How CGI Makes Sheds Look At Home

Your sheds can be built like a premium product and still get judged like a commodity if the photos don’t match. From the first scroll on Google to the first click on your website, buyers are making fast decisions about trust, craftsmanship, and value based on visual cues, not just specs. We dig into the real psychology behind shed marketing images and why “good enough” photos quietly cost leads in a market where shoppers compare 10 builders at once.

Ryan Glick from Crafted Generations joins us to break down what photorealistic CGI actually is, how computer generated imagery can look like a real-life photo, and why that realism matters for authenticity. We talk through the common problems in shed industry imagery, the difference between basic cut-and-paste Photoshop work and true photorealism, and how better visuals can elevate a brochure or catalog so dramatically it feels like a different company. Ryan also explains how modern workflows blend 3D modeling, scene creation, and careful craft to produce high-resolution images that hold up on websites, social media, and print.

We also zoom out to the bigger story: shifting buyer behavior after COVID, the move from print to online advertising, and how small marketing upgrades compound into real ROI over time. Ryan shares how faith, mission work, and stewardship shape his view of business success, and we close with prayer over families, companies, and the industry.

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This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Shed Pro

Solar Blaster
Cardinal Manufacturing
Digital Shed Builder
Velocity 360

Transcript

INTRO 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the Shed Geek Podcast. Here's a message from our studio sponsor. Let's be real. Running a shed business today isn't just about building great sheds. The industry is changing fast. We're all feeling the squeeze, competing for fewer buyers, while expectations keep climbing. And yet I hear from many of you that you are still juggling spreadsheets, clunky software, or disconnected systems. You're spending more time managing chaos than actually growing your business. That's why I want to talk to you about our studio sponsor, ShedPro. If you're not already using them, I really think you should check them out. ShedPro combines your 3D configurator, point of sale, RTO contracts, inventory, deliveries, and dealer tools all in one platform. They even integrate cleanly into our Shed Geek marketing solutions. From website leads, to final delivery, you can quote, contract, collect payment, and schedule delivery in one clean workflow. No more double entries, no more back and forth chaos. Quoting is faster, orders are cleaner. And instead of chasing down paperwork, you're actually running your business. And if you mention Shed Geek, you'll get 25% off all setup fees. Check it out at shedpro.co/ShedGeek. Thank you, ShedPro, for being our studio sponsor and honestly for building something that helps the industry.

INTRO 1:32

Welcome And Ways To Connect

Shannon 1:34

Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. Uh here from Metropolis, Illinois, today, where we have good weather, and for some reason that's become a staple here at the show is to tell you about our weather report. And I have no clue why, uh, but it's uh I guess it's just that uh simple conversation that keeps us all connected. Let's talk about the weather. Uh today I'm joined by Ryan Glick from uh Crafted Generations, and we'll introduce him here shortly. But before we do, just a way to stay connected over here at the Shed Geek Podcast is to give us a call here at 618-309-3648. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, we'd love to have you. We love to hear your shed story. Uh, whether it's a product or service you offer, or you're a shed seller, shed hauler, shed manufacturer. Uh, we love to hear your stories, and other people do too. So, if you're willing to uh come on here, we'll keep it simple, lighthearted. Nothing is live, everything is able to be edited. So, uh we would love to chat with you. Uh email us at info@ shedgeek.com or go fill out a lead form on our website at shedgeek.com. Uh check out our Facebook page and our YouTube channel. We're getting really close to another milestone on YouTube, so please be sure to give us a subscribe, uh, hit that subscribe button and uh give us a follow on Facebook and check out the Shed Sales Professionals Facebook group where Shed Sales Professionals go to learn and encourage others all the time. Our call-in landline for the plain community, 330-997-3055. And before I forget, uh for those who do listen on the plain community, I do believe we've finally been able to address the um multiple uh requests about how the feed has been sort of garbled and uh unclear. So, I think we've got that that's all. So, please be sure to tell your plain community friends that way they can call back in again and get some good uh some good podcast episodes under

Why Visualization Changes Buyer Behavior

Shannon 3:32

their belt. Hot item of the day, you know, it is this episode. The hot item of the day is talking about visualization pictures and how these things enter into the psyche of sales. So as previously mentioned, Ryan Glick here from Crafted Generations is joining us. Ryan, welcome to the show. So happy to have you on today.

Ryan Glick 3:54

Well, thank you very much, Shannon. I'm glad to be here.

Shannon 3:57

Uh so Ryan, tell me tell me a little bit about like what you do and how you know the shed industry. As I understand it, you're located there in Goshen, Indiana, northern Indiana, so very uh heavy Anabaptist community. Uh so I'm just I'm just curious to know more about your story and how you got started and found the shed industry.

Ryan Glick 4:20

Well, it actually all started um during COVID. So back in 21, Indiana had a shutdown for several weeks during that COVID era and trying to deal with how it was spreading. And I was working a job where I was being paid, but I didn't have any work to do because our stores were shut down. I was in marketing at the time, and we couldn't really market something people couldn't go to. So, my nature is not to sit around and do nothing when I'm being paid like that, and I decided that I should try to produce something of value during that time, and I knew we were hiring out 3D visuals for all of the cabinets that we made as a company at that time. And I thought, I bet I could learn how to make 3D visuals like that. I used to do different types of artwork, I did portraiture, um a little bit of design work. I worked in a lot of different industries, I did finished carpentry, so that kind of fit well with the cabinetry and stuff like that, being able to build off of blueprints. And I just sat down one day and started working on a 3D program. It's basically a CAD style program. And by the end of my second or third week, I think it was, I had a full kitchen that we ended up using in our marketing materials. And after that, I shifted almost entirely to 3D work for that company. We had enough work to keep me busy most of the time. So, I did re um most of the visuals that are now on their website. I still work for them six years later or five years later, I guess it was, because I was 21. And then after a while, I thought it might be nice to branch out a little bit. I started doing work in 3D on the side for other playing community businesses in the area. So, furniture, outdoor furniture, um, room settings, different things like that, where they had a hard time getting high-quality, fully decorated room visuals or settings without paying a whole lot of money and having to ship furniture to places, doing studio setups. Computer visuals allowed us to take just their product and put it into whatever type of room setting they wanted. And then eventually, somebody suggested potentially having us do a shed for them. And that kind of started me into the shed industry. I realized that there was a need there for high-quality visuals, but they had the same problem that people in those other types of industries had. It's difficult and expensive and time consuming to get high-end marketing visuals of your sheds in nice settings. Even if you got somebody who bought the shed, installed it on their property, you're gonna have to wait a long time if you're gonna have any type of landscaping around it to try to make it look nice, and then they're living there, it's gonna be cluttered, setting up shoots can be difficult, or you have to set up your own spot on your own lots and try to have enough variety to not look like you have the same background in every single shed. So, the computer visuals allowed me to create an infinite amount of variety from my one location, and I could use whatever type of products they could give to me. I could 3D model it, I could use photographs, and that just really opened up a door to making higher-end visuals for sheds.

Shannon 7:37

Very nice, very nice.

From COVID To Crafted Generations

Shannon 7:39

Um now, I know in our previous conversation you talked about uh stepping into your own sort of like your own new adventure. Uh what do you feel like led you to take the leap? Like what when did you realize like I've I want to go do this on my own? This is I want to create this business line. And uh I think we can even you know do some of what I what I've already done previously with shed companies, you know, uh on my own and sort of like increase the overall visualization of these pictures and things for websites, ad copies, social media. I'm sure you know do all of all of the above.

Ryan Glick 8:24

Right. So, um after about two years where I'd been doing the cabinets, I was, as I said, doing a contract basis with another marketing company doing non-cabinetry type of stuff, the furniture and things. And I wanted to be able to develop my skills more, so I ended up doing that full time for a while as an employee. But it they're a very high-end shop and they do really, really good work with marketing visuals. The image industry has changed a lot over the time, and the amount of work that you have to bring in to make that sustainable has greatly increased over the last couple of years. Just the technology has become better, the quality has become better, but we could do it faster, we could be more creative. Um and so since I have owned my own company at multiple times in the past, various industries from retail to service-based companies, uh, it was a natural thought to say, I wonder if this would be able to grow faster if it was instead of a supporting role, its own product, its own dedicated service. And then it's not tied to only things that are supporting existing jobs, brochures, websites, but it's actually selling an independent service that a company that has a good website design, but they don't have pictures or a good brochure and don't have pictures could more easily find and service uh their own needs without it being a package. And that gave me the idea of well, I'm gonna jump out here and see what I can do with the industry. So, Crafted Generations is a new company, but I've got five years of full-time computer-based imagery to back it up. It's not a new service as far as the actual images are concerned.

Shannon 10:16

And it it sounds like you've had a little bit of success already in the new launch, the new adventure. You took on a new client pretty much right away. Yes. My very first stop uh when I started going and selling, we sold pictures and now got multiple clients. We're building images for companies, and we're going to be getting those out uh to them here shortly. So, it's been a great experience so far. Very, very exciting. And that that uh is a landing page right now that people are able to find you on at craftedgenerations.com. Is that correct?

Ryan Glick 10:46

Yes, there's a landing page there. We are in the process of building a website, but it's just taking a little bit of time to get that all put together and be a good quality high-end website.

Shannon 10:55

Definitely want to have the best images whenever you're promoting images. And uh, I've seen some of your work and it and it looks amazing, so I think that's awesome. Um, a lot of times I feel like listeners will say, hey, there's a great conversation, and that guy seems likable. And I do believe that, like, you know, as you build trust and confidence in people, it does allow you to sell more. But if you were going to speak in simple terms to a shed builder listening today, how would you explain what you do? What's the best explanation?

AD-SOLAR BLASTER 11:28

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Photorealism That Signals Real Quality

Ryan Glick 13:19

So, the best explanation I could give is I take your product and put it into a setting that makes people say, I want that product because that's beautiful. Even if they don't put it in a setting like that when they get home. So, a lot of times they just had to deal with pictures where they were kind of cut and pasted together. And it worked, it sold sheds. But sometimes I think the the struggle came into they would say, Well, we got a really quality product, you know, we're the we're high-end, we're in the market, but then the pictures maybe didn't demonstrate that quality. It didn't look like it was as nice as the words described it as. So, what I want to do is enable companies affordably to present their product in a way that matches their marketing and matches the actual quality of what they produce. So, that those things are a shared story instead of separated from each other.

Shannon 15:00

The cohesiveness of this, and I'm gonna I'm gonna go down this this bunny trail a little bit for a moment to just like uh you know attach to like what you had already said, you know, we are quality driven in the shed industry. Quality so much that it's what we name our companies, you know, quality so much that it's on every website, uh, quality so that it's at every brochure. So, now what does the visual language actually say when you promote quality-driven products, but your uh images do not give the same confidence uh to the shopper when they look through your brochure or when they look through your website? When you say we deliver and we focus on a quality driven product, we're not the cheapest around, but maybe your imagery isn't also the audio's not matching the video, right? Like it sounds good, but then I see what you've got and it doesn't so does that like we know that that affects consumer confidence from the digital landscape perspective. I mean, even what we do in our own marketing endeavors, we understand that you want to stay on brand and you want to offer a quality-driven photo that instills the same confidence for an online shopper as that as that they would experience if they actually walked onto your shed lot.

Ryan Glick 16:33

Right. And when you're trying to present something that is authentic, uh a person who goes to your website and they see your images, that's their first exposure to what you're doing. And if they look at the picture and even subconsciously they think, well, that looks fake, you're automatically at a disconnect between your statements of authenticity and your image. And so by being able to present an image that looks absolutely like it is the real thing in a real life situation, even though it is a computer graphic. Somebody can look at that and their first thought isn't, oh, that looks fake. Their first thought is that's authentic, that's real, that's an actual product. Somebody has this nice shed and it looks great in the setting. I could see myself having that in my backyard. I want to buy that place. If you have two shed companies and they're both presenting the same thing, and one presents it and it's just kind of cut out, or even if it's just a picture on their lot, hey, that's a real picture. They could see a real product, but it's not going to have the emotional story and the connection. And so, I think by having something where you can connect with your viewers in that way, it puts you in a much stronger place for selling your sheds. And I've seen a shed company be transformed with its images. There was a company I worked for last year that they redid their entire brochure. I did every single picture and then all their primary pictures for them. And from one year to the next, you could look at those two catalogs and you would not know it was the same company. It was so elevated. And all they really did was change the layout and change the pictures.

Shannon 18:17

It it's amazing the little changes that you make that sometimes have a large effect. I always go back to the um Chris Voss book, Never Split the Difference, where he talks about the black swan group. And what he says is, you know, their consultative method is to eliminate the black swans in a in a pond full of white swans. Uh the black swan stands out and it's the most obvious flaw. And that's not really a flaw, but I'm saying it's the most obvious eye-catching uh thing about this pond full of a thousand white swans. But the black swan just feels like he's just another white swan. He's on the inside looking out. He doesn't know that he's actually standing out to everyone else. And those things happen inside of your business too. And a lot of times that might be the images as a good example. And here you don't realize that like we're just creating a website or a brochure, but we're not putting that same level of quality uh into it as we are sort of like bragging about or promoting that our sheds uh possess. So, um you've used the term like photo realistic photorealistic previously in our conversation. How does that differ? Like, how do you explain that from like standard photography or like Photoshop photography?

Ryan Glick 19:36

So, to me, photorealistic means that when you look at it, your first thought should be this is an actual photo of that shed in a real setting. Um, whether that's a 3D-based shed where I would totally render that thing from the bottom up, I'd build it in a 3D program, or if it's a photo-based image, it presents itself in a realistic situation so that you could see this is a real life scenario. It's not fake, it's not presented in a in a way where it it just doesn't look right. Um, so that's what I mean by photorealistic. And in contrast, much of the photography is gonna be very limited in the types of settings and things that you could put together. Usually what ends up happening is like you mentioned with Photoshop, you're gonna be cutting plants out and putting them with it or cutting out a background, putting a cutout of the shed over that background, and it presents a shed to you, but it's not photorealistic. You're not gonna look at that and think, well, I walked out and took a nice photo of that. Um with the computer-based imagery, that photorealism can be applied to so much more than just even the scene itself. It's the lighting, it's the atmosphere that you could take it in because you could control all of that on the computer. You don't have to wait for the nice weather, you don't have to wait for the sun to be in exactly the right spot or the trees to be in just the right way. You don't have to worry about um all the variables that you have in real life photography, and yet it's still photorealistic. You're still gonna look at that and think it's a real photograph. And it actually matches your product when some people hear, well, it's computer generated. Well, does that mean it doesn't uh is it not my product? The work that I do, it's your product. You're gonna look at it and know it's your product.

Shannon 21:23

So, so how does that and are you kind of describing the process of like augmented 3D there uh through that description? Is that how do you best describe that so someone understands it simply?

Ryan Glick 21:35

Uh I call the whole thing computer generated imagery because everything is generated by a computer. I use about five or six different programs to do what I do. Um it's a combination of artificial intelligence, 3D modeling, um, scene creation. Yes, Photoshop gets used in there too. I got the name crafted generations because I wanted to hint both at the fact that I'm using A computer to create the image, but it is crafted. I go in there and I design the pictures. They're not just generic uh AI fluff that somebody's putting out. And because they're crafted in the way that I do it, I can do very high-resolution pictures. I can do banners, billboards, uh backdrops, posters, and that scale of image. A lot of AI related stuff. Well, it looks okay if it's on a phone or if it's on a social media feed, but the moment you try to use it printed, you see all these problems and glitches. The work that I do, I try to be extremely detailed.

Shannon 22:39

And CGI has been around for a long time for those who you know aren't familiar with it. I think maybe since around the 80s, or does it go back beyond that? I don't know. You may be more familiar with it.

Ryan Glick 22:49

Yeah, they've they first started producing some films like the late 80s, early 90s, where it was computer-generated 3D stuff. Yeah, it's been around a while.

Shannon 22:57

And it's come a long way because you can see the graphics not only in movies, but you can see them and in film, you can see them in uh video, music videos, or uh gaming, you know, for those who like to uh for those who like the nice graphics on their gaming consoles. And um you know, uh I know my son's a big gamer, he follows a bunch of different people, and uh don't worry, shed industry. We still make him get out and work. Uh we still make him we still make him put a shovel in his hand every now and then. So um, but from your perspective, you know, as somebody who is just well steeped in this, what what's wrong with most of the imagery in the shed industry today?

Ryan Glick 23:46

I'd say the biggest thing is like I mentioned before, it doesn't line up with the actual quality of the products that people are producing. Because it doesn't look realistic, it it doesn't come across as high-end. I mean, if you compare it to the marketing visuals in so many other industries, um it tends to be more patched together. I want to use good, I don't want to say it negatively too much, but it tends to not have the quality of the actual product it's selling. One of the problems if you go to Chinese products, you know, the quality of the image is better than the quality of the product you get. Where in the shed industry, I think it's the opposite. The quality of the product is better than the quality of the image. And so I'm trying to come and say, hey, let's elevate your images and make it so when people look at that, I mean they know I could trust this builder. This is a really great quality product.

Shannon 24:45

That's a great line. I mean, that's a that's a that's a beautiful line. You know, typically the imagery is so much better in foreign trade than what you actually receive because then the process to get it back is that much harder. And there's almost like this want you to give it, give up on it, and not go through the trouble of returning it. Of course, if you use an Amazon and they're no hassle policy, it's really easy to send back something like that. But I love what you said when you said, unfortunately, we're suffering from the opposite consequence, which is our product looks way better in person than the images that are that are displayed today. Uh, why not why do yourself that disservice? Because I don't know. Do you do you really feel like the builders even realize it's a it's a problem today? Like, do you feel like they believe they're losing sales because of this?

AD-CARDINAL MANUFACTURING 25:37

I got a big day tomorrow. I have a fully finished 18 by 40 cabin that's going to require two to three meals to get it delivered. Way back in the sticks and down a dirt lane. With all the rain we've had lately, it's gonna be a mess. Well, it needs a bigger mule. Well, when you talk, Cardinal listens and you ask for it. With its diesel-powered 69-horse engine and capacity to move 40,000-pound sheds, the Mule 9069 is ready to turn your big days into just another day in the good life. Ah, that's right. You're talking about the one they had up in Michigan at the shed show. That monster meal, that man, that thing was awesome. That's right. It's the one you've seen at all the shed hauler barbecues. Man, yeah, there's nothing like a little diesel donkey to make my day go so much better.

Ryan Glick 26:38

I think some of them do. I mean, I've been contracted with enough of the builders already to know that there is a felt need um starting to grow in the industry that they need to step up. I was talking to a builder about two weeks ago, and he was talking about the changes that have happened since COVID came in and how before they could sell with just some simple print ads, and now he almost doesn't do any print. It's all online advertising. But on online advertising, people aren't looking at your ad in isolation. They're saying, where can I buy a shed? Now we have 10 companies that pull up in my area that I can buy a shed from, and now suddenly the presentation of your marketing becomes much more important. They're looking at your website, they're looking at the quality of your marketing language and what you're saying that you're presenting to them, but then they're also looking at those pictures. And when all things else might be equal, the human subconscious knows, hey, that looks like it's something that's trustworthy, it's high quality. And that one just looks like it's not up to sp to par yet. Um, so I think that has changed the market to force more of a recognition of the importance of those images. We're not just doing little ads, we're doing full marketing campaigns, you're doing social media, you're doing websites, uh, and you're doing some print ads as well. And even those can be elevated with good pictures.

Shannon 28:05

Yeah, uh you're really talking about the psychology of sales and the visuals. And uh, you know, we kind of discussed this, you know, how it influences the buyer's decision, the product of claims, but the visuals don't reflect it. Um how do you measure this? Is it something measurable or is it something more subtle? You know, do you feel the manufacturer will have a direct link to the ROI for with having better imagery?

Ryan Glick 28:38

It probably depends on the builder and the amount of market share they already have. When you have you know a strong name, you might not notice it as much. But it's just like anything. Um I read a book and I'm gonna forget the title, but he was he was talking about the British cycling team, and they have been part of the Tour de France for a hundred years, they lost and lost and lost, didn't win a single Tour de France, and he said, All right, I'm gonna come in, I'm gonna break this cycling team into all these little parts, and I'm gonna try to make every single part one percent better. And even though each little thing that he did in isolation looks like, well, is it really gonna make that much of a difference? They promptly won the Tour de France five out of six years in a row. Just because adding one percent here and one percent there, and one percent here, one percent there, the combined improvement is substantially better. Now, I think the, there has been a real push to get online, get that marketing presence out there, make it so people can find you. So, that's one area to improve. If all you had was print ads before, people aren't going to find you very well in this newer market. Um, and more and more people, that's how they're shopping. They're trying to find that online. So, you've got that improvement. But you don't just do improvements in one area, you do improvements here and here, and as they come together, they begin to, in conjunction with everything, yes, add to improved sales. I was listening to one of your podcasts just recently where um the gentleman was talking about some of the things he was doing with marketing and trying to make it so that when he's on a call with somebody, they've already had access to see that they're a valid company, that they have a product that's actually a real product. They're not just uh you know buying from a scammer or something. And images help with that. They show it in a way that people could say, well, this isn't just fake. It's not just somebody doing this out of the backyard and maybe they're closed tomorrow. They're a legit company, they've invested, they've put quality of materials forward, and I know what I'm buying when I buy it.

Shannon 30:53

Yeah, no, absolutely makes sense. And uh, you know, I think customers start their online journey uh from an educational perspective, if nothing else, whether that's what's available, what size is available, uh, where are the locations that I can go purchase a shed? How close is it? Uh, can I go see them, touch and feel the shed? Because a lot of times on the high ticket prices, uh higher ticket items, you know, I mentioned yesterday it's so it's so easy to order envelopes on Amazon, but uh a shed, just a little bit harder, right? So like there's some the the the ticket price changes a little bit of the nature. Like we can trust losing two dollars because we got the wrong envelopes or they turned out to be just terrible or whatever, but we don't feel that way when we're spending you know sixty, seven hundred dollars average cost or seventy- five hundred, eighty, five hundred average cost of a shed. Um we know this just from our own marketing perspective that like we believe we can do good pictures, we can do good video, but cost becomes an issue sometimes, right? So unless you're creating a nationwide um uh, you know, taking uh taking a nationwide approach at finding some of the best photographers and some of the best videographers in the and then like you know what, I don't know, selling that list or partnering with them on some kind of like approach, like cost seems to be a little bit of an objective.

Affordable Workflows And Marketing ROI

Shannon 32:21

How do you how do you feel like you approach it to make it affordable? We find a struggle ourselves to we can find someone local or we can fly out or drive out, but now there's that additional cost, but you have the conviction that we're going to do a good job, we could partner with someone and give it our best shot, but what if they come up empty or what if they come up subpar? What do you do there? Now you've spent more money, so it's no longer affordable.

Ryan Glick 32:48

Right. And that's something that I mean, over the last five years since I started doing this, I have been working on the cost. Part of my motivation to get into 3D work to begin with was I knew how much my company at the time was paying for 3D work. And it was and it was high. And I was like, okay, if we're spending this much money per image, it would financially pay for the company if I could make these images, even if I'm doing an image a week alongside my other duties. I mean, the course of a year, the savings is immense. Well, as I got better at it, faster at it, came up with new technologies, started implementing different ways of approaching it. It was like, okay, maybe there's even other ways to make this process faster, more approachable, to um allow me to take accumulated knowledge and build a product that that is still world class, but I could do it faster because I wanted to make it affordable and approachable for companies that don't have mammoth marketing budgets, where you know, in the past, $1,500, $2,000 an image, uh, you just don't always have that much money sitting around to do an entire catalog of pictures at that pricing. Um, so I began to try to learn how to code stuff up and to build my own programs and workflows that would allow me to combine technologies to not work in isolation, not have to manually go between programs, but to bring programs together into one unit, specifically for creating affordable images for the shed industry and for a couple other industries I've been working on. Um and I've been able to get down to where I could make a custom picture that's image-based. So, I didn't 3D model the shed, but I worked off of an image on our package prices all the way down to $55 an image, which would have been basically unheard of. When I started five years ago, I couldn't produce something that good and that high quality. And yet these things still look like real life photo real pictures, they don't look fake. And so, it becomes much easier to elevate an entire website or elevate an entire catalog when you can approach it that way. And I still do offer 3D. Um so even here, I threw it up on the screen. I don't know how clear that comes through, but this is a 3D shed that I'm working on for a company that wanted to show how their sheds were assembled. Um they're a panel-based shed, so basically it ships to your house and panels, and the final product will show how that stuff is assembled. So, I still do that. Um, and it still does cost more when you have to 3D model everything from the ground up. But I have access to technology now that will enable me to get that super high-end picture without the time investment that it took in the past. That's what I want to bring to the market, especially, is say, hey, you know what, you don't have to be big anymore. You can have staged sheds at an affordable price, and you can do your whole catalog and it doesn't break the bank.

Shannon 36:03

Yeah, I'm impressed. You know, even whenever you take a look at like traditional cost of some of these images, um, you know, you you've used 1500, 2000. You know, I've seen where you know 55 is almost unheard of. You know, it's usually starting in that 150 up to 350 range. So, very, very cost effective, and that allows probably for you to travel uh a little bit more, where the budget can be put into somebody who you trust who you know is going to show up, who's gonna do a good job, and now it moves you around a little bit more. Um how do you feel like it compares the you know, versus people who are paying for lower quality work now? And really more than anything, the person who says, you know, what I have now is good enough. I don't, I don't need to, I don't need to do anything better than this. Like, how do you address that? And uh uh how does it compare to like that lower quality work that they might be paying for already? Because just about everybody has a brochure, has a website, most everybody's doing some form of social media presence, you know.

Ryan Glick 37:12

I mean, I know that there's people who haven't felt the need because the market's been strong enough um that it seems like it's working, and I get that. I think that market will has been changing, the economy's changing, and people's um approach to money isn't quite as free as it used to be. Money used to seem to be so easy, and now things are becoming more expensive and families are taking a more controlled approach to their spending, and I think that's where that type of mentality is going to change, just like the print ads have shifted out of their importance. Not that it's not important anymore, not that you can't sell from the print ads and you should still do print ads, but the market has started to shift and companies are feeling that pressure and they're feeling, oh, I now need to go out and try to get the online presence that I didn't used to have to need. I think the same thing is happening with the images. And because I can make it affordable, I think it behooves companies to start to switch that model up sooner rather than later because you're gonna be spending money on pictures every year, anyways. If you add a new model, you can add these things. But uh we could do it now much more beautifully and higher accurate than it could have been done a couple of years ago for this price point. So, not only do you not have to worry about spending an arm and a leg to do it, but you could get the best quality pictures available and really up the quality proposition of your marketing.

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Where Better Images Win Attention

Shannon 39:52

You mentioned print ads. Where do you feel like in a real world application like better imagery needs to be used right now? Like websites, um, social media, Google ads.

Ryan Glick 40:05

I think your yeah, your social media, your ads, your I mean, social media is so vital and important, right? Because it when you're posting a lot, it can drive people to your website, could drive people to your locations where you have the sheds, it drives general traffic, just people see your stuff more because social media companies say, hey, this guy's posting a lot, we'll show his information more often. Um, so that's a really important area. But again, social media doesn't tend to like just a cutout image of a shed or the shed on your lot. If that's all they see, it's not that attractive and they'll scroll right on past it. But if they see something that's beautiful, they might sit there and actually say, Hey, I want to look at that picture. That's a neat picture. That's a neat shed design, you know, that's a nice garden that they put around it or whatever, something to draw their attention. Um, so yeah, definitely your social media needs elevated imagery. Your website does because again, you're presenting quality, you're telling people you could trust me, you can trust my sheds, they're high-end, they're they're great value for the money. You want to have the presentation of those align with that. But then also the thing that people's gonna take home when they visit your location, your brochures, your pamphlets, your catalogs, when they carry that home, that's what they see over and over again if they keep it. They're gonna look at that and that is what they remember about you. Do you want them to remember this guy has beautiful sheds and there are beautiful settings here, and I want that in my backyard? Or do you want them to remember the other guy who does that as they're comparing different companies? You know, it's I think all those areas are elevated. And even your print ads. Print ads suffer, I think, a lot nowadays because there's so many of them in a lot of the um, especially in the plain community style ads where you get like the print Plain Community Business Exchange and some of those other ones. There's 10,000 ads in there. I don't know, it's pretty thick.

Shannon 42:03

Oh, it's a phone book.

Ryan Glick 42:06

Yeah, it's like it's like a phone book. How do you stand out when you're flipping through? How do you stand out? If you've got 20 different shape companies in there that all present the exact same way, how do you choose which one? Well, one way to stand out and be different is have higher end pictures and say, hey, you know what, this is beautiful. Even in that print ad, this is still something that stands out on the page, and I want to look at that. If you could only if you could only had to invest in like one area, like where would you start of all of those? Um online presence would be where I would start. Uh because more people will see you online than on the print.

Shannon 42:50

So, if you're if you're putting website images on uh or versus social media, like do you feel like do you feel like one image outperforms the other? Do you feel like um oh gosh, I'm trying to think of like uh um a shed. I I've seen some of your work, like a shed with a nice landscape around it, with pavers leading up to it, versus like a shed that's setting in a real life setting or sitting in like a sales setting. Like, hey, this is like uh at our location. Not everybody's gonna have it so that it looks as beautiful as it does whenever it lands into your into your actual uh uh home. Uh right. But is does one type of imagery outperform the other?

Ryan Glick 43:42

I believe it does because of the psychology of marketing images. Most of the time, people don't use almost anything that you see in a marketing image exactly as you see it in that image. The image is supposed to emotionally connect with you as a Viewer to create the sense of possibility or of attraction to the product. So, the beauty of a setting, the atmosphere the picture is taking and the way the sunlight casts across it to create an attractiveness affects you psychologically and it makes you intrinsically trust or expect something out of that product that if it's just sitting on a lot won't do. So I mean, great places for images like that. Your website header, if you have a picture of a shed in there, when you open up your website, do you want to be do you want people to be moved when they see that to go, wow, that's an amazing shed. That's a beautiful setting. You can have um a really high-end product. I was at a company out in Lancaster, Pennsylvania two weeks ago. They had really, really nice cabins. They were a cabin company. Um, you can have a cabin like that that's really nice. If they had not spent the money on their visuals, and they did spend money on visuals, they did really nice marketing. If they hadn't done that, it would have decreased the value of their product without the product ever changing. But because they were trying to sell a very high quality product, they invested it in on their website, on their brochures, and they had pictures all over their office as well to tell everybody who walked in the door not only are you getting a high quality product, but we believe that that it's a high quality product. We're presenting it to you as high quality. So, I mean, I think any place where you're trying to make a statement to your customers is a great place to start with good images.

Faith Mission Work Success And Prayer

Shannon 45:51

We sort of connected in previous conversations about faith and values and work ethic. And I'm just completely convinced that people do tend to work with, buy from, do business with people that they trust, uh, people that have similar experiences, uh, similar convictions. Um, that's not to suggest that you, you know, you won't buy something from someone uh opposite. You know, we it's hard to live in an echo chamber where you only protect yourself with people who are of like-mindedness. Um, you know, who would the Lord have to save if we didn't have the lost? You know, so exactly. Yep. I'm just curious with your unique background, mission work. Uh you live simply, I think, you know, or discuss that, you know. Now you're building a business. So, like, how do you feel like that's shape changed your perspective? Um or shaped your perspective, I should say, maybe not changed.

Ryan Glick 46:51

It gave me the confidence to trust God as I stepped out doing it for sure. Uh you know, because I believe that God ordains things and controls things for his glory, I know that whatever I do is ultimately not for myself, it's for him. And that really helps. Even if I were to fail in producing a viable business, I can know I did my best because I wanted to glorify God. The work that I produced, even if it wasn't right for the market, I did my absolute best with that work and I can learn from it, I could trust that God has reasons for it. I've been put in so many situations where I had to step out into things that I didn't know what the future was gonna hold. Um, when I left for Africa for four years, I had no idea what that was gonna be like. I had to develop stuff all along the way, and the Lord just used that over and over to help me to trust him and just say, I'm gonna do my best. I'm gonna glorify God every step of the way, and the results will be up to him. Hopefully, it blesses people and serves people and meets their needs because I believe that God does want us as Christians to meet other people's needs. He wants us to serve others.

Shannon 48:06

What was some of the mission work that you did? Uh, I got a chance to hear a little bit about it, but I'd be exciting to tell the audience, in my opinion.

Ryan Glick 48:14

Well, I was doing farming, training pastors, going out to villages. Uh I tried to have kind of a balanced approach to mission work so we didn't just come in and and tell people about Jesus and then either give them a bunch of stuff to make them dependent or just walk away. Uh I wanted to say once you're a Christian, once you know the Lord Jesus, it changes every aspect of your life. You are now a steward for him, and it doesn't matter if you have millions of dollars in the bank in America and be fabulously wealthy, or if you're a farmer out there and all you own and possess is a little pot of land and a mud hut and you got your family there. God views you as completely equal as a steward for him as a Christian. And so, we began to teach people how to do organic agriculture, how to take care of their land and steward it well, how to produce enough to have to give to other people. Um, we taught them all sorts of skills for life, various things to not harm the environment as much, to be sustainable in the burning of wood, cutting down trees. Not in a sense that creation is a God, but in the sense that God gave us creation to tend and to keep. So, I've just taken that perspective with me everywhere else I go, and I brought it back here to the States, and I continue to try to make that impact in my own my own local community and through my work here in this Crafted Generations company.

Shannon 49:44

It must be difficult seeing some of the news headlines uh, you know, in Africa right now and what you see happening, knowing that you have been so closely attached to it through your own mission work.

Ryan Glick 49:54

Absolutely. Yeah, it is I still am connected with people over there. In fact, I helped start a company when I was there to provide jobs for some of the people we're working with in that company still going. So, I'm in contact with the guy who runs that, and it is really, really hard right now.

Shannon 50:13

Yeah. What does um what does for Ryan, what does success look like beyond just making money?

Ryan Glick 50:22

What does success look like? Change it in an industry that I believe is has a lot of Christian influence in it. Um to glorify God across the board and do the best that we absolutely can. That's success to me. Um and for my my own family, you know, I want to be able to make a living so that my family is well taken care of. I have a stay-at-home wife. Um, she's helping me raise a couple of little ones, and I want to make it so that she can continue to invest in that next generation in that way without us being dependent on you know sending them off to daycare all the time and other things. Um so, I view success in this and enabling me to allow my family to continue to grow. We want more kids too. So, that's on the radar.

Shannon 51:13

I think that's great. I love to see young families growing. It's awesome. What do you think uh crafted generations will look like over the next one to three years? What's your plans?

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Ryan Glick 52:37

Um my goal is to grow it to be able to have employees and have value as a company. So, one of the things that I've studied a lot in marketing industries is the impact of uh what what's the word I want to use? Like skills that live inside somebody's head. So, you have a company that has value, but if the person who's running it leaves, the company loses its value. Um so with my computer work where I've been trying to code up different programs and workflows to enable this type of process, I'm trying to build value into the company that is not dependent on just my own head being in the game. Um I am a systems thinker. I like to tell people I'm not actually an artist, even though I do art, I solve problems. And so, part of my problems in going into this was how do I make a photorealistic image? And I worked at it until I figured out how to do that. Um so, I want to see Crafted Generations be a company with actual real value, and that it can support some of the missions work that I still do value overseas and enable me to be involved in my community more. So, I'm involved in some local mission work here and I'm trying to expand that uh even this summer. Um and with a young family and the time constraints balancing that. I gotta have a system that allows me to do volunteer work and still be a dad and a husband and be involved in my home. So, all of those things kind of to play out in how I see crafted generations growing over the next two years.

Shannon 54:26

Easy to wear a lot of hats. Easy to wear a lot of hats. Uh well, obviously, you know, you're looking to take on new business. Uh, it may be a few weeks when this podcast goes out, but we certainly encourage people to contact you. What type of clients are you looking for? Where can people find you and uh see your work?

Ryan Glick 54:46

Well, you could go to craftedgenerations.com. That's my website. Currently, it is a landing page because I'm building it out. Um I'm hoping to have that up fairly soon as a full website, but I'm also happy to send people examples of the work if they want to reach out to me and say, hey, what do you do? Just send me an email and you can do that right on the website. Just click contact Ryan and it opens up a form. You can ask for uh examples and I'll send them over. Um, the type of company I'm looking for businesses that want to have high quality, accurate imagery for their websites that make people say, I want your product. So, if that's uh you as a company, I would love to do business with you. Again, I do 3D modeling as well as photo base. So, one of the benefits of that is I don't have to be at your location. I can do work for people all over the United States. I work off of blueprints, I work off of photos. Sometimes I don't even have blueprints, I just have a few references and um a written description of what I'm doing, and I just work with the client to figure out how that's supposed to look.

Shannon 55:54

Uh anything, anything we didn't cover that you just feel like needs to be said, any shout-outs? Uh any anything that just like uh matters as you speak to the shed industry today?

Ryan Glick 56:07

Yeah, sure, absolutely. Um I would say thank you to both the previous companies I've worked for. They were uh really impactful in me being able to develop skills that I wanted to serve them with, but also that um allowed this industry to even be approached. So, Kountry Wood Products in Napanee, Indiana um was where I started out doing 3D work, and I still do kitchens for them. And Black Anvil Creative is a marketing company that I've worked for for a couple years. They were were and are great friends, and they're a really high-end company. They do fantastic work. I definitely say anybody who's looking for the top-of-the-line marketing materials as far as print and websites go, they're they're great. Um, I really do appreciate them though. They've been super supportive along my journey in developing the skills that I now have. That's it. And my wife, my wife Salam, has put up with so much stuff over the course of this time as I've had to figure it out. And she's been really supportive too, as we've stepped out into our own. That's a scary thing sometimes when you go from a paycheck to independent, and you only get paid if you can go drum up your own work, and she has stood beside me the whole way, so I really appreciate it.

Shannon 57:29

You end up eating, you know, uh eating what you kill, and sometimes that's tough, you know. Whereas when you're working for somebody, you're you're you're oftentimes relying off of a lot of the efforts they've put in. Uh, but when you're doing it yourself, it's scary, it's exciting, um demanding, it's it's so many things, and it's really not the easier way uh to make a living, uh, contrary to popular belief. There are times where you have some flexibility in your schedule or your decision making that you would not otherwise have, but it's just as scary. I mean, we've taken that leap, and my wife has been with me on several of those occasions to be able to do that, and she continues to uh to be the motor behind turning and uh and and helping me solve these problems. And we we've got you know a lot of good folks over here that have been you know stepping up and just really helping to fill that role. And I have sort of been that figurehead uh for Shed Geek, as you were talking about earlier, that is sometimes hard to get away from if you're not there. Uh it changes the dynamic, and I'm excited when I see folks like Cord and Chris and uh oh gosh, they could if I start naming people, I'm gonna have to keep naming people. Uh, that I just appreciate them so much for the hard work and effort they put in, Jacob. I mean, they're just you know, Deanna, Troy, they they they all help make my life easier. Uh so I know where you're coming from, and dude, I'm just so happy for you. I, I've enjoyed our previous conversations as well as this. So, that I just you know I want to see you win. You know, I just I appreciate it. I want to see you win. I could tell that the authenticity that comes across in your conversations on air and off air. And uh yeah, so craftedgenerations.com will have a link in the newsletter. For those of you who are not following, just send us a message, info at shed geek or deanna D-E-A-N-N-A at Shed Geek, and we'll get you signed up for the newsletter. We certainly want you guys to be able to go on and read blogs. We want you to go on and uh and take a look at the services that some of the advertisers are offering. Uh, click through those links, take a look at their landing pages, take a look at their previous episodes, take a look at their value proposition because we've had nearly 500 episodes now where people have come on and either told their stories uh and or people have come on and promoted their services and their products. And we want to always continue to uh to promote folks like Ryan as he starts his adventure uh into doing something that's even very near and dear to us and very close to us and what we do. So, we appreciate those who are professionals who are just taking this new step, this next step. And uh, you know, uh, I know that you're a man of faith, Ryan. So like we we like to keep Jesus first here at the podcast. I'm not saying that we do a good job of that all the time. I'm sure we fail daily. Uh, but one of the staples in our in our you know, faith is from time to time we even like to pray not only over your business and mine, but even the industry. Am I asking too much because I didn't pre-warn you with this, but are you comfortable with praying? Would you would you care to lead us in prayer?

Ryan Glick 1:00:34

Sure, I'd be happy to. Well, heavenly Father, Lord, I do believe that you care about all the things that we are involved in. You've said that when we find something to do, to do it with our might, to do it to the glory of God. You have encouraged people to work with their hands so that they have something to give. We know that the purpose of business is not for us to build up kingdoms for ourselves, but to build up the kingdom of God. I thank you for all those who are involved, like Shannon here and the uh Shed Gig Podcast and other companies that have sought to glorify you through the shed industry, to not say this is just business, this is just the way we make profits. But this is a way to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ. And Lord, I pray for those who are maybe struggling right now as they're trying to figure out their own businesses and getting them up and running. The market has been changing. There's been lots of ups and downs. And I pray that you would strengthen people's hands when they work hard, when they do faithful things and produce good quality materials, that you would bless their labors, help them to find ways to market themselves, to get out there and to serve the needs of uh those out in the economy that need sheds. I pray for companies like Shed Geek that are trying to instruct and teach and provide helpful material, even free through the podcast and the newsletter. I pray that you expand their territories. And above all, Lord, I just pray that you sustain us, that you provide for our families. Everybody who's involved in this, I think, has somebody they need to provide for that they're they're working hard to meet their needs. And that's what you asked us to do, especially as as men, to take care of our wives and children. So, thank you, Father, for caring about us and for being concerned even with this podcast today. In Christ's name, amen.

Shannon 1:02:29

Amen. What a beautiful prayer. I appreciate you. I've appreciated getting to know you. I wish you nothing but success. Um, and we just want to encourage people to go uh your direction. So, uh the best that we can be it be it be a helper. We believe in professional competition, but we also believe in professional collaboration. And I think that's very important in uh in in a in a moment where we can just be someone who's educational and hopefully entertaining to somebody today. Hopefully, you tuned in to listen to this podcast and felt blessed by the story. And that's why you telling your story is important. So, you're we're ahead now. We're probably five to six weeks ahead, but we're not slowing down, guys. We want to hear your story, so feel free to give us uh it's an open invitation to anybody who wants to be on the podcast who's in the shed industry, who's in the steel buildings industry, post-frame, uh, things that help complement the shed world or the shed life, as we like to say. Um, certainly encourage you guys to uh to reach out if we don't reach out to you first. And you know what, maybe uh today's episode is an example of why you should reach out to Ryan over here at Crafted Generations, get some good imagery going in your in your not only your print, but even in your in your online uh uh presence and uh build that confidence with the potential customers that you are the same quality-driven shed that they're gonna see when they show up to the lot is gonna be on the website as an example of what they can experience. I think you had a couple of like zingers in there, Ryan. So, I'm excited to promote the this podcast and just really enjoyed having you on. You're just such a kind soul.

Ryan Glick 1:04:12

Well, thank you. And if I could make one last statement in reference to those other industries that are in conjunction to the sheds, I do more than just sheds. So, I've done barns and buildings, and um, I've even built the factory in 3D for a company. Uh so yeah, I could do more than just sheds. If there's side businesses that are adjacent to it, feel free to reach out. I do furniture, indoor settings, outdoor settings. I know a lot of uh the plain communities involved in like poly furniture and stuff like that. I do settings for those as well. And all of them can take uh benefits from this type of technology.

Shannon 1:04:53

Uh it's a it's amazing where it's going, just being able to get that imagery right so that people have the confidence that they're actually going to see the shed that is a quality shed or a quality piece of furniture. Polly's, yeah, definitely blown up recently. You know, we've partnered with our friends over at Hershberger Lawn there in Millersburg. You know, they make some you know really fantastic playsets, they make some really fantastic uh uh uh hunting blinds. I'm just uh you know excited to see where all of this industry is going. All of these things kind of lead back to the same thing and hopefully we lead to uh we lead to uh the thank you for Christ giving us this opportunity to even have these conversations. I just really enjoy what we're doing, and I'm feel like I'm going into year six as excited as I was going into year one. So thank you, Ryan, for being on today. For those who are looking Yeah, absolutely. For those who are looking for better imagery, uh craftedgenerations.com, you need to check them out. Thank you, Ryan, for being on the podcast today.

Ryan Glick 1:05:56

Oh, thank you.

OUTRO 1:05:58

Thanks again, Shed Pro for being the Shed Geeks studio sponsor. If you need any more information about ShedPro or about Shed Geek, just reach out. You can reach us by email at info@ shedgeek.com. Or just go to our website www.shedgeek.com and submit a form with your information, and we'll be in contact right away. Thank you again for listening, as always, to today's episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. Uh thank you and have a blessed day.