Cornelius · Lake Norman, NC

Your Ad Shoot Script

Everything you need to record in one session. 10 hooks, 3 bodies, 2 calls to action — 60 different ads out of 15 short clips. Phone, vertical, one afternoon.

📱 9:16 Vertical 🎙️ Talking head ⏱️ 15 clips (+2 quick retakes) 🧩 60 possible ads

📋 Read this first · 2 minutes

How to record this (you’ve got this)

You don’t need to be a videographer or memorize anything. Every numbered line in this doc is its own short, separate clip — just work down the list and record them one at a time on your phone. Follow the four rules below and you’ll nail it. When in doubt, do 2–3 takes and we’ll pick the best.

🔊 Audio Most important

This matters more than how the video looks. Bad audio is the #1 thing that kills a clip — clear audio is the #1 thing that saves it.
Record somewhere quiet. No fans, AC, TV, traffic, or wind. Big empty rooms echo — a normal furnished room sounds better.
Get the mic close. Best: a cheap clip-on lav mic (~$20) or your wired earbuds with the built-in mic. No mic? Keep the phone about an arm’s length away, not across the room.
Test before you commit. Record 10 seconds, play it back, make sure your voice is crisp — then record the rest.

📱 Shoot vertical

Hold the phone upright (portrait), never sideways. If it’s filmed horizontal we can’t use it for Reels/Stories/TikTok.
Frame yourself from mid-chest up, eyes in the upper third, a little space above your head.
Keep it steady. Prop the phone against something or have someone hold it — no shaky, walking-and-talking handheld.

💡 Lighting

Light on your face, not behind you. Face the window or the sun — never stand with a bright window/sky behind you (that turns you into a shadow).
Outdoors: open shade or early-morning / late-afternoon light is gold. Avoid harsh midday sun that makes you squint and casts hard shadows.
Indoors: face a window, add a lamp if it’s dim. Even, natural light beats a dark “cinematic” look every time.

🎬 Record modular (this is what makes it easy)

One line = one clip. Don’t try to perform the whole ad in a single take. Say one numbered line, stop, record the next. We assemble them afterward.
Stay consistent the whole session — same shirt, same spot, same framing — so any clip snaps together with any other. This is the secret to the 60-ad system.
Mess up? No problem. Just re-record that one line. Give us 2–3 takes of each and we’ll grab the best one.
Talk to one person — imagine a neighbor across the fence, not “a camera.” Real and natural beats polished. Pauses are totally fine.
Suggested order: read Hook 1 → Body B → CTA 1 straight through first to feel the flow, then knock out the banks top to bottom — hooks, then bodies, then CTAs.

What every one of these ads is doing: giving a homeowner who has been burned, or is scared of being burned, a reason to believe there is still a builder around this lake who will tell them the truth, charge what it actually costs, and build the parts nobody ever sees the right way. Not the cheapest. Not gouging. Fair price, excellent work, from people you’d let in your backyard.

⏱️ The word budget

this is the contract, not a suggestion

Every line here has been timed. Say it at your normal pace and it fits.

You do not need to rush. You need to not add.

Caps: hook ≤30 words · body ≤110 words · CTA ≤34 words. Every block below prints its real word count.
Longest possible assembled ad: 168 words ≈ 66 seconds (hard cap 90). The control combo (Hook 1 + Body B + CTA 1) is 162 words ≈ 64 seconds.

🎣 Hooks

record all 10 · 30 words max each

The hook is roughly 80% of whether an ad works, so these get the most takes. Say them word for word — they’re the thing we test against each other, so the wording has to hold. Re-take until the first sentence lands.

H01 · Dream / the deck you keep putting off ★ FLAGSHIP 25 words

“If you've been putting off your deck another year, I want to tell you what it actually takes to build one right around Lake Norman.”

📷 Standing in front of a finished deck, or beside the truck.

H02 · The inspector reveal (code / parts you can't see) ★ 28 words

“Most decks I get called out to look at were never built to code. I know, because I used to be the guy the county sent to check.”

📷 Under a deck, pointing at a ledger board or footing.

H03 · Price anchor (the filter) 27 words

“Most decks we build run twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars. If that made you flinch, no hard feelings. I'd rather tell you now than waste your Saturday.”

📷 Tailgate, estimate in hand. Relaxed, not defensive.

H04 · The patch job / do it twice 24 words

“If somebody's already come out and patched your deck once, stop. A patch on a bad structure is money you're going to spend twice.”

📷 Beside a visibly failing or patched deck if one's on site.

H05 · Three quotes, no way to tell 22 words

“Three deck quotes, three completely different numbers, and no way to tell who's telling you the truth. Nobody ever explains that part.”

📷 Holding three sheets of paper. Hold them up.

H06 · The dream / outdoor living 24 words

“A deck isn't lumber. It's where you'll eat dinner in October and watch the lake go quiet. That's what I'm actually building for you.”

📷 Best finished deck you have, ideally with water behind you.

H07 · The eighty-thousand-dollar quote ★ 25 words

“A homeowner in Mooresville got quoted eighty thousand dollars for his deck. He didn't need eighty thousand. He needed somebody to tell him the truth.”

📷 Scott's deck if you can get back to it. Otherwise any premium build.

H08 · Communication / the silence 26 words

“The scariest part of a deck project isn't the price. It's the two weeks where nobody answers the phone and you have no idea what's happening.”

📷 Phone in hand, mid-jobsite. Plain delivery, no drama.

H09 · Relief / hope 28 words

“If you've been looking for a deck builder around Lake Norman you can actually trust, take a breath. They exist. Let me show you what to look for.”

📷 Warmest setting you've got. Slow this one down.

H10 · Neighborhood callout ⟳ RECORD 3 TIMES 23 words

“Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville. I've built decks up and down these streets for five years. If yours is next, there's something worth seeing first.”

📷 Wide, street or neighborhood visible behind you.

⟳ Hook 10 — record it three times

Same sentence, just swap the three town names. This lets us run the matching town list to each area without you recording a different script.

H10a — open with “Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville”, rest of the line identical.
H10b — open with “Mooresville, Denver, Sherrills Ford”, rest of the line identical.
H10c — open with “Cornelius, Mooresville, Huntersville”, rest of the line identical.

🥩 Bodies — “the meat”

record all 3 · 110 words max each

Different rule here: know the beats and tell them in your own words. These don’t need to be verbatim — they need to sound like you telling a neighbor, not reading. Slow down. This is the part that earns the call.

M01 · Why this shop exists ★ (the inspector reveal, in full) 99 words · ~41s

“Before I ever built a deck, I inspected them. Mecklenburg County sent me out to sign off on other people's work, and I failed a lot of it. Footings too shallow. Ledger boards bolted into siding instead of framing. Flashing missing. Stuff you'll never see and never know about until the day it moves. That's why I started this company. Not to be the biggest deck shop on the lake. To be a small one that builds them the way I'd have wanted to inspect them. Five years later, that's still exactly what we are. Same crew. Same standard.”

The credential is the reveal, not the opener. It makes “the parts you can't see” literally true instead of a line every builder says.

M02 · Fair price / the cheap one costs more ★ CONTROL 108 words · ~45s

“The most expensive deck you can buy is the cheap one built wrong. A guy in Mooresville got quoted eighty thousand dollars. He had slate tile cracking apart, two contractors had already tried to patch it, and it wasn't safe to walk on. He didn't need eighty thousand. He needed the structure rebuilt right, a dry space underneath, and a surface that would stop failing. We did it in three weeks. We're a small shop. There's no sales floor here to pay for. We charge what it costs to build it correctly and not a dollar past that, and you see every line of it before you sign.”

Carries the fair-price spine without the “we're not the cheapest” platitude every sub opens with. Scott's build is the receipt.

M03 · Who shows up / how it actually goes ⚠ CONFIRM BEFORE RECORDING 96 words · ~40s

“You're letting people onto your property for a few weeks. Look at who they are before you look at their work. With us, you reach out and I come out. Me, not a salesman. We walk your space, I design it with you right there, and I hand you a real itemized number, not a range. I'll tell you your real permit timeline too. Huntersville ran eighteen days last month. Then you get it in writing and you keep it, whether you hire us or not. And once we start, you hear from me. Every week.”

This is the offer, spoken. It kills the two things that stall a deck buyer: not knowing the number, and not knowing how long.

⛔ Wes — tick or strike each of these before you record M03.

☐ We walk your space and design it with you, on site
☐ A real itemized number, not a range
☐ Your actual permit timeline for your town
☐ A written scope you keep, whether you hire us or not

This is the offer we put in the ads, so every line has to be something you actually do on every visit. Strike anything you don’t, and the line comes out. A shorter list that is completely true beats a longer one that isn’t.

📣 Calls to action

record both · 34 words max each

⚠️ Do not drop the last line. The final words out of your mouth are the instruction — that’s the whole job of this clip. It’s the first thing people cut when they’re trying to keep it short. Don’t.

CTA01 · Soft / honest ★ CONTROL 29 words

“Tap Learn More below and tell me about your backyard. I'll come out, design it with you, and hand you a real number. No pressure either way. Let's talk.”

CTA02 · The Lake Norman Design Visit (named offer) 32 words

“Tap Learn More and book the Lake Norman Design Visit. It's free. You get the design, the number, your permit timeline, and a written scope you keep. Tap below and let's talk.”

🎯 Delivery — read this before you hit record

Talk to ONE person. Not “everyone.” Picture one homeowner sitting across from you at a kitchen table. They should feel spoken to, not broadcast at.
Don’t read the words. Feel them. This is the one that matters most. Use your hands if that’s how you talk. Pause. React. If a take sounds memorized, do it again.
Before you roll, put yourself back there. Picture one specific deck you got called to look at that never should have passed. Feel that. Then picture Scott’s face when you handed his back. Say the lines from that, not off the page.
Energy slightly up from normal. Never flat, never hyped. You’re a guy who knows what he’s talking about, not a guy selling something.
Same shirt, same spot, same framing, all session. That’s what lets any hook snap onto any body.

🧩 How it comes together

10 Hooks×3 Bodies×2 CTAs=60 Ads

Shoot order: all 10 hooks back to back, then the 3 bodies, then the 2 CTAs. Hook 10 three times.
Consistency: identical wardrobe and setting throughout, so any hook edits cleanly onto any body.
Naming: HG_H03 · HG_M01 · HG_CTA01 → HG_FIN_H03-M01-CTA01
Test plan: we hold Body B + CTA 1 constant and rotate all 10 hooks first. Lock the top 2–3, then test bodies against them, then A/B the CTAs.

🎥 B-roll to grab while you’re out there

no talking, 10 sec each

Wide shots of 3–4 finished decks (slow pan, 10 seconds each)
Under-deck footage: footings, ledger, flashing, framing. This is the proof behind M01.
Hands on the work: setting a board, driving a fastener, checking level
The crew working. Faces, not just backs.
Scott’s Mooresville deck if you can get back to it, plus the tongue-and-groove ceiling underneath
A truck / logo shot for end cards
Anything you have of a BEFORE: rot, cracking, a failing structure

📝 Ad copy (the text above the video)

we run these, nothing for you to record

Option A · Fair price + the inspector

Primary text:
Most decks we build around Lake Norman run $25,000 to $30,000.

That’s not the cheapest number you’ll get. It’s what it costs to build one that doesn’t move on you, and you’ll see every line of it before you sign anything.

Before I built decks, I inspected them for Mecklenburg County. I failed a lot of what I saw. Footings too shallow. Ledger boards bolted into siding instead of framing. Flashing missing entirely. All the parts a homeowner never sees until the day it moves.

So I started a small shop that builds them the way I’d have wanted to inspect them. Same crew, same standard, five years running.

Tap Learn More and I’ll come out, design it with you, and hand you a real number plus your actual permit timeline. Free, and yours to keep either way.

Headline: Built The Way I’d Have Wanted To Inspect It

Description: Free on-site design and an honest number · Lake Norman

Button: Learn More

Option B · The $80,000 quote

Primary text:
A homeowner in Mooresville got quoted $80,000 for his deck.

He had slate tile cracking apart and two contractors had already tried to patch it. It wasn’t safe to walk on. He didn’t need $80,000. He needed the structure rebuilt properly, a dry space created underneath, and a surface that would stop failing on him.

We did it in three weeks. 25x14 premium composite, cable rail, a rain diversion system, tongue and groove ceiling below. He told us we exceeded what they’d pictured, and that they’d miss having the crew around every day.

I’m Wes. Before I built decks I inspected them for the county, so I know exactly what gets hidden. If you’ve got a deck that needs doing right, tap Learn More. I’ll come out, design it with you, and give you a real number and your real permit timeline. Free either way.

Headline: He Was Quoted $80,000. He Didn’t Need $80,000.

Description: Free on-site design and an honest number · Lake Norman

Button: Learn More