C.C. Chapman is a "storyteller for hire," a longtime podcaster, a popular speaker, and a marketing expert with years of experience creating integrated marketing campaigns for brands, including HBO, Coca-Cola, and American Eagle Outfitters. He wrote the book Amazing Things Will Happen and co-wrote Content Rules with Ann Handley of MarketingProfs.

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I've known C.C. for years, and his accomplishments in the marketing sphere are varied and inspiring. I invited him to Marketing Smarts to talk about his recent book, 101 Steps to Making Videos Like a Pro (co-written with Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff), and also to discuss how brands can land the best creative talent in a competitive recruiting environment.

Here are just a few highlights from our conversation:

Podcasting is worthwhile, and easier than ever (07:02): "When we got started, you couldn't buy a microphone that would plug into your computer that would be of the quality they are today. Now, you can buy a USB microphone for under $100, and your computer, no matter what you have, has software on it to record and publish."

To recruit the best talent, offer flexible work schedules (23:05): "One of the key things for any job is flexibility to deal with those things that life throws at you as a parent. It wasn't that long ago—and there are still plenty who do not embrace that—but it wasn't that long ago that no company gave parents that flexibility. But now, with the technology, you can work from the doctor's office while your kid's going to an appointment, you can work from other places. The sooner brands and companies embrace the fact that [this] is a very different workforce than it was a while ago, the better off they'll be."

When creating video content, focus on sound quality (28:36): "People seem to think that audio's not as important, and it's as important if not more important because, as beautiful as [a video] is, if I can't hear it, if I can't listen to what you're trying to say, it's dead to me. I'm not going to watch it. And that's true for everybody, and especially when people are watching now on their phones or their tablets more than ever, the audio's got to be good. Otherwise, it doesn't matter."

You can order 101 Steps to Making Videos Like a Pro on Amazon. To learn more about C.C., visit CC-Chapman.com, or follow him on Twitter: @CC_Chapman.

C.C. and I discussed much more, so be sure to listen to the entire show, which you can do above, or download the mp3 and listen at your convenience. Of course, you can also subscribe to the Marketing Smarts podcast in iTunes or via RSS and never miss an episode!

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Music credit: Noam Weinstein.

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Published on August 6, 2014