Social Media Mastery with Jesse Shewchuck: Strategies for Creating Viral Content

Social Media Mastery with Jesse Shewchuck: Strategies for Creating Viral Content

Kelly Kennedy: Welcome to Milestone episode 140. And for today's expert guest interview, we are graced yet again by Jesse Schewchuk, founder of Modern Muse Media and social media rock star. I can't wait to chat with her. And she is going to chat with all of us about how to make. Amazing video content. Stick with us. The tips in here are next level.

Intro: The Great Mark Cuban once said business happens over years and years value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal. And we couldn't agree more. This is the business development podcast based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and broadcasting to the world.

You'll get expert business development advice. Tips and experiences. And you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs, and business development reps. You'll get actionable advice on how to grow business. Brought to you by capital business development, capitalbd.ca. Let's do it. Welcome to the business development podcast.

And now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.

Kelly Kennedy: Hello, welcome to episode 140 of the Business Development Podcast. My gosh, I can't believe that we are saying episode 140. Man, how the time has flown. But, but, as always, with no disappointment, we have an absolutely amazing guest. Amazing returning guest today, we're delighted to welcome back to the show, Jesse Schewchuk.

With a career spanning over two decades in television production, and as the founder and CEO of Modern Muse Media right here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Jesse has solidified her reputation as a true pioneer and leader in the industry. As a seasoned entrepreneur and mentor, Jesse brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table.

Throughout her journey, from navigating the challenges of the industry to establishing her own thriving agency, Jesse has remained dedicated to empowering professionals to harness the power of video. Get prepared to be blown away once more as the rock star of video production, Jesse Schewchuk graces is our stage with her unrivaled expertise and infectious energy.

Jesse is here to ignite your passion and revolutionize your approach to video marketing. Jesse , as always, it's a pleasure to have you back. Thank you for coming.

Jesse Schewchuk: Wow. Can you introduce me every time I walk into a room? Please? Because that was amazing. I heard Sia, Unstoppable, playing with your voice so layered over top and like somebody filming in slo mo, right?

Kelly Kennedy: Oh my gosh. Crazy. You know, It's amazing to have you back. You were literally here over 100 episodes ago at this point. The original episode we did together was Lights, Camera, Action with Jesse Schewchuk, and it was episode 38. And I just want to say, thank you so much for believing in me back then. This show really exists because of guests like you who gave us a chance and I just want you to know I really, really appreciated you doing that.

Jesse Schewchuk: Well, thank you for sharing stories and expertise and your own vulnerability and congratulations. This is amazing.

Kelly Kennedy: It's wild. It's wild. I could have never seen this show and I think that's just like every content creator, right? We're just all super surprised when it actually becomes popular and people listen, but it's It's crazy.

I always encourage everyone now, like, just do something. Just try it. And I know you do that too. And we share that in common. And like I said, I'm absolutely pumped to have you back. And I really want to spend some time today. Discussing the future of video some of the challenges that you faced along the way we talked about this earlier today, but before we get into that episode 38 was a little while ago and people may be finding this for the very first time and so let's go back into it.

Let's do a little deep dive again back into. Who is Jesse Schewchuk? How did you end up the CEO of Modern Muse Media?

Jesse Schewchuk: Oh, well, there's a story. First of all, I want to address what you said about content and people actually liking it and doing that because we face that with folks day in and day out. Why would people want to hear from me?

Why would I even bother creating this content? And, You know, it's because you have a voice and you have a niche and it goes back to that inner child. They like me that they really like me, right? 80s commercial throwback right there.

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah.

Jesse Schewchuk: Anyway. So I was a big fan of TV. When I was a little kid, I was the child of the eighties and both parents were working and I had every commercial and I wanted to do video and I wanted to do commercials.

So when my grandma and grandpa brought home that VHS camcorder that I could barely hold on my little shoulders, you bet I was creating videos with my cousins and with my family. And so, yeah, it was a passion from a really young age. I like to say I bleed video blood. And so I did commercials with them. I went and did an aptitude test when I was in grade 12, before I decided kind of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, knowing that that was always there.

And the aptitude test showed broadcast. Broadcast TV. So yeah, I went into college when I was 17, finished at 19, started my career and and didn't look back and became eventually a multi award winning television producer for a television show that was nominated for the Emmy of Canada. So it's been a wild ride.

Kelly Kennedy: No kidding. No kidding. And then, you know, You know, we talked about it in the previous show. So we don't have to get too much too deep into this. If you really want to go back into the backstory, we talk all about this in episode 38. So feel free to go on back and check out episode 38 to learn more about Jesse's backstory, because it is amazing.

It's touching. It's heartwarming. And you definitely want to go back and check that out. But yeah, like. You know, take us into what made you decide to kind of go out on your own and help other people learn this super valuable skill?

Jesse Schewchuk: A mentor. So I was actually about to leave the industry and it was a mentor who I was on the phone with having a bit of a mental meltdown.

And who convinced me to start my own business and that she would become my first client. She was to be the president of women in film and television of Alberta and asked if I was going to be vice president and to step up and to step in. And and I did. And I basically just kind of followed her lead and Originally, my company started with mentoring up and coming women producers to try and get their content created and such, and try to get broadcast licenses.

It quickly pivoted by another mentor. And that mentor was the man, a man by the name of Dan Kern, who walked through my door and what if you were to take your Over 20 years of experience and work with businesses to teach them how to share their story through video. Have you ever heard of this guy named Gary V?

Gary Vaynerchuk. And are you listening to what he's preaching? Because he's saying that within a few years, all businesses are going to need to know how to do video content. And you're going to be the only business around for now that shows them how. And that's how it pivoted. There's that word.

Kelly Kennedy: Yes.

Yes. And I know that you'd launched this ahead of, of essentially the COVID pandemic, right? But I think people, I think before that we just weren't thinking about video or social media. Like I'll be honest, that pandemic changed. Everything it flipped everything about like social media and the way that people use it and the idea of video content or even the idea of a podcast and just flipped it on its head to something that people were like, Oh, do we really need that to like, Oh shit, we need that overnight.

And we have no idea how to do that. Explain what that was like for you, because I imagine that yeah, it went from probably being kind of slow to being like, oh crap, like how do we even keep up with this?

Jesse Schewchuk: Yes and no. So for the first two weeks, I just hid under my bed crying going, how are we going to do this?

Because we do a lot of our teachings in person. If you can only imagine That you're sitting beside someone and you're teaching them how to shoot and how to edit and that and that kind of thing. So we did have to reinvent ourselves and take everything online and we actually became kind of specialists in video conferencing.

So I was working with officials. We were working with people to go to their home or office and, or even through the lens, say, okay, I see a window over there. I know there's a light source. We need to set your field of view up to be the most professional. Let's talk about looking to the lens, talking to the camera, hand gesturing.

So there was a lot of coaching and consulting, and that's kind of what we. we turned into. It's still all education, still all training, right? But yes, things did very much pick up thereafter. I love to say, I love to say that I was standing on the top of a skyscraper screaming, Everybody needs video! And then the pandemic hit and I needed to repel to ground zero where everybody was kind of up in smoke trying to figure out how to navigate this. Buying tons of equipment. They don't even know how to use. And still, I think a lot of people have, you know, the extra equipment sitting in and around their desk in boxes, or they knew they needed to have it, but they didn't know what to do with it.

And so, yeah, we did, we, we got quite busy quite fast. Remarkably, the end here is remarkably, there's still a tremendous amount of resistance to video. And I think a lot of that comes with, you know, Fear of self, fear of getting in front of the camera, hearing your own voice, looking at your own hand gestures.

And this is mindset stuff. It's more of that than it is the technical. There is the resistance that we saw to social media, which really kind of to ramp up, started to ramp up in 2007 and people said, we're not going to use this for business. We're not, this is not going to be a tool for marketing. And now I think eventually people jumped on that bandwagon.

They understood that what this did is that completely crumbled the broadcast era and gave direct access to the customer in which we now refer to as the digital era, which is the era era of digital storytelling. And so it's so funny, the psyche around it, because I'm not sure when that will really start to open up.

I think I'm seeing it now, you know, even years after now, it's just like, yeah, we really should get on this video thing. It's like, you don't say.

Kelly Kennedy: You know what? I don't think that it, I, I don't know. I don't think that it's people and no, it is, Kate, you're right. It is. People are afraid, but I think it's a mix of they can get over that fear. It's, I think the thing that holds them back more is they just don't know what to do. It seems very, very overwhelming on how to produce video, how to put out high quality video that is going to be meaningful and purposeful for the reasons that they want to do video.

And I think. You know, I mean, as business owners, we're all experts in whatever we chose to go to business with, or we would have never started a business. But none of us were experts in video production, unless you're Jesse.

Jesse Schewchuk: Well, it's funny, because it was opposite for me, because I was an expert in this, but I had no idea how to run a business.

Kelly Kennedy: And we are going to talk about that. There are some left. We learn and I'm very, very excited because I definitely I've made my fair share of mistakes as well, but yeah, I think that's what it is, right? And that's for most people that go into business. Jesse, it's not just you. The reason that I have a business development podcast and I speak primarily to executives is because They weren't business development experts, they were experts in welding or they were experts in, you know trucking or whatever else they went into.

And now they have to figure out, okay, crap, how do we grow our business? And you're in the exact same situation where people are being like, oh, crap, the whole world has just changed. We need to have a front face and I have no idea how to do this. And I really do think it is They would be willing to put themselves out there.

Nobody wants to come across like they don't know what they're doing, or like, they're doing it subpar, right? And they don't want that to reflect poorly on them. And so, there's, I think that is the true obstacle. That needs to be overcome here.

Jesse Schewchuk: Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, nobody wants to look foolish.

Let's go back to that inner child, right? We care too much about what other people think, but it is, it's, it's your cloud. It's your professionalism. And, and this is human nature. People will judge your welding business or your coaching firm, depending on how good your video content is. It is a first, it's an initial touch point.

And so it does need to be. Good quality. It does need to represent you well. So, I mean, it would be really, really hard for me to not put a plug in here, which is why you would hire a content creation training agency. But I won't do that because, you know, shameless, come on.

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah, no, for sure. It definitely is one of those things.

And I think one of the other things that freaks them out now too is because Okay, the other side. Video has gotten really popular and everybody has video coming out and they're thinking, gosh, am I really just going to be another video on LinkedIn in the sea of videos? Could I even stand out? I think that might be the other side of it now is that people are like, okay, even if I could do video, my God, is it even going to matter?

Like there are a million videos every time you hop on, you know, Instagram, LinkedIn, wherever you're at. How, how will mine even stand out?

Jesse Schewchuk: I love that. I love that you brought this up because this comes up so often and it actually throws back to the beginning of our conversation in that why me and why would people even want to hear what I have to say and how can I stand out amidst the surplus of content and it's all about niche.

And it's about authenticity. And we talk about this often, but let me explain. Let's dive a little bit deeper into this. All right. I think what we need to do is really change the way people think about content and video when you think about it as it pertains to your business. So a case in point is I was at a networking lunch today and a mortgage broker stood up and she was talking about how she cannot do video because of her non disclosure agreements and confidentiality in and around the clients and such.

And so video is just not an option. And, and so what am I to do? And we just turn that right on its head by answering with the solution. And that is folks are consuming content that is not even necessarily about what you do. It's about who you are. You are. So if you are somebody who makes a smoothie in the morning, or does your coffee a certain way, or the team comes together and you have a team meeting for a lunch and have a birthday, or you go out and do something together, or you're checking out lawn bowling on Wednesday night, you're creating content around Your business and around who you are, because this goes back to my producing days.

You want to think about your business as a TV show and whether it's brick and mortar or whether it's online, that's the set and everyone involved in your show is the cast of characters. Whether they play a small role like the UPS guy who drops off a delivery. What do we have today? Let's just do an unboxing video.

Cool. Or on about video, right? It's, it's the content is about your people. And that is what makes the human difference. And that's what you're looking for. And then you're also going to find your niches, right? And so for example, if you're a mortgage broker or a realtor who works very specifically with growing families, then maybe you're going to document how you spend Spend your weekends at the hockey rink.

And that's what you do because you're a hockey parent and Hey, fellow hockey parents with growing families, like, are you needing to upsize? I totally get how busy you are. Let me do this for you. But they only know you're that because you've done a video in and around and created content and around who you are.

Are, and that's what we have to shift, is the idea and rather the ideation around content. It doesn't need to about, need to be about mortgage brokering at all.

Kelly Kennedy: Mm mm-Hmm. . Mm-Hmm. . What is happening? And I know this sounds like kind of crazy, and I know it might seem kind of stupid, but I think people are thinking, okay, like I'm putting out all these videos.

And yeah, it might be about my daily life. It might be about what's going on. It might be about like important topics. What is it doing? What is And I think you really do understand this because when you're doing video, I know that when you're probably teaching people, you're saying like, look, there's somewhere you're going with all this.

Where, like, big picture, what is happening when people start to really start to create a video persona or they start to really engage in this? What is the big picture? What is actually happening here, both short and long term?

Jesse Schewchuk: Awareness and connection. Awareness and connection. So I create a lot of content And I do usually a video when I go to a networking event or when I'm at a lunch with someone even taking a picture and I post that.

And let's say I take a picture with you, Kelly, we'll actually meet in person one day and we're going to go for lunch and we're going to take a picture and we're going to tag it. And then suddenly all of our spheres. Our networks go, Oh my gosh, those two know each other. I didn't know she knew Kelly. What does she do again?

Well, she knows Kelly, then maybe she's worthy of my trust because she knows Kelly, right? So connection and trust. Is a part of it. Awareness. I kid you not. I walk into a networking room and this is taking time to build. So that's another you can't expect it overnight. It's just it's not right. This is taking time to build.

But when I walk into a room here in Edmonton, especially more often than not, I get there. You are. Versus who are you? And more people know me than I know them. So they'll come up to me like they know me and Hey, I thought you were in Mexico. And Oh my gosh, that payphone video was hilarious. You're so funny.

I love what you're doing. And I will be like, have we met? And, and it's not rude, it's, but it just, it's that moment that excites me because it works. Now it works in conjunction with a great marketing strategy. It works in conjunction with a really great calendar and campaign and newsletter that goes out.

It works when you're out there networking, it works as a part of everything else. We don't post and ghost. We don't just do a video. Put it up there and walk away and go, I just am not getting my ROI and I can't figure out why.

Kelly Kennedy: Let's speak about ROI. Let's take a little moment here and chat about the avenues that people have.

My gosh, I think like especially in the advertising side, the ROI on some level is getting less and less and less in the traditional digital advertising spaces. I honestly see what you're doing as being Much more valuable to organizations over time than spending, you know, 600, 1000 bucks a month, their digital ad spend, because at least with this, you know, where it's going with a lot of the digital stuff, it can just get lost in the muck.

And I know it gets very frustrating, especially when you're trying to do digital marketing and. You just, it's just burning money.

Jesse Schewchuk: Yeah. So ROI is tough. And we talk about this because I was just on a phone with a client today who was talking about, I've been burned by many marketing companies and we bring them on and we pay monthly and it's like, yeah, we're going to do all of this great stuff and promises and, and where are the results and where are the numbers and things like that with our, content creation training and us coming in. This is something like coaching, if you can imagine. So you can work with a coach, you can sign up to hire a coach. You can not show up to all of the meetings. You can not do some of the homework and some of the visioning or some of the, you know, whatever it is that you're supposed to do.

And then you can say, well, it's not working. And the same is with content creation, right? And so we give you these tools. There's no guarantee that you're actually implementing, right? Yeah. And so we do like to continue to remain connected as an accountability partner, because then we can actually take a look at those things and start to monitor.

What is amazing with the digital world and this, you know, digital era is that everything is trackable. This isn't like a billboard and I know with billboards you can use a different number and there's a, there are ways that you can quasi track it, but this is like all of the data is there at your fingertips.

You're going to be able to do testing, throw out this kind of video, throw out this kind of video, launch them both as ads, figure out if they're going to work or not. I mean, this is a crazy. exciting time. I mean, and I know for a lot of folks, it is very overwhelming. We, we talk about that a lot. It's why we exist.

We're here to hold people's hands for this process because it can be very daunting. It can be, you know, just, and frustrating. You mean I have to do this on top of everything I already, already do? Like, give me a break, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah. Yeah, I I know that feeling well because it can feel like a lot, right?

Like it does feel sometimes and like even the podcast at times, right? Because the podcast is a labor of love. I love this thing, but it does not make a ton of money. It will one day I'm sure, but we're not there yet. It's still very much a labor of love and I love doing it. And so, but it really is over and above what Kelly Kennedy does on a day to day basis.

Yeah. Yeah. And so it's like one of those things where I totally understand it. And, you know, the thing about advertising, no matter what way you look at it, whether you're doing active marketing through something like what we do at Capital or whether, you know, passive or digital strategies, we want to make sure that everything we do is going as far as possible because I know that me and you don't have massive advertising budgets.

We have to do the best we can with the little advertising budgets we got. And we know that everyone else we're speaking to here is in the same boat. And so, If you know that every single time you get an impression or you get something like that, or there's an outreach of any kind, it's costing you money, you really want to make sure that everything that's costing you money is going in the right direction.

Jesse Schewchuk: Yeah, you do. You do. It all matters. With content creation as well, you know, people talk about, well, doing videos and it takes so much time and And how can I justify that in my day? And that is something that we work on as well as systems and habits. So when my mentor, Dan walked into the office and said, okay, you're going to teach people this, but you're also going to need to walk the walk walk the talk, whatever it is, which means you're going to need to be creating content on a regular basis.

And when I started, I was like, you have got to be kidding me. I showed up to an event and he showed, gave me a bit of a shot list. And it's like, you're going to need to get an exterior shot. You're going to need to get a shot of walking in get a pan of the room, get a couple of pictures with people, you know, and I'm supposed to be there to connect with people.

I'm supposed to be handing out business cards and having conversations and things like that. One, I got really efficient really fast because it turned into a habit. Into a system, it actually becomes even a little bit mindless where I'll throw the phone up in the car and I'll push record right before pulling up and I'll capture a little bit of that initial scene.

I'm walking in, I'm grabbing my purse, I push record and I'm like, it's almost, it's really insanely robotic actually the way it's become. Number two, creating content has become a bigger relationship builder than what I could have even imagined. It was actually the opposite because suddenly you have an icebreaker, you're walking in and you're creating content with people and you're engaging them and you're like, Hey, is it okay if we get a video and what's your business?

Is it okay if I tag you? You can share it makes life easier for you. Hey. And then you go online and you extend the life. Of that network connection, however many fold exponentially, because then you post, you do great content, showing them what I do by leading by example, and then tagging them and watch them watch the post, get traction and get comments and engage with them and was great to see you.

Hey, look, you made the, you made the cut. Yeah. It became this thing that I actually this tool that I is just had just become really, really natural. It took time to get there.

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah. Yeah. And I experienced the exact same thing starting this show, right? Like in the beginning, sure, it took time to get traction, but like, holy cow, the doors that the business development podcast is open that I could have never seen coming has absolutely just blown my mind.

And you're right. It's like, It is surprising. It is.

Jesse Schewchuk: Yeah. I mean, in the relationships, right? And so, and that's what you talk about when you go in networking with, with in mind of like how many cards you're going to hand out versus how many people am I, am I going to include in this creation? It's kind of, it just really.

Yeah. Turn things around for me drastically and, and really became a lot more fun too. Now, don't get me wrong. Sometimes there is a pressure to, you got to edit that video that you just went and did. But again, I'm getting much more proficient. The tools out there, the AI available the intuitive, the intuitive apps.

I can be creating really great content with good light, good sound, good technical production values, but then I can actually be much, much more quick to put it together and get it up and out there because that's also expanding around content creation.

Kelly Kennedy: And I think once again, we were talking about things that really freak people out and it's one thing to take a video.

It's a whole nother thing to master it, right? And so you're right. It's like, there's so, it feels sometimes daunting. Yes. Yes. That is why we have our rockstar video expert on with us today. And I was hoping, Jesse , that, you know, let's talk to some business owners who are on that fence. They're like, man, I would love to create video.

I think that'd be so cool. I know I'd be capable of it, but my gosh, I don't even know where to start. Let's give them just a little 101. Kick them in the butt. Let's get them to post that first video. But could you give them maybe, like I said, a 101 on creating your first video?

Jesse Schewchuk: Okay. So number one, you need to clean your lens.

Most of your content is going to be taken on your phone. It's one of the reasons why we give out these handy little dandies screen cleaners, lens cleaners, glasses cleaners, if you will, that I'm referring to, and cleaning your lens. So that is the first thing that's going to make your content look downgrade dirty.

Unprofessional is a dirty lens and you see it all the time. You can have the most beautiful picture. You have it framed, you have beautiful lighting. A dirty lens is just so number one. And you know, most people wouldn't even think of that. That actually tends to be in our workshops. One of the biggest aha moments you're like, Oh my gosh.

Yes. Cause you know, to see it and you know, it drives you crazy.

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah.

Jesse Schewchuk: Number two is paying attention to your framing. So when you hold your camera up to yourself, you want to make sure you don't have too much room above your head, right? And you want to also make sure you're not really cutting your head off.

So you want a good amount of headroom. This is actually a technical term from the TV world. So you want a good amount of headroom, which on your camera is probably about an inch or two just above your head, right? You don't want to have the angle of your phone too high up because, and I know ladies out there, you want to eliminate the chin thing.

I know I get it, but don't put it too high up because that looks a little bit ridiculous. And believe it or not, it subconsciously takes your power away. A higher shot means people are looking down on you. You don't want that. Now, the same is true when you go from below and we all had those folks on the video conference calls that wanted to zoom in from their phone or walk around their house where they were holding the phone below their nose and we got to see everything that was going on up there, even though we didn't want to.

So we want to bring the phone up to eye level or just a little bit higher. All right. eye level with just the proper amount of headroom. And I'm going to give you a last tip here. And this is just the three first steps that you can do to just get a nice good shot is look at the lens, look at the lens, not yourself.

So whether you're taking a picture with your family and friends, whether you're taking a selfie video, we want to be looking typically on both Android and Apple, it's at the top of the phone in the center or off to the right. There's usually a light that comes on when you're in video mode. You want to look for the light to go to the light.

Just kidding. Don't look to the light. Look into the lens because then you're actually looking at your audience when you're talking to them versus yourself. And it's funny, again, in workshops, I'll get folks to create a video where they're looking at themselves and then we'll stop. And then they'll create a video where they're looking into the lens.

And it's just like those, those fireworks just, Oh my gosh. Right. That's what I thought. I knew something was off and I couldn't put my finger on it. So we want to transcend the lens. The idea of doing video is that you are actually trying to basically mimic an experience that would be in person, but we can't always be in person all the time in front of everyone.

Right. And so we want that. Medium shot, which is usually just from under chest area mid waist to again, just a little bit of headroom and we want to be emoting to looking them in the eye. And the way you're going to do it is actually looking at the camera, not yourself. This is one of the things that is the hardest other than remembering to clean your lens.

But it's so, I will send people out of the room and it's like, okay, go, go take pictures. selfies and come back and they just are all the same. Oh my, oh my gosh, how do we not look at ourselves? It takes practice. It takes practice.

Kelly Kennedy: My question is, is how long are your arms to get a shot like that?

Jesse Schewchuk: I have really long arms.

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah. Okay. That was going to be my next question. Are you finding that most of your students are shooting by hand or are they getting those like DJI Osmo sticks?

Jesse Schewchuk: They are getting some form of tripod and I know it's audio here, but in my hand I actually have a tripod arm that can be used kind of as a stand or as a selfie stick.

I know we laughed at the selfie sticks back in the days, but they are very, very useful to extend that reach. And also kind of to eliminate some of that arm action in the shot, right? And so you're not seeing it along the side of the frame, your arms sticking out. I really do have abnormally long arms. And so I, I tend to freehand it, but I would highly recommend, especially if you're starting out to use proper tools.

And and then the other thing is to find your light. And so your best source of light is going to be natural. You're going to want to try and get light off of a window. You actually face the window and have the light come in other than if it's too, too, too bright.But yeah, we want some natural source lighting.

A really, really great tip that we tell people often is all you need to do is stand with your phone in selfie mode and do a 360 in a circle. And it will be crazy. The shadows you'll see under your eyes and then across your face and you will find your light. I often talk about finding your light. Okay.

You do a 360. Anywhere you are, you'll be able to see the difference drastically and find your best light in whatever situation you're in.

Kelly Kennedy: My gosh, that might be the best. Video information or like lesson or tip I've ever heard.

Jesse Schewchuk: 60 seconds or less so obvious.

Kelly Kennedy: It's so obvious, right? But it's like how would you figure out.

Just spin around in a circle.

Jesse Schewchuk: I know.

Kelly Kennedy: Like I would have never called it.

Jesse Schewchuk: Oh, it's hilarious. So we do behind the scenes of our workshops and it's almost like Zombieland. We have a whole bunch of people with their arms up, with their arms out, holding the phone on selfie mode, going around and around in circles.

And I always get a picture of it because it's such a powerful visual that sometimes it is just the simplest of calibrations that will drive your production value up for your content creation.

Kelly Kennedy: It sounds very much like, you're very much recommending for people to use their phones. Is that because everyone has one?

And so, hey, you have a great camera right there. Or do you think once people kind of start going down this path of video production, maybe they've got the phone kind of figured out? Do you recommend that they go and get like a professional camera setup?

Jesse Schewchuk: Interestingly enough, 100 percent of our training programs right now are done on mobile devices.

Whereas, 8 years ago when we began this journey, most often the story would be, Oh yeah, We have that old DSLR camera, not old, but we have that DSLR camera in the office that nobody knows how to use, or we knew we needed to get equipment, but we don't really know what to do with the equipment. And so we were training on cameras more often in yesteryear, right now, present day.

And yesteryear, I mean, like two to three years, five years ago, right? But that's how fast things change. It's all on mobile device. There are apps. There's the, the quality, the power and quality of what these things can do. Most people have no idea what they have in their fingertips. Just magic video wands waiting, waiting to be, you know, explored.

Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy: My God. I would have never called that. I would have thought it'd be the other way. Like once people figured out phones, they would like upgrade to like the latest and greatest video camera.

Jesse Schewchuk: No, unless we're talking about drone. And we, we do a tiny, teeny weeny bit of drone training. It's, it's really, really small.

I think, you know, to be honest, I think we've done drone training in two of 125 programs that we've run over the course of eight years.

Kelly Kennedy: Wow. Wow to both actually. Holy cow. That's a lot of programs.

Jesse Schewchuk: Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy: You know, Jesse, we've been talking a lot about shooting about, okay, like you have the best camera literally in your hand.

You can pick it up, spin around in a circle, get your video. And take a shot, make sure it's out, make sure you're looking at it. It's not going, you're not too high up. You're not too low down. You got two inches above your head. Okay, I've shot my video. I look amazing. I sound amazing. Now what? How do I get this out to the world?

Do I, do I run it through programs? And if I do, what programs do you recommend to get?

Jesse Schewchuk: Yeah, I should get some kind of like residual income on what I'm about to say here. Okay. So where to start? That's a loaded question. So you definitely want to have a plan before capturing as to where the content is going to go.

Typically in the past, we would have recommended to really DJ your content. And what that means is think of a DJ, right? Read the room. So on LinkedIn, you're going to do content that is much more Business and straightforward and, and professional Facebook, family oriented higher female demographic.

Instagram, highly visual, much shorter form catchier, a little bit swaggy. Those things still apply, but the, the lines have become blurred. So whereas even a year to a year and a half ago. It would be so faux pas to download a video from an Instagram reel and post that with the licensed music and such on LinkedIn.

We're seeing a lot more of that. In fact, we're doing testing in and around that. Whereas we're not. Going out and shooting the horizontal format that's specifically for LinkedIn and only posting certain stuff, stuff on LinkedIn. So rules are changing so fast. We know that we are trying to stay on top of it as much as possible.

You want to focus on one or two platforms when you first start. And this is why. Habit creating starts with small steps, and that's how you're most successful. If you try and eat the whole elephant, you are not going to want to finish even one bite. So the most successful content creation is content creation that is successful, and that is completed on a weekly basis, and that is consistent.

Talk about consistency. So if you set yourself up to succeed, then Try not to do it all at once because you'll give up and say, this video stuff doesn't work. And time and time again. Right. So know what kind of content you're creating as a part of a marketing strategy and which platform you're going to be creating that for.

ahead of time. We actually break our calendar into four. So there's a grant that we access that and we help our clients apply for. We know the last quarter of our year is all grant focused. So all of our content is in and around getting a grant or free government money or whatever the case may be. So the content is planned in advance and then you're focusing on the grant.

Certain platforms and then choosing if you're wanting to boost or what kind of marketing budget that you're wanting to put in the apps that we recommend, the tools that we use will often reverse engineer based on what you want to be doing. So we do teach video podcasting. We do teach online course creation and things like that.

We also teach video production for internal systems and processes as content assets of an organization, which ends up being intellectual property, raises the value of the company and creates efficiencies within. Those are all totally different ways to use video. And so you're going to need different tools.

So we do have recommended kits. We do have recommended gear, that kind of stuff. We recommend. Definitely a microphone. We recommend some kind of tripod or stability device.We recommend maybe a light or two depending on what you're purposing it for. And then there's the editing software. And so again, what kind of content are you creating?

Are you going to be needing to take the content and bring it into a desktop? And do desktop editing where you're layering, you're adding B roll. This is getting a little bit more intermediate. That's okay. Or is it going to be more run and gun content where you're shooting and editing on your phone? So for on the phone, we definitely lean into CapCut.

That is an awesome intuitive app. There's so many different functions on that app for mobile editing. We did used to use GoPro quick. I have now switched direction on that, and then on desktop, we recommend Filmora, which is a beginner level, really great, easy interface, editing interface, editing software that is a one time thing.

Use fees. So you're not getting into a subscription based model, which is the preference for some companies. And we also teach on premiere, which companies may have the Adobe suite, the creative cloud, whatever the case may be, they already have access to it. And then we expand from there. You know, if there's an app that somebody's using, for example, we run an entire program on Canva.

They liked Canva. They wanted to do editing in Canva. Even though we listed all of the limitations, Canva is amazing for so many things, but for editing, right, there's other tools. They were like Canva. So Canva it was because that that's what worked for them and that's what was going to set them up to succeed.

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah. Yeah, man, it must be kind of tough, though, when you're like, Ah, but there's something better. Yeah. We use Canva for a lot, too. Canva is great. Yeah. Little plug for Canva.

Jesse Schewchuk: This episode's sponsored by Canva.

Kelly Kennedy: I wish, maybe one day. Yeah, I'm not sure. I mean, if you're interested. Yeah, no, it's nuts. You know, obviously, since we talked last, AI has been the big thing.

It's like, and I remember chatting with you briefly about it at that time. It was like, at this point, it was literally over a year ago. Since we chatted about AI how's that? How's that changed? Everything since that time?

Jesse Schewchuk: It just it's ever changing, similar to content creation and social media. And we're, we're proactive in a sense that we're incorporating it into our programs so that we're teaching the use of AI.

with content creation, ideation also used for the posts, like the writing and such. There are also apps, like I said, that have AI components in them. Again, super intuitive and awesome. You look at even the platforms with LinkedIn. If you are a LinkedIn pro user, you get to tap into the AI tools that they offer.

that are there for video as well, right? And so you can summarize takeaways, but then there's the captioning and, and so on and so forth. So you can be proactive to a point. There's a lot more reactive right now because that's kind of where we all are at is what's, what's next? Respond. What's next? Adjust.

What's next? Calibrate. So You know, it's just day by day, week by week, month by month, whatever that looks like and and trying to stay with it and get into the flow of it rather than the resistance. Because again, it's something that is not going to go away.

Kelly Kennedy: Yes. Yes. And actually I want to take a minute and just stop because we're talking to a lot of business owners who are using LinkedIn quite regularly.

Heck, they might even be posting videos. They probably didn't know that LinkedIn now has an AI captions function. Can you maybe just explain that to them?

Jesse Schewchuk: LinkedIn now has an AI captions function.

Kelly Kennedy: I haven't seen it. So is it hard to use?

Jesse Schewchuk: No, it's just inaccurate. And so, or can be rather, can be. So with any AI tool, you definitely want to proof it.

With LinkedIn, you get one opportunity to proof. So how it works is when you post a video, it will actually do the captioning for you, which is amazing. Facebook does as well. And so does Instagram. This has come so far. We actually used to teach captioning as a part of our programs. You don't need to embed it now in the videos and type everything out or get a transcription.

So we will actually transcribe it when you post it. And with LinkedIn, you have one opportunity and it says that you get one chance to go in and do an edit. So you'll click on it. And it will come up, and you'll be able to change any of the words that were transcribed inaccurately, or maybe you stuttered on, or it didn't quite get it and then fix those. And post.

Kelly Kennedy: Cool. Cool. I, yeah, and you know, that's a big problem that we have in podcasting, right? Because I've been doing captions since we got into this and the technology shifted. We use Descript now. And I find Descript has been really accurate, but it still does horrible at certain things. Names, it buggers up every time.

Companies, it buggers up. There's a lot of things that it struggles with and AI is not quite there yet. But yeah, it gets really close, but you're right. You still have to proofread all of it, which Sucks. I'm really looking forward to the day that I don't have to proofread all of it.

Jesse Schewchuk: Yeah, you know, I mean, yes and no.

It's, it's like we wish for that, but then we're like, well, then it's going to be too good and somebody will be out of a job, you know? So it's one of those things, it's like. Anyway, that's a, that's a, that's for a different episode. How, how different the world will be in 5 to 10 years.

Kelly Kennedy: Gosh, I know. I think about that a lot, actually.

I find myself thinking about that a lot more because I want to, I want to stay ahead, right? It's like, how do you stay ahead of something that you can't even see coming? It makes it really tough. I mean, when we talked about that and you're talking about the changing AI software, Yeah, because it feels like every day there's another AI software and then you end up with almost too many of them because you're trying to figure out which one's the better one to use and we all use whatever we use, but it's like, how do I know that I'm using the best one?

And I. I have no good answers on that front.

Jesse Schewchuk: I think it comes back to that reactive versus proactive, you know, and we want to be proactive. We really do, but in some things we, we just, we're not at the helm. So waiting to see what's next and how to respond or incorporate or utilize. is, is kind of where things are at.

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah, totally, totally. Well, I want to get into eight years. Eight years you've been doing this. And we talked about this really briefly before the show today. And I was like, Jesse, we have to talk about this. Because you were mentioning that, you know, I got into this because I had a ton of experience with video production.

But like running a business was something that you've had to learn along the way. And it came with hard lessons. And I will be the first to say, I'm exactly in the same boat. I was really great at business development. I knew how to generate relationships. I knew how to do business development. But to run my own business for the last, in this case, three and a half years for me has very much been a learning experience and I learn just as much from every one of these interviews and talking with all these amazing, amazing experts who are rock stars in their field.

They've done great jobs building amazing, successful businesses and I just, I eat it all up. I learn as much as I can, just as much as my guests and my listeners because there's so much to learn. I've made my fair share of mistakes and you were mentioning that you did too. And I was wondering if you might share some of the challenges that you faced along the way so that hopefully other people can learn from them.

Jesse Schewchuk: Yeah. Always clean your lens. Okay. No, just kidding. I knew that one. All right. Honestly, asking for help sooner. That would be the biggest, best advice I can give to folks, especially when it came to the money. So I came from a television background. I ran a cast of crew a cast and crew of hundreds, hundreds of people, but there were departments for everything.

So You know, it was a 5 million budget, but I had a controller and there was a bookkeeper and there was all of these people that reported directly to me. And, and so when I came out on my own, I thought I had a really great understanding of budgets. I thought I had a really great understanding of business, but there's nothing like running your own business.

I needed capital. I started out without any capital as a single parent, and so not having a secondary income, I mean, really jumping off the cliff full speed ahead. And I had a bookkeeper that had messed things up, and I didn't know she was messing things up because I didn't know. The business well enough and worked with an accountant that wasn't, you know, claiming things on the personal side in regards to shareholder loans and things like that.

So taking out loans because I needed to, because I kept trying to grow and then we grow too fast and then we need to scale back and then we grow again. And then becoming really ashamed very quickly or protective of the books or any decisions that I had made, you know, keeping that really, really close to my chest because you need to be professional and because you need, you know, as a female as well, know what you're doing, come across as confident be assertive, but not aggressive.

And so. I didn't ask for help for a really long time. I floundered and fumbled my way through and I'm still, still paying for a lot of those mistakes. And I'm so happy to say that we're doing ridiculously better than we were. And could be in such a different place if I wasn't still in this repair and there's still a couple of years of repair to come.

And and sometimes that actually, it takes a lot of really strong mindset to not dampen the celebratory wins because we're still kind of making up for mistakes had that doesn't help anything. Shame circle, shame spirals, all of those things, but I. I was scared of what people were going to think or that I would be judged by not being able to run a business well or that it was really bad, you know, and so then you don't see anything and only to find out that it wasn't really that bad.

So anyway, it was, it was all the things asking for help and opening it up to someone, maybe even if it's just one person that has lots of business experience, especially with the numbers side of things. If you're a creative type like me, I'm a letters person, not so much numbers person that I can't stress it enough.

Kelly Kennedy: What are some of the things that had you known now you would have asked for help on?

Jesse Schewchuk: How to run books, how to open, like, to open my books and cash flow projections and what that even meant and keeping track. I mean. For a long time, it was just money in and money out and as it came in and I paid it as it went out and, and I had no idea what it was going to look like.

And it was just on a what is the expression on a something? It's on a hope and a, I don't know, cross my fingers, sure, sure, blind. I may as well have just been blindfolded walking around in a dark maze going, I hope this works. Cause that's what I was doing and I've grown, there's still room for improvement for sure, but there's that openness and willingness to just not be so humble.

that I, I'm going to ask this question and yes, I've been in business for eight years and I'm not going to care what you think because I need to care more that this works. This is working well and that I know what you're doing or what's going on. So humility, humility.

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah. Yeah. No, it's same thing to you.

Like I've learned so much on my way to you, but like, you know, proposals was a big one that I had to spend some time with. Cause when I worked in BD, I wasn't like involved in the proposal process. I was involved in the. Getting new business process and so we'd create all the relationships. And then someone else would draft up these really beautiful proposals.

So my gosh, I did a whole series called proposal playbook probably about two months ago, three months ago now, based on all my learnings from having to learn how to do my own proposals and do them effectively and create actual value proposition and show people really what they're going to get. It was, you would think, you would think that me spending so much time in BD that it would have come across my plate and it just never did.

And so, We had to learn how to do proposals and so I totally totally and I did ask for help and I got a lot of feedback on that it took it took a lot of back and forth for me to get your proposal that it's like, Oh, that makes a lot of sense, but I couldn't see it at the time I couldn't see it because I didn't have the knowledge that I needed to.

But once I had it explained to me, it was very clear and it's like, Oh, how did I see that? But it's hard to see something that you can't understand. And so you really do need that outside perspective.

Jesse Schewchuk: Definitely mentorship. And, and just transformational willingness and, and I knew I didn't know everything.

So it wasn't about that. I, I allowed myself to make mistakes. I also didn't know that there were some mistakes that I was making, that I was making, right. And so, yeah, man, if I knew then what I knew now, right, as a song.

Kelly Kennedy: You don't, you don't You don't know what you don't know. That's just it. That's like, that's like the true saying I've ever heard.

And, frankly, You know, you're only an expert in anything until yesterday and there's something new to learn tomorrow and you always got to keep that open and that willingness to learn. Right? Like don't shut yourself off. The reality is there's lots to learn. You may know a lot about something. You may be an expert in something.

There's a whole world of other things that you can learn. So don't shut yourself off. Don't think you know everything. Evaluate all options and be open to feedback. That's the other big one, right? In business is that Your customers tell you what you need. You don't tell your customers what you what they need.

Your customers will tell you what they need. It's up to you to figure out how to solve their problem. So many people are trying to shove this solution into people's face and be like, Just take it. This is I made this. You need it. But you don't need what you're selling them. They need a solution to their problem.

And it is up to you to collaborate with them. and provide a solution.

Jesse Schewchuk: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

Kelly Kennedy: One of the other really neat things that I wanted to chat with you about, I know we're coming to the end of our show today, but I wanted to hit on it before we left. was that we were talking about the benefits of employee versus contractor workforce.

And you mentioned that you have started to skew a little more towards a contractor or an as needed workforce. Can we spend some time on that?

Jesse Schewchuk: Yes, most definitely. And I haven't recently skewed to it. I've actually always been structured this way because it was all that I knew. That's my background. So interestingly enough, in film and television, you work as contractors because you work on a lot of different projects and different shows and things like that.

And the production companies will drastically expand going into pre production, production, and post production, and then contract leading into marketing and broadcast season, right? And so you're on this cycle where you're often always bringing folks in as contractors, right? And so their hours go up.

It's, it's, it's just common knowledge that is an ebb and flow and that that's going to shift and change when you get another season or when you're ready to go back into production. And so this is what I knew. And I started my business and the first Job role that I needed to fill was an editor. So I got my first project.

It was with Edmonton economic development through a connection, actually through top 40 under 40. So I was so excited. It was 10, 000. This is going to pay my bills for a couple of months. This is it. This is the real deal. And I had a videographer, but I needed somebody to come in and edit. And so I brought them on.

It was very project based. It was only for. This one project and it started there. And then we just continued to get work and build out on that and so on and so forth, brought an intern in that started working with us from the NAEP program. I have a great relationship with them. It's the program the radio and television program that I graduated from in 1998, and I'm still taking Interns from there brought, would bring them on in a contract position and they would be contracted to film a little series that I had called life of a producer where I would go and interview women entrepreneurs in the city.

And this is how I got to know people and got right. And so, It just went from there. And anybody that I worked with was working on something else on the side and we're creative types, if you will. Yeah, we're those people. But we often have other things that we have going on and such. And so still to this day, Modern News is a company of contractors.

All of the people that work for me, whether it's my three facilitators, my director of training my bookkeeper what else is there, my executive assistant, all work on other projects other than modern news media. I don't know if it's a type.I also think it may be that I'm really either ahead of the curve or behind the curve.

I'm not sure which, and frankly, I don't care, but this could be the way things are going. And that feels like it is, especially with Gen Z, it's like, or Gen Z rather for those American folks. So it's that fractional nomadic work. It's, that I want to be able to do this. I want to be able to do this. It's less about the making money and more about how does my day look and what makes me happy.

And so, yeah, for a while, I would say when I started, it worked really well. In the middle, I saw a lot of turnover, which is one of the tough things about contract positions. Right. And then it was about finding the right people that. Yeah. There was going to be longevity and they were going to be invested in the modern muse dream, show up as a modern muse team member, and still be able to supplement some income with some of the ebb and flow that, that comes with business.

It's honestly been really super stressful sometimes because I don't know, I didn't know if they were going to stay or go. I really have. The most amazing team. I know everybody says that, but I have the most amazing team because it's been curated to, through transparency and candor. And I think those are some of the biggest things I've learned in business is those two tools, transparency and candor.

And so just having super direct conversations about, yes, you may be in a contractor role. Yes, you have other, other things on the go, but I want somebody in this Just, just being open about what that looks like, and it's been great, you know, we're, we're going on years for people working within the organization, and I definitely think that that is kind of the direction, so.

Kelly Kennedy: It's really interesting because you talked about you talked about the thing that people always say about employees that when you have employees, you build that like that relationship where you can trust them and they become part of the team, right? Like we really hit on the team part and you say that you feel like you've been able to do that with contractors.

I think that's very impressive. How do you think you go about fostering that team relationship or that commitment to modern muse media? Yeah. Through somebody who may be more committed to their own business.

Jesse Schewchuk: Bowling and cupcakes. Those are the winners, man. I tell ya. But we have Monday meetings where you come in if you want to, if it works with your schedule, if you don't have something else going on and we have coffee together, we have a touch base.

We talk about our wins. Everybody goes around and talks about their wins and who are you? How's your life? What's going on? And then we. Break and we all go about our weeks knowing exactly what our swim lanes are, our roles and our responsibilities. And there's so much trust in each other to know that you're doing what you're doing so I can do what I'm doing so I can do what I'm doing and this works again.

Is it the right team? Is it just the right humans? I'm not sure. But it's work. It works great. And we go out and do team building. We celebrate each other. We celebrate each other's birthdays. We go out and do the bowling or the axe throwing or, or whatever the case may be, because we actually just really like each other.

So, yeah, yeah, it does work and I got very, very stressed out when I was probably in about year two. I was hospitalized for burnout pneumonia. I, I actually, my mental health was very bad. And Never thought. And, That pressure, like, to have that certain payroll and meet that certain payroll, especially when we are a project based organization and there is ebb and flow that pressure was there in such a big way because I really felt like the people I had, it was just like their main kind of thing and they were hanging on to it for everything and, and so, and that's a very employee.

That's, that's a very employee thing, right? You have that stress of meeting that certain amount, whether you have the business or you don't. With transparency and candor, that has been the game changer because bringing folks on, I've been able to say, you're going to have a lot of hours and such and you're going to have a lot of programs to teach or facilitate or work on during these times because this is what we know to be our cycle and during these times you can expect it to slow down a bit and so you might want to think about taking on some extra project work and such.

That takes the pressure off me and provides the information to them which means we're both winning.

Kelly Kennedy: Yes, yes and one of the other things that I kind of had to question regarding this was normally when you have an employee. It's like five days a week or whatever the amount of days that you have them for.

Does this work the same way for you? Or is it very much just get the project done that I've asked you to do and we're good. You can do it on whatever timeline that you need.

Jesse Schewchuk: They can do it on whatever timeline they need as long as it's in line with meeting exceeding the client, the client's expectations.

So two of our core values that we talk about often, and when I'm interviewing folks for Modern Muse, this is a big appeal, is flexibility and autonomy. We're an all female team. If you need to drop your kids off and pick them up, and that needs to be a part of your schedule, then do not schedule a training session in that time.

Don't worry about coming by the office at that time. You build your own day. That's very typical as a contractor. If you work best at 2 a. m., and that's when you're going to update, you know, the course tracking sheets, or their, the client's site, as a part of what you're being contracted to do, do it then. I mean, we talk about neurodivergence.

We talk about accessibility. We talk about all of these things. I think, again, modern muse was a little bit of a trailblazer in that sense, just kind of by accident because I am, I am a leader. I'm not, I'm never their boss. I consider all my teammates, colleagues and call them as such, but there's flexibility, there's autonomy.

And that's when people really feel like they're winning because they've got the power.

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah, yeah. And I do think the world is really leaning towards that. It's like, as long as you do what we need you to do, do it how you're going to do it. And I really do think that is the best way because I think people work differently at different times too, right?

Like, not everybody is a nine to fiver. Sometimes they work great in the evening. Sometimes they work great between whatever nine and noon and the rest that they're like, the funny thing is that. If you go to any office, I think you'll find that most people in the office probably only work in four hours.

The other four, they're chatting at the coffee machine, they're doing whatever else, they're, they're doing anything else because that's not their, that's not how they work. Right? That's not their work schedule. They just happen to have to be at the office for eight hours. So you get four hours of work and you get four hours of whatever else they're willing to give you in that day, right?

But I totally get it. I think the world will start to go more towards Here's what's expected of you. As long as you do it and you get results and you're exceeding expectations, we're good.

Jesse Schewchuk: Yeah. And when you talk about that four hour of waste, I mean, that makes my whole body just like tremble. I, that the frustration that comes with waste for me, maybe it's, I'm Ukrainian.

I don't like to waste food. I don't like to waste time. I mean, we were starved out as a nation. I honestly, I can't handle that. I, I don't. Yeah. Please don't do that to me, and I don't want to do that to you. Why are you going to waste four hours of your precious life, your time, our most precious gift, sitting in my office doing you know what?

No, no.

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah. But yet, ironically, that's how we've done it for a hundred years. You know what I mean? Like, I think we're in the middle of that shift stage. But yeah, I totally get it. I did want to just ask before we close up today, You know, when you are working with your employees and you kind of are working on the way that you're doing it, kind of an expectation, did they provide like a weekly report to you?

How do you know, how have you been able to kind of track that the performance is where it needs to be just to just for you, for your own well being?

Jesse Schewchuk: KPIs. And an online system. So we use click up and everything is documented in their time track tracking is in there. And it's just this amazingly powerful tool and system that everybody just puts all of the data and the information into.

And this is a new development this last year because I brought on a fractional. COO and he whipped us into shape because everything was all up in here when I'm tapping my head and you had said my employees, so I'll correct and my contractors and they also invoice. Very everything is very split out and documented because our bookkeeper is all very categorized and it's fractional work.

Some of our facilitators also do videography and editing and work on some of our production projects. And so that's broken out on there so that I know that the right amount of hours are being built from the side of production versus the right amount of hours being built up for training.

Kelly Kennedy: Jesse, we are coming to the end of our show, but I want to chat just quickly about modern news media because The last time we came on, it was very much based on the video production training.

And you guys have undergone an evolution since the last time. Introduce all of our listeners to the modern, Modern Muse Media.

Jesse Schewchuk: Hey, I like that. So we are now a content creation training agency versus a video production training agency. So first of all, most people didn't know what that meant and thought we did video but just evolving again with what the client wanted, needed asked for and, and shifted in that direction.

So folks are really struggling with keeping up on the content with that accountability, consistency, and habit. And so what we do is we come in. Thank you. to organizations weekly, every second week, whatever it looks like for their needs and wants and actually create content with them. We are still training them while we're going through the process.

So if you can imagine, let's have the phone, let's, let's do some ideation. Let's shoot some content. Do in camera transitions, make it great, professional, slick. Let's edit it, let's post it. If you're working with an agency, a small social media company, then we can actually just send them the content, so that they can upload and such, but then it's done.

Then it's done and we can come again and again and then teaching people through that process how to capture that when we're not there and then maybe we put it together when we come to them. And so it's just what folks need is content now rather than we go through this whole entire program and you get one video at the end.

Let's just create content, content, content until you're able to do it on your own. And. We can stick with you ongoing, right? Maybe it's something that you don't want to ever do on your own. You want us to come in. We'll still be continuing to educate. We're still going to show you how we're doing, doing it, what we're doing with you.

But then you're getting that usable content out the door on a regular basis, getting this to work for you in the way that we know how it can.

Kelly Kennedy: Oh, I love that. I love that. Cause you're absolutely right. If people are reaching out to you, it's because they need content yesterday. Not not six months down the line once they figure out how to do it.

No, that's, that's super, super cool. Do you service just the Alberta area or do you service across Canada? If we're, if we have listeners from heck, even the United States, would you service the United States? If people reach out to you?

Jesse Schewchuk: Absolutely. We can offer customized training anywhere. Some of it's going to be through the lens and virtual rather than in person.

So our focus in person is definitely Alberta based unless there's a travel budget, right? Which we're willing to definitely come and see folks and work with them. And and we've done that in the past. So, yeah, I think that We make, we love to say, and we love to do this. We make doing content fun and easy.

And it really is about building that muscle memory.

Kelly Kennedy: And I guess one of the other questions that I had was, do you recommend that every business create their own content? I know that there's some businesses are like, no, I don't want to do that. I'm just going to like outsource it and have someone else create me ads, but.

I think that it's probably more valuable if they're creating their own ads, isn't it?

Jesse Schewchuk: So let me pose this scenario for you in regards to that question. You are a recruitment company and your owners are African based. So they have this drum in the office that they play and they, they, Beat on every time you get a new recruit or you've placed someone in this big celebration with the team.

And sometimes people get a little bit crazy and they dance around. And this happens of the moment you hang the phone up, you jump up and you're ready to beat the drum and have everybody celebrate with you. Are you going to be able to call a video agency to send someone out to come and capture that? Are you going to be able to say, you know what, everybody just freeze We got to wait for our videographer to get here.

Are you going to be able to capture the moments that happen on a day to day basis in your corporate culture on your TV set with your cast of characters on a regular basis by outsourcing? I still think there is use for outsourcing and that's if you're wanting to do kind of that more specialty, there's a fundraiser, there's an event you're doing a, you know, that kind of video.

But when we're talking about Content creation on a regular basis to showcase your corporate culture and your why that differentiates you from other chiropractors, dentist office muffler repair shop, whatever the case it is, that's what's going to do it. And you can't outsource that. Oh, I hate to say can't, you can, but think about the logistics.

Kelly Kennedy: I love it. I love it. Okay. Well, I think you've made a damn good pitch for why people should hire you and bring you in to teach them how to do some social media and some content creation. How do they do it? Jesse, what's the best way to get ahold of you?

Jesse Schewchuk: Dial 1 88, I'm just kidding. You can find us on socials, right?

So, Modern Muse Media. We're on LinkedIn. We're on Instagram. We're on Facebook. You can also find me on Instagram. I'm Ms. Jesse Muse. And you can also reach me at my email. So, it's Jesse , J E S S E. So no, I jesse@modernmusemedia.ca.

Kelly Kennedy: Amazing. Amazing. Thank you so much, Jesse, for coming back a second time, gracing our stage and educating our audience.

This has been episode 140 of the business development podcast. And we will catch you on the flip side.

Outro: Kelly has 15 years in sales and business development experience within the Alberta oil and gas industry and founded his own business development firm in 2020. His passion and his specialization. Is in customer relationship generation and business development.

The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your Business Development Specialists. For more, we invite you to the website @ www.capitalbd.ca. See you next time on the Business Development Podcast.