Alex Sheridan Interview | Repurposing Video Content Like A Pro

Full video transcript

And so this light bulb went off and I was like man what if what if the business is still helping companies generate Revenue welcome everybody here to today’s interview with B2B video marketing expert Alex Sheridan we’re going to be talking about repurposing your video content like a pro from an expert himself who does this and trains teams both I’m sure on the Outsourcing front but also internally about how to create winning video marketing and social media strategies so welcome everybody here to today’s interview we got about an hour blocked off for today but definitely have some time for questions and answers and.

Alex is going to be jumping up here in just a second to join us knowing that this month in April is our Omni Channel challenge where we’re taking our existing video content and assets and then repurposing those across other channels and so wanted to see if Alex would be open to coming and sharing with us which he is I’m going to bring him up to the stage and having an open conversation kind of about what he’s up to in the world of B2B video marketing and and otherwise but Alex thanks for being here appreciate you having me Darby yeah we might have sent you some some new connections on LinkedIn.

As I posted some of your your recent post inside of our community but would’ love to kind of hear from you who you are what you do and kind of like your experience in this field of video marketing over the years so I I came from a sales background I was traditional B2B sales I did that for for about 10 years building territories up from zero to contest winning territories and starting getting exposed to video in about 2019 where I started posting content on LinkedIn videos in particular and I was really trying to build my side hustle at the time which I thought was going to be sales Consulting and coaching.

And as I started posting the videos I just noticed this weird thing happen that happens over time when you start posting video content which is that your prospects and your dream clients start actually coming to you versus you having to hunt them down which is really all I did in sales and so this light bulb went off and I was like man what if what if the business is still helping companies generate Revenue but instead of sales coaching and sales training and strategy it’s more this new thing which is video content and Linkedin and social selling and so from there it happened pretty fast I won my first customer February 2020 six months later I was leaving my corporate job.

Taking the side hustle as a full-time business and the rest is really history we’ve now helping companies build video into their business as a 247 sales rep for their business and of course AI is changing a lot in terms of how we do it so yeah and you know especially you know like the last few months and seeing some of the new changes with Tik Tok and going it seems even just the last few weeks I’ve been seeing more conversation around Tik Tok style feeds on on LinkedIn and it seems like over the last few years platforms like Tik Tok have grown up in in a certain a few ways that it’s becoming a little bit more serious it’s it’s not just the dancing platform like people are going there to search and connect with people through video.

And so the purpose of where the community is at right now and why I wanted to reach out to you initially was because we’re all about repurposing content and getting content out there that most of us are in the B B2B space in some way shape or form can you give us kind of like the outline overview of what is like a video process look like to do this effectively but also you said consistency is key here because if you just post a video and then shy away don’t post anymore you’re not going to see that compounding effect but like what’s the general process that you work through for yourself for clients for getting something like a system like this up to speed and maybe for someone.

That’s just starting out with B2B video marketing like some tips that you find that make it not quite as overwhelming for someone just getting into it yeah so I think there’s the philosophical kind of things that I’ll touch on really quickly from more of a mindset perspective then you’ve got the iies and then you’ve got what I would call tactics and techniques right so we can get into any and all of this the first thing that people need to understand is that when you think about video content creation people think that it takes time and it actually creates time because what you can do is scale yourself you can multiply Yourself by 10 20 50 100.

Times and we’ll get into how to do that but what I’m a big fan of is not only you don’t have to always create the content you are the content so you can actually just become the cont content and so a good example a a live example of that this right now is I’m just recording what we’re doing here I know you guys are recording it you’re going to use the internal call right and you’re going to probably distribute it edit it whatever you’re going to do but what I’m doing off to the side here is I’ve got my smartphone I’ve got a wireless mic I’ve got a ring light and two other supporting lights on the side and so I’m going to go ahead and record this entire conversation.

So I am effectively being the content I’m not having to go outside or you know go to my studio and record 5 to 10 videos even though I’m a big fan of doing that I think content creation is important it’s a important skill to build it’s a different interaction that you have with your audience that you absolutely need to leverage but my thing is we’re having these conversations throughout the day guys like we’re on meetings we’re on client calls we’re doing events virtual in person the thing that most people are missing is they’re just not capturing it they’re just not recording and being intentional about hey I’m doing this virtual event or live event or I’m having.

This really in-depth call with this client I can just record myself and have a basic setup and that’s probably the first place I would start is just get your setup right and so nowadays I encourage people as like all you really need is a smartphone you don’t need a fancy camera DSL mirrorless camera none of that stuff if you want that that’s great you also don’t need a super fancy mic at minimum you have a stationary mic right this is a road mic I’m using here the stationary one and it’s 99 bucks below that I’ve got a nicer Road Wireless mic but there’s a ton of models that you can get for 89 bucks 100 bucks 150 bucks.

And so now you’ve got two mics so I’m recording myself through you guys with the stationary and then I’ve got my wireless that’s plugged up to my smartphone so after this I’ve got the whole video that I can go ahead and repurpose so that’s the first thing is like understanding that mindset shift it’s the biggest thing that companies and people I think haven’t adjusted to because video is kind of if you think about a videoos fairly new in terms of how we use it today with video content and Linkedin just rolled it out and I think 2018 so it really hasn’t been that long guys I mean vertical short form video really hit the scene with Tik Tok hard and probably.

What 2020 2019 I mean it’s only been a few years so the first thing is like let’s just think about how we can embed video throughout our days throughout our weeks and then we start getting into the actual process of repurposing videos which I don’t want to go too long without you stopping me Darby but if you want me to get into the process I definitely can yeah well we’ll get into the process for sure but I think like the the shift you’re talking about here is really important that we’re already probably doing a number of these activities that we just aren’t necessarily leveraging we’re leaving opportunity on the table.

Because we’re capturing these moments that are already happening in our lives and so it come comes down to just a bit more preparedness it seems and and maybe being a little bit more strategic with the time that you are going to be spending on these meetings and knowing that hey I can pull actionable valuable content from the time I’m already going to be spending here and outside of going and scheduling a 4-Hour block to film the specific type of content can you talk to me where that type of content fits into how you approach this game as well as like the you are the product of the content and kind of what you mean a little bit more by that.

So when you create content from scratch versus you know what I would call documenting the content or being the content it is it is nice because you get you get to laser in on your audience right you get to be very intentional with what you’re going to say that first couple sent or first sentence really which is the hook of the video and you need that to grab attention real people in and get them to watch the rest of the video so when you create something from scratch it’s a little bit more artsy right where the documentation is more real life it’s more like reality TV versus something that’s been scripted like an actual show or a movie right where you’re like wow they put some intentionality into this they’ve they were really.

Thoughtful about what they said in the first couple seconds there may even be cases where for me for example I do some edutainment so edutainment is combining educational content with entertainment why would I do that because I want my audience to be more entertained and and grab their attention and retain their attention as I teach them something that has to do with my business my area expertise and of course my offerings so with the content creation you’re much more dialed in you can write things down you can write bullet point things you can say you know I want to add in this part that I think might make it a little bit more entertaining or more funny or more Punchy whatever the case may be.

When you’re doing this stuff you’re really just conversational right so now you can be an intentional and say all right how do I answer this question in a way that gives me a little bit more of a hook at the beginning there’s tactics that we can do but it’s much less art and it’s more reality TV when you’re doing this versus creating the actual content or the show which you’d be doing from creating the content do you feel like there’s like an element or like an art to this in the same way that you might be getting good or better at improv like the more conversations you have the more comfortable you get the more that skill kind of builds but just applied to zoom interviews and connections with clients.

And just a different perspective 100% man absolutely it’s definitely a skill that you build in the same way that I would say you know public speaking is a skill that you would build and maybe you would craft the presentation or the keynote you would certainly put together thoughts and things like that but probably afterwards there’s an element of Q&A where it would be a little bit more you know for that they would just ask you a question and you’d have to answer that well if it’s your first one doing it you might not be as thoughtful with how you answer it or how in depth you go maybe you’re a little bit nervous even doing it where if you’ve done enough Keynotes.

You start to get comfortable with the Q&A portion and you know how to answer questions in a punchy, hook-worthy way, and that translates directly to how repurposed video clips perform. That skill of reframing an answer so it stands on its own compounds the more you practice it, whether it’s on stage, on a podcast, or on a client call, and it’s a big part of why Sheridan treats every recorded conversation as raw material for repurposing rather than a one-off event.

From there the conversation moved into a framework Sheridan calls the gems framework for content creation, and separately into the biggest mistake people make with repurposing, treating it as an afterthought instead of planning for it before the recording happens. He explained that before creating anything, whether a live session, a podcast, or a client call, you should think first about whether you’re set up to capture good quality audio and video, second about your goals for the content (long-form YouTube, a podcast episode, or short vertical clips), and third about your editing process, such as using a Trello board to move raw content through cards until it comes out the other side as edited, ready-to-post video.

Tactically, that means staying aware while recording that you’re capturing repurposable material. Sheridan gave the example of a question like “what’s the biggest mistake B2B companies are making right now with video.” Answering it directly with “well, it’s probably a couple different things” gives you nothing usable, because a repurposed clip needs a hook, and clips that open without context get scrolled past instantly. Instead, restating the question as the answer, “the number one mistake B2B companies are making with video right now is X, Y, and Z,” gives you a self-contained hook and answer in one clip. He recommended applying the same technique on podcasts: make sure the questions you ask are hook-worthy, since the question itself often becomes the opening of the clip. From there, the back half of the process is tactical: timestamping clips, moving them into an editing tool or project board like Trello or Airtable, and running them through the content workflow until they’re posted.

Sheridan also pointed to preparation and the hook as the two most underused levers. The hook, he said, is essentially the only thing you have in the first two to three seconds on social media, given how much competition there is for attention, not just from other videos but from every other app on a person’s phone. A strong opening needs to do two things: clue the viewer into what the video is about, and intrigue them enough to keep watching. He contrasted a flat opener like “I’m going to talk about AI and disruption in marketing” with a sharper one like “this one thing is going to change everything in the marketing world when it comes to AI.” The same principle applies to the text written above a LinkedIn video post, which needs to earn attention rather than simply describe the video.

Asked whether he ever re-records just the hook and cuts it onto an existing clip, Sheridan said yes, and that it’s worth doing if a clip is strong but the hook wasn’t captured well or needs improvement, since nothing after the hook matters if viewers never get past it. He compared it to the old question of whether a tree falling in an empty forest makes a sound: a great answer that nobody watches because the hook failed accomplishes nothing. He said this can also be used creatively, adding a unique visual or setup in the first couple of seconds before cutting into the main clip, either to fix a weak hook or to enhance an already decent one.

On using AI for hook ideation, Sheridan described prompting an AI tool with a persona, such as a dynamic, experienced LinkedIn content creator known for click-worthy content, then giving it context about the business, the target customer (for example, CEOs of seven- to eight-figure businesses without a chief marketing officer who are starting to post on LinkedIn but haven’t figured out what works), and 15 examples of hooks that have performed well in the past, asking it to generate 20 new hook options based on that context.

Asked about the minimum production level needed before hiring a full video editor, Sheridan said AI is now the easiest video editing solution, pointing to tools like Opus Clip and Descript. He noted the bare minimum, auto-captions, is now built into most social platforms, so creators often don’t even need separate software for that. He cautioned against overthinking the lack of an editor or a defined editing style, since most people’s first 10 to 20 videos won’t be seen by many people anyway, so the priority should be practicing content fundamentals: a strong opening hook and a message that’s appropriately paced, not too long and not too short. He said tools like Opus Clip are useful for plugging in long-form video and getting it auto-captioned and auto-clipped, including for short-form content, and predicted that AI-generated b-roll is coming next. He expects AI to replace basic editors while pushing the best editors to become more like creative directors.

That said, Sheridan still uses full-time video editors for more complex work. He described launching a new podcast, Founder Talk, interviewing founders, where he hands raw video to a full-time editor who ensures the long-form episode is polished for the podcast, finds and cuts the micro clips (since tools like Opus Clip don’t always select the right moments or the strongest hook), and builds a roughly 30-second trailer for each episode to make it intriguing. He noted that this kind of trailer creation and judgment call is something AI cannot yet do on its own, though it may be able to in the future, and that once a creator wants next-level editing, bringing on a dedicated editor becomes worthwhile.