The Two Things Every Trades Person Needs to Start Creating Great Video Content
"I haven't got time to create content."
This is something we hear from trades people all the time.
Fair enough.
If you're a roofer, plumber, electrician, builder, landscaper or decorator, your working day isn't supposed to revolve around Instagram.
You've got jobs to finish.
Customers to deal with.
Materials to collect.
Quotes to send.
And probably somebody asking where you are.
But here's the thing.
You're surrounded by content all day.
The problem isn't finding something interesting to film.
It's remembering to film it.
So rather than constantly stopping work, getting your phone out, positioning it somewhere and trying to become a content creator...
What if you simply recorded the interesting bits of your working day while you were doing them?
For that, we think you need two things.
1. An Action Camera
You don't need a huge professional camera.
You don't need lenses.
You don't need a camera person following you around every day.
You need something small enough that you'll actually use it.
Our choice?
DJI Osmo Action Camera
Find out more information here.
Why an action camera?
Because it's designed to capture movement.
It's compact.
It's stabilised.
It can be mounted in different positions.
And most importantly...
You don't have to treat it like a film production.
Turn it on.
Get to work.
Let it capture what's happening.
That's exactly what we want.
2. A Magnetic Chest Mount
This is how to go hands free, hit record and document your work.
Magnetic Chest Mount
Find out more information here and prices.
Put the camera on your chest and suddenly your customer can see the job from your point of view.
Your hands are free.
You're not holding a phone.
You're not constantly thinking about filming.
You're just working.
Except now you're collecting footage while you do it.
That's incredibly powerful.
Imagine You're a Roofer
You arrive at a property because the customer has water coming through the ceiling.
Camera on.
You're climbing up.
You find the problem.
Maybe a tile has slipped.
Maybe there's something completely unexpected.
You inspect it.
You remove the damaged section.
You repair it.
You show the finished result.
Camera off.
You've just captured the raw material for potentially five or six different pieces of content without stopping to "create content."
One Job, Multiple Stories.
Let's say you've captured 45 minutes of footage.
Nobody wants to watch 45 minutes of you repairing a roof.
That's not the point.
Inside that footage there might be:
"Can You Spot What's Wrong With This Roof?"
Start with the inspection.
Ask viewers whether they can identify the problem before you reveal it.
"This Tiny Problem Caused a Huge Leak"
Show the damaged area.
Explain why something seemingly insignificant created a much bigger issue.
"What Does a Roofer Actually Look For?"
Use your POV footage while inspecting the roof and add commentary explaining what you're checking.
"Before vs After"
Five seconds before.
Five seconds afterwards.
Simple.
"Would You Repair or Replace This?"
Show the problem and explain the options.
"Things Customers Never See"
Show the craftsmanship that happens in places customers rarely get to look.
One job.
Six potential pieces of content.
And This Works for Almost Every Trade
Electrician
POV footage:
Opening a consumer unit.
Testing.
Finding a fault.
Replacing something.
Testing again.
Potential content:
"Can You Spot The Problem?"
"Here's Why Your Breaker Keeps Tripping."
"What We're Actually Checking During an Electrical Inspection."
Plumber
Capture:
Finding a leak.
Tracing where it's coming from.
Removing the damaged part.
Installing the replacement.
Testing.
Now you've got:
"Where Would You Look For This Leak?"
"This £10 Part Caused All This Damage."
"Before You Call a Plumber, Check This."
Painter & Decorator
Capture:
Preparation.
Filling.
Sanding.
Masking.
Cutting in.
Painting.
Finished room.
That's incredibly satisfying visual content.
And more importantly, it demonstrates something customers don't always appreciate:
The work before the paint goes on.
That's how you communicate quality.
Landscaper
You've potentially got the perfect content business.
Mud.
Diggers.
Demolition.
Groundwork.
Building.
Planting.
Transformation.
And then...
The reveal.
The transformation itself becomes the story.
Stop Trying to Create Content
This might sound strange coming from Visual Marketing Lab.
But:
Stop trying to create content.
Instead:
CAPTURE YOUR WORK.
There's a big difference.
If you start every morning thinking:
"I need to make three Instagram Reels today."
You'll probably stop after a week.
Instead:
"I'm doing an interesting job today. I'll record parts of it."
That's sustainable.
You don't need to know what the final Reel is going to be yet.
Capture first. Find the stories afterwards.
The 5 Moments We'd Capture On Every Job
You don't need eight hours of footage.
Instead, try capturing five moments.
1. THE ARRIVAL
What's the problem?
A quick piece to camera:
"We've been called out today because..."
Instant context.
2. THE PROBLEM
Show us what's wrong.
This is often your best hook.
3. THE PROCESS
This is where the action camera really earns its place.
Let us see the work happening.
4. THE INTERESTING BIT
Something unusual.
Something difficult.
Something customers wouldn't normally see.
Something you learned.
Something that went wrong.
That's often your story.
5. THE RESULT
Don't forget this!
You've spent the whole day fixing something...
Show us what you achieved.
Don't Forget Your Phone
Here's where we'd add one extra rule.
The action camera captures the work.
Your phone captures the story around the work.
Use your phone for a quick vertical clip:
"We've just arrived at..."
Then:
"Here's the problem..."
Then let the action camera capture the work.
At the end:
"And here's how it turned out."
Now you've got:
Setup → Problem → Process → Result.
That's a story.
But Now You've Got Another Problem...
After a month of doing this, you might have:
Hours and hours of footage.
Which brings us to the bit nobody talks about.
Capturing content is relatively easy.
Finding the good bits is the hard part.
Someone needs to:
Watch it.
Find the interesting moments.
Cut the rubbish.
Create the story.
Add captions.
Add music where appropriate.
Add your branding.
Format it vertically.
Write the hook.
Export it.
Publish it.
Suddenly that 45 minutes of roofing footage becomes a polished 30-second piece of marketing content.
You Capture It. We Turn It Into Content.
This is where there's a really simple division of labour.
YOU
Do the job.
Wear the camera.
Capture what's happening.
Occasionally explain what's going on.
Upload the footage.
WE
Go through it.
Find the stories.
Edit the strongest moments.
Turn them into Reels, Stories and social posts.
Add captions.
Create hooks.
Build repeatable content formats.
Suddenly you don't need to employ somebody to follow you around filming every day.
You're capturing the raw ingredients yourself.
We're turning them into something people actually want to watch.
Your Business Is More Interesting Than You Think
This is probably the biggest lesson.
When you repair roofs every day, repairing a roof doesn't seem interesting.
When you install consumer units every week, opening one doesn't seem interesting.
When you've plastered 500 walls, plastering another wall doesn't feel like content.
But your customer doesn't do this every day.
They've probably never seen it.
That's the opportunity.
Show them.
Explain it.
Teach them.
Show what goes wrong.
Show what good looks like.
Show your craftsmanship.
Show the result.
And let them see the people behind the business.
Because eventually somebody watching is going to have exactly the problem you've just shown them how to solve.
And when that happens...
Who do you think they're going to remember?
The Visual Marketing Lab Trades Content Formula
PROBLEM → PROCESS → PROOF → PERSON
Problem
What's gone wrong?
Process
Show us how you solve it.
Proof
Show us the finished result.
Person
Let us get to know the people doing the work.
Repeat that consistently and you're not simply posting videos.
You're building evidence.
Evidence that you know what you're doing.
Evidence that you do good work.
Evidence that you solve real problems.
And evidence that you're somebody a customer might trust in their home or business.
Start With Two Things
You don't need a studio.
You don't need £10,000 worth of equipment.
You don't need to become a filmmaker.
Start with:
1. DJI Osmo Action Camera
2. Magnetic Chest Mount
Then go to work.
Capture what happens.
Find the stories.
And if you don't fancy spending Sunday evening watching six hours of footage trying to turn it into Instagram Reels...
That's the bit you can give to us.
You capture it.
Create The Image turns it into marketing.
Test. Share. Create.
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