How to host a creator at your shop

You have agreed the collaboration and they are coming this week. What happens during that visit shapes the content more than anything you write to each other beforehand.

Before they arrive

Pick a quiet slot. A creator trying to film during your rush hour bothers your customers and works out badly for everyone. Mid-morning or mid-afternoon usually beats two o'clock.

Tell whoever is on shift. Nothing is more awkward than a colleague who knew nothing about it and ends up in a video without having agreed to it.

Be clear about what you want to show. You do not need a script, but you do need to know whether the point is the product, the place or the person who makes it.

While they are there

Let them work. The most common mistake is standing beside them directing every shot. You hired their judgement: if you dictate the content, what you get is your own advert filmed by somebody else, which is exactly what people spot and skip.

Tell them what only you know. Where the product comes from, why you do it that way, what customers always ask you. That material cannot be improvised, and it is what stops the content looking like an ad.

If something does not sit right, say so there and then. Adjusting on the spot is far easier than asking for changes to something already published.

Afterwards

Reply quickly when they send you the material to review. A creator left waiting five days for your answer does not come back.

And when it goes live, share it from your own profile. It takes thirty seconds, it multiplies the reach, and it is the clearest signal that you were happy with the collaboration.