Note to the Reader: This post was written by Christopher Cooper, the creative, production, and engineering force behind LiveIntentional. His last day with us is April 1st and we’re going to miss him like hell. But we wish him well and we thank him for his very public contributions to the company.
Ah, Milestones.
Pretty little numbers that are (almost) entirely arbitrary, yet somehow act as a shot of espresso in the A.M. that keeps us chugging along. Milestones remind us of the time that’s passed and space we’ve traveled, providing a sense of accomplishment and perspective, propelling us forward.
Here at LiveIntent, I’ve experienced a good number of milestones:
And now I’ve gotten to witness another milestone that, in some ways, makes me the proudest. This last weekend, we posted the 100th episode of our weekly video series: LiveIntentional.
LiveIntentional, from its inception was aimed at being a piece of content that made for an easy and fun way of consuming information about our industry. In pursuit of this goal there were many refinements and permutations. We shifted from hitting on a series of topics each week to focusing ‘intently’ on one key event or topic. We played with creatives, story telling techniques, and different pop culture references. We’ve even used it to inform and test our brand’s voice and identity.
But above all, it begins and ends with one question: Have we made ourselves and others smarter about marketing, publishing, and advertising?
I think (and the data – both qualitative and quantitive) says 100 times Yes.
Now, one hundred episodes of a vlog is not as groundbreaking as the other milestones mentioned above, but it says a lot about this company and, in particular, the small team charged with putting it together these last two years.
For them, it has truly been a labor of love. There were times when it didn’t look as though maintaining the series was possible. The idea of writing, shooting, editing, and producing a video every week on top of their core duties seemed a daunting task.
But I watched as they honed it, carefully refining the process from days to hours, while continuing to improve the quality, increasing engagement and audience. They challenged themselves and each other to make it better each and every week. For them, every week that passed with another episode posted, was a milestone.
Investing the time, money and people into this video series was a chance. We didn’t know what the reception would be, or if anyone would even care. In a business sense, it’s kinda nonsense to take such chances on the unknown. Yet, here we are with 100 episodes under our belts, hundreds of people watching every week, and hopefully 100s more episodes to come.
