Building Austin's Top-Rated Video Company with Mark Wonderlin

In this episode, you’ll hear:

1. The Evolution of Video Production: How Mark Wonderlin transitioned from basic DSLR filmmaking to establishing a top-rated video production company.
2. Marketing Meets Videography: The strategic integration of marketing insights in video production to enhance business impact.
3. Driving Business Growth: Real-world examples of how Mark’s video productions have helped businesses expand their reach and impact.

We’re joined by Mark Wonderlin, Founder of Mosaic Media Films.

Mark shares his thoughts into the transformative power of combining artistic filmmaking with strategic marketing. Mark has shaped his company to not just create videos, but to create marketing solutions that have a tangible impact on his clients’ businesses.

He shares how starting with small, strategic projects and understanding client needs from a marketing perspective has helped him build Mosaic Media Films into the highest-rated video production company in Austin.

Join Mark as he recounts his journey from amateur filmmaker to industry leader, and the secrets behind Mosaic Media Films’ success. 

Learn how strategic storytelling can transform video content into a powerful marketing tool!

Find Mark Wonderlin  at: 

https://www.facebook.com/mosaicmediafilms
https://www.facebook.com/mwonderlin
https://mosaicmediafilms.com
https://www.tiktok.com/@mosaicmediafilms
https://www.linkedin.com/company/mosaic-media-films/
https://www.instagram.com/mosaicmediafilmstx/
www.youtube.com/@mosaicmediafilms8230
https://www.facebook.com/mosaicmediafilms

Follow Ken Okazaki at: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/influencervideo
https://www.instagram.com/kenokazaki/
https://www.youtube.com/c/KenOkazaki
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-content-capitalists-with-ken-okazaki/id1634328251
https://open.spotify.com/show/09IzKghscecbI7jPDVBJTw

Content Capitalists YouTube 

Transcript

 Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the Content Capitalist Podcast. I've got a guest with me today. His name is Mark Wunderland. I'm just going to look at my notes here to make sure I get this right. CEO and founder of Mosaic Media Films based in Austin, Texas. And you've been doing this since 2010, right?

As far as being a filmmaker, creator, and in this industry. Is that correct? 

Yep. 

I love Austin and I've been there probably like eight times in the last couple of years. I keep going there because there's this community of like entrepreneurs around that area. And, you know, I just get the vibe of   being around what I say, like my kind of people.

And it just kind of feeds this, I'd say it's like a virtuous cycle of like ideas, energy, progress that just happens each time I go there. And, uh, that's, that's why I keep going back.  But tell me, for the sake of  everybody who's listening, a little bit about what is it you do and what kind of people do you work with and help?

So, I'm the owner of a video production company in Austin, actually the highest rated in Austin. And we really create videos for businesses and brands. Um, we create content that's designed to kind of engage and educate. Really understanding. What the core focus of the company does, but create the story that really tells  how the company is going to really change the customer story.

So a lot of times, you know, people say we want a video about us, but it's really not about them. It's about the customer. So we really kind of collaborate with businesses and brands, help them develop, you know, an online video marketing strategy, and then create a series of videos that help connect with their customers.

When you started this way back in 2010. Um, did it start in, with, with the focus that you have now, which is creating videos for businesses or was, is there a bit of an evolution there? 

Yeah, definitely was an evolution. So like when I started in 2010, um, I came from like a sales and marketing background with a company that I worked with small scrappy, you know, marketing team had to do everything.

And back in 2010, uh, most of the video that was done for businesses was from. You know, TV, basically broadcasting stuff. So they would say, all right, it's 30 grand and we're going to create a TV commercial for you. You get these spots and we'll just do a video for you for free.  So typically what would happen is they would film it in a very broadcasting way, you know, zipping, panning, zooming in and out very, you know, quick and dirty type of style.

So in 2010, when DSLRs  kind of came on the scene to create video. Uh, I kind of combined my experience with marketing and my passion for, you know, artistic film style content that DSLR has really enabled a lot of creators to do. And I kind of was one of the first, you know, in my area to do that type of video of creating something that's cinematic quality, elevates the brand, but also really took time in telling the story from a marketing perspective. 

What was that? The Canon 5D? 

Yes, that was the icon. 

Were you inspired by that, uh, the Cannes Film Festival, uh, thing? The, the, the something de rêve? The, there was that short film made, right? And it just like,  in the filmmaking industry, everybody just was blown away. And, and, uh, Uh, was that what the trigger was for you?

Yeah, the trigger for me, I mean, I remember back in the early days of like Vincent Laforet, I think his name is, I mean, I'm going back in the archives, but he did this video of the 5D and I was like blown away. I was just like amazed. And, uh, how I really got my start was, um, I discovered this guy, his name was Michael Gebbin, uh, And he was doing incredible, like, cinematic wedding videos, and I just, like, watched all of his content, all of his videos, and he was, like, pioneered the space for, you know, what's called a same day edit, so he would film the bride and the groom, and then he would edit it during the reception, and then show it at the reception.

And it was like this amazing video. And I was like, I want to do what that guy's doing in weddings. And I want to do that for business content. And I trained with them for a couple of days, completely transformed the way I approach content. And since that time, you know, we became business partners. We're still good friends.

We still talk on a daily basis. And, um, those were kind of the early days of DSLR filmmaking.  So, yeah. 

That's so cool. That takes me way back. And I'm imagining you probably had like a glide cam where you had took forever to balance the, you know, the weights and everything and you do that, the rotation and all that.

Yeah. Yeah. That was one of the things that made his video so unique is he was really, really good with the glide cam. We actually built a company together, training, aspiring filmmakers on how to create video content. Uh, it was called Handcrafted Business Films. And that was one of the courses was how to use a glide cam and a monopod and a slider.

And now the tools have dramatically changed, you know, since a decade ago. Um, but yeah, that was what you'd had to do all manual. 

When the gimbal was, came out and I was just like, I wasted, I mean, I spent so much time mastering the, you know, the glide cam. And I'm like, you guys have no idea. You'll never know how hard we had to work to get this.

And then, and then I could turn that around and say, well, how about the guys got to snip film with scissors, right? And, and, and then you go further back and how about the guys got to hand paint, you know, and all that. So yeah, technology just makes things so freaking easy. And now everybody's got. something that's twice as good as the 5D in their pockets, you know, in technical terms.

So, wow, things have really changed. Um, I'm curious to know, you said you were in sales and marketing before you, before 2010, when you started your business.  What, what, What's your experience with that? Straight out of college, you got recruited or, and what were you selling and stuff? 

Yeah, so I worked more for a sporting goods manufacturing company.

So the company was called shut is called shut sports They're one of the leaders in football helmets shoulder pads. They did a basis for the MLB You know outfitted the entire USA softball team for women And they were more structured like a manufacturing company Then really like a huge marketing machine like Nike is, and because they were more manufacturing and product focused, it was a very small team of in the marketing department.

I think there was three of us and it was an 80 million plus company. And, um, when you're a small team, you learn to do pretty much everything. So I did everything from like print magazine content to packaging design that you'll still see at Dick's Sporting Goods today, uh, photography, video, website, SEO, social media.

I mean, I had exposure to everything. And not only that, I was fortunate enough to work with an incredible CMO and, uh, he really kind of took me under his wing and guided me and taught me a ton as it relates to product marketing, you know, advertising. And he was the one that really, uh, encouraged me to get into video, uh, extensively.

And so when I moved to Austin, I really went all in on video and everything kind of came together between him really guiding and supporting me, me meeting up with. You know, my now friend, Gabs, who really trained me and just the timing of DSLR video that gave creators the ability to create something cinematic without having to own, you know, a 20, 30, 000 camera.

So all of that kind of came together, you know, in synchronicity and that's really how I got, how I got started. 

Got it. So you started making these films and in the beginning with your company, what kind of clients were you taking on? What was, what kind of jobs were they? Yeah. 

Yeah. So it was predominantly local businesses in Austin.

I mean, I remember one of my first major clients and I got it through a friend of mine, uh, who I met through networking. He did social media marketing and he's like, I really, you know, want to, uh, introduce you to my client. They're called the Austin Chew Hospital. And I'm like, okay, cool. So I got to meet with them, connect with them.

And they said, listen, we've never done video. We're kind of interested in it. We are looking to take our small little Austin shops and start selling nationwide, but we want to have something to build some credibility and trust. Um, is that something you can do? And I was like, yes, I'd love to do it. And it's still to this day, it's like 13 years old or so.

Uh, and no one would ever know that it was created 13 years ago. That video has been infinitely successful for them. I remember some of the, when we first finished that first video, they said they got like a 70 percent increase in calls from listing it on one of their citation sites. And since that time, I've created, me and my team have created probably 30 plus videos for them over the course of several years, and they just went all in on video because they were like, this thing works really, really well.

And we interviewed them for, for a testimonial and. One of the co founders said,  the reason why we've been able to grow so fast is because of these videos. A lot of people will go to our site and they'll say, we saw your video. And then the conversation just goes from there. They've built from being the small kind of mom and pop shop to, you know, having this huge dealer network of dry cleaners that sell their services nationwide.

We created a series of content for that. And they also went to, you know, being the official shoe repair supplier for DSW.  And they've grown exponentially because of the video content we created. And it all started from that, you know, initial video 13 years ago. 

Wow.  And when you made the video, is that something you, they just embedded in their website and then drove traffic to the site?

Or was this also like being put across social media and run as ads or like, tell me a bit about the marketing strategy around how that media was used. 

Yeah. So for them specifically, it was leveraged in a couple different ways. Um, predominantly on the website. They used it in, you know, email marketing campaigns.

They posted it on citation sites. So like citation sites like Yelp, Thumbtack, things like that. So if you're an advertiser on Yelp, you can leverage video content. And that was one of the things that they did. Um, and then a lot of times it's through the sales process. So like, For them, for the repair side of things, it's mostly driving traffic to the website and the landing page, having the video content, and then explaining the process.

For the dealer program, it was more, you know, B2B sales calls, conversations, presentations, relationship building. So they used video content during the sales process for kind of sales enablement. And then they also used it. Um, as part of the onboarding process. So a big part of their dealer program was we're going to have people sign up and then they're going to have this, uh, website that they're going to have to be able to put all the content.

And so we created a series of training videos to walk them through how it worked, how to use the site so they could. The owner of the dry cleaner could just delegate that to a staff member and that would be kind of something that they would own and take care of.  

You know, as you're explaining that to me, the different ways it was used, what I'm picking up here is that your experience with sales and marketing is what allowed you to be able to think of and execute on all these different ways to integrate video into that process for this company.

Cause I don't think that somebody out of film school would have the breadth of knowledge, experience, and insight to be able to execute. all those different elements. You've got an adverting element, you've got PR element, you have utility element, which is like training and things like that. And nurture right?

And these are all things that I think someone out of film school, or somebody who took some lessons on how to use, you know a DSLR camera or, you know, get the filmic look or, you know, apply a LUT they're not gonna have. the same intuition required to do what you did. Could you, could you think of like, what are some key skills you took from your previous occupation and that carried over really well? 

Yeah, absolutely. So not only was, so there's two really pivotal points in my life that I think kind of  helped me be the person that I am today and the type of approach that we take as it relates to video. So one was that foundational aspect from the marketing and advertising, really working closely with the CMO and understanding, you know, big, huge brands, how they spend marketing, what the messaging needs to be, the importance of connecting with the customer, uh, that really helps drive sales and conversion. 

The other part in my life that really. Helped me kind of take the approach that I do today and understanding marketing is working closely with, um, and the digital marketing space. So I mentioned earlier that I started a company with my, with my original, you know, kind of mentor, Michael Gebbin, and we created this digital, uh, training company.

This is back in the wild, wild west of information marketing. And we were doing live webinars and we created digital products. All designed to kind of help aspiring filmmakers that want to go from being a freelancer to doing it full time. Uh, so we showed them the art and craft of creating the type of video that we really pioneered, you know, in the early DSLR days, and then kind of showing them the marketing side of understanding.

You know, what the customer's needs are, what's the end goal. They're not really looking for a video. They're looking for the result and what type of video do you need to create and the way that you have to connect with the audience in order to get that result that they want. Um, so not only. Teaching that content, but also going through the mechanics of a digital marketing company with like increasing speed of trust, live webinars, post video content, email sequences, you know, offers, you know, all that type of stuff as well helped.

Um, but not only that, but I've always had a thirst for marketing. It's, it's interesting because if someone. told me to describe myself. I've always, you know, have described myself more as a marketer than more of a filmmaker. Um, and even when I go to different networking events, I feel more aligned with people that are marketers than people that are.

You know, film people. Um, that's just personally the way I've always approached stuff. And when we talk to clients, a lot of times, you know, one way that we get businesses through, you know, just paid ads. And usually when there's a paid ads, they have a high commercial intent, but they're, you know, searching and they want a couple of bids, you know, I want to create the best value, the best value quality and cost.

So when I talk to them. Usually a core differentiator with us is, you know, we're looking at it from the perspective of what is your primary goals? How's this going to fit into an overall campaign? And is it going to reach the objectives? And are we going to tell the right story in the right way? That's going to help with those marketing and sales objectives. 

And oftentimes when I'll talk to them, they'll say, I've talked to three other people and no one's asked me this stuff. They tell me, you know, this is the camera they're going to use. This is, you know, how long they're going to be there. This is what they're going to produce. They focus a lot on the mechanics of it.

And like you mentioned, people that come out of film school, that's what they know. They know I'm using this camera, this gimbal, this drone, it's 4k. I'm going to be there for three hours. And I think a lot of them have gone to, like, I always say they've gone to a conference and talk to a guru and the guru says, you need to anchor them.

with your pricing and you need to price it this way. And if you're going to use the red camera, then you need to charge 600 more.  The client doesn't care or doesn't know too much about that. What they, what I've found from my experience is like really understanding the goals and objection objectives of the campaign and what they're looking to reach and trying to create something right the first time that's going to get that conversion opposed to getting in too much into the creative when we're not at that point.

You know, we get into the more of the creative once we've kind of established the scope of the project and the core objectives of the campaign. 

Love that. You know, I had a Shane Rickard on here just a little while ago. Uh, you know, Harmon Brothers, right? He's the CEO. 

Oh, yeah. They're kings in the industry.

Yeah. So we're, you know, it's all about the story. It's all about storytelling. It's all about the objectives of the client. And I kind of getting the same languaging from you. So that's, you know, tells me that it's really a marketing slash, you know, engagement type of, uh, priority you're putting there. Tell me about,  well, let me backtrack.

I was looking through your online material. You've got some great looking videos on there. And as I'm watching it, I'm thinking to myself, well, that would have been a really fun project. Tell me about a project that was really fun for you that, uh, when you worked with a client and you had a blast, the creatives looked, you know, better than expected.

The clients were blown away by, you know, by first the visual result. And then. The monetary result. 

Yeah, absolutely. So I guess one project that we've, I guess it's a series of videos and a huge campaign that we work for is for a company called . And what they are, is they're a company that specializes in creating, um, products and services tailored for the deaf community.

So whether, you know, it's a personal thing, whether it's a cell phone communicating with loved ones or helping businesses better communicate and make communication, um,  you know, easy and equitable for everyone.  So one particular video that. We really love doing so. First off, the community was amazing to work with.

The company was amazing to work with. What we really loved is they gave us the wiggle room to be creative and telling, um, the story about the product and how it really changed lives. One in particular was for a product called E911. So a lot of times as a hearing person, you kind of take things for granted.

You know, you fall, you get hurt. You get in a car accident, you pick up the phone and you call emergency services. But imagine you're deaf and you can't communicate verbally. So you need to have basically face to face with someone through video chat of signing and then them interpreting and relaying that message. 

So for the longest time, they've had such difficulty really visually illustrating and explaining the various services that they have.  So they would have investors or stakeholders, you know, we're hearing people that would watch this video content and just not really get it.  So. They were very gracious in giving us the creative freedom to come up with different concepts and ideas,  um, on how we could visually illustrate this.

So, specifically for the E911 campaign, it was a lot of fun because we were able to visually tell the story without a lot of words, but you could tell what was happening. It was this cinematic approach of like, how someone got hurt. What that experience would be like. And you could see the pain and the, the anguish and like the stress of the actor and then how they just pulled out their phone  and then how they're able to use the E911 service.

So we kind of did this really cool effect of showing what happened and then rewinding it and showing that same scenario, what it would be like using the product and, um, you know, the CEO. 

How did you relate to the, to the viewer that. Like, I remember watching these silent films like Charlie Chaplin, where he had to really think about, you know, relaying a message without using words.

I'm curious, like, if I was given that, that, uh, that project. you know, effectively communicating that the person is deaf. Like, what was that? That, that, the, the thing. 

Yeah. So it was really like a reveal, right? So we started off the video and it had this very disoriented thing. So we tilted the camera vertically and then rotated it horizontally.

So it created this,  you know, situation of like stress. And you could see like the person got hurt, they were unconscious and they woke up and they're bleeding and you could see them kind of going for their phone. And then you don't realize they're deaf until they start doing sign language. So it's to the viewer.

They're like, Oh, oh my gosh. Okay. So they're deaf, you know, and then we did this kind of rewind effect to show what would happen if they had the app and how the app works, that as soon as you pull it up, it automatically does geo targeting so that emergency services. is contacted right away and they know the exact location  and then, um, they're able to communicate in real time with, uh, an interpreter that then relays that information to the emergency services and they're there.

What would you normally take? An extended period of time takes the same amount of time as it would be with a hearing person. 

That's really cool. I have to see that one. I'll go look it up later. 

I'll definitely have to share it with you. We've, we've done a series of videos with them. We've done about five.

That one was just more visual in nature without a lot of, with no narration, whereas like other ones we've done were more geared towards the hearing community and really explain the process. And they've just, not only were they a great group to work with, it was a ton of fun, but it like, it was the first time that the company was like, I've shown this to a group of like a hundred people, all of which are stakeholders, you know, hearing our target audience, and they were blown away on how they really understood the service for the first time.

And it was solidified in a two minute video. 

I'm really curious about something here. Like the storytelling, love that. And how much of your creative energy is focused on serving your clients?  And how much is focused on acquiring clients and because, you know, as the CEO, you're, you're wearing a lot of hats, right?

And I think that myself included, and a lot of people listening are going to be in the services industry. I've got mostly business owners. Uh, I myself own a creative agency, but we do, you know, stuff that's just for social media and it's like short form content. It's a bit different. I used to do. Almost everything.

And then I, I found my, my thing, right? I dug into that. But there's this dilemma where we're marketing for our clients.  And we're marketing to new clients and also to our current clients. Could you tell me kind of like how you juggle that? 

Yeah, absolutely. So like for me now, my primary role is like sales and marketing for the company.

You know, when I go back 10 years ago, I was wearing all the hats, like a typical solopreneur or ultra small business where, you know, you're trying to find new clients and do the marketing, do the sales, and then also do all the fulfillment and the creative. And. You know, it's very, it's very challenging to do all that.

Now, the way that the process typically works is I'll focus predominantly on the sales and marketing. So we'll create our own social content. I'm the one educating the clients. You know, I mentioned earlier, we do a series of paid ads. You know, we do other things to market to our ideal clientele and then I'll take care of the sales and marketing side.

So I'll kind of cast like,  Here's the overall objectives of the campaign. Here's what we're trying to do as far as our overarching goals. And here's kind of what I've laid out as some preliminary creative that I think would work really well.  And then once the project's kind of signed off on, then my staff takes kind of or care of the fulfillment.

So I'll, uh, kind of work on the overarching creative and then my team will really work with the client closely and really understanding like, what's the story we want to tell? What's the questions you want to ask? What's the shots we want to get? Um, and then really putting that all together through. The filming, the editing and all the other components of that.

And then I'll work with my team, you know, on a regular basis. I'm like, how is that going? Have you thought about this? Have you thought about this? Um, but the heavy lifting of the creative content is really done by my staff. 

That sounds really similar to, to what I'm doing.  Once I had, I hired one really good operator and he is the one who hires staff, who manages staff, who makes sure the clients are, are on the ball, you know, like getting what they need.

And I've got one, uh, I guess a client success coach. Um, some people call it account manager. Um, I think currently the term we're using is client account manager. And, you know, her job is, you know, sending the gifts, you know, making sure things are done on schedule, you know, and communicating with the clients. 

And I didn't realize it until I think about a year and a half ago. And I was sitting there, I'm like, what do I do? I realized really all I'm doing is communicating, rubbing shoulders with, with prospects and getting them interested in what we do. And then, and sometimes I'm not the one that closes the sale, but I'm the one that, I guess, I guess you could say I'm the Mickey Mouse, you know, uh, just, you know, I'm the face.

People think I'm the guy that does, well, I'm the guy with the solutions for their specific problem and, uh, but then my team executes on it. And, uh, it just, it wasn't really planned. It just kind of evolved that way. 

Yeah, I mean, that's kind of the way it's been for me too. I just kind of incrementally stepped out of the production side of things.

And like you said, you know, you have a client success manager, you know, mine's my producer. I kind of, I've always called her, she's like the glue. So she's the one that kind of like works with the film team, works with the editing team, works with the client and sees the project all the way through, but I mean, I do love Jane 

Doe.

Jane the glue doe. 

Yeah. Her name's Juliette. Yeah. The middle name. 

Yeah. 

Juliette. Juliette is the glue that keeps it all together. Yeah. I mean, I do love the production side. The, the, the client I was talking about a minute ago, the ZP, um, I was on that shoot. I was actively involved in the creative. It was a larger.

Uh, more detail oriented project that I felt that I really need to be involved in this one from start to finish where most projects, once they're kind of signed off on, I kind of fade in the background. Um, but I do love going on shoots as well. So like a lot of times. I know we'll have a shoot in the calendar and I'll schedule, you know, time out of my day to stop in to check in on everything.

But I try not to get too involved and be like the micromanager person. Um, but I do like to say hi to the client, see how things are going, add a little bit insight creatively, and then get out everybody's hair and let them do what they do best. 

Could you break down for me, what is your. 

Yeah, we do quite a bit of things. So like the first thing I started doing was I got essentially networking was my first thing when I first started. So networking was the first thing and that's what a lot of students do. you know, solopreneurs will do. And then I started getting into more paid marketing.

And the first thing I did was SEO. And SEO has been great for us because we're just organically found, not because we've been doing it for such a long time. It took about nine to 12 months to start seeing results. You really have to,  you know, be like, you know, you got to stick with it. You got to stick with it, but it's paid.

I'm 

confused here. You said SEO and paid. So. Like when you say paid, do you mean that you're paying an agency to do the SEO? 

Yeah. So I started off doing networking and then the first form of marketing that I did was SEO. So I paid an agency to really do the SEO for us. And that was, that's been the longest standing marketing thing that we've done consistently for probably about six years now.

Um, so the organic stuff has helped the tremendously. And then the fact that we have over 140 five star reviews helps kind of organically. So that's one way that we get clientele and that organic traffic drives directly to the homepage.  And then the other thing that I did after that was I started doing paid ads and that was in the form of like Google paid ads.

So organic search ads, PMAX campaigns, and then we also, um, have done display ads, retargeting. And those will either drive to a dedicated landing page or specifically to, um, like the homepage and we've tested both options, but what we do is what we, we practice what we preach. So we kind of explain to clients, you know, across the buyer's journey.

So, like with ours, it's about booking a call, getting a better understanding on their project, because everything that we do is very bespoke. So.  Whether it's SEO or pay per click or even Facebook ads because we've done some of that as well And we've tested both images and video and we've tested both native content and we've tested more high quality content So we're always testing always doing stuff of that nature.

So a lot of it is it's it's Based on what type of marketing we're doing will dictate where they're going to go and what the process is. But what we'll do is the, the, basically, um, the funnel is SEO, pay per click or Facebook. They will go do either a landing page or the homepage. And then, uh, Um, it'll, the primary call to action is booking a call and once they book a call, then there's a thank you video and there's a series of lead magnet content or resources that we provide and the resources are in the form of, you know, a quiz to find out, you know, what video types are best suited for you.

Are you B2B, B2C, do you sell products, use well services and how do you market? And then, um, it's a custom, you know, PDF and video based on your responses. And then we also have some other lead magnets, you know, about how to 3X conversion using video over the course of the buyer's journey. Uh, and then we have other educational video content, you know, longer form, you know, three to five minute video tips and strategies that we use and leverage.

So we have a campaign on social media for that. So we are on all major social media platforms organically. And then we have like a monthly newsletter.  that we do as well. So that's kind of the variety of different things that we do as a company to get new clienteles, where they clientele, where they go from not knowing us at all to, you know, you know, either downloading the lead magnet or, you know, high, having a high commercial intent from an ad, you know, to booking a call.

I see what you're doing is like, you know, it's pretty standard in the services industry. And what I want to highlight is how. A lot of people that, you know, they, they're looking for the new thing, right? Like, oh, let's use an AI bot to start, you know, cold calling. Oh, let's use this chat bot. Oh, you know, let, you know, there's computer generated imagery.

There's dynamic content swapping.  And. I think that what they're missing is, it's just about connection. And  when people feel connected, they start trusting you. When people feel connected, they're ready to have a deeper conversation and tell you what they actually need instead of like, Hey, give me your price.

Right. Which is what, you know, a lot of people will start, will get stuck at. I'm,  if you don't mind sharing, could you kind of give us the range of. What a project, uh, costing will typically range from, like on the low end to the high end?  

Yeah, on the very low end for a business video project, it's typically around five grand and they go up from like 30, 000 plus.

And it's a lot of different variables and factors that go into that range.  Um, it based on quantity of video as well as, um, what type of video we're creating, you know? So like a conference video where you're just filming a keynote. You know, that's sub 5, 000 usually because it's two cameras. There's not a lot of scale.

It's just standing there for an hour filming and then cutting back between two cameras. Whereas the one I mentioned earlier about the deaf community, you know, there's actors, there's script writing, there's scenes, there's makeup artists, you know, there's several types of revisions. You know, there's cinematic color grading.

It's like, there's all these different things that kind of go into it. So those are kind of the higher end projects. Um, you know, and it's also like, what's, what's the distribution, you know, so the distribution of a huge national brand is going to be different than, you know, a local dentist. That's got a small radius of clientele that they're trying to reach out to.

So.  What we try to do as, you know, professional video production company is how can we create something that's high quality, that's value to the client that we're serving and is gonna, like I mentioned earlier, just make that connection and increase that marketing conversion and, and the goal that they want.

Right now you, 

you're quite established, 2010, that's. Let me do the math. 14 years. 14 years. Wow. Do you remember, like, when, when you first started taking on clients, was there, um, was there a point where just like anybody who's got a checkbook, you know, I'll take them and at any price. And do you remember kind of like what the, what the first clients were paying that you accepted?

Yeah, absolutely. So like when I first started, it was 100 percent that, like, what can I do? Anything, any type of client, whatever, whatever I can do. And I remember I got a camera, 

I got a light and a mic.  Who's got money, 

right? Yes, exactly. It's like holding a sign, like we'll film for cash. Um, but yeah, I remember the first project, one of the first projects that I can remember getting paid for was the Austin Chew Hospital.

And I remember that video was 2, 000. Uh, the first video. Um, and at the time in 2010, it was like, Oh my God, I can't believe this. I can't believe someone actually paid money for this. And, uh, and it is made like a hundred X for them. And that's why they ended up spending, I think, 50, 000 over the course of a couple of years.

We created like, um, like 20 videos for them, like service based videos. And then we did a dealer campaign for them. And then we did dealer training content for them. And then we've done like various commercials and, and variety of different stuff over the course of a couple of years.  

I'm going to go into something that, you know, a lot of us as business owners don't like to focus on,  but it happens, especially if you've been around 14 years, is what do you do when a project flops?

You know, you think it's going to go well, the client's expectations are there, they paid a lot of money, you And it just doesn't perform in terms of whether it's going to be, you know, retention rate online, whether it's going to be, you know, action taken, et cetera. And they're clearly not happy. Do you go and say, Hey, let's remake it.

Or do you like, what's that process look like? 

Yeah. I mean, for us, so we always take kind of a marketing approach, but we don't do the tactical marketing. Um, there's been very, very few instances where.  Someone has been unhappy with the video and it's not that they're unhappy. It's that, Oh, I thought we were going to get this, but we didn't get it. 

Um, and it wasn't on the shot list and I know we were supposed to get it, but I had to take a call and I wasn't there. Um, you know, that's kind of what the customer said and that case we do whatever's right. So a perfect example is we recently had a client that we're working on a project with and it was creating four different instructional videos and photography.

So we had the shot list, we had everything we needed, but And the client was on site approving the shots, checking off everything off the list. But during that time, you know, he's a business owner. So he's trying to take phone calls. He's also in meetings. He's trying to, you know, make sure that we got the shots that we needed.

So we're working while he's on his meetings. And then we finished the videos were completed. Everything looks good. We're really happy with it, but Hey, where are those photos? Of the product with kind of the clean white backgrounds. And we're like, we never. Talked about in the planning meeting. We didn't have it on the shot list, so we didn't schedule and have the appropriate equipment. 

Um, so it was really kind of one of those things where I wish we would have got it, but we didn't. So for us, we're like, listen, we, We're here to help. Don't worry about it. We'll do it at no cost. We'll plan, you know, to get that, send us the product, come with us. We'll get a location. We'll get everything squared away.

And that's typically the, the, you know, the stuff that we, we do. We had another client actually, um, that was like, I love the video. It looks fantastic, but I hate myself on camera.  And it's just like, it's not your fault. It's not our fault. It's just more of a self conscious thing. So we're like, don't worry.

We're going to come out. We'll reshoot it for you and make sure you're comfortable. You know, we'll double check everything. We'll review the video with you talking, make sure you're happy. You know, at the end of the day, we want to do right by the client. We want them to be happy with the end result and the product.

And. You know, if it means coming out there again at no cost to make sure that they're comfortable, that's what we're going to do. And I think that's a big reason why we've got so many good reviews is the little things like that. We have a core value called 110, which is, you know, they expect us to create a good looking video, but going that little extra effort with, you know, things like we talked about or other stuff that we'll do or provide is just, you know, what we really pride ourselves in doing.

You know, I remember this time I flew  On location  and I had a client fly from the U. S And she, you know, she's a pretty famous speaker slash author. And we rented this villa in Koh Samui, Thailand. And it was beautiful. We shot a bunch of footage there. For, you know, she was about to release a new book.

There's gonna be national ads in the U. S  And when she got the footage, you know, after she went home and everything, when we did all the dailies with her,  uh, she was like, you can see my bra strap through, through my shirt. I was like, yeah, you know,  cause she was wearing tropical clothes and, but she couldn't get over it.

And there was no way we were going to go back and film her. Like we were back in Japan. She's back in the U S and New York, and this was shot in Thailand. So I went and.  My buddy on the shelf and I said,  I'm going to pay you whatever overtime is needed, but you're going to be doing a lot of rotoscoping.

and we did it. Yeah, boy. And yeah, in the end it was like a. it was, uh, there's a 30 minute. It was a 30 minute video, which was like a, uh, uh, what do you call it? An infomercial, right? And on top of that, there was like two 30 second ads and then one 15 second ad and man rotoscoping like, yeah, that's painful, like a machine. 

Yeah. That's painful frame by frame to go through. Oh my gosh.  

Thank God he's good at it. But,  uh, in the end she ended up  You know, being really happy with the result. And after she was happy, after the successful book launch and everything, I, I had actually taken a time lapse video of this guy rotoscoping. 

I sent it. She goes, Oh my God, I did not realize how hard it was. I did, you know, like, and then the next contract she did with us. She like threw in an extra 10 grand just as a thank you. And, and I didn't do it for the 10 grand. And I didn't send her that, that time lapse video expecting money, but all I wanted was my, my buddy to feel appreciated.

that, you know, for all the work, you know, at midnight, you know, click, click, click, click, click, right. But it ended up, you know, really just coming back and it's really, you know, goes to show the strength of, of delivering whether or not the request is reasonable, because they don't know, they don't know what's reasonable and what's not, they don't have the tech, right.

They don't have the experience. So it just kind of brought me back when you mentioned that. 

I think a lot of clients think that you just press a couple AI buttons and it just, it's a magic wand,  magic wand, you know, they don't do it in post. 

Yeah, 

I did something like that. 

And we've done a lot of that with, like, pimples too, you know, like, Oh my God, my pimple so visible.

That's easier because you can track, you know, motion tracking. Yeah. 

Yeah, exactly. I did that, um, not with a client, but I did a time lapse. And I remember it was like. I don't know, seven hours of editing came down to two minute, a two minute video. And you just like see the time lapse of all the things you have to do, like every line you have to create and then keyframe every single line to animate this thing.

And the shots you have to go through the music selection. You know, it's just like, it's an extensive process that people, and that's, You know, doing it for a long time and being good to distill it down to seven hours. I think people, um, don't understand the level of time and creativity and talent that goes into a production.

And they look at it and 

even get to that level. Yes. Typically 10 years of experience beforehand. 

Yes. 

And that's what they're paying for. Hey, listen, we've got to wrap this up because I've got somebody else at the top of the hour and. I gotta respect their time, but I'm so enjoying this. I swear we could go on for two hours just geeking out about the tech.

And I hope for the sake of everybody who's listening, because mostly business owners who are not techie when it comes to video, that this was interesting on a different  However, Mark,  could you give us?  In case there's anybody listening, especially if they're in the States or near Texas, uh, if they want to get in touch with you, figure out if, if you may be able to help them in their business, what's the best way for people to reach you?

Yeah. Best thing to do is just go to mosaicmediafilms. com. Also, if you're thinking about video, but you don't know where to get started, just go to mosaicmediafilms. com forward slash resources. And there's all those great tools. You don't have to put an email address in there's quizzes, downloadable guides, and a lot of video content to kind of get started.

If you're thinking about video for your business, I 

love that guys go check it out. There'll be links down below. If you're watching on , if you're listening on the podcast, go check out the show notes. There's going to be links to all the social media accounts and his website. And, uh, and of course, if you're loving the show, go ahead and give it as many stars as you deserve, as you believe it deserves, which of course is five. 

And I want to end this with, uh, asking Mark.  If you could give one piece of advice to businesses who want to incorporate video in their marketing. What 

would that be? I would say get started and do it right the first time. 

I'm gonna dig a little bit deeper. What does it mean by do it right the first time?

I think a lot of times what people will do is they'll try to take, you know, we talked about how much time and effort it comes, that it takes to create a good quality video. And a lot of times people will do is they'll save money on the front end by choosing someone that's, you know, all about the cameras and the gear and not really working with a skilled storyteller and marketer.

That will help. um, create a better story that's going to resonate with their audience. So they might spend a little bit more on the front end, but you'll yield so much more on the backend, similar to what I told you about the Austin shoe hospital. They've, you know, had a  100 to 200 X on their spend. And even if they spent, you know, 10 grand on the video, instead of two grand, you know, 14 years ago, they still would have made money tenfold.

It's because it was done right the first time. Um, and then not only that, but utilize just really. Leveraging your video through multiple marketing channels, instead of just posting on your video, uh, posting on your website and praying. Those are a couple of things I'd, I'd recommend. 

All right. Thank you for that.

I a hundred percent agree with what you said there. And, uh, for all the listeners, thank you so much for tuning in all the way to the end. And I will see you next week.