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Video content is all the rage in 2025 — after all, it’s one of the number one ways to grow your business! If you’re not showing up on camera, you’re missing out on visibility, credibility, and ultimately, clients. Kim Rittberg, an award-winning video strategist and former media executive, knows this firsthand. With over a decade of experience as a TV producer and digital media leader, Kim has worked with top brands like Us Weekly, leveraging video for massive growth. Now, she helps business owners and entrepreneurs create video content that captivates, converts, and drives results.
As Kim puts it, “Hiding from the camera is hiding from clients. Who's gonna find me? No one's looking for me, so you have to make people find you.”
So, how do you create videos that convert? Kim breaks it down into the Four C’s: Confidence, Clarity, Credibility, and Connection. Let’s dive into each and uncover how you can apply them to your video content strategy!
1. Confidence: Show Up with Authority
“One thing I like to tell people is to escape the supermodel mode, and shift into teacher mode. Don't think about your lipstick, your hair, your suit, your whatever. Think about your message.”
Confidence is the foundation of effective video content. It’s not just about appearing confident on camera — it’s about owning your expertise and showing up with conviction.
To build confidence, start by preparing your mindset and acknowledging any fears you have about being on camera. Reframe your perspective and focus on your expertise rather than perfection. Practice is key — record yourself discussing a simple topic and get comfortable speaking on video. Finally, remember that your audience values substance over polish, so concentrate on delivering valuable content rather than aiming for flawless execution.
2. Clarity: One Video, One Message
“ I like to say one video, one nugget. One video is one message. If you're doing a really long video, still, you have a headline, right? Your whole video ties into one thing.”
Your content needs to be clear and concise. Viewers should immediately understand what you’re talking about and why it matters.
To achieve clarity, define your niche and know exactly who your audience is. Keep each video centered around a single topic to avoid overwhelming viewers with too much information at once. Additionally, structure your content with clear headlines that guide the audience smoothly through your message.
3. Credibility: Establish Trust and Expertise
“ I want people to see you as the expert, not just as the face. I want them to hear your expertise because sometimes we can get stuck on cutesy videos where everything's pretty and looks cool, but do I think you're an expert or do I just like your video because it's eye candy?”
People need to trust you before they buy from you. Your videos should reinforce your authority in your field while remaining engaging.
To establish credibility, share testimonials from clients who have benefited from your work. Personal success stories also strengthen your authority by demonstrating your firsthand experience. Furthermore, ensure your content goes beyond surface-level insights — offering deep, actionable knowledge solidifies your reputation as an expert.
4. Connection: Be Relatable and Authentic
“ I was more real about my own life, my own experience, and what I do for work, and I sold $30,000 in work just from that podcast. People were jumping into my inbox. They're like, ‘I feel like we're friends!’. That's what authenticity is.”
People don’t just buy from businesses — they buy from people they connect with. Your audience should feel like they know you and relate to you.
To foster connection, share personal stories that make you more relatable. Actively engage with your audience by responding to comments and participating in discussions. Most importantly, be yourself on camera — authenticity builds trust faster than a perfectly scripted video ever could.
Final Thoughts: The Power of Video in Business
Video content isn’t just about getting likes — it’s a direct pathway to conversions. As Kim says, “Content converts to cash.” If you aren’t leveraging video in your marketing strategy, you’re leaving money on the table.
When starting out, focus on small, achievable goals rather than trying to perfect everything at once. Embrace imperfection, knowing that your initial videos won’t be flawless but will improve with time and practice. Consistently refine your approach by testing different formats and evaluating what resonates most with your audience.
…Class Dismissed!
Video is the most engaging form of content online, and mastering it can be a game changer for your business. The key is to show up, refine your message, and connect authentically. Ready to step into the spotlight? Your future clients are waiting!
Want to hear the full interview with Kim? Click here!
What Are You Waiting For?
Your journey to success begins now! Take action today, and kickstart your journey with our FREE BUSINESS COURSE. And if you're ready for more amazing content, click here to check out the rest of the Millionaire University podcast!
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Transcript
Kim: [00:00:00] I had all of this great access in media and I didn't really take a ton of footage or videos because you're in the middle of doing it. But it really was that epiphany of hiding from the camera is hiding from clients. Who's going to find me? No one's looking for me. So you have to make people find you.
Kirsten: Lights, camera, action, get ready because today we have Kim Rittberg on the podcast and she is going to help us level up our content game. Bringing all of her background and expertise in media. And she's been a front runner in this space by helping brands like us weekly to step into the video space. She knows a lot about this topic and I'm so excited for you guys to hear all of the insane value bombs that she's going to drop on today's episode.
So let's dive right in. Get ready to make some powerful video content with the amazing Kim Rittberg. Class is in session. Hello, Kim. Welcome to Millionaire University. So excited to have you today. I know you're going to give us some insane value on content creation video. You have an extensive background.
I'm going to let you just kind of [00:01:00] share your story with our listeners, but thanks for taking time to come on and share what you're going to share with us today. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. You're beautiful. I know you're coming at us from the East Coast. I see some awards in the background.
So give us a little insight into your life, your background, and what kind of got you to what you're doing right now and then what that is.
Kim: Amazing. So, I, so I live in New York, it's a little cold here right now, but I started off, I'm a TV producer for about a decade. So that means I was writing scripts, telling people stories, training people to be on camera under very tight deadlines.
People think it's like all glamour, it's like, some of it's glamorous, but most of it's like very tiring, but also fun and exciting. So I was writing stories, figuring out like how to tell someone's story in short form, which is very useful now, obviously. I covered everything from breaking news, inaugurations, to red carpets.
I was at the Oscars once, something I'll tell my grandkids, they'll be like, Granny, I don't care anymore about the Oscars. All right. You were cool once. But eventually, sort of the digital revolution was coming, [00:02:00] like 2015, and I launched the first ever video unit for Us Weekly, the celebrity magazine. And yeah, it was amazing.
It was basically like being a startup on someone else's dollar. I got to oversee all the operations, the creative, the staffing. It was awesome. And I built our team from zero people to two people to 17 people. And then as they sold for a hundred million dollars, they said a big part of that was our video unit, which was awesome.
Yeah. Claim that. Yeah, I'll claim it. I'll own it. However, during the acquisition, a lot of people didn't really want to work for the new company. So a lot of people were quitting. All of my peers, my bosses that I loved and built these really deep relationships with were all fired, very messy. And I was nine and a half months pregnant and everyone was quitting and I was in the hospital and I was like, wait, I am on my iPhone filling job roles because I didn't want to leave my team with an empty ship.
Like you have to keep making content. I knew I was going out for several months for my baby and half the team was quitting and I was like, oh [00:03:00] my God. So. I think just the realization of being in the hospital and working, not by choice, was really an epiphany for me, and I loved getting to work in media. It was amazing, it was hard, but fun.
And I felt like I really, I put in a lot of years, a lot of hours. It's a lot of work, but I think one thing I realized was I wanted to build something that I had control over. Like I really decided at that point I was going to build my own business. And the me, once I started building my business though, I realized I was basically invisible.
So I had a great resume, but if I wanted to start working with. Business owners or founders or not necessarily just my media circle in New York, I had to get visible. And that was a big moment for me, just like realizing, Oh, I have to like create a personal brand. And so that was like a big moment for me.
And that really has kind of built upon all the things that I do now in my business for others.
Kirsten: I mean, it's just a truth we all have to learn at some point. My husband is still like fighting a little bit like [00:04:00] visibility is in, it's the lifeblood of having any kind of a business. And as much as we want to be the behind the scenes people, even behind the scenes, people have to be in front of the scenes for so many reasons if you actually want to be profitable.
So You seem very comfortable now on camera, but before you were more behind the scenes when you were able to do, you know, the corporate role, what did that look like for you in kind of stepping into the limelight, if you will, of starting to be visible in your own brand?
Kim: Yeah, so for most of my experience in TV and video, I was basically 90 percent behind the scenes.
So, writing and producing for anchors, for reporters, writing content. Sometimes I was in front of the camera as we did more digital. I train people to be on camera. So, what I like to think about it is, I have all of the skills, but it's the confidence and the mindset piece. And that's what I see for a huge majority of people that come to me.
So, maybe they are confident in person, but they're not confident on camera. And so, look, I had the same thing. I'm an extrovert. Like, I actually like people. I really like people. I think that's why I'm probably good at [00:05:00] business is like, I truly like people and see the good in everyone, but being an extrovert doesn't necessarily make you confident on camera.
Those are still not the same things. And so I think having the experience of struggling with my own confidence on camera gave me the empathy and the understanding to be building a training program for people and realizing that first of all, a lot of it. I think that both with my business, but also being on camera is fear.
So like I had a, I was working in the hospital, it still took me two years to build that business.
Kirsten: Yeah.
Kim: I took two more jobs. I knew I didn't, I knew I wanted to work for myself.
Kirsten: Yeah. That's a really important step that I think a lot of people want to skip past and that I've made the mistake of just like, okay, I have this great idea.
I have this great business. And now I'm just going to jump into that. My husband quit his job really early on when we were like, Oh, we've made money on the internet. And it's so wise to keep like, don't quit your day job just yet as you're building that. Because I would imagine the pressure that you would have put on yourself to needing, not just needing it because it's like, it's an essential skill to gain, but like, [00:06:00] I have to get good on camera.
I have to build this personal brand within three months or else my family doesn't eat is not going to help your cause at like showing up authentically. Right?
Kim: A hundred percent. Right. It's always like, Oh, I wish I had done that a little sooner. I mean, I think about even. I had all of this great access in media and I didn't really take a ton of footage or videos because you're in the middle of doing it, you're not sure if you're supposed to do it with your business, you're working, but yeah, I mean, it really was that epiphany of, like, hiding from the camera is hiding from clients.
Kirsten: Mm hmm.
Kim: Who's gonna find me? No one's looking for me, so you have to make people find you. And so sadly, I cut. Yeah, exactly. I think being real, the one thing that I love to do with my clients and my students, it's like being real about what's holding us back. And I do a lot of on camera coaching with companies and workshops, but with my clients, I do video strategy.
We can't even get to video strategy until you're confident on camera. So I think it's really important to first stop and say. What's holding me back, like, what are the pieces, what bits of it? A lot of it is fear. We're fearful of [00:07:00] judgment. We're afraid we're going to look like an imposter. Maybe we're afraid to fail.
But until you acknowledge that it's fear, and then you find motivation, you can't really get to the next step. You really can't. So, then it's skills. Then it's skills. Then we'll do a workshop. No problem. But you have to break through that first. And I have like a, a method that I teach people for on camera that I call my patch method.
But that, again, is like, it starts with that mindset piece.
Kirsten: Yeah, so I know you mentioned some of the fears what I think what I've discovered is it's really powerful to do this like Curiosity even with the fear like okay, you're afraid of failing but like why what does that look like exactly picture that comes up?
So what are some of the like the deeper things that people realize are holding them back from having that confidence?
Kim: Yeah, I think that when we really think about it, it's like kind of rooted to moments in our past that probably were quite small, but maybe loomed large on us. So maybe we're thinking about the person in middle school or high school who like made fun of us or was mean to us, or maybe we failed in a school play, and maybe we just [00:08:00] hold on to that story.
And I think that it's related to A story we're telling ourself or some tiny moment in our life that we've overblown. And the important part is to say which of this is on irrational fear, which of this is fear rooted in biological behavior. So like our body's telling us things are scary on purpose. I did a speech in front of 300 people last week.
I love speaking. I'm good at it. Before I got up onto the stairs. My heart was beating out of my chest. I could have sworn the microphone was picking it up. That's my body just saying, Hey, there's a new stimuli. Like there's something happening and I'm not in control of it. I wasn't even feeling nervous. My brain didn't feel nervous, but my body felt nervous.
So again, when we're in new places, our body's sending us signals. It's telling us things. Well, we have to say, okay, I'm feeling really, I do not want to be on camera. I feel really, it feels really weird to me. Okay. Well, what else felt weird to you starting your own business? What else felt weird to you?
Like, you know, other things that you have to start telling yourself the story of I can do hard [00:09:00] things. And once you're saying, okay, I can do hard things. What is this important to me for? So if you want to show up on camera, I make people say, why are you looking to build your brand? Are you looking to bring in clients?
Are you looking to educate? Are you looking to make an impact for your nonprofit? They're all right answers. But you have to identify your motivation and then you can go. But until you get there, you can't, like, I'll say to someone, I'm like, okay, how shy are you? How nervous are you? We work together on that.
But there's a certain pack, a certain part of it. You have to work on that and you have to get through that.
Kirsten: And I know for so many people that can be the deal breaker where it's like, I'm just not going to do it at all. That's just way too hard. I can't push myself to that point. As you get people addressing and recognizing those fears.
I would imagine a lot of it is just action, right? So like, what's like a safe way that you would say to someone if they're afraid of showing up in front of the camera? And what's kind of a guided process to finding those fears? And then what do you do when you've identified them? I know I have people ask me that a lot in my coaching.
Like, okay, awareness is powerful. And then what? Like, how do I do this then? Do I practice just like recording video of myself that I'm not going to post? [00:10:00] Like what are some of your recommendations to overcome that initial hurdle?
Kim: Sure. So I have a thing called the patch method to be more confident on camera.
P A T C H. So I really start with P is prepare. So again, you're preparing your mindset, what we were just talking about. You're preparing your mindset, but then right after you're preparing your mindset, you're actually preparing your message. So if you don't know what you're going to say, of course you'll be nervous.
So even just starting with your main idea of like, I'm going to record myself. Talking about my meetings today. That's easy. Just talk about it. Right? So you're just kind of getting that muscle built. The a is authentic. A lot of times we are looking at people online that are like celebrities who are like literally paid to be perfect.
And I think it's important for us to just kind of let it down. Who are the people you follow? Who are the podcasts you listen to? They're probably not all of these like perfect heroes that we think of. They're just regular people who are passionate. And so lower the barrier. If you're being yourself, you're good, right?
So I have clients who really like, once they've tapped into that authenticity [00:11:00] has really unlocked a lot of business. Like one of my clients, Jessica, she's a mom of two young kids building her business. And I kind of was like permission to talk about being a working mom. Like your kids are under three.
It's a lot. And just giving her that permission to just show up more as herself. She's gotten like four new clients in last year. Because of video specifically. And again, you're of course showing up as an expert. You're really building in that connection, that raw connection with people. And then the T is turn off.
So you got to turn off those distractions, be totally present. And again, you can start with, to your question about, should you record, you just start recording in your iPhone. You don't even have to post it, start building that muscle. You absolutely have to start building that muscle. It's not like. I want to be strong.
If I don't go to the gym, I'm not going to be strong. That's true, right?
Kirsten: Yeah.
Kim: Yeah. I can't get strong by reading a book about fitness. That's not going to do anything. So you really have to build that muscle and start recording yourself. The C is confidence, and confidence is like all of the things, but it's confidence in what you do, not just confidence on camera, but [00:12:00] like, Be confident that you bring value to your clients.
If you've ever heard someone kind of with like their elevator pitch in a networking event, and they don't sound super strong. It's like not that appealing to clients, right? If you're like, Oh, I do this thing. I kind of help people make videos, like whatever. That's not really, I don't see the passion and I don't see the drive.
So you have to be confident in both your vision, but also your energy and your knowledge and the whole confidence piece.
Kirsten: Yeah.
Kim: And then the H of Patches harness your energy. So knowing where you are is important. So most people, their energy is a little low on camera. Something about the camera steals our energy a little bit.
It sucks it out of us. Some people are too high energy. So for me, I am a New Yorker. I talk a little fast. I move a little fast. I have a faster processing speed. It's okay. It's not like a knock. But I have to remember that that's a little fast for people. So I have to slow it down. I'm still being authentic, but I'm reminding myself [00:13:00] 20 percent slower, Kim.
20 percent slower. Let people process. Really when you're talking about harnessing your energy, it's usually people boost your energy a little bit. Most people are a little below the line of energy. So as if you're welcoming people into your dinner party, that's the kind of energy you want. So it's like, Hey, thank you so much for coming to my dinner party.
Kirsten: Yeah. Yeah. I know. I learned that early on when live streaming became a new thing. I remember my husband and I teaching at some training conference on how to live stream. Like that was such a new concept and it's crazy. That wasn't even that long ago. And I remember the shift in our energy, like, and we knew this and then we taught this, you have to turn it on like a couple of decibels higher, you know?
Yep. Because it's not going to translate the way you feel in a live training in the room. Is very different than somebody who's going to be watching this through a screen you have a lot of barrier with that so you do have to increase your energies for people to feel what you're doing and feeling and being and it might feel really weird and there's sometimes where I go from [00:14:00] like this mode where I'm on a podcast and your energy is a little higher and then you go out and you're just like, oh, and you're back into normal level.
My kids are like, okay, there she is. She's decompressing, but it's essential and I, I think it's funny that there's people though like you who are like, I have to tone it down just a little bit because my natural energy is a little higher, but most people are probably at that point of needing to just ramp it up a little bit so that they can seem normal, right?
And not like boring, right?
Kim: You know, I was just doing a big training for fortune magazine where I was training people to be at conferences. And I think what we're talking about, you're totally right, is almost presentational a little bit. So if we're just talking to our partner or our kids or our friend, and we're just like, Hey, what's up?
Like, what do you want to do for dinner? That's not the tone you're going to lead a seminar with. It's not the tone you're going to teach an audience with. You don't need to be like, the price is right, like host, you know, but something more presentational because again, you really do have to bring people in and it just takes a little time and a little practice.[00:15:00]
And it's really like the work comes in with balancing being presentational, but also authentic. It's a skill set, but it's also you have to build the muscle. The longer you do it, the better. I mean, my first video is on Instagram when I started my business. Like, I'm a little robotic, but whatever. It's not the end of the world.
You can't get good, you can't get a great video 10 or great video 20 without a pretty bad video 1, 2, 3, 4,
Kirsten: 5. Yeah, I saw Mr. Beast say this once, or was it Mr. Beast? Someone like that that was like, don't even come talk to me until you've made 100 YouTube videos. Like, then we can actually start addressing technique and things like that, but you just need the practice.
And I took that to heart a couple of years ago. I was like, okay, what's this Tik Tok thing about? I'm just going to try it out. And I challenged myself to make like three videos a day. So over the course of a month, I made over a hundred pieces of video content. And it was way better than me, like trying to study the perfect formatting.
I found my voice, I found the right things. And then I could go back through. And start evaluating hook and timing and things like that. But it really did have to be even getting comfortable with this [00:16:00] community and like the way this app works and things like that. So talk to me a little bit about that because I know that different content does better on different platforms, but overall there are some general, I don't want to call them rules, but recommendations that really help your content.
Perform well, do well, connect well.
Kim: Yeah. And I love your point about just doing and making a hundred. So I lead a group called video bootcamp and it's a seven week long group coaching program with accountability and showing up built in because I do think you're right. It's like. You can't just watch to get better, you have to make, you have to do, you have to see what feels right, you have to see what feels authentic, things that you think would be great, maybe you're not happy with them, or maybe people aren't engaging with them, okay.
But again, you need even enough, you need to do it enough to be building your own skills, you also need enough to be getting the data back. So you can't really see what your audience likes, if you've posted five videos in a month, that's not really enough content to get a ton of analytics. So, it's both a muscle building, but it's [00:17:00] also like, Marketing, it's not enough input.
Kirsten: You've got to have more data to evaluate. It's so true. And I'm guilty of this. I've done this on my own Instagram where it's like, I post really good every single day for a week and then fall off the face of the earth. And then you go back, Instagram's not growing. And it's like, Oh, because. I don't even know what the right thing is to post because I don't have enough data to look at.
Right. It's like taking the ego out. The same thing as I guess you're getting confident on video is you don't make it about everything being in perfect place. It's just like show up and do the thing and make the connection. And so I think that is. It seems so simple and yet it gets really hard for us and I think it's we get into the nitty gritty of how do I make that much content.
I know my fear in the past has been like how do I not run out of things to say or I go veer off into these weird paths because I feel like I can't talk about the same thing over and over. So what do you have to say to that when somebody is trying to like Make enough content that they have data and they're feeling like there's no way I can make a hundred videos
Kim: short I think first of all, I love the idea of a hundred videos, but I wouldn't even start [00:18:00] with saying I'm gonna make a hundred videos
Kirsten: Yeah, it's
Kim: super overwhelming.
Most people are starting with like the basics So and even if you're been making videos and you're trying to level up if you told me Kim you're gonna get your PhD I'd be like, oh what? But if you're like, hey Kim next semester, you're gonna take a semester and the next semester you're gonna take another semester I'm like, okay, that seems manageable So I wouldn't even start with like the concept of a hundred.
I think it is overwhelming. I think there's a couple of tenets of how to make. Quality content. I call them the four C's. So the first C is that confidence piece that we talked about earlier. And actually one thing I forgot to say earlier, one thing I like to tell people is escaping the supermodel mode and shifting into teacher mode.
So don't think about your lipstick and your hair, your suit, your whatever. And think about your message. A teacher's not at the front of a classroom. Worry about her hair. That's not, they're really focused on message. So escape that supermodel mindset and focus on the teacher mindset. What value do you bring?
Who can you teach? How are, you know, don't worry about who's going to [00:19:00] listen to me. It's like, just show up with what you know. Okay. So that's the confidence piece. Focus on your message and who you're serving. The second piece is clarity. So again, people feel really overwhelmed because it feels broad. It shouldn't be broad.
If you're a business coach, who do you serve? Right? If you're a wellness coach, who's your cohort? If you are a career coach, are you a career transition coach? Are you an executive coach for people to get to the C suite? Like, these are different type of things. Do you work with people in cities? Do you work with people in rural areas?
Like, get super, super clear on your business. And on your personal brand, your professional brand, and then clear in terms of videos. I mean, I like to say one video, one nugget. So one video is one message. If you're doing a really long video, it's still, you have a headline, right? Your whole video ties into one thing.
It's not boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And so the clarity is both the clarity of the brand and the clarity of the video. The next one is the next C is credibility. So credibility is key. [00:20:00] Clients have to trust you if they're going to hire you, they need to trust you. But that credibility piece is just key. You could be very likable.
You could be very engaging. Your videos can be very high quality. Like I'm not going to see a doctor if I don't see their diploma on the wall. Right. When I had one of my clients came to me, he's like, he had 300, 000 followers on TikTok. I was like, Oh, that's interesting. Let's talk. Right. But then I'm like, Oh, so if you have 300, 000 followers on TikTok, how's it going?
He's like, I want you to help me make sure it's converting. I'm not sure it's converting. I was like, ah, okay. So he had amazing content, creative, beautiful, nicely shot. The credibility piece. I was like, I want people to see you as the expert, not just as like, the face, right? Really, I want them to hear your expertise, because sometimes we can get stuck in the like, cutesy videos where everything's pretty and looks cool, but like, do I think you're an expert or do I just like your video because it's eye candy?
Kirsten: Yeah, I'm entertained or am I like, that's that infotainment, right? Like you can do a little bit of both and we have to create that credibility. I [00:21:00] need the info in the
Kim: attainment. You need the info in the attainment.
Kirsten: And I was just talking to somebody that I actually work for the other day and we were looking at her Instagram and I was like, we got to create more of a knowledge gap here too.
I mean, this depends on the business that you have and if you're trying to sell maybe an info based product or whatever. But I think either way there needs to be a gap in like what makes me want more in terms of conversion from just like watching your video and feeling good vibes and then. Being like, Oh, I actually want more from this person.
And if you just there and like making fun aesthetic videos and there's really no end game in sight, I think there's multiple ways to monetize. So the video itself sometimes can be just enough for most people to monetize, but why leave stuff on the table and just be a little bit more intentional with creating that like information gap so that they want a little bit more, right?
Kim: Yeah, absolutely. And I think the credibility piece you were asking earlier, like, how do you fill up your content? Like, how do you fill up your brainstorm document? Credibility can come in the form of client testimonials, storytelling of your experiences, storytelling of your clients, [00:22:00] experiences, awards.
You've won. I think that once you really, like, I have a process that I take with my clients where we, how we unleash ideas. Like I have a step by step process, once you have a process to come up with ideas, the floodgates are open. Yeah. But when you think of like, oh, I need a hundred ideas, wow, that is super overwhelming.
It's like my daughter, she's nine, she has to write. Well, a free write with no good prompts is really stressful. Oh yeah. Same with me. So if you just, you know, if you told us to come up with 50 ideas today.
I don't know. Like, I have no idea. But if you have a system, it's much easier. So again, I think that it's all like that. And so I'll give you the fourth C. So I just finish it up with the video stuff. Confidence, clarity, credibility, and connection. So I think the last piece of that is kind of related to what we're talking about is that connection piece.
You really, really, really have to build that one to one relationship with your followers. And you have to be human, so you have [00:23:00] to like, share parts of your off the clock life, whether you're selling services or products, but like, if you're a founder, a self employed professional, no matter what you do, people need to feel connected to you.
And I think really the important part is that's where the personal stuff comes in. I wrote this article for Fast Company about like, I actually hate the word personal brand. I just find it icky. It's like, it's treating yourself like a Nike sneaker. It's like icky. But if you think about sharing your professional perspective, like I show up online and I, I tell people what I think, I tell people what I like about work, then you layer on some personal stuff, your hobbies and things, especially also if they connect to your work even better.
But I think that connection comes from all of that. It comes from believing in what you say and what you're teaching and your professional credibility, but also just the human parts of you, you know, like, do you have a dog? Do you like to hide? You know, do you play Dungeons and Dragons, whatever.
Kirsten: Yeah, I think that's really imperative, especially now, like we're shifting away from this authority.
I don't want to say authoritative, but this influencer culture to where it's like we're sharing everything and we have to [00:24:00] be on all the time and look really, really appealing and like that supermodel mentality that you talked about before too, right? And people are craving, I think this is the reason Tik Tok has done so well as people are craving more of that human connection to real people.
They're more likely to follow someone who's just like sharing how it is. And maybe those, I even think. It feels so vulnerable but I look at a lot of the creators I follow they're not showing me their whole life this is not like their home videos this is just a piece of who they are and I feel so connected to that and when they have something they want to sell even if it's an affiliate product like I want to buy because I trust and I have that connection and it's something we can really block ourselves from if we.
Stay too much in one. Like of those four C's you mentioned, all of them are important. They all have to work together because if you focus too much on just like the credibility piece and you're never connecting to people because you're trying so hard to stay in expert mode. You know, I've fallen into that trap before where it's like, okay, I'm an expert.
I'm a coach. So what does a coach look like? Dress like I have to show up as that. And it just like makes me get in my head so much that I forget. Okay, also [00:25:00] I'm connecting to like mom entrepreneurs who are in the trenches and it's going to be a lot more relatable. We're going to connect if I'm up here sometimes.
With a top knot, you know, it doesn't always have to be professional because I'm an authority. I used to call that person
Kim: pantsuit Kim. So like I would show up on camera and be like, I'm pantsuit Kim. And it was not really me. It was like who I thought the expert me should be, but that's not even. Who I was in business or in corporate, in any situation, I was always, even when I was professional in a corporate setting in corporate media, I still like would make jokes and I would still be warm.
So like we have this vision of like what we're supposed to be as a business owner or as an expert. But the truth is, you should just be showing up as you with that expertise. And I liked your point of letting people in for certain things. So. You don't need to share everything. Yeah. Who says you need to share everything?
Nobody wants to hear everything. That's called TMI. To your point, building that point of connection, like, you know, I have two kids as well. I definitely bring in the fact that I'm a working mom running her own business. It is its [00:26:00] own beast of things, right? I have control over my schedule, which is amazing.
But like, There are those snafus when you're like, Oh, like I scheduled my day, da, da, da. And then of course, my kid got sick. And now what? Mm hmm. Other parents can totally relate to that. And so, it's important to bring in that piece and not always be Pantsuit Kim. Well, never be Pantsuit Kim, but Mm hmm. Now, Pantsuit Kim, I squished her.
I threw her in the river. I don't like Pantsuit Kim. She's done. But, you know, just showing more of your real life, I think you're right, is like people relate to you because you're a full person.
Kirsten: Yeah. A hundred percent. So talk to me a little bit about platforms. Is it like, do you kind of coach on all the platforms?
Do you find that there's a different way to show up on each or you find that it's all kind of melding together? You can totally repurpose and have the same effect. No matter what platform you're creating on.
Kim: So one thing I do when I coach my students and clients in video boot camp or one on one training, we very much first start with the messaging and the strategy.
So who are you? What are we showing up as? What are you about your personal life? We want to bring in [00:27:00] who you talk to definitely impacts what platforms we decide.
Kirsten: Yeah.
Kim: And I think which platforms, how many platforms depends on your support. If you have a support team, I say, go on as many as you can. If you're a solopreneur juggling and doing it yourself, I do not think that's a good idea because you're better off going deep on a few platforms rather than shallow on all of them.
Yeah. And I think when it comes to like actually making good videos, I think each platform has nuances. But at the end of the day, you're the same person. So what you talk about and what parts of your life you bring people in on that can remain the same, how you do it could be different. Like obviously different platforms are softer, more warm, more connection based.
You can show up with all of you. Some are more professional. So I think that there are definitely different components of the different platforms. The most important thing is your strategy of what you're presenting, understanding who you are and your expertise. So like I have clients. Like, a few of my clients from my video bootcamp, we end up putting them on Instagram [00:28:00] and LinkedIn, and then we end up recycling that for YouTube.
So YouTube recycling is super easy. It's just like, download the video and like, pop it on YouTube, schedule it, not a problem. It's super easy. I think Instagram and LinkedIn have different, different audiences. LinkedIn is like hyperprofessional, you know, so I have some self employed professionals looking for speaking engagements in addition to clients and leads, definitely LinkedIn.
Like all the bookers for speaking engagements, they're all on LinkedIn. Instagram is like more natural. And then I have other clients who are like, they're on TikTok. I'm like, okay, if you're on TikTok, also be on something else. Because the TikTok audience, huge, different than the LinkedIn audience. I think the benefit of YouTube.
Is it's connection to Google. So if you put stuff on YouTube, you surface more, right? You're getting that search engine optimization you're looking for. You can be found more. So I think in terms of visibility, YouTube is a great like secondary or tertiary platform and also just like easy. It's just like an easy thing.
You can embed it in newsletters. You can recycle it more. [00:29:00] Like I definitely am bullish on that, but I think a big part of it is me sitting with my client and being like, what are you about? Where are your clients? If you're telling me you sell to like really wealthy people, right? Well, where are they? Are these wealthy people of a certain age?
Are they on Facebook? Let's see. Are they on TikTok? Maybe. Let's think about it. Like, let's dig into the numbers. Because you really don't want to spend months and months and months making content for the wrong platform.
Kirsten: Yeah. What would you say to like, you know, I know we're not trying to make these personas necessarily, but I think sometimes people can have a fear of like, okay, if I show up and I'm doing this and this and then I want to, like, my kids always tease me, they want, Mom, make a funny account.
Be humorous. Do a funny one instead. Because that's way more entertaining. And they just think it's so boring when I get on there and I talk about emotional intelligence or marketing. So I'm like, I try to add humor. I am myself and my content, but what would you say to somebody who's like, maybe you've been building and they're trying to create this authenticity and then they're feeling a little more brave and they want to bring another piece of who they are in there.
Do you feel like [00:30:00] that works or do you feel like we need to be really careful of what we're bringing to the surface in our video?
Kim: Great. I think we should evolve. I think we should evolve as we are as humans. Right. And I think that if it feels authentic to you and it's not off brand, try it and see how it feels.
I mean, I will say your kids are not your client audience or not your ideal audience. It's true. So they seem real cute and stuff. But if they're not buying from you, I don't know that you should listen to them. True. You know, like I have people coming to me and they're like, Oh my God, my teenager's going to make such fun of me for being on video.
I was like, are they going to hire you? No, I don't care what they think. Yeah, truly. Like my kids are not teens yet. Fine. They'll probably be totally cringed that I'm on social media all the time. But like with my business, right? It's marketing my business. Like I don't really care. I'm like, you know, my mommy's in meeting cause she's buying you toys with that money.
She took you to Hamilton with that money. Okay. Yeah. So sorry. You had said something earlier about authenticity that I did want to mention. One of the things I think is important, like, as you kind of find your voice is honing that voice. [00:31:00] So a lot of times people will come and they're making content and they're getting a following, but they're like, is it bringing me leads?
Is it bringing me clients? When I first started promoting my podcasts, I basically did a bunch of podcast swaps for my podcast called The Exit Interview with Kim Rittberg. It's about self employed professionals, inspiration and action. So people's journeys, but also tangible tips on how to build your business with balance.
When I first started doing it, I was like all information all the time. And there really wasn't much of like Kim who makes jokes and is loose and fun really at all. And so my first like eight to ten interviews, like. They didn't really move the needle. They didn't really move the needle for listenership.
They didn't really move the needle for my business. I got some followers, but it wasn't, wasn't earth shattering. I kept doing interviews, obviously, cause that's just a part of the business. I went on one. I did one interview. This person has a big following, but that's not necessarily just it. I went on that interview.
I did the interview and I really was much more myself and I was really more real about my own life, my own experience and what I do for work. [00:32:00] And I sold 30, 000 in work just from that podcast. People were jumping into my inbox. Hey, Kim, I heard you on that podcast. I'd love to hop on a call. And then I have another podcast that I, I guess, host on people message me.
Like, I feel like I know you and some got on the call with me at discovery call. They're like, I feel like we're friends. You seem so cool. That's what authenticity is. It did not happen overnight. It took me a while. It was a lot of trial and error when you're showing up to a podcast interview or you're showing up on video and you're really unleashing.
If you want to be humorous, be humorous. Like if that's natural to you and you really are funny and it's not forced, do it, people are going to like that. So I have some clients who do some really funny videos and it works for them because it's real. So like have most executive coaches, real estate agents, business owners, coaches in different spheres.
So life coaches, I have one agent. Actually, he does really funny videos. He used to be an actor. He loves me on camera. He brings that he's like, does these really cute dancing videos where. He's like a tap dancer in a [00:33:00] fancy apartment and it's just really cute and it's different. Yeah, that's authentic to him.
So that works for him. But other people, I don't think that works for. I just don't think that works. And some people like to do satire. I think satire is great if you can make it work. Amazing. But I think it's just important to really Loosen up and unleash your actual personality. And again, that comes with practice, right?
Like the first five podcast interviews, you're going to do the first 10 or 20 videos you're going to do, you're probably not going to be the most authentic you. And that's fine. But over time, like realize the more you practice, the more you get on camera. If you start showing up every single day on camera, on Instagram stories, Facebook stories, whatever, like the, just that kind of.
expiration date type of content where you know it's expiring after a day and you don't have to think so, be so precious about it. Show up on camera every other day for a month, 15 times. You'll get the cobwebs off real fast. Yeah. And you'll get really comfortable.
Kirsten: I love that. I love that you spoke to that authenticity.
Like you maybe aren't going to change. We're not trying to curate this personality. It's just like, The less [00:34:00] you're thinking about it, the more the real you can come out, and I've experienced that for sure myself. I have people still, because I've been doing this a long time like you, I've been showing up in video since live video was a thing, and before that, and I think people have the tendency to be like, I don't know how you do that, how you're so brave to show up in video.
And I'm like, well, I wasn't at first, at first I was like, I remember going live the first time being like, what is happening? Like who's watching this? Yeah. And you're just kind of in your head. And it's just like any skill, you do it enough times, you don't even have to be thinking about it anymore. It becomes super second nature and then you can get into the really fun stuff where it's like I don't have to think about the video anymore, so now I'm just able to think about my content, I'm able to think about my person, and it's such a more vulnerable thing, but you do have to go through the process.
You do have to give yourself that time and that freedom to just have some of the stuff that's a little cringe and it's a little stiff and everything, and then it comes. I think everybody needs to hear that because It's like in a business, right? You start and you do something the first time and you're like, oh my gosh, it took me six hours to do a blog post or to create an Instagram [00:35:00] post or whatever.
And in your mind, you're thinking it's always going to be this hard, but it won't because it was only hard that hard the first time. The second time, it's going to take half the amount of time and half and half and half until it's like, No brainer. So I think it's a good reminder that we have to know, like it builds upon itself.
It compounds and it's not always going to be, it's not going to require so much mental effort, but it is important to learn it and have that strong foundation so that you're also not just throwing spaghetti at the wall, right? You're not just like 100 percent trying to fight yourself and resist all of this fear.
You're like leaning into it and you're You feel like you have that structure and that guidance so that it doesn't have to feel so scary. So
Kim: it's like everything is hard at first, right? I mean, my business. Oh my God, I was using my Gmail when I started. Weren't we all Yahoo Gmail? Yeah. My friend's like, you got to stop using your personal Gmail.
I was like, Oh God. It's like everything at the beginning is hard.
Kirsten: Yeah.
Kim: And I don't just mean the mindset piece. I mean, literally it's hard to learn new skills. In every area, right? So some of us like marketing more naturally, or some of us like operations or [00:36:00] like the financials more naturally. And the other things are, okay, well, let's figure it out.
Even if you don't want to do, make the videos yourself, you are still the chief marketing officer for your business. So you need to understand what you're going to make, even if you want to delegate it. So I don't do my books, but I understand my books. Yeah. So like, I get it. She sends me the top line. Okay, here's how much you made last year and here's the different buckets it fell into.
Here's your expenses. Okay. I'm not going to do my books, but I understand them. And so I think for video, maybe. You just need to know how to be good on camera and are better or good on camera and then what your strategy is going to be, what kind of stuff you're going to talk about, and maybe you're just the face of it and someone else like makes the videos and edits the videos and posts the videos.
So I don't think also, we don't have to be so hard on, Oh my God, it's gonna take so many hours a week. I don't know. You could probably delegate a bunch of it. Like my most successful clients, they know how to do it. They do it themselves, but maybe they have a social media manager posting or they have an editor editing the videos.
There's just different ways to expedite it. [00:37:00]
Kirsten: I love that. It's good food for thought as an entrepreneur because I think when you're in the beginning you are doing so many things and it can feel really daunting, but just give yourself the grace of acquiring the skill little by little and take that into your video creation.
I think it's been really good food for thought because I know video and showing up in content is one of the silliest, okay, I hate to say silly. It's one of the biggest things that holds people back and it's easy for me to sit here years in and be like, that's so silly, but I get it because there's still things that I'm afraid of.
There's still things that I choose to like live in the story of fear than just go after it. But it's such an attainable skill. Like it's something that you literally can just give yourself some time. And get better. And now you no longer have that barrier. Now we can get into other problems.
Kim: Totally. I probably should have said this right at the beginning of our interview, but the main thing is to understand content converts to cash.
Yeah. If you don't deeply believe that, you're not going to get on camera. If you believe that, and you know that every year video is more and more important, and that you're at a competitive [00:38:00] advantage, if you use video. Then you're more likely to break through the barriers. But I do think the people that I meet, I can tell, I jump on a call.
I can see if somebody is bought into the idea of video. And then I'm like, let's do this. How can I support you? You have to really be bought in. Like I have clients who have sold, who have made hundreds of thousands of dollars last year from video from clients. And I don't mean partner deals. I mean, selling people their services through video.
Yeah. And so it really converts to cash. It's not just like, Oh, that's fine. I made like a video about me and my dog. With confidence and strategy, it can really convert to money. And so I think it's important to really own that and to really understand that's a thing. Because I think if you don't, if you're not bought into it and it doesn't matter enough, you won't.
Kirsten: It's so true. It is 2025. This is a non negotiable. I will say it straight up, like this isn't just an optional type of content. This is content now. It's the reason we're doing video with podcasts, like you can't ignore it. It's a [00:39:00] huge, crucial component and whether your business is going to succeed. So it's kind of like, find your way that it's going to work for you.
Get on the horse because you can't avoid writing it right. Like you're going to have to figure it out one way or another. And there's so many different ways that you can do that. But I think the easiest is just this human to human connection. Make the video. I do have another question. You mentioned LinkedIn is a really strong one.
I am not on there as much, but I've kind of heard, like, they're just as much video preference Pinterest is, too, compared to how it used to be, where it was very article and written word driven. Are you seeing that being a thing? Like, and what are we talking in video on LinkedIn, is it? authoritative? Is it just that same, like, we're creating, I don't, I doubt there's, like, trending audio on LinkedIn.
Like, fill me in, because I'm behind.
Kim: Sure. I mean, every algorithm is promoting video. So, I think, We know that the robots like video and humans like video. So video is the most shared content online across platforms and the algorithms like it. So when you're on LinkedIn, definitely it's worth playing around.
I think because LinkedIn is its own beast, I think it's [00:40:00] worth, like, you should look at your competitors and say, what do I like? What makes sense in my space? Because it is more of a professional platform. That's not to say that you shouldn't be vulnerable or more personal because that content actually does really well because the same people, the same mompreneurs that you might connect with somewhere else, they're also on LinkedIn.
So why not be there? And the thing that I like about LinkedIn actually is when people comment on someone else's post, it often gets visible. Like it'll say, you know, Jenna commented on Kim's post and you'll see it. So it really gets you additional visibility too, but it's a mixture. The content on LinkedIn is also a mixture.
It's talk to camera. It's a little lifestyle, but it's not a lot of like dancing type of stuff. It's more professionally related, but there is that personal piece of it that people do tie in because behind every executive or CEO is a real human.
Kirsten: So we're not talking about bringing out pantsuit Kim for LinkedIn and LinkedIn only we're talking about still being us, but maybe like the positioning and the content style being a little different depending on the platform.
Pantsuit Kim is in the [00:41:00] East River. I put her there.
Kim: She's gone forever. Pantsuit Kim is gone forever. She ain't never coming back.
Kirsten: I love it. Oh my gosh. I'm sure you're fabulous at what you do. Where can people follow along if they want to keep learning about content and studying the things we've talked about today, connecting with you?
It sounds like you're on LinkedIn. Where else is the best?
Kim: Sure. I'm on at Kim Rittberg. K I M R I T T B E R G. Kim Rittberg on Instagram, LinkedIn. I have a YouTube page, Kim Rittberg content. I also have a free download if you'd like. It's 10 tips to make videos that are magical and not mediocre. And then there's also a bonus download of how to be on camera confident.
So it has like tangible tips that I didn't even mention today, uh, tangible tips on how to be confident on camera as well. And I lead a program called video bootcamp. That's a coaching program. And I also do one on one and workshops. Awesome.
Kirsten: Okay. If you guys are in need of this, you've come to the right place.
Hope you guys have gotten tons of. Notes and then if you want more we'll have everything linked in the show notes, but thank you so much Kim This has been really fun to talk to you hear about your experience and just some of the [00:42:00] great tips that you've provided to our Audience, it's been great. Thank you.
Me, too. Thank you so much again Kim and our show sponsors for today's episode Listen, I know that there is a lot of fear around creating video content And I hope that in today's episode with all of the cool things that Kim shared with us, you're a little bit closer to overcoming some of those fears and roadblocks that might come up when you think about letting yourself be seen on camera.
The power is truly there, so don't ignore it. Take the time to make really good quality content, but don't get lost in the weeds. Just remember, done is fun, and the world wants to hear your voice and your message, and they want to see everything that you have to offer. Thanks for tuning in, fellow and future millionaires.
Until next time, class dismissed.
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