Like you said, vertical short form videos are really being pushed by all platforms because of tiktoks success with that format so it's probably the best marketing tool to draw people in. Consider making it easy getting people out of doomscrolling and clicking into your longer form videos, with a pinned comment with links for example. And perhaps you should also consider posting to tiktok? I don't know what the snowboarding content on there is like as I've never had the app, but if you manage to fill a niche you can get an extreme push by their algorithm. But from what I understand it's more important on tiktok than on any other platform to get people off of tiktok because of how strong the algorithm is or you won't see any benefit from the increased number of views/impressions.

And something to consider for next winter is to shoot more vertical video so you get the framing correct from the start without having to add horizontal bars or crop too much. Or shoot much more zoomed out so you can crop it to your desired format later, given that you have enough resolution to do it because a grainy video will give early 2010-vibes and will be offputting. The middle video for example with the three videos playing in paralell, I personally find that too busy. On the other hand if I were to come across it whilst doomscrolling youtube shorts I'd probably watch it 6 times so I catch everything interesting in it, but I'd be slightly annoyed doing it 😂 

The spiral carve tutorial was great! It felt pretty much native to the shortform vertical format.

Personally I really like the more long form classic youtube-style content, and because I mostly watch youtube I sometimes get stuck doomscrolling the youtube shorts, and in those cases it's like a soothing balm for the soul (that's a swedish saying I don't know if it translates) to come across some good snowboarding content among the sea of trash AI slop.

Take all of this with a grain of salt because I'm not a content creator, this is just what I've gathered from tech discussions in podcasts on the various platforms and extrapolating from how I myself engage with the shortform vertical video format.

Yeah I thought the same thing… a bit busy, but I’d probably watch it at least 3 times on instagram in order to catch it all.  I’m really not in that target audience though.  I love the long-form landscape format.  Sometimes I’ll actually split-screen that end of year video (without volume) and just watch James ride while I’m doing other things.

Posted by: @superfelix

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shoot more vertical video so you get the framing correct from the start without having to add horizontal bars or crop too much. Or shoot much more zoomed out so you can crop it to your desired format later

Yeah...  In carving we're always going back and forth so capturing it in vertical format is tougher on the videographer for sure.  Zooming out too much leaves yields blurry footage or a tiny rider that doesn't fill the screen.  Vertical format is much better for other sports, or even other kinds of snowboarding footage.

I manually track the rider to keep them in the frame, and I try to flow in the same direction that the camera is moving or else it can end up very choppy.  That is, I put my keyframes at the exact moment the videographer starts to pan the camera in the other direction.  Auto tracking doesn't do this so it's not better even though it's faster.

Keeping the vertical resolution means that the rider is sometimes too small and so the footage loses impact and can be boring even if it fills the screen.  Square can work, but for capturing simultaneous 360s horizontal is better.  Hence the three split screen images for the simo 3s video.  Also because only a few of those turns are actually good enough to stand on their own, but with all the action timed to the music I felt like it stays interesting.  I wanted to capture the beauty of two riders turning around each other, but it's not that easy...

One solution is a 360 camera, at least for a single rider.  This will allow close up footage in vertical resolution.  I hardly did any Insta360 footage this season, preferring the GoPro and the iPhone.  I'm gonna get a newer Insta360 for next winter, should be better, mine is only an X2.

With a square image, like in the 360 tutorial above, the empty space is perfect for the captions (which I haven't added yet), or to put an image of whatever board I'm riding for advertising and information.

Here's an example of that: it's "Two Camera Girls, One Run", but I don't know if anyone still remembers the "Two Girls, One Cup" reference...  This was challenging to get the footage from both cameras to match somewhat.  I used Topaz AI on footage from the camera at skier's right (Evelyn filming) and heavy colour grading to get close.  I don't know if it's even obvious that this is all the same run:

https://youtube.com/shorts/qFFL0-adtBQ?feature=share

Posted by: @superfelix

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consider posting to tiktok? I don't know what the snowboarding content on there is like as I've never had the app, but if you manage to fill a niche you can get an extreme push by their algorithm

This is very interesting.  I might start a Tic Tok since I already have all the content going.  I'm definitely planning a good push on Red Note for the Chinese audience.  We're going a lot bigger next season, with plans to publish far more content than past seasons, even if some of it will be recycled and cut up YouTube videos.  I have a whole team in place now.  One dude, @clunk, will move back to Revelstoke and be my on-call videographer; he handles the website and most of my tech needs already.  He'll also be packing and shipping orders, which has been quite time consuming for me.  I have someone lined up to be my new Chinese Agent (social media manager and script translator for Red Book) and another local woman to make reels and shorts in the style of today's youth, which I have some trouble with - apparently I'm not the only one, ahem... @board-doctor and @superfelix...  I can maybe show you some of her stuff later this week.

Although my YouTube audience is predominantly American (33%) and Canadian (10%), the Instagram followers seem to be predominantly Asian, where carving is a much more common riding style.  I think that's where my growth market is but I've never been able to reach them through YouTube.  I think the YT algorithm tends to show viewers content in their native language.  More than IG anyway, where apparently some 80% of viewers watch IG reels with the sound off (while they're at work, presumably). 

Anyway, I've learned a lot this summer about social media marketing and I have an action plan.  There will be two new IG accounts also, one for Big Snowboards and another for the new Team Trenched (still taking applications for the team, if there are any interested riders out there).  @clunk is also working on a snowboard carving AI bot, trained with transcripts from my videos, all my forum posts and snowboarding related emails.  I hope this will be interesting to people, and that it helps me spend less time answering so many similar questions by email.  I expect to grow pretty quickly to a point where I won't be able to respond to all my emails and comments individually as I have been (trying to), so we're working to get some protocols in place before that happens.  The time I put in for each client is not scalable, though it has been one of my favourite parts of this endevour and has aligned well with the original mission: to help people carve better!

We have big goals for 25/26, but if we're successful this season the brand awareness should continue to grow organically after that and the work load should start to get smaller.  In theory...

@wild-cherry Yeah it was obvious you went for a more artistic vibe with the three in one video. Practice makes perfect! 

Posted by: @wild-cherry

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This is very interesting.  I might start a Tic Tok since I already have all the content going.

It’s definitely going to be worth cross posting for the exposure. There’s zero benefit in staying loyal to one platform and I don’t think people expect that much interaction in the comments... That’s why I think it’s very important in your case to get people here or to your longer form content

Posted by: @superfelix

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I don’t think people expect that much interaction in the comments...

Maybe you're right about this, I don't know.  I've replied to 99% of my YouTube comments, maybe that's not the best use of my time?

Instagram is very different.  Many of the comments aren't directed at me, but at the "chat" or whatever.  It's more "what stance is he riding?" versus "what stance are you riding".  

I said above that I'm learning a lot about social media this summer but I fully acknowledge that I still know very little.  It's a new world to me.  I've never been on any social media before YouTube and the hard boot carving forum.  Hence my reluctance to join TicTok or cross post on Facebook.  But it's my job now, plus, I can't deny the dopamine hit when I woke up this morning to 10 new IG followers...   I maybe like it a little bit too much.

You're certainly right about this though @superfelix, the penultimate goal is to drive traffic here (the ultimate goal being sales volume).   I try to do this without appearing to be the salesman type who is constantly promoting products or handing out affiliate codes in every video.  This style is a big turn off for me and it diminishes credibility.  Fortunately I strongly believe in what I'm selling so I never feel like I have to lie or compromise my ethics to push product.  I'm still just helping people carve better.

And also fortunately, it doesn't seem like anyone else can get past 270 or 360 degrees in a carved turn (yet), so that helps me stand out and gets me lots of attention.  Case in point: this 11 second reel just passed 1.5M views yesterday!  That's more views than all my YouTube videos combined...

View this post on Instagram

Tryin' to get a free Insta360 X5...

They asked for my "most creative, mind-blowing content using an Insta360 camera".  I came up with this:

https://youtube.com/shorts/W1SNwqpllI4?feature=share

"I said above that I'm learning a lot about social media this summer but I fully acknowledge that I still know very little.  It's a new world to me.  I've never been on any social media before YouTube and the hard boot carving forum.  Hence my reluctance to join TicTok or cross post on Facebook.  But it's my job now, plus, I can't deny the dopamine hit when I woke up this morning to 10 new IG followers...   I maybe like it a little bit too much.

You're certainly right about this though @superfelix, the penultimate goal is to drive traffic here (the ultimate goal being sales volume).   I try to do this without appearing to be the salesman type who is constantly promoting products or handing out affiliate codes in every video.  This style is a big turn off for me and it diminishes credibility.  Fortunately I strongly believe in what I'm selling so I never feel like I have to lie or compromise my ethics to push product.  I'm still just helping people carve better."

Maybe James is just trolling and is secretly a social media manager genius that has been doing this for years...    Seriously though. You just jump on Instagram and get 1.5M views on one of your first videos... Your 9 elements videos seem to have a very high number of views as well. It's impressive, but not super surprising. It seems to me that what you're doing is very effective. My biggest complaint on your youtube videos is the video quality. Especially when you are filming in your board room. I think a quality video camera for filming product shots and filming yourself talking would be a good idea. Maybe a nice and clean filming studio/area displaying a few boards in the background would be cool. But not to the point where it seems too professional and not down-to-earth and raw. Your riding footage seems to be high quality in the more recent videos and looks really good. 

With the goal being sales volume, what's the problem with FB and TikTok??? Let's go. This season, start uploading to every platform. I know our team riders will be a big help posting, as it won't be coming from the guy selling the product. It will help build trust in the people who only see you pushing your product. When is the BIG SNOWBOARDS website coming? Or will it just all be sold here on CC? What's the theme with the new branding?  Clean cut, bright colors, and simple modern design? We gotta get you or one of the team riders on a podcast. That would be cool. 

I think you already know what to do with the short form videos. Just clean and refine them slightly, and they will be good. Tips, fails, and informational videos do better than just ripping.  A collab with another YT snowboard star? That would be dope. Idk, just spitballing. Some ideas you probably already thought of. 

Posted by: @lake-m-carver

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My biggest complaint on your youtube videos is the video quality. Especially when you are filming in your board room. I think a quality video camera for filming product shots and filming yourself talking would be a good idea.

I agree. Better lighting and audio is probably more important than a better camera. All the photo and video guys are always talking about lighting rather than camera equipment. An iPhone is good enough nowadays, in fact they’re crazy good cameras actually, they, like all other cameras, just need light. That’s why outdoor footage is so much easier to capture compared to indoors. 

Posted by: @lake-m-carver

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secretly a social media manager genius

We'll know in April...

Posted by: @lake-m-carver

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My biggest complaint on your youtube videos is the video quality. Especially when you are filming in your board room.

That room is so difficult to light properly...  There are teams of people in Hollywood who's only job is lighting sets and they train for years to become a lead gaffer.  This demands expertise and expensive equipment that I just don't have.  I spend hours staging the boardroom and testing different lighting options but it's always either too dark or my face glows like a ghost.  I did buy some new lights for next season, I'll try again, or maybe give up and designate a different space.  I thought I had it right for the "Top 5 Bindings" video but it's still blurry and dark.  Brighter clothing might have helped the overall look.

Posted by: @superfelix

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Better lighting and audio is probably more important than a better camera

I threw away those old microphones after that fiasco interview with Carl last fall.  I couldn't bear to listen to it for long.  Audio is less of a problem now with my Rode Wireless Pro set.

Posted by: @superfelix

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iPhone is good enough nowadays, in fact they’re crazy good cameras actually, they, like all other cameras, just need light. That’s why outdoor footage is so much easier to capture compared to indoors. 

We have an iPhone 14.  As you suggest, it works fantastic outdoors but not so much indoors.  Pretty sure the "Top 5 Bindings" was filmed with the iPhone.  More light just reflects in the lens and off my face.  Working on it.  Some of the best quality footage we got last season was with @dan 's iPhone 16 Pro Max.  I want one.  No processing or colour grading required.  

The GoPro Hero13 is excellent on sunny days but the iPhone is still better.  I bought a Google Pixel 9 Pro towards the end of last season but couldn't get the settings right and a lot of the footage is hazy.  I processed a bunch through Topaz AI and salvaged some of it, but I don't think we'll use that camera again.  If you look at the "Two Cameras, One Run" reel above, the camera on my right was the Pixel Pro, the one on my left was the iPhone.  Huge difference!

We also shot some footage with an Insta360 X3 and a GoPro Hero 13 on the same stick.  The idea was to compare the two for ourselves and maybe make a video that shows both cameras split screen that might be of interest to people who don't even snowboard.  Ideas are easy, finished products are time consuming...

The Insta360 X5 will be good for capturing full screen vertical resolution video, mostly because of the auto-tracking software but also because the videographer doesn't need to pan to keep the rider in frame with a 360 cam.  Editing a square or horizontal video into vertical is very difficult for carving footage, unless you're willing to zoom out pretty far or let the rider go offscreen sometimes, neither of which is ideal.  Only a highly practiced expert videographer should film a carver in vertical format close up.  I'm usually trading videography for carving instruction or board loans with friends and random riders, and I get what I pay for...  This wasn't really a problem until I went to IG where everything is vertical.

Posted by: @lake-m-carver

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What's the problem with FB and TikTok??? Let's go.

Yeah, I know you're right.  I've made it this far without a Facebook account and I'm reluctant to start one now.  Maybe the social media manager can handle it for me.  Maybe we'll create accounts for Big Snowboards and Team Trenched, I don't know that I want to have a personal Facebook account...  Even just keeping up with YouTube, this forum and my various email accounts was challenging enough last winter.  I had to have @clunk send a short video apology to everyone who emailed my carversconnection accounts for about a month mid winter.  Plus, there are some people on FB that I've been trying to avoid.  And, notwithstanding all the oversharing I do here, I used to be a very private person.

Posted by: @lake-m-carver

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When is the BIG SNOWBOARDS website coming? Or will it just all be sold here on CC? What's the theme with the new branding?  Clean cut, bright colors, and simple modern design? 

Jasey is going to handle the Big Snowboards website, but Carvers Connection will have exclusive rights to sell the boards.  I don't know about the website theme specifically, I just provided some photos (with altered bases to show off the new Big SB logo haha; I didn't get my Big SB G5 until the last week of the season so I don't have a lot of video). 

Posted by: @lake-m-carver

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We gotta get you or one of the team riders on a podcast. That would be cool. 

I've been thinking about asking Mark Fawcett about getting on the Tribute Lounge show next season.  It's probably a good idea.  I'm nervous though, I'm better suited to speaking directly to the camera and having full editorial control.  Do you think the Angry Snowboarder would host me?  Who else does a snowboarding podcast or interviews?  Jasey interviews way better than I can, he's far more personable.

I do have one other idea.  There's a very famous man who has bought some boards and risers from me and we've spoken about some in person coaching.  I hope to make that happen next season.  He has almost a million followers on IG.  I had thought to provide the instruction for free in exchange for an IG collab.  Plus, if I'm not paid then I won't be treated like the "hired help", which kind of scares me.  I don't want to be on the wrong side of that line with a rich and famous person.  That's not a comfortable position for me, there are reasons why I've always been self-employed and I haven't had a boss since the 90s (though I do have a wife now).

I definitely want to do a collab with Ryan Knapton, I keep saying that but I haven't made it to Colorado yet.  I'm always ready to go early and late season but the conditions and forecast haven't been up to my standards for the last two seasons.  It's a long way to go to ride refrozen corn in the spring or the white ribbon of death in November.  Also, I'm a bit hesitant to abuse our friendship, a lot of people want to piggyback on his stardom, I don't want to be another one of those.  He published this video the last time we rode together at Montucky in 2023 and it did a lot to launch my YouTube channel before the first Secrets video:

What do you think?  Should Evelyn be the voice of Big Snowboards?

https://youtube.com/shorts/ibuvW5GV79M?feature=share

@wild-cherry She was great, really impressive! A bit more practice with the script, perhaps you quizzing her on the semantics ("what are back toes?!" 😆) followed by an opportunity for her to change the wording of some lines so she can say them with full confidence and it would feel more genuine coming from such a young voice. Especially the very beginning felt more like her reading a script verbatim ("even the feet have all the fine articulation on the toe side"), but after "Because it's simpler for the manufacturers and retailers!" she has a lovely flow!

Compared to you she's got a much milder voice which makes it feels much less like a sales pitch even though it is. You, like me and many of us men, "suffer" from that unwavering confidence when we speak and I've been told that it can come across as abrasive and arrogant and make people tune out even though we just feel like we are trying to be honest, straightforward and no-nonsense.

As for some feedback on the script, I think it can benefit from a bit simpler wording, I guess that goes with the feedback about letting Evelyn have some input on the script. And just a minor grammar thing where everything except for at 1:05 "the team at big snowboards" is in first person plural so I would change it to "We at big snowboards" or something.

In part because of my (undeserved) confidence when I communicate I've accidentally gotten important at work, which means I sometimes have to write similar sales pitches for the products I manage, software libraries and cloud services. The target audience is pretty much anyone from a developer to a C-suite person with just a fleeting understanding of the technical complexities of building an actual product. For those I run my texts through Grammarly to help with sentence structure, flow and grammar. It's absolutely incredible at simplifying texts while retaining all information, even with extremely technical stuff I have to write. A lot of the time the text becomes maybe 20% shorter and three times easier to read because it's able to analyze the semantics of the text and restructure it for you in a way that's difficult unless you're a natural born writer. But, fair warning you can't accept edits blindly! If the text is too messed up it will suggest weird edits, but then you can just re-work that section a bit yourself and you'll get better help.

@superfelix Thanks man, that's very thorough and insightful feedback!  Much appreciated.

She did "read" the script verbatim, copying me one phrase a time, mimicking my intonation.  Later I edited out my voice and any fails, adjusting the volume levels and spacing/tempo in post.  I wrote it for myself originally, in my authoritative voice; I was hoping that makes it cuter?  It's not how a nine year old speaks of course...  Wondering if the "outtakes" / "behind the scenes" bit at the end was as funny to others as it was to me?  Most of my viewers and clients are middle aged men, a lot of dads.

We can certainly redo it but she's at her mother's for the week now - and she's already been paid for her work (she requested compensation in squishy toys from Amazon).   It's not perfect of course, but I wonder if it's more genuine, cuter or funnier in its imperfection?  Mostly I wonder whether it's engaging?  Will it hold the audience's interest or does it make you feel like swiping?  I could also add more slow motion turns and quicker cuts to the visuals.  I don't know, I am a bit of a perfectionist at heart but I need volume for next season more than I need professional quality editing, so maybe it's time to just proceed to the next one and hope to improve with practice.

She enjoyed the experience, we might do more of these.  This was only our second run through, the first with the microphone.  I might have tried again but it was her bedtime.  (I stayed up 'till 2am editing.)  In my experience, the more time I spend with a script the more genuine it sounds, but often too, once the mic is on, my first take is the best.

(And...  Are you trying to sell me a Grammerly subscription?)

@wild-cherry Even more impressive! I liked it! I found it engaging! I’m not a dad yet but definitely in the target demographic! It was clear that it was your words coming through her mouth  

Are you trying to sell me a Grammarly subscription 

Haha no, never! I use the free one because I’m too cheap to pay for it! I’m just amazed at how it can organize my messy thoughts! In that case I would have tried to find an affiliate link! 😂

Dang, she sold me. Now I want an ASYM! 

I've never seen this done before, so I'm not sure how it would perform. I think it's a great idea. I bet it might blow up. I'd send it. If it underperforms, post the same thing with your voice and see how it goes. I think it might be a little too long for a short/reel. Maybe not. I think the intro will really hook the viewer, but it gets a little too technical and lengthy for a reel imo. Hook the viewer in, get to the point, and then add the bloopers at the end. Maybe like half as long? Just what I thought in my mind. But then again, you have an older audience with a longer attention span, and these longer, more in-depth reels might be the way to go. Could do a short and long version. I really enjoyed the riding footage in this reel.  

Some trolling and humor seem to always get views. Some of the top-tier reels/shorts are edited into a loop where you can't tell the video is replaying at first, and you end up watching it twice by accident. It would probably be hard to do with a snowboarding video, though. lol