Five Things I've Learned That People Starting Out Think They Need for Content & Marketing (And the Five Things They Do)
By Ben Tierney-Morrison | Morrison Media, LLC
Here's a scene I've watched play out more times than I can count.
A business owner sits down across from me at the studio. They've got a notebook — sometimes it's on their phone, sometimes it's actual paper. They're fired up. They've been watching their competitors online, reading articles, and now they have a list of everything they need to do to "finally get their marketing right."
The list is ambitious. It involves going viral. It involves every social media platform in existence. It probably involves hiring a full-time social media manager before they've filmed a single thing.
I read the list. I smile. And then I ask one question: "What does your website look like right now?"
Usually — not always, but usually — the answer involves a stock photo from 2015, a paragraph that starts with "Welcome to our website," and a headshot that was taken at a company holiday party.
Here's what I've learned after 15+ years behind the camera and in front of clients across La Crosse and the Midwest: most businesses don't have a credibility problem. They have a visibility problem. The work is good. The people are great. Nobody just knows about it yet.
So let's fix that.
What You Think You Need (The List I See All the Time)
Before we get to the good stuff, let me acknowledge the five things business owners almost always come in asking for:
A massive social media following before creating anything — "Once we have more followers, we'll invest."
A full brand overhaul first — "We need new colors, a new logo, and a new name maybe."
A team of people to handle it all — "We'd need to hire someone full-time for this."
A viral moment to get things going — "We just need one thing to take off."
To be on every platform simultaneously — "We need TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook — all at once."
I hear you. Every single time. But here's the honest truth: none of those are where you start. And once you do the five things below, some of those things take care of themselves.
Let's talk about what works.
1. A Stock Video Foundation for Your Website and Socials
This is the starting line. Full stop.
A stock video foundation isn't a Hollywood production — it's a set of clean, professional clips that represent your business: your space, your team, your process, your work in action. Think B-roll. Think 30-second clips. Think the stuff that fills the gaps on your website homepage, your social posts, and your ad campaigns so you're never scrambling for something to post.
Here's why it matters first: everything else we're going to talk about in this blog depends on having real visual content to work with. Your headshots need a context. Your vertical videos need a backdrop. Your blog graphics need photos. A stock video foundation is what makes all the other pieces possible — and what makes your business look like it has its act together from the very first click.
When someone lands on your website and sees your space, your people, your work — they stay. They trust. They reach out. That's not a theory. That's what I've watched happen over and over again with clients right here in La Crosse.
What this looks like at Morrison Media, LLC:
A focused studio session at 1100 Kane St. in La Crosse
5–10 clean clips of your space, team, and services in action
Horizontal and vertical formats — covered for web AND social
Files organized and ready to drop into anything, no extra editing required
2. Professional Headshots and Personal Branding Photos
Your headshot is doing a job whether you want it to or not.
It's on your website. It's on your LinkedIn. It's in your email signature. It's the first thing a potential client sees when they search your name at 10 p.m. trying to decide if they want to reach out. And if it's a blurry, awkwardly cropped photo from three years ago, it's telling a story you don't want it to tell.
Professional headshots and personal branding photos aren't vanity — they're credibility. A clean, well-lit photo of you in your element does something no amount of copy can replicate: it makes people feel like they already know you. And people hire people they feel like they know.
One focused session gives you content for your website, your social profiles, your email newsletters, your speaker bios, and your proposals. It works for you every single day without you lifting a finger. And it costs a lot less than losing a client because someone else looked more put-together online.
What this looks like at Morrison Media, LLC:
A focused session at 1100 Kane St. in La Crosse or on-location
Clean, professional headshots in multiple looks and backgrounds
Personal branding photos that show you in your environment, doing your work
Edited and delivered in formats ready for web, print, and social
3. A Blog Post (With a Graphic and Social Content Built Right In)
Here's my not-so-secret truth about blogs: a blog isn't just a blog anymore.
When I work with a client on a blog post, we're not just writing an article. We're building a content system. One well-written post on the right topic gives you a long-form piece for your website, a graphic post with the top takeaways for Instagram and Facebook, caption copy for multiple social posts, and a resource you can link to in emails and proposals — all from one sitting.
The best blogs aren't thought leadership pieces about industry trends. They're the answers to real questions your clients are already asking you. How does your pricing work? What should I bring to our first meeting? What do you wish your clients knew before they hired you?
Write the blog you wish you could paste into an email every time someone asks you the same question. That's the one that keeps working long after you've moved on to the next thing.
What this looks like at Morrison Media, LLC:
One blog post written in your voice — not stiff, not corporate, not AI-speak
A "Top Points" graphic formatted for Instagram and Facebook
Caption copy ready to post
All assets delivered clean and organized
4. A Process or "Behind the Scenes" Video
People don't just buy your service. They buy how you do it.
This is the video that shows your process — your care, your craft, the way you work. It's the one where someone watching thinks: Oh, I get it now. That's the person I want.
It doesn't need to be overproduced. In fact, the less staged it looks, the more effective it is — because it signals real. It's filmed in your space. It shows you thinking, building, creating, serving. It humanizes your work in a way that no amount of five-star reviews can replicate.
For service businesses especially — contractors, consultants, healthcare providers, media companies — this video closes more deals than almost anything else. People need to see the work before they trust the work. They need to feel like they know you before they write a check. A behind-the-scenes video is the fastest shortcut to both.
What this looks like at Morrison Media, LLC:
A studio or on-location shoot depending on your business
A 1–3 minute finished piece that walks people through your process
Can be broken into smaller clips for Reels, Shorts, and Stories — one shoot, multiple deliverables
5. Short-Form Vertical Video (Reels, Shorts, and Stories)
This is the format most businesses are sleeping on — and the one that's driving the majority of organic reach right now.
Short-form vertical video — built for Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Stories — is not just a horizontal video flipped sideways. It's its own format with its own rules: fast, punchy, hook-first, and designed to earn attention in the first two seconds before someone scrolls right past.
Here's the part people miss: you don't need to create this content from scratch every week. When you build your stock video foundation and film your behind-the-scenes content, you're already 80% of the way there. The clips exist. The stories are captured. It's a matter of cutting them into vertical format and putting them to work.
One focused production session — done right — can give you two to three months of short-form content. No scrambling. No starting over every Monday. Just a system that posts consistently because the work was done once, correctly, up front.
What this looks like at Morrison Media, LLC:
A dedicated short-form vertical video production session
Multiple finished clips optimized for Reels and Shorts
Scripted or natural — whatever fits your brand voice
Delivered in the right dimensions and formats, ready to post
The Real Part (You Knew This Was Coming)
Here's what I believe after 15+ years behind the camera:
Most businesses in La Crosse — and honestly, everywhere in the Midwest — are doing great work that nobody ever hears about. Not because the work isn't good. Because no one ever captured it, packaged it, or put it somewhere people could find it.
That's fixable. Not with one viral moment and not overnight — but with the right five assets, done well, used on purpose. That's how you go from the business people stumble across to the one they were already looking for.
And you don't have to figure that out alone. That's kind of our whole thing.
So What About That List?
Since I brought it up — here's what happens once you have these five assets in place:
A huge following first? Good content is what builds the following.
A full brand overhaul? A lot easier when you can see yourself on camera and know what feels right.
A full-time hire? A proper content session gives you months of material without adding headcount.
A viral moment? Consistent, real content is what makes viral moments possible.
Every platform at once? One well-produced session gives you content for all of them.
Funny how that works.
Let's Build Yours
If you're a business in La Crosse, the Coulee Region, or anywhere in the Midwest and you're ready to get your content working for you — I'd love to hear what you're building.
Reach out. We'll take it from there.
Ben Tierney-Morrison | Morrison Media, LLC
📍 1100 Kane St. La Crosse, WI 54601
📧 info@morrisonmediallc.com
📞 (608) 385-7975
🌐 www.morrisonmediallc.com
