Episode 290
Why Your Videos Aren’t Hooking People
You don't need better gear, a better location, or a better idea. You need to get out of your own way.
In this revisited episode, Matt sits down with Aaron King, DeepSnap content creator, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and former professional athlete to talk about what it really takes to grab someone's attention before you've said a word.
Aaron gets into why the things most creators obsess over are usually the last things that matter, and what to focus on instead.
He also talks about his journey to content creation, including overcoming injury as a professional sports player and the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. Detailing what led him to move into his car and begin driving around taking pictures and creating.
He emphasises the power of connection and manifesting creativity. Going on to explain how ‘just showing people’ gave him a new career path.
Aaron's main take is to stop overthinking your content, just put something out there. Finished is always better than perfect.
Learning points from the episode include:
- 00:00 – 01:38 Intro
- 01:38 – 03:08 Aaron’s key tip to improving your video content
- 03:08 – 06:14 Creating good hooks and engaging opening clips
- 06:14 – 11:16 Working with your environment for your backdrop
- 11:16 – 15:11 How to use sound for relatability and brand identity
- 15:11 – 16:17 Paying attention to your comments section
- 16:17 – 24:23 Aaron’s journey to content creation
- 24:23 – 25:30 Why finished is better than perfect
- 25:30 – 28:39 Speed round questions
- 28:39 – 29:25 Where to find Aaron
- 29:25 – 30:28 Aaron’s final take
- 30:28 – 31:26 Outro
Important links and mentions:
- Connect with Aaron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepsnap/
- Keep up to date with DeepSnap: https://deepsnap.com
- Subscribe to the DeepSnap channel: https://www.youtube.com/@deepsnap
- Follow Aaron on TikTok: DeepSnap (@deepsnap) | TikTok
Transcript
There's so many ways to connect with people and I think we get in our
Speaker:own way so much more than
Speaker:we like to admit. And I think the key is knowing that nobody really
Speaker:cares. Everybody is thinking about themselves. And so
Speaker:don't worry about being too insecure. Don't be
Speaker:worried about what people will think because there's the all likelihood
Speaker:is not many people are going to see what you put out in the beginning.
Speaker:So you don't have to worry and it doesn't matter. So feel
Speaker:free to just create and just know that people really don't care. They're, they're thinking
Speaker:about themselves, not so much about you. And if you get out of your own
Speaker:way, then you're on your way to, you know, potentially something great and it can
Speaker:change your life. But you won't know if you don't just hit publish. So
Speaker:good morning, good evening, good afternoon wherever you are and wherever you're watching from.
Speaker:My name is Matt Pearce, host of the Visual Lounge. And today we're going to
Speaker:be talking about something I think is overlooked in video creation. We're going to be
Speaker:talking about how do you get people interested from the very beginning. And there's
Speaker:probably a lot of ways you can do that, but we've got somebody here to
Speaker:help us talk about and learn about how you can do that visually. We'll
Speaker:probably get into a little bit of auditory how he does it and just learn
Speaker:from an amazing creator. So let me go ahead and introduce our
Speaker:guest today. Our guest today is a filmmaker, entrepreneur.
Speaker:He's been a professional athlete, he's been a football player, a
Speaker:bobsledder. He's started his own agency, he's got his own
Speaker:YouTube channel. He has done a spectrum of things across the, the kind
Speaker:of the gamut of what you would expect for being a creator. And
Speaker:he is an amazing person and we're so grateful that he is here with us.
Speaker:So please welcome to the Visual Lounge, Aaron King. Hey, Aaron.
Speaker:Hey man. How's it going? It is good. Thank you so much for being with
Speaker:me. You know, I want to start off, I always like to start off with
Speaker:that first question. So the first question is, you know, you're a creator, you've made
Speaker:a lot of, you've done a lot of work in video. What's one tip you,
Speaker:you can give the audience to help them improve their video and what
Speaker:they're creating. Any suggestions for us? Yeah, it's kind of a
Speaker:two parter in a way, but I think nothing can ruin
Speaker:a good shot faster than bad Audio and so I always say focus on audio
Speaker:and lighting first. So that's like the kind of combined tip and
Speaker:lighting can be in front of a window and audio can be a
Speaker:cheap microphone that plugs into your iPhone and so you don't have to necessarily
Speaker:go over the top on production to get a really high
Speaker:quality content. If you have good audio and focus on your lighting and make sure
Speaker:that you're well lit, can be in your car, something like that. But those are
Speaker:really like the two almost free things. Like I know a mic's
Speaker:not free but you can also use your iPhone in a creative way as a
Speaker:microphone. I mean your iPhone and whatever smartphone you have.
Speaker:So I tho that's like just a free instant
Speaker:face a window. Use some sort of a mic and your production goes to
Speaker:another level. Yeah. You know it's funny you say that because
Speaker:we preach that all the time here. And I just made a video. I
Speaker:was in my walk in closet, right surrounded by these clothes and
Speaker:just to show the sound difference and we part the clothes you can. And I
Speaker:just was using my iPhone, nothing fancy. And it's like an instant
Speaker:difference what the environment can do. So I love that tip.
Speaker:Well Aaron, you've done a lot of things and you know we're here to talk
Speaker:about creating like these hooks. Let's start kind of high level
Speaker:here because I think it's important with when you're talking about like a hook and
Speaker:you're trying to get somebody into a video, what does that mean for
Speaker:someone who maybe is like, you know, I don't know the lingo, I don't know
Speaker:what I'm doing. I'm just getting started. So how would you describe it?
Speaker:Well, you know, with vertical content right now and the scrolling nature of it,
Speaker:you have a split second to get someone to invest in, to watch
Speaker:in the rest of the video. And so a lot of people will work on
Speaker:these zoom ins and this fast talking and different animations to try and get that.
Speaker:But those are very commodity driven in my opinion. Like
Speaker:they've anyone can replicate it but what you can't replicate
Speaker:is scenery, a recognizable face
Speaker:and the general curiosity. And so when
Speaker:I'm trying to get gain the interest
Speaker:of somebody and I'm filming and thinking about what
Speaker:I'm going to start with, I make sure that the
Speaker:opening clip really asks more questions than it
Speaker:has answers. And so that doesn't have to be verbal, it doesn't have
Speaker:to say do you do this? Are you, are you struggling with this?
Speaker:A lot of times it can just be the scenery where someone that
Speaker:is your target audience is your customer, they recognize.
Speaker:And you can even add things like doing something
Speaker:like cooking, preparing a meal, making a cup of coffee
Speaker:while talking, and including some of the audio. And
Speaker:so those are little things that I think are often overlooked. If you sit here
Speaker:and just do a talking head video, that's great. But,
Speaker:you know, unless I recognize you immediately, it's,
Speaker:I'm less interested in stopping. However, if you're doing
Speaker:something, if you're like cutting a sandwich, making something,
Speaker:I'm a little bit curious about what you're doing. And so after adding,
Speaker:adding anything to the scenery can go a long
Speaker:way in getting people to pause for a second. So I like to ask a
Speaker:lot of questions in my content's a lot of outdoor stuff. And the question
Speaker:that I always am looking to kind of capture is,
Speaker:where is he? And so that's the main question I look at.
Speaker:And other things,
Speaker:you know, starting with a face, um, it can be an elder face. For one
Speaker:of our clients, we do these interviews with elders. And so
Speaker:instead of opening with like a drone shot of a farm, we'll open with the
Speaker:face of this old farmer who's weathered by said farm. And so you
Speaker:want to connect on a level that brings curiosity. You want to film in a
Speaker:setting that's very relatable. So,
Speaker:for example, if you are in a,
Speaker:like a livestock business, for example, don't film in the house,
Speaker:Go film out in the pins. You know, if you are in the sports business,
Speaker:you know, don't film in your office. Go into the field or the gym. And
Speaker:so being in the environment is another way to add a visual hook that
Speaker:people will stop and immediately say, okay, I, I relate with this person
Speaker:and I'm a little curious about where, where they are at. So that's like, really
Speaker:what I mean. Yeah, no, I, I, I, I really appreciate that because I think
Speaker:it's so easy. And you know, before we got started, we were talking about just,
Speaker:we want these kind of setups. Like, it's just click and go. My setup is
Speaker:clearly that. But I love that, like, get
Speaker:out to the thing, the place or the location or something that's going to draw
Speaker:them in. And I can see, I can see two things. Like, that's, that's
Speaker:amazing advice. And like, if you've got those environments, it's easy to
Speaker:do. Like you could, if you're working livestock, for an example, that would be, yeah,
Speaker:get out, get by the pens. But I imagine, you know,
Speaker:and I Don't know if you have clients that are like this, but a lot
Speaker:of like the people I talk to, they work in a bit. They work at
Speaker:home or they work in a building that looks the same. Every office,
Speaker:every cubicle, it's harder to do that. So,
Speaker:you know, like, where, where do you find the inspiration to do that
Speaker:if you're in an environment that looks similar? Do you any, any advice for us?
Speaker:Because I love, like, I think you're absolutely right. It makes so much sense.
Speaker:But I imagine there's someone saying like, yeah, that's great. If you're working in
Speaker:livestock, cool. But I work in accounting. You know, it's kind
Speaker:of not, not as, maybe as sexy or cool or as
Speaker:interesting visually. So
Speaker:what would you suggest to those folks? I would say pay attention to
Speaker:the backdrop. You know, it goes back to, we start with that lighting, so make
Speaker:sure you're well lit on the face. But, you know, don't be afraid of having
Speaker:things in the background that would seem like distractions. So
Speaker:anything that's your own environment works. And so, you know, I use a
Speaker:livestock analogy. Of course, that's extreme. But like something like
Speaker:accounting or any sort of software development, if you have people behind you
Speaker:working and moving around and making noise, if you have a mic
Speaker:where they can still hear you clearly, then you still have a little bit
Speaker:of a, of a, like a backdrop that is
Speaker:relatable. And so, you know, that's where set design can come
Speaker:in. If you have the time and money and everything to invest a little bit
Speaker:in a set design. Obviously I have a certain aesthetic I'm kind of going for
Speaker:here. I'm usually out in nature is where I film most of my stuff.
Speaker:But, you know, I think being able to
Speaker:establish something visually, even if it's stuff that
Speaker:hangs on the wall, you know, it can be degrees, it can be. If you're
Speaker:a doctor filming in your, your one of your patient rooms, I immediately
Speaker:know you're going to talk about something medical related. And so
Speaker:just trying to be in your environment as much as possible. And if it is
Speaker:too stale of an environment where all you have is a white, white wall, then
Speaker:go into a busier room and just make sure you have some audio. Avoid like
Speaker:an echoey space. You know, if it's like just ridiculously loud, that's
Speaker:one thing. But I think just allowing a little bit of distractions. You know, I've
Speaker:had shoots where, you know, you're in a gym, for example, and
Speaker:it's loud. Well, people that are used to Gyms are used to that
Speaker:noise. And so it, it's not as big of a distractor if you're used
Speaker:to copy machines going off and there's a little bit of copy machine ambiance in
Speaker:the video. Well, I, that's my subliminal, like
Speaker:my conscience. My subconscious immediately is
Speaker:comfortable in a way with that. Maybe it's a little irritated or something. Maybe it
Speaker:brings a different feeling out because, you know, maybe you don't love
Speaker:your job, but you're familiar with it. And so I think that
Speaker:just, I think the moral of the story there is just don't,
Speaker:don't be afraid of, you know, some, some different things in
Speaker:the background, but pay attention to it. You know, look around the office, see what
Speaker:you have to work with. Because we'll go do shoots with these
Speaker:different orgs and you know, we'll spend a little bit of time where we don't
Speaker:have much time, but we have to go find a spot to film. And it's
Speaker:a corporate environment and we try to set that depth, you know, where you might
Speaker:see people walking. So you know, it's a busier office. So just pay
Speaker:attention to it, don't overlook it. It can help. I think it
Speaker:can help a lot with, you know, gauging interest and it. And
Speaker:sometimes a noisy background can create a bit of a, like a
Speaker:recognize, like a recognizable like, I don't say brand,
Speaker:but it can be a part of your brand at least. So people recognize
Speaker:quickly if you have access to the same spot, you know, on a
Speaker:regular basis. So. Yeah, no, no, I think that's, it's. I
Speaker:like the idea of using a background that traditionally we'd probably
Speaker:say in, in filmmaking or video creation like oh, we don't, we don't
Speaker:want all that noise, we don'. People paying attention to what's going on. But there's
Speaker:obviously ways to set up, especially if you learn a little bit about your
Speaker:camera. You can make, you know, the blur, you know, bokeh effect you
Speaker:can make so you can see the motion. So, so I love that, right, Because
Speaker:I think it all sudden it does create a visual interest that is much,
Speaker:seems much more interesting than a white wall or
Speaker:you know, a plain looking cubicle. So I think
Speaker:that's great advice. And then of course, obviously you got to use good lighting and
Speaker:that's where gear will enable you, you know, so for sure,
Speaker:yeah. And you don't need a lot because it's amazing what even the cheap
Speaker:gear can do. But you know, I think even with the Sound stuff. Like
Speaker:if someone's cooking, I want to hear the sizzle. If it, you know, like
Speaker:if there should be sizzle or whatever. I'm curious because
Speaker:that's kind of from a visual aspect. Talk to me a little bit more about
Speaker:the auditory side of things, because I think especially
Speaker:if we're talking vertical, short form video, like, and you said you
Speaker:kind of got this instant, you got to hook them. If the visuals may be
Speaker:okay, maybe it's not, you know, you've got this moving background. It's not outdoors,
Speaker:beautiful mountains or, you know, rolling valleys or whatever it is.
Speaker:What else can you do with the sound that brings somebody in
Speaker:to a video? What, what, what would you say there? Yeah, I
Speaker:think there can always be
Speaker:something. Every industry is different.
Speaker:We, we, we've been pulling back a little bit on
Speaker:some of like, music and all the
Speaker:crazy stuff. Sometimes you have to treat music
Speaker:and those types of things, like seasoning, you know, so not every
Speaker:dish needs a lot of seasoning. Sometimes you just want to let it shine.
Speaker:So if it's a good piece of meat, you know, you just want that steak
Speaker:to kind of do its own thing. You don't need to put five sauces on
Speaker:it. You might ruin it. And so that's where there's a little bit of
Speaker:an artistic element where you just have to use that judgment call. But
Speaker:you can, you can have a hook. I've seen artists where, you know something,
Speaker:when I'm syncing up my, my mics, for example, you might
Speaker:clap. And so there's an artist who, he's a musician
Speaker:and he would open every, every video, he would just clap.
Speaker:But it was kind of, it had this piece around it and he had very
Speaker:cool, like, lighting and set. And then he would start playing amazing music.
Speaker:It could be, if you're an accountant, you know, you could be, you know,
Speaker:type in numbers into your calculator where they have those, like
Speaker:that, that noise, you know, where it's constantly printing a receipt right on the fly.
Speaker:And you could be talking over it like, okay, 18 divided by five. Okay, you're
Speaker:paying too much for your car insurance. You know, like, it's just something because I'm
Speaker:like, what is he, what is he adding up? And so you can get creative.
Speaker:If you're, you know, a personal trainer, maybe you're, you're putting
Speaker:some weight down in that noise. And so just any, any like,
Speaker:movement that has a very relatable sound that's relevant to what
Speaker:you do. Dropping a steak into a frying pan or Some, you know,
Speaker:vegetables in a frying pan and immediately sizzling. You know, all that
Speaker:stuff can be used as a, like, sound design for an
Speaker:audible hook. And you know, you don't want to copy people because
Speaker:certain, some of that stuff is a commodity in a way. You know, everyone can
Speaker:start copying you. But if you do something that is just unique
Speaker:to you, maybe it's your gym, maybe it's your kitchen, maybe it's your office that
Speaker:has a unique sound. It could be the water cooler. You know, maybe it's like
Speaker:you fill the water, the bubbles make the sound and it's like, maybe your whole
Speaker:video topic is like, you know, water cooler talk, you know, but like, like
Speaker:right before you talk, there's, there's a lot of ideas you can have.
Speaker:And so you just have to watch your content and pay
Speaker:attention. Sometimes you stumble upon it. You know, you might, you might
Speaker:have an annoying sound in the background and you might hate
Speaker:it at first, but maybe it becomes the thing people know you for because they
Speaker:comment about it and helps engagement. So, yeah, a lot of different ways to
Speaker:stumble upon it. Well, I love the, the way you're thinking about it from an
Speaker:intrigue standpoint. Right. It's not just sound for sound sake
Speaker:or sound that pull people in, but it like, like you're talking about the account
Speaker:with the, the calculator and the receipt coming out. You know, it's got the kind
Speaker:of zing, zing, zing, whatever sound. And
Speaker:I love that thinking of like, okay, how does this pull.
Speaker:Thinking about how does this gonna pull someone in? It's not maybe essential
Speaker:to the story, but it creates curiosity. And if it's a sound
Speaker:that they're familiar with, I love this idea that it's gonna be like, oh, I
Speaker:know that sound. Ah, I'm gonna make. You know, you're connecting because you're looking.
Speaker:I think this is true. You're looking for your niche. You're looking for your audience
Speaker:in that niche and they're gonna either resonate with that sound or it's going to
Speaker:be like, you know, over their head and maybe they're not the right person.
Speaker:Yeah. And you're going to, you're going to, you can stumble upon. If you just
Speaker:start putting content out there and paying attention to the comment section, you're going
Speaker:to start noticing things that people are picking up on, stuff that you
Speaker:might take for granted, but other people, it's new or it's refreshing or maybe
Speaker:it's, I don't know, triggering or whatever. But I think
Speaker:that Stuff can be stumbled upon, you can stumble upon it, but
Speaker:it also can be engineered in a lot of different ways. But I've learned a
Speaker:lot from my comment section, and I've stumbled upon a few things that I didn't
Speaker:think would be a thing, and they turn out to be big things. And so
Speaker:you can't be afraid of any, any,
Speaker:Like, I don't want to, like, any perceived mistakes or
Speaker:errors. Might be. You might be backing into greatness in a lot of ways. And
Speaker:so just that's where short form is great, because you can. You can, can learn
Speaker:quickly and find out what's. What's working or at least
Speaker:what's resonating with people. Yeah, well, that's also
Speaker:great advice, right? Like, you got to put stuff out. You can't. You can't wait
Speaker:for perfect. I mean, we know the. That old song
Speaker:of, you know, for video editors, the work is really never done. You just have
Speaker:to ship it. So I do want to ask you, Aaron,
Speaker:as you know, you've had this journey and if we're okay to go there.
Speaker:Like, you've obviously got some great knowledge about video creation, but you
Speaker:weren't always a video creator. And I'm just curious what led you
Speaker:down the path of being a creator, because you obviously did some pretty incredible
Speaker:things. Just as an athlete. Sounds like you had a couple businesses.
Speaker:And becoming a creator is obviously, I think there is some natural
Speaker:kind of flow from, like, the things that you were doing. But share with
Speaker:us, what is it that, like, led you to the point where you are today?
Speaker:Yeah, after. After I wrapped up my.
Speaker:My football career kind of ended because of a series of concussions. And so I
Speaker:was laying there wondering what to do, and we started a sporting goods company.
Speaker:And at the time, it was. We were really
Speaker:focused on SEO. And I thought it would be a good time to go heavy
Speaker:into YouTube because, you know, it was acquired by Google a few years prior. And
Speaker:I thought, well, this is going to be the future of search. And there's a
Speaker:couple sides that really made me two things
Speaker:that made me obsessed with video content. One, I could
Speaker:show people. Like, I could teach people in a way where it's like, just let
Speaker:me show you. And I could reference it over and over again because it's online.
Speaker:Second thing is I can just manifest creativity. So my core, I'm a
Speaker:creator and an artist. I just want to create things. And when I see something
Speaker:in my head, whether it's photography or video, I can manifest it and
Speaker:I can actually show you that's the power of video, which is so cool.
Speaker:And you know, over the, over the years, not only has video
Speaker:been great for, you know, educating people, educating our
Speaker:audience, but you know, we, we really took a long
Speaker:tail approach and said, well, let's focus heavily on SEO, creating a lot of,
Speaker:a lot of valuable content or we think will be valuable for teaching using our
Speaker:products. And then now we're more of an educational product on this particular sports
Speaker:brand, King Sports Training. And you
Speaker:know, we, we started with paid search. We're selling like widgets like cones
Speaker:and bungees and stuff like that. So we started with paid search and you
Speaker:know, you spend $5,000 on ads, drive some traffic, try
Speaker:to optimize that and the second you turn it off, it was just done.
Speaker:Whereas you know, we invested into the SEO and the video and the landing
Speaker:pages and ten years later it's, that was
Speaker:still driving more sales than any
Speaker:of the paid search was, was organic traffic. And we started this back in like
Speaker:2011 and so we had a head start in a lot of ways and
Speaker:created high quality content. But I just,
Speaker:I just loved being able to reach people and then you start
Speaker:seeing the comments and when you venture into different industries and
Speaker:different, different places you start I think
Speaker:currently, you know, in the, in the, the times we live in and after what
Speaker:we just went through with, with the lockdowns and everything, right now
Speaker:people are, they're just starving for connection.
Speaker:And you know, for me, I, I lost my business
Speaker:in Covid. You know, I've been in this entrepreneurial, I've been doing
Speaker:entrepreneurship for about a decade and I finally broke through, we
Speaker:finally hit our head, started a new business with a, he was a
Speaker:client at the time. We became partners, started a new business. In 18 months we
Speaker:hit our uh, we had our first million dollar year. So we
Speaker:were in business for 818 months. But then like 2019 we had a million dollar
Speaker:year and then we're just shut down because we're mostly in live events.
Speaker:And so then I just got into, I just moved into my car
Speaker:and just started driving around, taking pictures and started just
Speaker:creating. I spent a year just learning photography, like relearning some things
Speaker:and then just started throwing
Speaker:stuff out there on TikTok, just, just creative stuff just
Speaker:for fun. Had nothing to do with anything, just stuff I wanted to create
Speaker:and the connection that I've had with people around the world through
Speaker:content and storytelling and not like even trying to
Speaker:say anything, you know, just more expressing
Speaker:the connection. I mean it, it's blown up and in the last year
Speaker:I've added more, I guess, followers than I thought I
Speaker:ever could or ever would or didn't. Didn't even like what.
Speaker:That wasn't necessarily my goal at the time.
Speaker:But through content, if you're really, if you just
Speaker:are true to your brand, who you are, you're going to connect with
Speaker:people in a good way. And so if you can really live that
Speaker:and don't try to sell, I think you're
Speaker:going to connect with people in a more authentic way without being salesy,
Speaker:being pushy, gimmicky. I think education is
Speaker:key, you know, part of content. So a big reason
Speaker:why people learn. But now I am, you know, I started the
Speaker:sports brand, we started purely around education and that's what we're going to keep doing.
Speaker:This other brand started out more as just lifestyle,
Speaker:just art, whatever. And through that
Speaker:now people want to learn how to do certain things related to it like photography
Speaker:and travel and building a car and what kind of gear to get. So that's
Speaker:turning into a different business and is turning into in a lot of ways like
Speaker:a self development and learning platform. And so you know, when
Speaker:I, when I think about content and just the, the way to approach
Speaker:it is if you're, if you don't pay attention to what
Speaker:everyone else is doing and you just express really what you are like
Speaker:who you are and lean into those, those core values, you're gonna,
Speaker:you're gonna connect with the right people in a more meaningful way.
Speaker:And you know, I think that's where a lot of the value is and that's
Speaker:where why creators are so powerful right now. Because a lot of creators just start
Speaker:creating and have no clue how to monetize and still don't
Speaker:even with the following. But that's why people are following them, because they know, they
Speaker:know they're not being sold anything. And you know, we've done this with a couple
Speaker:of companies as well where we just talk
Speaker:about stories, we're not selling anything. It's
Speaker:all related to the lifestyle around the product and the service.
Speaker:And now people want to switch their
Speaker:switch from the competitor to them just because they align with
Speaker:the lifestyle and the values, the core values which
Speaker:aren't even being like pushed, they just can sense it through the content.
Speaker:And so I think just
Speaker:you'll connect with people if you just take the time to express how you're feeling,
Speaker:what you think your opinion, um, might piss some people off,
Speaker:depending on what your opinion is and what the industry is. But that's good because
Speaker:the more people piss off, probably the more people you're gonna be aligned
Speaker:with who are the right person. So not that I try to piss people
Speaker:off, but it can. It can work, can be a strategy. So, yeah, I just
Speaker:think being, being, don't. Don't manufacture anything, you know,
Speaker:just go with your gut and just see what happens. You know, that's
Speaker:been what worked for me. Yeah, well. Well, thanks for sharing
Speaker:that journey. I mean, it's impressive, but I love that, that
Speaker:kind of. At the core, you said I'm a creator, I love to create, and
Speaker:I think that resonates with a lot of people that find themselves in this space.
Speaker:Even. Even if it. Like, I think when we were talking, I mentioned that, you
Speaker:know, I've been at TechSmith a long time, but still see myself as very much
Speaker:a creator type. You know, this is not. This podcast is
Speaker:not high on my list of things that I need to get done, but. But
Speaker:I choose to keep doing it because, you know, as a creator, this is
Speaker:an outlet that I feel, one, I'm good. I feel like I'm decent at good
Speaker:is debatable, but I'm decent at it. And two, it's. It's something I see value
Speaker:in. And so, But I, But. And I also love the authenticity part, right?
Speaker:That whether it's you as an individual or a brand,
Speaker:you're representing your company. That being that authentic
Speaker:individual and authentic voice
Speaker:is really powerful. And I. So I love seeing that come together. And
Speaker:I really appreciate that perspective because I do think it's.
Speaker:It is easy to lose sight of that authenticity because, you know,
Speaker:we've got. You got this thing I want to sell, I want this thing I
Speaker:got to do. And it's easy to, you know, because you got to make money.
Speaker:Businesses need to stay in business. But so I
Speaker:appreciate that. Well, Aaron, before we. We're going to jump to our speed
Speaker:round questions in just a second. I guess any last words of wisdom or
Speaker:advice you'd want to give anybody out trying to get going, creating, or
Speaker:they're in the midst of maybe feeling, you know, feeling the pressure to
Speaker:get the job done. Yeah. Use
Speaker:speed. Speed is a. Is a weapon. And the faster you can get out there,
Speaker:the faster you can iterate and you'll learn. And so if you can
Speaker:just don't worry about being perfect, be, you
Speaker:know, focused on, you know, finished is better than perfect. And if you can
Speaker:get to get this stuff out there fast, you can iterate quicker and you're
Speaker:gonna. You're gonna learn much Faster, which will make your content bigger, which will
Speaker:you find out what you need to be creating. And so don't overthink it. Just
Speaker:go. I started with horrible content and it's
Speaker:evolved very rapidly because I had the advantage of speed and I learned
Speaker:quickly. And so I think everyone should just focus on fast
Speaker:iterations and getting stuff out there. That's. That's one of the biggest
Speaker:advantages. You know, movement is an advantage
Speaker:if you can just get out of your own way. Love it. All
Speaker:right, well, Aaron, we're gonna jump into our Speedrun questions. These are meant to be
Speaker:Fast Furious kind of. We're gonna roll some dice here. So we're gonna go over
Speaker:to our speed round. So give us just a second.
Speaker:All right, Aaron, we're gonna bring up the dice. Cam, I. I warned you about
Speaker:this, but we got a 12 sided die. We're gonna roll the die and see
Speaker:where we roll. We got 12 different questions. Oh, it's just. Camera.
Speaker:Just couldn't. I couldn't get it quite lined up. So that is a 10.
Speaker:So question number 10 here, Aaron, is, look, you've been a
Speaker:creator. You've actually shifted careers a little bit. But if you had to shift away
Speaker:from being a creator and what you're doing now and you could do anything,
Speaker:what would you do? You know,
Speaker:I love designing. I love creating experiences. So something like an
Speaker:interior designer or a dj. I know those are two totally different things, but like
Speaker:designing space, if there's a bridge between those two types of maybe it's
Speaker:an event planner. I don't know. I like, I really like creating an experience
Speaker:for people. So I would say something like that. I love it.
Speaker:I love it. In fact, I mean, small aside, I've been helping out with
Speaker:events that our company does and starting to learn about how, you know, you go
Speaker:to trade shows, events. And I just watched a video about designing
Speaker:experiences like at a trade show. So fascinating you say that
Speaker:maybe I need to think about a dj. There's an idea for sure.
Speaker:All right, next die roll here. So let's see
Speaker:is the dots at the bottom. So it's a nine here. So question number nine.
Speaker:You know, you've done a lot of things. What's the one thing that you're most
Speaker:proud of in your career?
Speaker:I would probably say failures,
Speaker:because I don't have really any regrets. And
Speaker:I have some successes, some wins, some cool stuff. I was in a YouTube,
Speaker:YouTube Super bowl commercial, which was something really proud of from a creator standpoint.
Speaker:But I just think the failures because it Means that I didn't.
Speaker:There's no woulda, coulda, shouldas. And so that's the biggest thing, is not having any
Speaker:regrets. Yeah. Love it. All right, Aaron,
Speaker:one more. One more die roll. Let's see what we get. No duplicates,
Speaker:hopefully. Question number four. All right, this one's been coming up a
Speaker:lot lately. Four has been very. A popular role. Maybe I gotta check the
Speaker:die, but what's your guilty pleasure? Song or movie
Speaker:that you secretly love? You got a movie or song that you're like, man, this
Speaker:is my go to. Man, that is a tough
Speaker:one. That is a tough one. You know, I don't
Speaker:know if this is a guilty pleasure, but it's. It's definitely
Speaker:trending. You know, Taylor Swift's not bad,
Speaker:I think. Not that I like, listen to a lot of Taylor Swift, but, you
Speaker:know, she's the most. The hottest thing right now. And I got. I got no
Speaker:hate on her. I think her music's really good. So how about that? I don't
Speaker:know. I think she's got some really good music. Hey, nothing. Nothing wrong
Speaker:with that. I learned a long time ago. Maybe this is just old man coming
Speaker:out, but like, I was so. You get so caught in a
Speaker:category like, I've got to be this. Only listen to things. You know what? The
Speaker:world's full of amazing musicians. And you know what? More power to Taylor Swift
Speaker:because, I mean, obviously she's doing something right. So aren't
Speaker:we. Don't we wish we could all be that successful? So. Yeah. All
Speaker:right, Aaron, well, I appreciate you spending time with me, sharing your story, sharing your
Speaker:advice. This has been. Been awesome. You know, obviously, I think people are going
Speaker:to want to continue to learn from you, learn from what you're doing, watch what
Speaker:you're doing. Where can they find you and connect with you?
Speaker:Yeah. Deep Snap on all social media. DeepSnap.com getting
Speaker:ready to launch a new website. It does have our coffee. So Grumpy Bear coffee
Speaker:is the hat I'm wearing our new coffee brand, and I am coming out with
Speaker:the show and we have our Grumpy Bear podcast. There's a whole kind of
Speaker:brand thing happening with Grumpy Bear where we're trying to do a lot
Speaker:and you're gonna be putting out a lot of content. But deepsnap.com is going to
Speaker:be a place that has everything perfect. So everybody gotta
Speaker:go check out Deep Snap, and if you like coffee, go get some coffee,
Speaker:check out the brand. You know, Aaron, as we wrap up the
Speaker:show, we Just like to ask for that, that final take. So, Aaron
Speaker:King, what is your final take? There's so many
Speaker:ways to connect with people, and I think we get in our own way
Speaker:so much more than we like to
Speaker:admit. And I think the key is knowing that nobody, nobody really cares.
Speaker:Everybody is thinking about themselves. And so don't
Speaker:worry about being too insecure. Don't be worried about
Speaker:what people will think because there's the all likelihood is not many
Speaker:people are going to see what you put out in the beginning. So you don't
Speaker:have to worry and it doesn't matter. So feel free to
Speaker:just create and just know that people really don't care. They're. They're thinking about themselves,
Speaker:not so much about you. And if you get out of your own way, then
Speaker:you're on your way to, you know, potentially something great and it can change your
Speaker:life. But you won't know if you don't just hit publish. So
Speaker:just go. Go for it. Get out of your way. Awesome,
Speaker:awesome advice. Well, Aaron, I want again, thank you for joining me in the
Speaker:Visual Lounge. Hey, man, I appreciate you having me.
Speaker:You bet. All right, everybody go check out Aaron's stuff. I mean, what an
Speaker:amazing story. His whole journey is actually just so
Speaker:incredible, but the advice he gave is so good. And I
Speaker:don't care if you're trying to do the solo creator thing. You're in an organization.
Speaker:Wherever you're at on that journey, this is good advice. And I love the advice
Speaker:he gave about speed and movement. Because if you're learning,
Speaker:you're growing and you're growing, you're getting better, you're going to do more things and
Speaker:that will allow you to focus in. And if you're finding you're not getting traction
Speaker:one way, you can go another. So that fits in with the mantra of the
Speaker:show that we talk about at the end of every show. But before I say
Speaker:it, I'm just going to remind you, hey, like, and subscribe. You know, if
Speaker:you're. Wherever you're watching this, we'd love to get that vote of confidence that we're
Speaker:making content that is helpful to you, that you're finding it valuable. And if you've
Speaker:got feedback, you got a guest recommendation, email us at the visual
Speaker:loungechecksmith.com or find us on one of the channels that you can find us on.
Speaker:With that said, what we hope you do is take a little time to level
Speaker:up every single day. Thanks, everybody.
