This morning, I told this incredibly talented video editor that he would fail trying to work on my content. Despite his vast experience in video editing and his deep knowledge of all the tools, he would still fail.
Because what matters most is actually understanding the content.
Imagine you are a Greek language instructor specializing in advanced conversational techniques in Greek. Someone who doesn’t speak a word of Greek confidently tells you they can create killer short-form videos that will make you a sensation on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
What would your response be?
Often, a video with zero editing has more impact than one with 50 hours of editing by a mindless VA who adds distracting bits to make it “interesting” in their eyes.
What they fail to realize is that the purpose of editing a video is not to add unnecessary, oddly placed special effects, but to improve how the video conveys the intended message. To achieve this, video editors must first understand the content itself.
There was one guy who hit me up and said, “I will edit your videos.”
I gave him a one-hour video with all the context he needed, and he had no clue what was important because he didn’t understand the material.
He added a bunch of cool little effects but had no idea what was actually worthwhile.
How could anyone possibly determine what’s worthwhile if they don’t understand the content itself?
He basically said, “Hey, hire me.”
Okay, I appreciate the effort, but you need to demonstrate that you even know what we do. I get hit up by hundreds—thousands—of people saying, “I can edit your videos.”
And then, “If you need help with content creation…”
No, I don’t need help with content creation. I need people who can process raw videos the way we teach.
This is a classic example of why we don’t just hire some random VA. This is why most agencies — especially VA placement agencies — fail.
They have no real intake process and don’t take the time to understand the client. They make you fill out forms that no one reads and don’t even use them for hiring.
Then they make you interview candidates and go through resumes — like you’re supposed to figure out who’s good.
What value do they add if you’re the one doing all the work?
How about an SEO expert or agency that claims they can drive you 100 more leads each month?
If the “expert” doesn’t understand your business or your strategy, it doesn’t matter one iota how many years of experience they have. They will fail to deliver results.
We have already seen how AI tools outperform humans in mechanical tasks like editing videos, writing articles, and managing PPC campaigns.
Consider this short-form video on Instagram:
AI tools like Opus.pro can create these clips for a nominal monthly fee. They are actually far better at selecting clips from long-form videos than many video editors, who struggle because they do not fully understand the content and believe they don’t need to grasp the GCT of the material they are working with. While AI tools are powerful, they can’t deliver optimal results on their own.
Human curation is still essential, but it must be done by someone who truly understands the content. When a person fully grasps the goals, content, and targeting, they can complete the task a hundred times faster, avoiding the #1 VA mistake.
And this doesn’t just apply to video editors; it includes “social media experts,” website builders, and really anyone with a specialized skill.
Most tool experts or experts in digital marketing make this mistake every single day and aren’t aware of it.
But these marketing companies are not intentionally scamming you. They honestly believe that they are qualified to take your money.
That’s why anyone in SEO, social media, or digital marketing needs to specialize in a niche or an industry vertical, such as plumbers.
They should focus exclusively on plumbers, deeply understanding what works for them rather than trying to invent something entirely new, no matter how appealing that might seem.
Digital marketing for local service businesses is a matter of copy and paste, since marketing for a plumber in Orange County is not much different than a plumber in Chicago or Dallas.
But the ingredients for success must come from the plumber: their reviews, their proven experience fixing leaky valves and their reputation in their community. The job of anyone doing digital is to understand this.
Then repurpose those ingredients into social media, the website, and everywhere else.
Then boost it to make the phone ring more, whether LSA, Facebook ads, SEO, email/text campaigns, direct mail, etc.
Yet some eager young adults armed with the latest AI tools, who don’t understand strategy, will create massive damage. Do you see why the marketing landscape is so full of hype and waste, and why marketers are still so confident?
Strategy, again, is to deeply understand what the client does (goals, content, targeting) and to amplify what’s already working through the 6-phase Content Factory.
How do you ensure that confidence in your skills doesn’t overshadow the importance of active listening and adapting to your client’s needs, so you can deliver measurable results that truly add value to their business?
