Taking online content creation to the next level for aftermarket business

The Mountains2Metal crew went shopping at Southeastern Camera store in Raleigh, N.C. and this is the haul.

In this day and age, I can almost guarantee that at any given time, you've looked at social media within the last few hours. I know I am guilty, sometimes wondering what I’m doing with myself for extended periods of time. Is it fun? Some of the time. Is it a waste of time? Maybe. But I never feel guilty when I have been entertained or I’ve learned something new.

On the other side of the screen, there is a whole other world. All those pictures and videos on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube have to come from somewhere. Content has to be created, which means someone has to take the pictures or film the videos. And if you are out there trying to push a product or an agenda, that content needs to be good.

Most people use a phone to create content, and that’s definitely the most convenient tool. Snap a pic, post it, easy peasy. In the past, for social media or brand images, my co-workers and I would use our personal devices to create social media content for the company. But then when we parted ways with an employee, those photos would leave on that person’s device. A lesson learned, I should say.

If you want to take your content to the next level, there’s more involved, like editing pictures and videos. This isn’t a new thing; I took some classes in college to do some graphic arts work, and a lot of those photo-editing programs are still around but far more advanced than I remember. But I don’t have a lot of experience with video editing, so that’s where my co-worker Ashley Duran, who’s in charge of marketing and advertising for Mountains2Metal, comes in.

Equipment Upgrade

When we hired Ashley, we told her we planned on buying some new equipment. Several times, I’ve been on a trail and wished I had some action cameras mounted to my Bronco, not only for footage of myself but also of my friends and other vehicles. Getting content is the key—something I need to get better at!

Since work around the shop has been slow, it seemed like the perfect time to get away and check out some equipment. We heard about a nice camera shop, Southeastern Camera, located in Raleigh, N.C., that had plenty of new and used equipment. Getting a lightly used camera would have been OK with us, but the shop didn’t have very much in stock at the time of our visit.

The gentleman that helped us was very knowledgeable and understood what we were trying to do: take some quality product pictures and get some decent video to work with. We ended up choosing a Canon EOS R8 mirrorless camera—more than enough to do what we need—plus a memory card, a mic with a wind screen, and a bag to hold it all.

I should mention that I entered that store with a little fire under my backside because of some harsh emails and YouTube comments. I guess everyone expects us to hire Peter Jackson and put out some “Lord of The Rings”-quality cinematography. People are ruthless, and the less I give them to complain about, the better off we will be.

Then we moved on to some action cameras. Although GoPro is a household name, we decided to go against the grain with a couple of the new DJI Osmo Action 4 cameras. I did some research, and I think we made the right decision. With two of them, we could get some nice forward and backwards shots on the trails, and we could mount one to the vehicle in front of us to get some split views. I was getting excited at this point, thinking of all the opportunities I’ve missed to create cool footage because I didn’t have a camera like this.

Next to the action cameras were a few DJI drones that we started drooling over. A lot of YouTubers get great footage using drones, and it adds a nice dynamic to their videos. We’d like to get one, but we decided to wait until we get our hands far more dirty with the equipment we have.

Two DJI Osmo Action cameras were part of the purchase bundle.

Time to Create

If you are a small shop, get out there and show off your capabilities. It won’t hurt, but it does take some time and patience. You’ll only get better the more you create.

I follow a lot of influencers on several platforms. I often get stuck in the YouTube black hole, and sometimes I wonder what is so special about these people and their videos? And how are they making a living doing this? I guess they stay consistent and try to be relevant. Some of them are extremely annoying, but I give them props for doing something that they like to do.

I would rather have us find the happy medium—get some good-quality shots and videos and keep our content down to earth. The big box companies have recognized that there are people out there like us and offer entry-level creator kits. We chose to piece ours together, but I feel like we’ve added some fuel to the fire. We have some gear and are ready to roll. Give us a follow on @Mountains2Metal and let us know how we’re doing, good or bad, or throw some suggestions our way.

A new DJI Osmo Action 4 is mounted to a Mountains2Metal dash rail and ready to take on some trails.