Short-form content strategist for founders and creators

What I do for short form

• Strategy. Who you are, who it is for and who you are against: a brand with a mission and an enemy, with something in every video for the audience.
• Formats. About three repeatable formats, each with one job. The top brings new people in, like the selfie video: one person, one problem, one solution. The middle keeps them: podcasts built for the clip, and carousels. The bottom sells.
• Cadence. Three posts a day on the main feed is the target, because a flop costs nothing. If that feels like a lot, start at one a day and add the second when it is easy.
• Team. Built inside your business, from your people and freelance editors and producers from my network. I work inside it at strategy level and can exec produce.

How it works in practice

• The weekly rhythm. A 30 minute check-in every week, a 90 minute sprint every fortnight and a 14 day plan every 14 days. Every video is logged with its views and new followers.
• Recording day. Book a studio, have someone read out questions written in advance, and answer them in one batch. One hour in the studio for Creator Hotline gave 59 clips, two months of daily posts. See Recording day.
• The clip bank. Every recording becomes a bank of clips, one idea each at 40 to 75 seconds, hook first, and each one a ticket for the editors. See The clip bank.
• Trial reels. Two a day on Instagram on top of the feed, to test hooks. The winners move to the feed.

What it costs

• Power hour session, £600. 60 minutes on video: what to make, who for, and in which format.
• Three month sprint, by application. A 60 minute call every fortnight, and in between I take a seat in your team and hold you and the team accountable.
• Fractional head of content, or fractional COO, £4,500 to £7,500 a month. 6 month minimum, then monthly. I own the strategy, the cadence, the team and the reporting.

For a wider view, read What content help costs in the UK.

Consultancy or agency?

A short-form agency makes and posts the videos for you at a set volume. I do not. I set the strategy, the formats and the cadence, build the team inside your business that makes them, and work inside it, exec producing where it helps. That needs your time on camera and your input. An agency suits you better when your formats already work, someone in your business owns the strategy and can brief them every week, and what you need is more volume. If that is you, hire one. The longer version is Content strategist vs content agency.

The Sam Stoffel example

Sam had been posting for about seven months and sat at about 1,500 followers, at two to three short videos a week. I replaced the team before testing a single format, gave the brand a mission and an enemy, and built a system that posted three times a day. Three formats carried the growth: selfie videos, podcasts and reviewing personal brands. The views needed to win one follower fell from 24 to 14. The brand went from 0 to 500,000 followers in 10 months. Read how Sam Stoffel went from 0 to 500,000 followers.

Platforms: what each is for

• Instagram. Start here. It is where you learn fastest, so every format is tested here first, and there is more appetite to buy.
• TikTok. The test bed alongside Instagram. It was Sam's second platform.
• YouTube Shorts. Cross-post when it costs nothing. YouTube long form comes last for most founders, because it is the slowest place to learn.
• LinkedIn. Only the proven winners, rewritten with the depth underneath, every weekday. It is where the buyers are.

Who this is not for

A founder who wants videos made without giving their time or getting on camera. Anyone unclear about their commitment: this takes time, patience and your input. And anyone with formats that already work who needs more volume: hire an agency. If the question is the personal brand itself rather than short form, read Personal brand strategist UK, or apply on the consulting page.