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If you want to be comfortable being in front of the camera, just talk about what you are doing.Seriously, it’s one of my...
10/05/2026

If you want to be comfortable being in front of the camera, just talk about what you are doing.

Seriously, it’s one of my favorite tricks. I just ask the person in front of the camera what they are doing and it immediately drops the tension and lets them open up.

If you are filming by yourself, try to visualize explaining what you are doing. Even better, if you can think of the person you are trying to reach, you might be able to adjust how you are talking to match the persona you are wanting to reach.

10/01/2026

We're all hear about how we need to be doing more content and being present on social media but for many companies that ends up becoming just box-checking posts. They post about what they do, the projects they complete etc (Not to mention the completely forgettable holiday posts).

Don’t get me wrong, those are good things to post, but they end up feeling unfocused, and very rarely move the needle for the business.

On the other hand, people feel the pressure to “go viral” in order to be successful. They start chasing trends, and their account becomes focused on entertainment.

Again, not a bad way to approach social media, but if we are honest, most of us don’t want to become “influencers”

My approach for my clients is different. While we do incorporate some strategic “hype” content in our monthly social media packages, the majority of the content is focused on building trust.

We do this by coming armed with intelligent, industry specific questions that we then ask from behind the camera.

Now, instead of having to be an influencer, our clients get to be what they already are, an knowledgeable and trustworthy professional who’s not afraid of hard questions.

That’s a big one. I don’t just ask you questions that make you and your product look good, I also ask you questions that will help people understand that your product or service isn’t a good fit for them.

For example, I work with a pool installer who specializes in fiberglass pools. These pools have a lot of benefits, but they also aren’t for everyone. Your dreams for your backyard might require a custom pool and that’s ok!

Here’s the thing, by being willing to publicly tell someone “hey, we aren’t a good fit for you, you should go with a different product” you’ve shown the world that you are putting them first, not your profits.

In the video world there's this magical thing called the 180 degree rule. It has to do with what your shutter speed is r...
09/29/2026

In the video world there's this magical thing called the 180 degree rule. It has to do with what your shutter speed is relative to your frame rate.

Without getting technical, in order to comply with this filmmaking “rule”, you usually have to slow down your shutter speed. On most cameras that you see on job sites, this means using something called an ND filter, which is effectively sunglasses for your camera. This lets you reduce the amount of light hitting your camera sensor, which makes it easier to do longer exposures, which typically would overexpose your footage.

Here's the thing: I'm going back and forth so hard on whether or not to use these. Of all of the filmmaking techniques, this is the least noticeable for the untrained viewer.

Admittedly if you do comply with it, you do get a more natural looking motion blur but in my experience (and my personal viewing) most people don't actually notice if you are getting the correct motion blur.

Composition, color grade, and depth of field have a far greater effect on how your footage looks versus whether or not you have "cinematic" motion blur.

When I originally started writing this, I was thinking that at the Parade of Homes I
wouldn’t end up using them, but when I saw that shutter speed creep up I brought them back out again.

Here's the thing: most business owners don't know how to be on camera. And that's totally fine. Being comfortable on cam...
09/11/2026

Here's the thing: most business owners don't know how to be on camera. And that's totally fine. Being comfortable on camera talking is a developed skill like anything else.

That's why for one when it comes to filming the parade I couldn't do it without Holly as the host. She does a fantastic job of helping keep the conversation going and I like to think she and I make a great team for getting the best out of the various builders.

At the same time she's not always there and much of my content is question and answer format with me behind the camera engaging with the person speaking. I love this format as I genuinely like learning about new things so I get to indulge my curiosity while also making the person in front of the camera feel way more comfortable and letting their expertise in their given industry shine without the added barrier of thinking about the camera.

That's why when I'm doing social media content with people I come armed with a list of questions, ready to engage with them thoughtfully in their given industry with the goal of helping them build trust, establish credibility by answering questions.

Looking at the upcoming parade of homes, I really wish I had a better camera.The thing is when people compliment me on m...
09/09/2026

Looking at the upcoming parade of homes, I really wish I had a better camera.

The thing is when people compliment me on my camera (it always looks pretty cool because it's pretty heavily rigged out), I always tell them that most of what's there isn't necessary.

With the exception of a microphone, everything else attached to the camera is there just to make my life easier.

However when that new piece of camera equipment comes out and I see the stats and compare it to what my camera does, I still get that itch to go and buy it. And it's really easy to justify because I look at some of the specs and think about how those would make my life easier and allow me to hypothetically deliver better content for my clients.

Finding that balance of making smart upgrades has and will always, I think, be one of the biggest challenges for me.

Last year At the Parade of Homes I definitetly screwed up and didn't successfully communicate to our talent exactly how ...
09/07/2026

Last year At the Parade of Homes I definitetly screwed up and didn't successfully communicate to our talent exactly how long the day would run. The person was included in the emails that addressed it but I never called attention to the fact that this would be at least an eight-hour day.

Well turns out that person had made plans with the expectation that filming would have only been a half day rather than a full day (like it was the year before).

They were super understanding and owned the mistake and did everything they needed to do to make sure that we got what we needed.

You can bet that this year I was a whole lot noisier about making sure our talent was fully on board for the time commitment. Especially since there are twice as many homes this year as last year.

Last weekend I got to enjoy an amazing overnighter with my boys and their uncle in the Gifford Pinchot. Not gonna lie I'...
09/04/2026

Last weekend I got to enjoy an amazing overnighter with my boys and their uncle in the Gifford Pinchot.

Not gonna lie I'm still kind of mad it's taken me this long to start exploring it. It really is an incredible piece of national forest that we have right here in our backyard.

09/03/2026

The best argument I can make for why your business needs to be on social media has nothing to do with content I've produced.

One of my long-term clients went dark on me after a project where I had filmed and delivered everything and that particular content never saw the light of day.

Unbeknownst to me due to some financial mismanagement, that company, shortly after filming that project, had had to lay off a sizeable portion of their employees.

Fast forward a year from that date and I've done more business with them in the last six months than all the years leading up to it. And the only thing that changed was they started posting regular consistent videos.

These videos don't go viral. I think the most I've seen from them is like 2,000 views but what they've done is take their social media and instead of viewing it as a top-of-the-funnel program, it's a middle-of-the-funnel conversion tool.

They use it to build trust and credibility so that when people are ready to buy in the industry that they work in, their product is a no-brainer.

I'm not going to make promises that social media can change your business but we've all heard the stories about how it has. If you're afraid to get started, let's find a time to chat. I can explain my process for what it looks like to have me come out and film with you once a month to create authentic educating content without having to turn you into an influencer or make you do silly skits.

There's a story to The Parade of Homes that I didn't see until I got involved on the media production side. Attendees of...
08/31/2026

There's a story to The Parade of Homes that I didn't see until I got involved on the media production side. Attendees of the show just see some of the most beautiful homes in our region at their absolute best. They come to get inspired, to gawk, to experience a level of luxury that for many (myself definitely included) will probably never get.

But here's the other side. The other side is a nine-month sprint to build some of the best homes in our region.

That's always one of my favorite parts of the process of creating the videos around the parade.

Last year it was learning about the crazy engineering that went into building some of the retaining walls necessary for two of the sites to be developed.

Things are looking a little bit tamer this year but I'm sure there are many stories of challenges that had to be overcome (I already know of one).

This is where video comes in. It really lets you tell a story that a photo just can't encompass. It lets you pair the emotional beats of a story to dramatic lighting in a room or on a location, coupled with a soundscape that encourages a particular emotion. And keep in mind we're not trying to create a false experience when people watch these videos but instead we're trying to share the emotional weight of the story.

If you're afraid to show what your process looks like in the messy middle, I won't be a good fit for your team.I know au...
08/27/2026

If you're afraid to show what your process looks like in the messy middle, I won't be a good fit for your team.

I know authenticity is the buzzword around social media but really it's about building trust and community. When you're not afraid to show what your job site looks like in the middle or too afraid that your "competitors" might steal your ideas, it really limits what social media can do for your business.

And here's the thing: people want to work with real people. They will be so much more understanding of you when you're being transparent than they will be if you try and hide your mistakes and hope that people don't see it.

That's where I come in. I love to ask questions that both let you show off your expertise while also Leaving room for you to be vulnerable and to let someone know that, hey, your company might not be a good fit for them.

We've all had those clients that we wish we'd never signed up with. Wouldn't it be nice if your social media was automatically filtering those kinds of clients out for you? Who cares that the job site is a mess? As long as it doesn't look unsafe, let's show things in the messy middle.

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