spent I would say a good two days filming, re-filming, filming, re-filming, watching, tweaking. So for me the advantage was, firstly, you helping us script it in a way that is going to resonate with the everyday person. And I think the professionalism of Ridge Films, people said so many compliments about the video, and how lovely it was to watch how professional it was. I couldn't have achieved that on my own. 

Implementing videos as part of marketing greatly increases traffic to your website and demand for your services. Your investment for video marketing (when done correctly) will come to fruition. The next step should be how you use it to scale. But how do you find the right video for you?

Welcome to 'Video Made Simple' an easy listen video marketing & production podcast featuring marketers, entrepreneurs & clients who help take the mystery out of video and break through the monotony of day-to-day communication.

In this episode, Chris Schwager (Video Marketer from Ridge Films) is joined by Danielle Johansen (Founder and CEO of Threadicated) as they talk about how videos played a role in reaching their audience and taking the next step in securing investment funds to scale their business. 

 

Links and Resources:

Video Transcription:

 

Danielle Johansen 0:01

I try to film the investor video myself. I spent I would say a good two days filming, re-filming, filming, re-filming, watching tweaking. So for me the advantage was, firstly, you helping us scripted in a way that is going to resonate with the everyday person. And I think the professionalism of Ridge Films, people said so many compliments about the video, and how lovely it was to watch how professional it was. I couldn't have achieved that on my own. So it was a great investment and the return on investment quite a large boat.

Chris Schwager 0:45

Hello video marketing professionals welcome to the podcast that takes the mystery out of producing videos. This week we talk with Danielle Johansen, CEO and founder of Threadicated, the ultimate online stylist. Danielle is now ready to scale her business and is using videos to boost investment funding opportunities. And she's a dear friend of mine, a client and an entrepreneur who really impressed me with how far she's taken through dedicated in such a short period of time. By the end of this episode, I'm sure you won't only be inspired but ready to start video marketing. In the same way. I'm your host, Chris Schwager. Also Danielle has worked in fashion and design and styling for years buying and developing. During her research. She has noticed an imbalance in the fashion industry too many choices, but not enough service. People want a more personalized experience created just for them, which is how she found a Threadicated, personalized fashion styling service. Danielle, thank you so much. And welcome to the show.

Danielle Johansen 1:53

Thanks for having me, Chris. I'm super excited to be here.

Chris Schwager 1:56

Well, we are friends, it took us several attempts to get on the show because you are out there looking for funding. Right. Tell us more about it.

Danielle Johansen 2:05

Yes. So I'm happy to say we just finalized our rounds. So we secured all the investment we were looking to achieve, which was a huge blessing. So now we are focusing on growth and not so much on funding at the moment.

Chris Schwager 2:21

It's surprising to me, I meet so many startups. And so few had the initiative, I guess, to go into this funding so early on in the development of business, what triggers you to go and start your business in this way?

Danielle Johansen 2:37

Well, I started Threadicated because I saw a gap in the market. And when we started promoting Threadicated and getting customers in, it was something we kept hearing, this is such a great idea. I wish I knew about it sooner. And to me that told me we have a great product. And we just need to get word out. And we need to let more people know that our services are available in Australia. So to do that, we thought the best way to get word out would be marketing. And so we thought we would need a little bit more funds than we currently had. We started looking at in investing or different types of revenue that we could bring into the business to grow it. And getting investors seems like the best fit for us.

Chris Schwager 3:20

We'll get onto the video marketing side of things in just a minute. But tell me, how do you go about getting investment funding? What are the risks?

Danielle Johansen 3:28

Well, with all types of funding, there's going to be risk involved. But the biggest one, I think is not choosing the right people to invest in your business. So not everyone who has a large checkbook is going to be the best fit for your business, you need to think of it like a marriage. So you want someone who you get along well with, who share similar values, and really sees the potential of your business and aligned with your growth as well. So that's probably the biggest risk, you could take not choosing the right person. And you also want to choose someone that you can leverage their contacts or their knowledge in certain industries, where you might be lacking.

Chris Schwager 4:11

We know the importance of making sure you know your audience within video marketing, how essential is it for you to target the right investors so that they understand that you're profitable, and you've got a great product or service?

Danielle Johansen 4:23

Yeah. So that's a really good question, Chris. It's really important to make sure you are targeting the right investors. Like I said earlier, you want to make sure that you've got similar values and you're aligned with where the business is going. You want to have really detailed talks with them about what their expectations for growth are over the next 12 months, three years, five years, and what it's going to look like for them if you don't achieve those goals, so some investors want a quick win they want you to sell within 12 months but that might not be your particular plan for the business. So you just want to make sure you're choosing the right investor. And understanding the financial position and projections is extremely important for both of you to see if you want to move forward together.

Chris Schwager 5:16

So how do you market then to this audience?

Danielle Johansen 5:19

So we use video, which we heard was very unique. So that was something that made us stand out. We had very innovative tech at Threadicated, and it was sometimes hard to get that the detail of our technology and our business across in a simple PDF deck. So working with Ridge films was really great because it helped us get the message across and we could talk about it freely, show live video of how it works and explain the service in detail. So it was a really great way to explain exactly what we did how our technology works to investors. And it was a great, easy way for them to digest the information as well.

Chris Schwager 6:02

So let's talk about behind the scenes a little bit of the process. I'm sure you weren't new, completely stone cold at producing videos. But how did I guess this is turning into a little bit of a case study. But I'm just kind of curious. And I think the audience would be curious. When you started video marketing, what were some of the things that you needed to ensure you communicated clearly to potential investors?

Danielle Johansen 6:25

So probably most important for us was our technology and our service. So it is quite a unique product in Australia. So we use a human stylist and artificial intelligence to curate a five piece parcel of clothing and accessories for customers. So it's something people hadn't really heard of in Australia. And getting that across in a deck can be a little bit tricky for people to consume. But when you're showing people video of how it actually physically works, they can see the step by step by step, it made it really easy for them to understand what we were trying to do. Video seemed like the natural choice to get that across. And also, I had read quite a bit that a lot of people digest video a lot easier than PDF decks or, or words. So I thought it would be a unique way to stand out from the crowd. And it got us all lots of interviews with investors. And it also we were told quite a lot that it really set us apart and made us unique. And that's why they called us because they clearly see what we were trying to do with the business.

Chris Schwager 6:47

And a lot of people don't need selling on the power of video, they understand how important it is in business these days. But there are still hesitation around people personalizing or putting themselves in their own videos. How was that experience? Because I know you presented your own video. What was that experience like? And how was it for you?

Danielle Johansen 8:03

It was actually a really nice experience. I am not someone who naturally wants to be in front of the camera and talk about our product and who we are and what we are doing. So it can be a little bit daunting. But the experience with Ridge Films was lovely. I think something that I really love you guys helped me worded in a way that was snappy and easy to articulate. When you're in the thick of a business, you can sometimes go a little bit high level where other people can't understand exactly what you're talking about, because you understand it so in depth, but you helped us break it down in a way that made it easy for anyone watching the video for the first time to clearly understand what we did as a business. And I think that was really important with resonating with the investors. Because someone who's never heard of personal fashion styling or artificial intelligence, or data driven products could easily understand that because you guys helped us script it in a way that was digestible for the everyday person, which I think was invaluable.

Chris Schwager 9:14

Yes. And what about the camera training better that you didn't? As far as I can see needed much of training. You were pretty natural, beautiful smile.

Danielle Johansen 9:25

Well, thank you.

Chris Schwager 9:26

Part of the biggest challenge that most people have is continuously smiling. But how was the on camera training for me?

Danielle Johansen 9:32

It was enjoyable. I found the video prompter super helpful because I thought I would have to remember all the lines. The video training was really good and I love how you helped us articulate in certain spots and draw out words and punctuate other words. It was very important because you obviously know how to speak but then when it comes to time when you're on video, it seems you don't know how to speak anymore. So the fact that you could help with that that was very helpful.

Chris Schwager 10:06

So one would say maybe it's slightly daunting with the lights and the camera and uncomfortability of painting --

Danielle Johansen 10:13

Definitely.

Chris Schwager 10:14

And so tell me more about the future for you. Now, you said that you're pretty content with your plan. And I know you've been working your butt off in the last couple of months. Can you just explain I guess where the video is living at the moment. And I guess where you're at with the funding and what the future is for you.

Danielle Johansen 10:32

At the moment, we are speaking to Brendan at at Ridge Films, and he's going to break the video up into pieces. So we can repurpose it in different ways. It was a big investment on our part to invest in video. Doing a PDF deck would have been cheaper, but we really saw the value in doing the video. And now that we can repurpose it and reuse it for other PR and other opportunities, I think is going to be really great for us going forward. And at the moment. So we have finished the rounds of funding. So now we're going into hyper growth stage. So a lot of hiring a lot of technology updates and getting word out about our business. So that's our top three that we'll be doing over the next few months.

Chris Schwager 11:24

Clear. Crystal clear. Thank you so much for clarifying that. What would you say is one of the unique things that you can say from an outsider's perspective of what Ridge Films does?

dDanielle Johansen 11:37

So for, me. I tried to film the investor video myself. I spent I would say a good two days on my laptop filming, refilming, filming, refilming, watching tweets. So for me the advantage was firstly you helping a scripted in a way that is going to resonate with the everyday person. That teleprompter loves it so I didn't need to remember everything. And I think the professionalism of Ridge Films was impeccable. People said so many compliments about the video, and how lovely it was to watch how professional it was. I couldn't have achieved that on my own. So it it was a great investment and the return on investment? Quite a large gold.

Chris Schwager 12:41

We'll be back in a short moment with Danielle Johansen from Threadicated. Video is everything and because the world is now demanding that you appear on camera in some fashion, it's time to get the skills of a professional presenter. Go to ridgefilm.com.au/diy because Do It Yourself videos should be easy and they should work. You should have a teleprompter! like Danielle said. The DIY Video Program helps you personalise sales, produce video emails and record videos regularly without the tech hassles. Look and sound amazing in every video meeting go to ridgefilms.com.au/diy

You say you've been punching some numbers in what did you come up with? The ROI is?

Danielle Johansen 13:28

A 250 return on investment.

Chris Schwager 13:31

250%?

Danielle Johansen 13:32

No, times 250.

Chris Schwager 13:35

Times 250? Boom!

Danielle Johansen 13:37

So for every dollar we spent with you, we earned $250.

Chris Schwager 13:42

Wow, that is staggeringly good. So for argument's sake. So if you spent $1,000, you you'd made $250,000 return on that

Danielle Johansen 13:55

200, that would it be... yes.

Chris Schwager 13:57

So it's a contributing factor. I don't want to have like, let's not beat around the bush here. But like it's a contributor, because

Danielle Johansen 14:04

definitely,

Chris Schwager 14:05

It's very hard to put a number, right, like all marketing, I mean, unless you do a letterbox drops or something like that. But it's a contributor, right? So the video played an integral part of getting attention, getting visibility, getting people to understand with clarity on what the offering was, and the uniqueness of it in the market and why they should invest.

Danielle Johansen 14:26

Correct.

Chris Schwager 14:26

And without that they would have been stuck with a boring PDF. And we all know how that ends.

Danielle Johansen 14:31

And we sent a PDF with supporting documents as well. Some people love that and we could refer to that in our video as well. Please review the PDF, but it was just a great way to stand out as well and give them that little snippet of information to see. Do I want to read this PDF? Am I going to spend my time looking at this email because investors get hundreds of emails every year from companies who've been their companies great and worth investment, standing out with that little video made the world of difference. So I'm really grateful to Ridge Films.

Chris Schwager 15:12

Oh, I love that. And I love you for giving us that information. Because I think it's so valuable to I guess, convince the average person and we know how scarce video is in the market at the moment. Love that so much that you've gotten that data and you're getting them, you're getting a real return on investment. So if you need help fixing the problem of getting your company visible to the people that really matter, fixing your clarity, in your business and in your offering, then you need to hire a Ridge Film Video Marketing Guru like Brendan Southall today at ridgefilms.com.au. That's all for this episode of the Video Made Simple podcast. If you want to start on the path to become a video marketing professional, go to ridgefilm.com.au/learn and for only $47 you get instant access to our online course plus live coaching sessions with me every month. Let us help you take the mystery out of producing video. So go to ridgefilms.com.au/learn And see you next week.

 

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