TCP 020: Why Educating Is The New Selling w/ Jon Collins & Tim Mackie

Tell Crossroads

Jon Collins was making a living pioneering short product explainer videos for Silicon Valley startups and tech companies such as Google and Facebook. Early on he identified and developed his skill of taking an extremely complex topic and conveying the central idea in a concise and engaging manner through video. As is so often the case with creatives, he was looking to push himself further than his day job was allowing him to. And so it was that in 2014 alongside his good friend Tim Mackie that the two of them took up the challenge of conveying the central themes, ideas, and structure of one of the most complex stories ever told. The Bible. Through 5-minute animated videos. Yeah, these guys are crazy right? Whatever your religious beliefs, it’s impossible to deny the impact of The Bible and the stories contained within it. Combining Tim’s deep knowledge of the books literary, historical, and theological elements with Jon’s unique brand of visual storytelling, the two have racked up over 23 million views on YouTube and almost 450,000 subscribers on their channel The Bible Project. Today, they join me on the show to talk about what elements have contributed to their massive success, how they’ve managed to fund their ongoing project and build a team around them, and the power of showcasing the people behind your brand, whether you’re telling the story of the Bible, or the story of your latest product. How do you educate your clients and customers rather than sell to them? Leave a comment to let us know! In this episode: - Where and how to get started with a short video campaign for your brand - How to effectively use crowdfunding for creative projects - How to approach personal projects, and some of the challenges involved - Why your goal should be to help your customers see the world through your brand’s eyes Quotes: “People like to support something when they see that you’re already doing something. It’s really difficult to raise money for an idea. It’s really easy to raise money for something that’s already happening.” [20:01] “My bias is that people like to learn, people are smarter than we give them credit for, and if we can just figure out how to explain things really well people will very grateful, because you’re bringing them up to a level that they usually don’t feel like they’re able to understand. I think for brands that are teaching, there’s a lot of opportunity there.” [29:54] “I’m certain that there are incredible things that way more people should know about, that would benefit all of us, if you could watch a five minute video.” [35:40]