Nicole Donnelly: I am live today with the amazing and wonderfully talented Paola Santana. Paola. I am so excited that you are on the show today. Such a fun moment for me. I get to work with you behind the scenes every day. So to have you now on the front, star that you are, and get you to share your story and hear everyone.
Everyone gets to hear your expertise. So exciting. I'm like, so thrilled. So welcome to the show today. Welcome e-commerce success. I'm so happy that you joined us. It's been really fun this month. We've kind of been bringing a lot of the DMG team members on to kind of. Share their experience, expertise and best practices, and this is going to be such a great show.
How are you today?
Paola Santana: I'm doing good. Yeah, this is exciting for me. I've never done anything like this before. So we'll see how it goes.
Nicole Donnelly: Oh, we're going to have a great time. So today we're talking all about video, video production and video marketing, and you play such a critical role on the team. In creating video for our clients.
Phenomenal video. I'm excited to talk about that. And I want to kick it off. I'm going to ask you a question, a little icebreaker about video, because I know you're a big movie person and yes. I have a couple of questions for you. My first one is. If they made, if someone made a movie about your life, what would the movie be about, and who would you want to play you?
Paola Santana: I haven't even thought about it. It'd probably be Jennifer Lopez, probably. I would want her, just because like, you know, being older, I still feel really young. I think it would be just being at a certain age over 40, just over 40 and, um, overcoming and changing your path in life and, you know, doing something completely new.
And I only say Jennifer Lopez, because I think she actually did a movie like that. Where she kind of lied to change her life. I never actually saw it, but it would be something about that, like how, you know, changing my life in a different direction and finally finding my footing in life and success and, you know, changing my own destiny.
Nicole Donnelly: I love it, like a reinvention kind of a thing. Yeah, yeah. I think that's really cool. Awesome. Okay, so I have another, I have another video question. Two more video questions before we go because, you know. It's the holidays coming up. So I want to know, what is your favorite holiday movie that you love to watch?
Paola Santana: Oh, there's a few of them. Um, Elf, of course, uh, The Santa Clause, The Ref, is a really, really fun Christmas one with, uh, Dennis Leary. Oh, that's so hilarious. And then I would have to say, um, the Vince Vaughn movie where he played Santa. I thought that was a really good one too. Um, I think it's something the Claus movie.
I think I am getting that name wrong, but, um, that one's also one of my favorites. You know, Christmas time movies. Very nice.
Nicole Donnelly: My girls love all the Christmas movies. They've already started watching them the other day. They started watching when I'm like, is it too early? It's not, it's not. I feel like once November 1st, it's never too early.
Right. Yeah. Very cool. Sorry. Thanksgiving. Yeah, I know. Right. And then the last video question, and then we'll get to the meat. This is my last video. If there was a movie that you could watch on repeat over like, no, no, not me. There was a movie that you could watch. All over again for the first time experience it for the first time all over again.
What movie would that be?
Paola Santana: Galaxy Quest. I just, it's, it's a movie. Me and my sister and my family were always coding. Um, I just, it's just a fun space, you know, kind of silly, but so much fun has so many quotable lines and yeah, I would totally watch that one all over again.
Nicole Donnelly: Oh, that's cool. For me, it's La La Land.
The first time I saw La La Land, I remember I was with my really good girlfriend. And I, I was at the end of the movie when it finally finished, I was just so in awe, I looked over at her, and I was just like, I don't want to leave, I just want to soak this, stay here forever, like the feeling of seeing the first time, so.
Galaxy Quest I've never seen, I'm going to have to watch that one. That's
Paola Santana: just a fun, silly, and then watching, um, one of my favorite actors is, um, Oh my gosh, I'm going to totally forget his name right now, but um, he plays the alien character in there and he's this, you know him as this really posh English actor and um, [00:05:00] just having him in that role, it's just, it made it even funnier, but yeah, it's just, it's just a fun, clean, fun movie.
And it's just, it's hilarious. It's funny. Very nice.
Nicole Donnelly: Well, let's go back down memory lane. You know, what was it that led you to want to become a video, uh, videographer, video editor, video producing, video producing work? What kind of led you, what inspired you to want to go down that path? Tell us, tell us a little bit about that.
Paola Santana: Um, I actually didn't know what I wanted to do. I was one of those kids that never said what I wanted to be when I grew up because I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. And I actually started college not knowing what I was going to do and just knew that I had to go to college. Um, but over the years in my, in my early teen years starting, I remember watching.
Or spending the night at a friend's house after a 24 hour concert adventure, we were watching, um, Hitchcock's movie, the, um, lifeboat movie, and it was super early in the morning. I was super tired. I'm like, I'm going to bed. I can't finish this movie, but I think this is what's going to happen. This is, he's going to survive.
And this is, this person's going to do this. And I went to bed and I woke up the next day and my friend, my closest friend, she's like, Oh my gosh, you predicted that movie, like, word for word, literally, like, that is exactly what happened. And so I was like, really? And then years later, the game with Michael Douglas came out, and I had an idea of what was going to happen in this movie.
And halfway through, I was like, Oh, this is what's happening. Yeah. And so I realized I really like movies. And I was always that friend. Everyone told me to shut up. I was like, Oh, that didn't make sense. Or did you see that mistake? Did you see that error in that cut in that, uh, you know, it was a bad transition.
Oh, they're like, how do you even see that? I'm also the person who sees the continuity issues. Like, did you see there was a cup over there? Oh wait, did you see that their arm was this way and not this way? And so, um, my friends are like, why don't you just enjoy a movie? And I'm like, I don't look for that stuff.
It just. Pops out at me. And so I ended up going to school and, um, I'm like, okay, well, just do film and are actually communications with an emphasis in, in film and, um, yeah, one of my teachers, I had to do a little project that piece together some clips and he's like, you are a really good storyteller. Like, I'm going to keep your project to show other people to other students in the future.
And so, um, yeah. You know, that's I just started it and you know, life got in the way I let myself get in the way and I didn't take it any further than college and I'm a little sad about that.
Nicole Donnelly: But we'll look at you now. It's amazing how life works out that way. You know, I sometimes think about the path that we take.
In the moment, it may feel like, Oh, this isn't where I want to be, or this isn't what I expected. But then when you look back, you realize that it's kind of led you roundabout where you are and the lessons you learn along the way prepare you for that, those moments, you know? I think it's pretty exciting to see that.
Even after all that time, kind of like you're on that path.You are an incredible storyteller with your work. And what you mentioned earlier about being able to see those little details and videos, it's such a gift because you're able to bring that to the work that you do by making sure that,, in terms of detail and focus on quality and making sure that the final product is really spot on. You have such a knack and an eye for that and it's very unique. I would say a very unique elevated style to the way that you do video. I only speak the truth to my dear friend, Paola. So tell me what inspired you to start your company, the Collaborate VA. You know, so what was it that made you take the leap?
It's a big step to decide that you want to go off and start a company from experience. You know, it's a big decision. It's a big risk and so much uncertainty. So it is the leap.
Paola Santana: I just wanted to be in control of my own schedule in my own life. I had done, you know, jobs throughout the, you know, older years that my time was tied to someone else letting me have time for, you know, vacation if a family emergency appeared, you know, I had to ask and check to see I had time available to take off.
I couldn't just be like, you know what? This is a really bad day for me and I need to stay home to be with my family or Yeah. Um, I want to stay with myself, like I am feeling. You know, and inspired or not creative and just feeling very, um, you know, bogged down by the daily grind of working. And, uh, I just said, you know what, let's go.
My brother had mentioned to me about being a virtual assistant and I kind of brushed it off. I was like, Oh no, that's not really for me. I need a job. And, and then I finally was like, I moved to Idaho, made a big move to Idaho during the worst time to move anywhere, make a big move like that, in the middle of the pandemic, left a really good job, um, that I really did enjoy doing and I couldn't find work for a little while and finally went to work for the county and I was just like, this job is so like, way below than what I'm capable of.
And not that it's a bad job, it's just, I know I'm made for more. I was made to do More things. And so I was like, well, I'll just take my skills that I have and I will start my own business. And, uh, you know, I think we, as business owners or as just in general, you know, human beings who are working together, we do our best work when we can collaborate with people that we really.
Trust and, um, to be honest with one another. And so I was just like, okay, well, you know what the collaborative let's collaborate together with people and partner, especially with small business owners or freelancers who need just that somebody to support t., but, uh, you know, here I am.
Nicole Donnelly: I've loved being a part of your journey. It's been really exciting. I remember the first. Projects that we worked on together. Remember those videos I shot in my dining room and you did such a beautiful job, so I've always loved your, your work and it's just been a really nice evolution to see, um, your business grow and to be able to just with great pride, share your work with, um, our clients and everything.
Paola Santana: So it's my pleasure. I'm happy to do it. You know, Helping them, it's not just about me. It's about others too.
Nicole Donnelly: This is a big question. What is it that you want to be known and remembered for like if you're on your deathbed and you're looking back at your life? What is it that you want people to know you as and think of you as?
Paola Santana: Good storyteller. Yeah Just a good storyteller. I want people. So for me, I love the movies because my life is real. Everything that I deal with, it's real. I don't even like dramas, very few drama movies that I want to be out of drama. My life in different seasons is still the drama and not even just my drama, just other people in the world.
And it can be heavy on life. And especially if you're going through something, then seeing the world going through something. For me, I just want to entertain people. I want to uplift, encourage, encourage people. And if we can do that through movies and storytelling, and, um, that's really why I want to be known that, you know, I helped continue to help people get through tough times, whether it's something through comedy or romantic comedy, or, um, you know, just something that just uplifts and encourages people to, so hopefully that's what I'm going for.
Yeah. And obviously my faith, I have a big faith and, um, someone who's brave enough to speak about her faith too. I want to be known for that as well.
Nicole Donnelly: Yeah. I really respect that about you. You really have a very deep sense of integrity and purpose to your life and how you are and it shows.
Let's talk a little bit about video production and how it's evolved because you've been doing this for a while. How has video production evolved over the last five, 10 years? Like walk us through kind of like what you've seen in terms of what's. Really, um, changed and shifted and kind of where it's going when it comes to the types of videos, specifically when it comes to marketing and, um, you know, business and, you know, the creator world that we live in.
Paola Santana: Well, I mean, just in the last couple of years, it's changed, but I think overall, since when I started, and I kind of was sharing this with you earlier, was when I first started doing anything video related.] I was in this really weird moment of where, where cinema was transforming from, you know, the traditional cut film, very storytelling based to going all digital, you know, not only in your editing and, um, shifting to things being accessible.
And I think that's what really the big change over the last five to 10 years is now it's accessible, accessible to a lot of people. Does that mean everyone's good at editing, which is kind of a little bit of a fear for probably a lot of us in the industry, but in truth, it's not because, you know, being able to edit and having those accessibilities is good.
We also have to be able to tell the story, you know, it's not just enough to be like, Hey, I can put the piece together this. Five minute video or two minute, or even a 32nd, it has to be enticing and very, um, catching your, you know, catch someone's attention. Um, so I would say accessibility is really the biggest change now.
It's accessible to literally anybody. You can get an app on your phone now, and it used to be really hard to do that. You had to have a computer system that could handle it. The bigness of the file of the program you're using, um, you know, you have to have certain equipment in order to run certain programs.
And so that is a major one until AI hit, which is now, you know, obviously one of the biggest, um, everyone's mind is you can't go anywhere without it affecting one industry or another. Um, and I think that's the biggest shift in seeing we did see a little bit a few years ago with the movie. Um, Beowulf with Angelina Jolie.
I remember it was a really big thing because it was the first time. I don't remember if AI was involved in creating it, but it was the first time it was like a completely CGI movie and everybody was like, Oh my gosh, this is going to be the future. Everything is going to be much more realistic, just computer generated.
I don't see that quite yet. Um, but. That is definitely on the forefront to see how good is it going to get to recreate our likeness. Um, so it shifted in that, um, essence as, as technology, um, really, it's really the [00:16:00] basis is the, the change as a technology, but, um, storytelling is going to be what far, far out, you know, um, supersedes AI.
Um, I actually did. My, uh, thesis or not my thesis, my, uh, 50 page paper at my college on the narrative merit paradigm, which is a communication theory about how storytelling is so important. And that's how we, as a society, continue to exist because we're continuously telling stories. And I'm saying that in a nutshell.
But that's how our legacy continues is through our storytelling.
Nicole Donnelly: I love that. And I think when it comes to storytelling, maybe that's the element that AI just really can never replace is, is it can be a really good storyteller. So maybe I'd love to hear a little bit more about that from you, like, because it video editing and producing is so accessible now to so many people, if you're out there and you're running a small business, and you know, video is so important for you to have in your business, what would you advise for them in terms of what are the things they should be looking for?
In a creative like yourself or other partners to decide, you know, that this is going to be a good fit and that they're going to really be able to take your brand to that whole other level through storytelling. What are some things they should be thinking or asking about?
Paola Santana: Well, definitely you have to know your business.
You have to know your product or your service. You have to know what your brand is because if you don't know who you are, how can you communicate that to somebody else? So you have to really know what it is that you're reaching to your audience, right? To your buyer, to your viewer. And I think once you know who you are as a business, as a brand, then it makes it easier to question, ask the right questions to the person you're looking to bring onto your team.
And that's really any, I think, any position in your business. Um, but really the best question is to ask, how are they going to align their vision with The vision of your brand and ask those questions. I think that's like really what you're going to [00:18:00] really the way to find a good creative, um, is see what they, what they feel, how, what they can bring to the table as to propel your story forward.
That's captivating the audience, um, and ask for their input on that. How do you see our brand? Um, I would also say that, um, see their work. Does it, how's it communicating that message? in that moment. Um, and I really think that's really the two things aside from like, okay, you know, talent. Um, but as a business, as a small business, you're just really trying to find someone who is going to work well with you and someone who's going to work well with you is going to not hold your hand, but they're going to speak up when it's necessary, offer honest advice and feedback.
Um, and it's a relationship, right? You have that open door between the both of you. So making sure that they're going to communicate with you just as well as you're going to communicate with them. And then I think one of the final things is, that I've kind of shared this with you over the last year. As a brand owner or as a business, you have to also be invested in your own marketing.
You have to be invested in your own business. So if you're not willing to take the time to help your creative team, whether that's marketing your sales team to be also just either available. Thank you. Then, um, you're not going to, you're not going to find someone that's going to be able to help you.
You're going to find fault with them because you have to be able to invest your time as well into your business. And that also means helping your team create the content that they need to really drive sales, generate leads, um, whether it's social media marketing or it's, you know, uh, your email marketing.
Or just commercial marketing, whatever it is, you have to really have to be ready to invest your time, not just money, just your time to it as well.
Nicole Donnelly: Such great points.I'm going to sum it up because I think this is all brilliant. You mentioned you've got to know your brand very clearly.
Paola Santana: Authenticity sells.People want to see, especially with AI, authenticity is going to be really big is, is this brand just using an AI tool to just shoot out content?
Or are they creating content that actually speaks to me and makes me want to buy or listen or get aware, whatever it is, it's part of that customer journey, right?
Nicole Donnelly: Let's talk about AI and authenticity. This is a cool topic. As you're looking at, obviously we all are leveraging AI in new ways that we never have before.
How do you see AI serving and supporting your role as a creative? And what parts of your job, your role, do you think AI can never replace or should never replace? How do you balance that?
Paola Santana: That's really hard because I'm still learning to see how, what best works for me, but from what I have found and across the industry, people that have talked about this topic, it's really just about storytelling, of course, that is the number one thing that's never going to be replaced by AI because AI is as great as it's going to get.
It can't imagine for us, we are the imaginative force behind AI. AI can only take what's already been created. I could create something from that, but it's literally taking a piece from here, a piece from there, and you have to be able to prompt it well enough to create your idea.
So it can't really tell you, well, you should be really saying this to get that effect. It could just take what's already out there, someone else's theory, someone else's work, and then say, Hey, you know, create this piece of work. I think AI, I'm not a fan of it, but the good thing about it is it can help save time.
For small business owners, it can help recreate and repurpose content, help you create, captions or create descriptions for YouTube. So, I think there are some elements that it's really helpful. If you're just wanting to create content quickly and you don't have maybe the full budget to have a little production team or even one, you know, solo production team,it can help you generate that content and get it out there, distribute it really well.
I would suggest that you have to just get really comfortable with knowing how to prompt it so that you can get the best result from it. Uh, because if you're going in there and like, I need, you know, five ideas. On marketing. It's going to jump, give you whatever's out there.
You're going to get really bad ideas. Very broad, very general. So you have to learn how to talk to it is really what you're gonna have to do, how to train your AI, how to train your AI, exactly. You have to train your AI and your language to speak to it. So you have to learn another language as you rpuppet, right?
Nicole Donnelly: Yeah, you have to, you can choose to not have a puppet and not use the AI. Or you can choose to use it and see how
Paola Santana: I don't think that's a bad thing either, but I don't learn to use it. You know, we can, you can be above the norm and not use it, but learn how to use it anyways, because it's good, it's here.
Nicole Donnelly: It's not going anywhere. And I would say that it's really important to experiment and use it so you can see and understand how and the ways that it can help you be more creative and how it can't. And you don't know that unless you try. You have to try it and learn it and try to figure it out and you're going to find over time, well, this can never replace these aspects of what I'm doing to create.
But it can support these others. And I read this really great quote today from Anne Handley. She's a really wonderful content marketer. I think it was a post she had commented on to be fair. But there was a post that someone said that they were talking about, um, the tedious parts of our work as creatives, like the routine tasks and AI is here to take all of those routine tasks essentially off of our plate, right?
But they made a really good point. They said that sometimes it's when you're doing those tedious and remote routine tasks that you can be more creative. It's like in the doing of the mundane. That sometimes creativity strikes you and so it's really important to be very careful about how you're using AI in that way because you don't want to, um, and if you think about it, like, it's so true, like, I'm truthfully find I get the best ideas and most creative when I'm out on a walk, how mundane and tedious is that?
Like, I'm not doing anything magical, I'm just literally walking the same way, two steps forward. And that's when all the ideas kind of tend to flow for me. Yeah, I think that's a really important point to be very careful and be mindful about that. Like there is some really some beauty in that mundane work that we have to do. It touches your capacity to think beyond, how can I improve this moment?
Paola Santana: Definitely. I mean, I'm reading a book. Basically, it's about feeling the art of stealing, you know, ideas. He talks about using something physical to help propel ideas, carrying a journal with you.
So there are notepads if you're out in the world, you know, feel like an artist, something like that. Yeah, so I could totally see that. But I would just say just to add on to our conversation that, it can definitely help us save time and like in the actual editing tasks of things.
But no matter how you use AI, you always have to check it and make sure that it is. Aligning with your business. It's aligning with the message that you're trying to say, um, always double] check it's work.
Nicole Donnelly: Yes, you're right. There always needs to be an editing eye, a human editing eye on anything that AI creates.
I love that. Let's talk a little, I want to shift gears. I'm going to share a quote with you. And this came from an article I read by a dear marketer that I just, he's, he's just so great. His name is Mark Schaefer.
He wrote an article recently about messy marketing, which is starting to have a moment. And he talks specifically about this thing called the pratfall effect, which is a psychological phenomenon that describes the way people's perceptions of someone's competence can be influenced by their display of vulnerability or mistakes, often in a humorous or endearing manner.
The idea is that mistakes can disrupt initial perceptions. And make someone look more endearing or attractive and enhance an image of fun and humility. And we're seeing this pratfall effect have a lot of impact in a lot of marketing right now. Like he mentioned specifically like a Burger King ad where someone is deliberately singing out of tune.
And you're also seeing, for example, on Instagram, there's been kind of like this focus on like raw, unedited photos without all the filters and things like that. With TikTok, it's all about raw short clips. So what is your, what is your take on this messy marketing phenomenon and how businesses should be embracing it?
Leveraging it in what ways and how does that play into video marketing specifically?
Paola Santana: I think it kind of goes back to the authenticity again. Just because you're a brand or your company doesn't mean that there's not a human element to it. And so I think the reason a lot of people will be drawn to that is because you're seeing the humanists behind the company that you're following. Especially with AI. Now people are going to start to question, you know, is this something that was generated by a computer or was this girl, you know, a robot? Or was this, was there a human really behind this? And so I think that there is some probably spaces for that.
And I think it can work in certain situations. I don't think that should be like anything. It shouldn't be your sole focus. Um, again, you have to know your brand and you need to know what message you're putting out there. So I think it's okay to be vulnerable. On, you know, in your marketing, I think it can have an impact.
It can really show that they'll help you build that community show. Like, Hey, we're real people. We make mistakes all the time too. You know, or just, just because, you know, we may be imperfect on, on. You know, Instagram or TikTok or whatever, um, doesn't mean that we don't make mistakes. I think that there's some element to it, but again, I think it's like everything else you have to.
Test what works for your company. You have to make sure that it's aligned with your vision. Make sure that that's the message you want to be known for. And, uh, really, you know, include that in your marketing, if it's valid, if it's irrelevant to your, to your vision. Um, You still have to know how to put that together well in the package, you know, um, it's not just enough to, I mean, you can, you can just throw up a photo that's been unedited, which is totally fine, um, but you still want to have somebody involved to like, how can you position it best way, you know, make sure that your captions are.
You are sending the same message. So if you have a messy or an ugly, like, you know, this is me, I'm ugly crying, you know, give it context, like you don't just leave it, don't just throw it up there. So even with messy marketing, there's still some strategy behind it. Yeah,
Nicole Donnelly: I think you're absolutely right. You've got to be very intentional about how and when you're using it, I think instead of just like You know, there needs to be some organization of the mess.
Nicole Donnelly: For businesses that have brand videos, for example, like a really nice video on your about page, that should be really polished and well done. And then figuring out like, well, what can we do? That's more of the videos that you use for the reels that have the shorter lifespan, that can be a little bit more of the messy marketing and being really intentional about.
Mixing up the format. You don't want to do everything messy, figuring out how to make money.
Paola Santana: Yeah. And again, you just have to know that that's what your audience wants. So I mean, one thing is you want to go viral. Sure. But that's not really the goal. The goal is you're trying to generate, exactly. You're trying to generate revenue.
Ultimately, everybody wants to make more money. So while, you know, I can't speak to that part of like what will make a video go viral, the point is, is that even if you have a small audience, it's okay. Like you're, you want to make sure you're speaking to that audience because your audience is going to buy from you.
That's ultimately the goal. So you want to make sure that your, whatever content you're creating, that that is aligned again with that vision that you have for your message and your audience, that your audience wants that content. So ask them, you know, is this something that works for you? Um, I will also add that.
On the opposite of that, you don't want to be, you know, you don't want to also be worried that it has to be perfect before you hit the publish button, because that can be very, that can hold you back from even putting any content out there, making sure it's completely perfect. One thing about social media that I really like is you can always re say, like, send a message, like, oops, we screwed up.
We said the wrong thing. And that's okay. That also builds that trust with your community that you're a human and that we make mistakes. So, um, you know, it's okay if it's not completely polished. Yeah, I love that.
Nicole Donnelly: So speaking of, okay, so let's talk about what do you see right now as some of the biggest trends in video production?
What are your thoughts there and what, what really matters at the end of the day, ads come and go. And I know you've mentioned storytelling, but what other, What other things are you seeing? What's your advice there?
Paola Santana: I think that's something that I've been seeing more is like telling a real and authentic story.
Instead of just creating content for trend, I think it's going to be jus how creative we can get with AI? One of the trends I see is everyone creating a fake office that looks beautiful and great.
So I think that's like the next thing everyone is trying AI and how they can generate with Photoshop. Their ability to create backgrounds and stuff. I'm seeing a lot of people starting to create these like fake studios and add a plant in the middle.
So I think that's one of the big trends is how can we use them creatively?
Nicole Donnelly: Cool.
Paola Santana: So you have an idea of what you want, so you can take me here. If I was more in frame, I can just literally take my little section here and then I can, you know, outline the rest of my, the screen here that I have.
And then I can tell, Photoshop or Canva, like I want to, Photoshop's a little bit better about this, but Canva's not right there. Um, you know, create this background and it will generate or leave a blank and it will actually. Continue your background. So you have a larger background, um, makes it feel like you're in a full production studio and then you can add little elements.
Like if I had a blank wall, I could be like on this side, you know, put a shelf with like a succulent and a movie poster and it will. Come up with some options. So that's really big right now. So seeing what you can create, um, you know, cutting out people's heads and changing to somebody's, uh, what they look like.
So I think that's a really big thing right now. Um, I mean, I don't know where that's going to go as far as marketing, but it'll be interesting to see what people will come up with and start, you know, creating their own content of AI content. Um, and it'll be interesting to see what, you know, the laws are going to take place as to how do we tell people that this is Okay.
Thanks. Generated A. I. Do we have a responsibility to tell consumers that it is? Um, so that's that's one of the biggest trends. I think we'll still continue to see short form video doing pretty well. Um, we'll also see, I think, just being more intentional with like descriptions in your like YouTube. Um, you know, things like that.
I read someone gave a trend that TikTok isn't doing too well, but I'm not a really big TikTok fan myself. So I don't, I'm not too versed in that, that area. Um, but people love it. I think, you know, people want to consume quicker, more, you want, [00:36:00] they want you to get to the point, I think is what it is. So I think that's going to be a trend with like, okay, how can we tell our story concisely?
And under 60 seconds,
Nicole Donnelly: attention spans are getting shorter and shorter and you've got to like change interrupt as you know, I
Paola Santana: mean, I don't know if his attentions are getting shorter is like more, more like is the content you're giving me is relevant. And in that 30 seconds, does it make me want to go low more about you or what you're offering?
So I think that you kind of having to think about, okay, can I capture what I want? To kind of whet someone's appetite, but then draw them enough to be like, okay, I want them to move from their phone to my website or to learn more about, um, you know, maybe a tutorial video that I have to help them even more.
So learning how to marry the, the shorter forms with the longer videos, I think that's something that, uh, I think we're going to start to see even marketing agencies. Like, how do we marry the two to kind [00:37:00] of be like, okay, how do I get them from this point now to a point that gets them to stay longer? Um, and you.
Honestly, it's going to be spending some money to get someone creative to help you along the way to do that. So, and then community, I think that's something I've also heard is just how do you build a community with people and to buy into your brand, to buy into your service, um, and, and building a community, I think that's going to be really
Nicole Donnelly: big too.
I have several follow up questions. So the first one is. What AI tools are you using now that you love? That's the first one. But the second one is a bigger one and completely unrelated. And that is, what do you think, what are the elements of great storytelling?
Paola Santana: Um, so for AI tools, I think I'm not, I'm still learning.
I'm still trying to find the rich ones I like, cause none of them really serve my purpose of what I'm looking for help with. But, um, obviously, you know, chat dbt though, it's not really my favorite. And, uh, I don't pay for the chat dbt [00:38:00] for, so I'm sure that one's a little bit. More powerful. Um, but I do like chat, GBT to help me with some ideas along with copy AI.
I think the copy AI is a little bit more human humanistic right now, um, in its responses. Um, Phil's more me. Um, you can train it a little bit better than I think chat GBT, because it allows you to add your own brand voice. Um, Descript is a really good one. They're starting to really take over the market with kind of giving you an all in one, um, aside from like the chat box, which they may get there with that.
Um, but you being able to record 4K video and, uh, you know, now they're giving you prompts so you can prompt it to give you, shorten your, uh, sorry, your, uh, social captions, give you ideas for your writing your social captions. It doesn't quite yet do the, um, like Riverside is good too. They actually give you clips that you can use.
Um, so Drew will be there eventually to suggest, like, actually cut your clips for you. Um, but I really liked the script just because it gives you the ability to do your [00:39:00] actual subtitles and captions on there, um, with ease. And, um, it does take a little bit of a learning curve, but they have some other features where it'll keep your eye.
On the camera, no matter where you're moving. So that's a really good one. Yeah, people, I would say, especially like video editors will be like, well, you know, it's not really natural to keep your eyes in the camera as you're moving and you're moving because, you know, we're, we're humans. We move, we use our body, we move around.
Um, and I, one I haven't tried yet is their overdub where you can take a piece of like someone's voice, like maybe we said the wrong word. And, um, I tried it like once and it didn't work out very well, but it's gotten better supposedly. And it will switch that word or that clip into the same tone that's been, the flow of tone that's already been going on.
So Descript is really good. Um, I found a few other ones. I just haven't had a purpose yet to use them. Like Repurpose is supposedly really good to help you repurpose your content. So if you already have a YouTube video, And you want to, um, you know, [00:40:00] send it to tick tock and send it to instagram and send it to Facebook.
It will actually take clips for you and send it and we'll be able to distribute it. So, um, so there's a so many, many AI tools out there and I'm, I'm trying to wade my way through them. Um, so other people have done better research than I have on those, but storytelling wise, I think what tells a good story is that it's just you, right?
Just you, you're giving. In a concise manner, you don't want to spend three hours telling a story, um, being able to just share, and I'm going to have to shorten this because it's you can storytelling is there's so much to it. And I'm not really a writer in that sense of, like, I write every day, which I would love to, but, um, the elements of the storytelling is just something that's compelling, right?
It's you have your hero who is going to achieve something or get somewhere. And I think that's really. What drives us is like, how did that, what, what's the, uh, you know, the three acts, right? Or two acts. [00:41:00] And what, what is that hero trying to get to and how do they overcome it? And so you kind of just have to kind of look at your brand that same way or your company is like, what are we doing for our audience and how are we helping our audience achieve?
What it is that we have are offering them. So that's like the, the very, in a nutshell, very quick, there's more to it, but you know, it's who's your hero and what's your hero doing to overcome or to get someplace.
Nicole Donnelly: I love that and it plays really well for like customer testimonial videos like the customer being the hero and then sharing their story about how you the company were helped them overcome whatever challenge.
I think it's a really great way to show that. I love when people just can share their truth authentically. That's so compelling like when people just can be vulnerable and really just. share, um, in a way that's not like oversharing, like you have to be careful, you know, someone recently told me like, you want to share your scars, not your wounds.[00:42:00]
And I thought, Oh, that's an interesting way to look at it, you know? So, um, yeah, very cool. All right. Well, let's talk a little bit about. What clients can do to prepare and get the greatest results for their projects. You mentioned a few things earlier that maybe we can elaborate on a little bit, but you mentioned like knowing your brand, right?
Like you want to know your brand and then also commit your time. So maybe talk a little bit more about maybe going to detail about those two things or any other things that you think clients can do to just really make sure that they're investing in a video project, that they're really going to get the most.
Impact with the
Paola Santana: work. Um, well, the person who knows your brand is going to be able to, like I said earlier, convey what you're trying, your message that you're trying to get out into the world. So I think, um, whether it's you as a, the owner or just someone who's in one of your teams, somebody who really knows the brand and breathes it, lives, it can really help propel those stories and make them really compelling because they obviously can respond in the voice of the company.
Um, so obviously that's going to be always the first thing, but, um, I would say
building also one of the things I would always recommend I've shared this with you is starting to provide get content of your of your business, right? What is it? Build a content library, you know, do you have a product? You have a demo? Do you have like a do you? Are you a service or are you actually producing something?
You know, you know, if you're a manufacturer, you Get on the floor, take photos of how, maybe not your proprietary stuff, but at least some of your processes that you're willing to share that you can share, um, you know, get your community involved to seeing how their product, your product is being made because then it kind of, it makes it like, Oh, they're making my blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And it makes it real. So building a content marketing, right? Seeing behind the scenes, I mean, there's, you know, there's, there's bad ideas sometimes, but there's never, you can have, I would rather [00:44:00] have too much. Content that I have access to, I'm not saying put it out there, just create your own personal content of stuff that really speaks to your brand and to what you're doing, your, your, your service or your, your manufacturing or whatever it is that you have, um, so that when your creator does come on, they have stuff that they can already access.
Like, Hey, this is what we really like this. This is can work. And they're not, you're not basically running to catch up and provide content for them or having to hire someone to come in, which is always a good idea, I think, to take professional photos. I think you really should have professional quality stuff too.
Um, I mean, there is a, there is a school of thought that says, you know, you don't want to have, you don't have to be. To production, which is, you know, it's fine, which we talked about earlier, but you also don't want to have no quality either. So you want to have a bad balance of both. So involving your team, like, ask your team, like, what do you think, especially, like, what are your our clients saying?
What do they want to hear from us? What questions are they asking? The FAQs are frequently asked questions for your customers are really great material. [00:45:00] So start building a content library of videos of testimonials. Definitely like ask for that testimonial. That's social proof that whatever you're doing is working for somebody else, whether it's solving their pain or helping them find happiness of something because they found joy in it.
So Um, building that library and then organizing that library. Just don't have a drive and have everything like, Oh, this is videos and blah, blah, blah. We don't know what it is. You know, make sure you're tagging everything. You're labeling everything. Um, so that way, when you do have a creative team come in or you, if your marketer can come in, you have a marketing small, whether it's one team or big team, they have already content there that they can start pulling from.
So I think that's one way to help, you know, get, um, help your creatives. Um, and then I would just say, um. Make sure that you're on the same page just make sure that everything that you're you're happy But also giving them freedom to create on your behalf if you're having someone create or you're having someone market Sometimes that's not your expertise, you know, you may know everything about your business, [00:46:00] but how to say your message is not always our expertise.
Um, so, you know, trust have some trust to, um,
Nicole Donnelly: I love that you mentioned several types of video that I think that manufacturers specifically can be thinking about product videos where you're actually showcasing the product, how to videos where you show how to do certain things, you know, F A Q videos where you're literally just taking the top 10 questions customers ask over and over and over again.
And turning those into videos. And I love what you said too about making sure that you're showing the product, like have something in your hands so that it's more interesting than just like a talking head talking, you know, people want to see the product behind the scenes is always really
Paola Santana: exciting. And invest, invest in some equipment.
I mean, if you have like, get some light rings, get some good 4k camera for your computer. Our phones are really capable of doing some amazing things now. So maybe you have a company phone that you use it to reproduce all your content, you know, get a little [00:47:00] lapel mic. I mean, there's so the technology is so inexpensive these days, you know, you don't have to spend tons of money, but invest a little bit.
Um, yeah, so definitely. Um, and again, I, again, you have to know your audience, if that's the content that they want. Um, you know, I've been hearing this like disown throw content, just have throw content out there. Um, but your creative is going to help you figure that out too. They should be able to work with you to figure that out.
Yeah,
Nicole Donnelly: you're actually really spot on there because I think we have seen a saturation. We're seeing a saturation of content everywhere. I mean, think about how many streaming services are out there now. Like, you know, it used to just be Netflix. And now that I can't keep up with all the different streaming services, you go to each one and it's overwhelming.
The amount of content that you can find. And even when you go on the web, it used to be, you know, 10, 15 years ago, you could blog and you could rank right away on the top. It's just become so saturated. Um, it's it's harder and harder for you to just get visibility there. Yeah,
Paola Santana: that relevance is really important to you [00:48:00] know, you don't want to get now you have to think about what value am I bringing in?
Is it going to get ranked lower on Google? And is it going to be, you know, ban me on the social media because it's not bringing value? To the world,
Nicole Donnelly: I guess. Yeah. So I think to your point, it's really important to be thoughtful instead of focusing so much on quantity, quantity, quantity, we've got to just like, you know, create as much video content as we possibly can really focusing in specifically on what do your buyers need and want and focusing in on quality.
Now that doesn't mean that you're never going to do messy marketing. Right, right, exactly. It's just means quality in the storytelling quality in the content. Of what you're sharing in the video, not necessarily always in the editing itself, right? But creating a quality piece of content through video that's going to be memorable for people and how much better it is to just really focus in on creating one really good piece of content than trying to do, you know, five to 10 mediocre pieces of content.
Paola Santana: Exactly. And, and, you know, again, if you have a big, if you have a big, like a longer video, That's okay. You can repurpose all of that into whatever it is that you need to do. Intentionally, again, all of this is going to just, you need some strategy, whether it's even messy or it's more thoughtful. You still need strategy.
You need to just, again, the only way you get strategy is knowing your, what you are offering, how is it benefiting and then knowing the people who are buying in what they want. So it's, it's. You're going to hear tons of everybody who has all these ideas and it's like, I think I'd get tired. I'm like, Oh my gosh, everybody has so many ideas for everything.
And everything will tell you to do this and do that. But the truth is, it's like, you need to know who you are. You need to know who you're serving and what, then you can create what's going to best serve everybody involved.
Nicole Donnelly: Love that. Like a perfect, like, you know who you are, know who you're serving and what they need and then bring those two [00:50:00] together.
And that's where you can create magic. That's cool. It really kind of takes a lot of the overwhelm out of it. Cause I will tell you like, well, we'll talk to clients and they can get, they can have a tendency to get really overwhelmed really easily, but if you break it down that way and focus in on the strategy being really about you and your brand, your story, and how that really helps solve problems for your customers.
Paola Santana: Trust your team. Like, I mean, you know, you can't, we're, we're only ourselves and we can't be in a thousand different places. And so, you know, if you don't know it, pick someone that does, you know, find someone that does know it and then just trust them that they're going to do okay. Even when it feels like that may not be right. You know, try.
Paola Santana: I'm just, you know, you have to be able to trust your team. You can't do it all and you shouldn't have to do it all. You know, you really, really should be trusting the people who are around you.
And I think that's really a point. That's one of the things I don't like being as a business owner is just not having someone else on my team yet. That I can be like, you, you run with this, but I have no idea. And that's okay to be in that place. I think people get stuck. Like, I want to know, I want to approve everything on my own.
It has to run through me. I have to, it has to be perfect and it's okay to like, just trust your team. And if it doesn't work, okay. Then we start to figure out what does we go back, you know, to another plan and try something else. Um, I mean, it can get a little, it can get expensive that way, but, um, you know, there's ways to get around.
spending a lot of money to, you know, do that whole testing thing. But, um, that's a whole other topic.
Nicole Donnelly: There are so many more topics that we can talk about. Yeah, we sure can. We're going to have to do a next, a part two. So let's, I would love to just like learn, okay, so what is, what are you next for the Collaborate VA?
What is like your, what, as you look ahead, 2024 is coming up [00:52:00] soon, you know, what is it that you are like, what's on your bucket list? What are you really looking forward to next year and beyond? How are you looking to grow yourself in your business as you look forward?
Paola Santana: Um, so I am actually going to start shifting more to just being strictly video, video editing and just, um, intentional video editing or intentional.
Product. Um, I don't know what that looks like just yet. I obviously, I would love to work with movies, um, but I'm not ready to move back to California or anywhere else at this moment yet, unless something was really a really amazing opportunity would have to be great. Um, but yeah, I think just helping people with their video content clients, uh, whether it's.
You know, an individual or companies, um, especially as, as video editing does become more accessible. And everybody can has a cell phone can cut on their phones now, which is really hard. And I don't really recommend doing it unless you're doing it needs those quick cuts. [00:53:00] Um, and just, so just giving those businesses, somebody to come to that, be able to have someone that they can trust to create the content.
It's going to drive them, um, sales. I mean, I can't make promises that something will go viral, but we can definitely, I promise to work with you to see what, what will work. And that's kind of why I want to be that we're going to collaborate together. It's not just me and it's not just you. We're doing this together and that's really what I love about.
Just everything that I do, but more importantly, just having so giving somebody that, that person that like, Hey, Paola knows what she's talking about. She's going to help me walk through this and I want to build a video company like that. Yeah. Well, you are a
Nicole Donnelly: girl. Cause you are an absolutely phenomenal collaborator.
Such a phenomenal collaborator. I can attest to that. Um, you're you listen with grace, but then you also give feedback with grace and you have great expertise and just as a member of our team, you've been such a critical part of [00:54:00] cultivating a really collaborative culture and just very open and flexible and it's just make it makes working fun.
You make working fun and not only fun, but elevate the work is elevated. And I think that's what's really special about what you bring is that
Paola Santana: don't
Nicole Donnelly: settle for mediocrity. So anyone out there who's listening, if you're looking for a creative who is going to challenge you, who's, who's going to be super committed to creating really quality results.
And, um, elevating your brand and your work who's on the cusp and on the cutting edge of everything new that's happening. Um, you definitely want to get in touch with Paola. She, she's just a really a gem, a talent when it comes to video editing. I'm always so proud to share her work with our clients. So Paola, how can people get ahold of you if they want to get in contact with you?
Um,
Paola Santana: they could just email me at hello@thecollaborateva.com. The same website, I haven't been keeping up too well with it just because I'm shifting gears. I want to be known for something different, but it's still there. Then just online, just @thecollaborateva
Nicole Donnelly: Awesome.
Well, it's so much fun to have you on the show. I've actually been looking forward to this day for a long time. So thank you for coming on and I hope we can do it again soon and just appreciate everything that you do and all of your wonderful goodness.
Paola Santana: I appreciate it. Thank you for having me.
Nicole Donnelly: Oh, absolutely.
Anyone out there who's listening, thank you for joining us. I hope this was a really great show and that you were able to learn a lot. And if you have any questions at all about video, um, please reach out to Paula and she's be a great resource for you. So thank you everyone.
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