Archive for the 'Video Business Advisor' Category
posted by Steve19th, 2008
What’s the best way to eat an elephant?
As the old joke would have it…one bite at a time!
A couple of Video Business Advisor members have asked me the best way to get through the online Video Business Marketing Course.
Just as simple a solution as the elephant joke.
Start at the beginning and work your way to the very end.
Going through the whole enchilada may seem like overdoing it; after all, you may have a great logo, you may already know the value of marketing, you may have already set your goals for the next five years and you may already know who your best client types are and know how to reach them…
…but a little refresher course never hurt anyone. In fact, since we learn by repetition, it can help a lot.
Because not everyone learns things the same way, we present the same material in a several formats; video/audio, audio only, and in print. That way, you can use the learning method or methods that work the best for you personally. I like a combo of all the formats, myself. I listen to audios while working out, walking or just relaxin’ in the hot tub. I watch videos during what I call the Educational Hour -that’s 9 to 10 am every weekday. And I read voraciously so I print out online lessons to go over and mark up when I settle in for the “evening read.”
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Today, I’m posting the second of two lessons about importance of corporate identity. I’m also uploading a couple of evaluation forms that you can use to ensure that your video business identity makes the grade.
We’ve come a long way with our online video business training course in a very short time, but there’s lots more to come.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
posted by Steve9th, 2008
We’re sort of closed today…well, we’re offline, for the most part…due to a horrendous storm yesterday. I’ll spare you the grisly details of the afternoon, save to tell you that this downed tree may look pretty innocuous and innocent, but it’s quite a different story when you’re running full-tilt down the middle of the street and you hear it break and see it coming directly for you. Luckily, the power cables prevented the whole thing from crushing you, the girlfriend and the dog…and the shower of sparks and pops and snaps just added to the general ambiance.
It’s now Monday and the dog, quite traumatized, wisely refuses to leave the house. Thanks to my neighbor and my collection of extra-long heavy-duty extension cables, the refrigerator and the main editing computer are running. In a bit, I’ll run over to a Wi-Fi’d coffee shop and upload this. May take awhile to find one. A lot of East Lansing is in the same boat today; waiting on the electrician.
If you’re waiting to hear from me, have patience. If you’re waiting for new uploads, have even more patience; those big files take a few hours and I doubt the coffee baristas will let me sit here that long.
posted by Steve11th, 2008
Big props to everyone who is a member of, goes to the meetings of and works on behalf of local video associations. Because of schedule conflicts in the past, my own attendance record has been pretty spotty, but the good people of MIVA (Michigan Independent Videographers’ Association) have come up with a good way to trap me into showing up more; they’ve put me on the Board of Directors!
Actually, I am happy to help out a great organization and if you’re a Michigan- or Windsor-based videographer, I’d like to personally invite you to our next meeting. The details are right here. Not a lot of info on the website at this very moment, but I’m in the process of redoing it. Just another task for the new board member…
posted by Steve8th, 2008
Blog popularity is due in large part to blogs’ simplicity. Hosting companies have made setting up a website uncommonly easy. Everyone - no matter what level of technical proficiency - is capable of setting up a blog site. Yep -even me.
I’ve found WordPress to be not only a user-friendly blogging tool, I also believe that when used correctly, it has the potential to be the perfect tool to use to generate an above-average level of traffic to your website. And that can translate directly into more dollars in your pocket!
Here’s why I like WordPress. First, the relative advantages are many; you don’t have to know how to design or program a site, you can automatically import images and video, you can easily customize your site, and yes, if you want, you can blog. Oh -and blog sites are indexed almost instantly by the major search engines. No more waiting for months for Yahoo or Google to recognize your site. It’s just not blogging software, either. WordPress is a content management tool that allows anyone to create a great-looking website.
Secondly - For those of you who are running blogs right now, you are on the leading edge. Web 2.0 is here, simply meaning that smart communicators are encouraging two-way dialogues. It’s no longer enough to build a site that talks to visitors without allowing feedback. Nowadays, people are looking for real people behind the pixels…people who will listen and respond to them.
Finally - Your customers are starting to ask about web videos. You have got to get with the technology to do this, as well as get behind the marketing strategies to sell them what they want. Thankfully, the technology is relatively easy…and if you’ve got some streaming software program and a working knowledge of WordPress in your toolbox, you can not only produce video clips for the web, you can hand your client a brand new, WordPress-based website featuring those clips. Better yet, you can do it in less than an hour, if you have to and, you can almost guarantee it’ll be in the major search engines in a matter of hours - if not sooner.
If you’re looking for more information on WordPress and how to use it effectively, I’ve added 20 video courses on the subject to the Members-Only section of the Video Business Advisor. The newest flight is “Advanced WordPress Training,” a 10-lesson series that covers most of the different aspects of WordPress that usually get answered with lots of technical jargon. None of that ’round here.
Each lesson runs approximately 10 minutes and covers the stuff you need to know, such as changing header graphics, CSS style sheets, using your blog as a Content Management System, desktop blogging, RSS uses and stats, and a few more -like how to customize your 404 pages for fun and profit.
Like the other dozens of helpful videos and hundreds of resources designed to help wring maximum profitability out of a video production business, they’re accessible to VBA members 24/7. There’s membership info here, if you’re interested. Check it out. Get a step (or two) ahead of the competition.
posted by Steve7th, 2008
Well, I just figured out how to save a whopping amount of money this year; this morning, I notified my office building landlord that I’ll be moving out at the end of the month and moving my local office home.
It makes perfect sense, in that I subcontract out our order fulfillment services now, and have a big whompin’ remote backup server to hold all our work files so we can work from anywhere there’s a good WiFi signal…and even more sense when we looked at my calendar for the past few months and realized that I spent about an hour a week in my official office -and that was mostly just to drop copies of paid invoices into a “closed” folder, or to say hello to my cousin David, who occupies the office suite next to me.
Okay. So a few things to get done before that happens of course, and one was quite serendipitous -to finalize production and release my latest program “Success Without Stress -with Your Home-Based Video Business!” So that is now done; in fact, I just now uploaded the final files and put it into our online catalog. If you ever wonder how to get everything done and juggle the kids, the dishes and the dirty laundry, entertain clients and try to maintain some semblance of a normal life, this program will really help you. Go here for details and to watch a little introductory video!
I should note that this is our first instantly available video training program. That’s right; within a minute after placing your order, you’ll have the program downloaded to your desktop and ready to help you succeed with your home-based video production business.
posted by Steve2nd, 2008
My friend and Video Business Advisor Advisor (I’ve got to think of another name for this great group of people!) John Easton has produced a video of a panel discussion he recently participated in on business networking strategies.
Says John, “I thought the video serves as a good example of how end users can use program-based streaming video to turn their expertise into effective marketing tools. FYI, our Chamber of Commerce (Charlotte, NC) has signed on a distribution partner (4,000 + business audience) and we are working on others The programming is also an opportunity for video producers to sell yet one more service.
“In addition, I mention you and your rule of 8:16 in the discussion. I thought you might get a kick out of the mention.”
I watched the series, enjoyed it and yep, I did get a kick out of the mention, John. Thanks for that, and for giving us another great tip for marketing our businesses.
See the series on John’s Blog. And while you’re there, sign up for a free subscription to John’s stuff. He’s a terrific source of marketing ideas that really work.
posted by Steve1st, 2008
YouTube is free, but viewership has to be earned. So if you want lots of YouTube views, here’s a few techniques that will get you more views and more hits on your own website.
1. Keep it short.
Don’t make videos that take forever to load. People have other things on their minds, and an aggregator site like YouTube has far too many choices for them to pick from already. A recent study on video-sharing websites suggests that a video works best when it is under 5 minutes in length. So even though YouTube allows you a maximum of 10 minutes, keep it under 5 minutes.
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