[1] Video is about the most powerful tool on the web. YouTube has upgraded its looks and layout and has added more business-friendly features. Your YouTube or Vimeo channel can be your best marketing and advertising tool. In another post, I’ll talk about do-it-yourself video (cameras, mics, etc.), but today’s post (and a couple more in the future) is about the very basics of content.

First, remember to talk with your customers and prospects, not “at” them. Offer them information they can use in their everyday lives. If all you do is throw sales pitches out on the Web, you’ll soon be avoided, and then forgotten. Every business today must learn to help people understand why your product or service is important. If you help them understand that without resorting to a hard sell, they’ll respect you and be interested. Be an adviser, a purveyor of useful info, not a sales person.

Let’s say you sell fire extinguishers - the need for one in the home or office is obvious. What folks should also know is how to prevent fires or when to abandon that nice extinguisher and head for the door. Talk about advances in alarms and new fire-retardant fabrics. Do stories on new government regulations that might impact how they do their business, or force them to replace things to meet new fire safety codes. If you love your business, you’ll have much information to pass along in a video.

While you might be good at “winging it,” script what you want to say. Don’t get flowery or try to be profound, tell them what they should know simply and pleasantly. Put a computer monitor directly under the camera’s lens and put your script in PowerPoint. Use only the top third of the screen for your PowerPoint and have someone change the slides for you. Be sure to stand back about fifteen feet so that your script reading is less noticeable. If you’re close they’ll see your eyes looking under the lens, but standing back farther reduces that effect. Keep your shot from the waist up because close-ups can be dangerous unless you’re Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie.

Who should be on camera? You might be a great talent on video, or you might be bad, but at least give it a shot. If someone says, “Gee, you really ought to think about getting some help with that,” take it graciously. Not everyone is suited for doing video. Park your ego at the door because the last thing you want is a poor delivery distracting people from the message. The same goes for your family - just because little Sally or Johnny are really cute and smart, that doesn’t mean they or any other family member should be on the video. The main thing is to get folks to take you seriously and listen to the message, not be distracted by the person delivering it.

Keep the message to three minutes or less. Just about anyone will watch a three-minute video IF it’s interesting. If you can say it in two minutes, all the better. Add a short intro with your logo and a little music; at the end put contact info, your website and so on. Buy some royalty-free music online because using a popular song will get you a call from a lawyer and maybe more than that. You can buy nice music for as little as $5 for a song to use as your theme music; maybe less. Use the music at the open and close of the video.

This is barely the tip of the iceberg. Remember that the purpose is to let folks know you know what you’re doing, and to build rapport with them.  In part II of this series, we’ll talk about how to let folks know you have something for them to watch. I’ve put a link to one of the videos I’ve done so that you can see what I’m talking about. These were done in a small space with a decent camera and a couple of lights - very inexpensive, but still effective enough that Capella University picked it up for their online marketing classes. Cheers!

Positioning: A Core Element of Your Brand  [2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VmCx8Ic7qw&list=UUxvxQU1n03Fh301TbAzgxRQ&index=16&feature=plcp

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