4. February 2012 by Frank Goad.

A friend of mine is the manager of a local retail establishment. He’s a very smart man with a distinguished if not unusual career. He’s amazed me at times with words of wisdom that make any thought process stop dead in its tracks and listen He’s also very frustrated because the owners don’t seem very anxious to make the place a best in its class establishment. It’s sad because, if they would just step out of the way and give him the reins, they would make so much more money.

Most folks can run a retail business. It requires some attention to detail, some organizational skills and some ability to deal with the public. Notice that I used “some” a lot, and that’s because if you’re in a good location with reasonable traffic, you can keep the doors open and lights on without being a primo manager.

My wish for him is that a distant relative would die and leave him the money to buy the place. He’s got drive, intelligence and is champing at the bit to really turn a profit, make it a busy place and build a real brand. If he could buy it, there’s no doubt it would see 30% sales gains in the first six months. Yet, the owners treat it kind of like a hobby business. They’re not too particular about the little things and seem more determined to get pocket change from the place. They seem to have overlooked Frank’s Business Rule #1: When it comes to how the public views you, everything matters.

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4. February 2012 by Frank Goad.

I’ve been working with a client on an Internet advertising proposal. They sent me a note and said, “We have a new client that works on websites and seo’s (sic). I am sure you understand.” I do, but not sure they do and I wonder, do you? Let me explain it a bit so that you can make more money from your site.

First let me say: SEO is NOT advertising - not even close. SEO, or search engine optimization, is important - no doubt about that. It’s function is to make your website attractive to the “crawlers” (also called “robots” or “spiders”) that the search engines like Google send out daily to examine every website they can find. Crawlers send bits of programming code back to the search engine that details the content of the sites they find, yours included.

If you sell blue handled shelf stretchers and someone enters “shelf stretchers” in a search box and hits Enter, the search engine’s servers kick into gear. They look through their lists of data to find every website with those two words in their keywords and page’s text. If they enter “red handled shelf stretcher,” you’re now pushed down the list because you sell blue ones. The more times they see those words in your web, the higher your “relevancy” ranking. This is where SEO comes in. By entering the right keywords, you get picked more in the lists of sites the search engines display.

If keywords were the only thing Google and others use to rank websites, then SEO might be enough. The fact is it’s only one small part of the relevancy formula. One big thing that makes a difference is … money. Despite how democratic the web might seem, filthy lucre is the biggest determining factor, and that’s where advertising comes in. Higher rankings mean you get closer to the Holy Grail of being first in non-paid advertising.

Postscript:  From when I first posted this, they are now out of business. Sometimes I hate it when I’m right. In the end, a balanced approach across all types of media (if they apply) still gives the best results; also, hire a pro (and, yes, I am a pro).

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4. February 2012 by Frank Goad.

The previous installment covered content, scripting, talent (who’s on camera) and length. This time, it’s about one thing … well three things in one, actually: Content – what is important in your script? Sounds easy, but it’s far from it. Please read on.I’ve been in communications for over thirty years and, to me, it boils down to three things that your audience needs to accept your message and consider you as a good source for video. They are: Confidence, Trust and Engagement.

Do you think confidence and trust are the same. Sorry, but they’re not. Confidence is about them believing you know what you’re talking about. Can they believe what you say? Does it sound like bull or the real thing? To build confidence, humbly let them know what your background is. Notice I’ve already mentioned how long I’ve been doing this, and you probably thought – even if not consciously – “Well, if he’s done it that long, he’s got to know something.” (“I do,” he said blushingly.) Notice that I didn’t say, “I’m an expert with … ,” because words like expert, guru, master, etc., are titles that others give you. I routinely go through my social media accounts and delete anyone who says they are a “guru” or “master” because they never are. Let your experience do the talking.

What can you say to prove you know what you’re talking about? Can people see other things you’ve done? Do you have a good place where they can find them, like a blog or a Flickr account or a website? Just as employers want to see your résumé, people want to see your work. Seeing what you’ve done lets them make up their mind if they want to listen to you and believe you. It’s okay to put your experience out there, just be thorough, accurate, honest and a bit humble. If you’re just getting started, well, everyone has to start somewhere and now is your time.

Trust is something that builds after they get confidence in you. What good is it to have confidence in your ability to bring information regularly, but not trust everything you say? Trust means coming to you as a prime source of information delivered in a way that let’s them use it, and so that they can also share it with friends – people rarely share things they don’t trust. For instance, a phrase you don’t hear: “Check this pistol. It’s pretty flaky so don’t get mad because it will probably shoot your finger off.” Confidence brings them to you (well, that and curiosity or a referral) and trust keeps them there.

Your audience must trust your work to be accurate and fair in what you say. Sure, you can go with bombast and incendiary topics, but audiences who respond to that are, generally speaking, fickle and fade quickly. You want a dependable, long-lasting audience.

Next is engagement. How are you going to talk with them? What can you say to engage them in a conversation? It might be one sided, but what do you have that will hold their interest? Do you have info that they can’t do without, or that you format in a way that gives lots of direction to the best sources? How is your delivery? Are you engaging on camera? Have you studied the techniques of television personalities you like?

A caution: Be honest with yourself and find someone who looks and sounds a bit like you. If you look like Jonah Hill, Bobby Hill, Eric Cartman, the dancing creepy old guy on the Six Flags ads, Tommy Lee Jones or Jack Black, don’t emulate Matt Damon, Bruce Willis or George Clooney. Sure, take hints from their delivery, but be who you are just like all the ones in the first group. Use it to your advantage – poke a little fun at yourself and go with what you have. You are the most engaging person once you get a rhythm and learn a bit about delivering lines on-camera.

Get feedback from friends (careful asking family as their boundaries can be a bit far out) and watch yourself on the screen as objectively as you can. It’s tough to get a natural delivery and only a few have a totally believable delivery (they’re called stars – see the names mentioned above), so accept that you’re an amateur and have fun with it. If you take yourself too seriously, your audience won’t take you seriously at all. It takes time and practice so, keep at it and have fun.

Think of it this way: There are lots of grocery stores and restaurants, but we usually have a favorite. We drive past others to get there and do so gladly. Your audience will listen to you for reasons you might never know, but they’re there. The size of your audience is less important than their loyalty, and your consistently good work will keep them coming back.

As to your scripts, use small words and active phrases. Avoid the words will, should, could, might, etc., and use active words like is, does, has, goes, etc. “He might have a chance if the playoffs go well,” vs. “He has a chance with good playoff performance.” Which is more engaging and exciting – yea, the second one. Make statements, but make ones you can stand behind.

That’s it for today boys and girls. Here’s another one of mine that was well received. Cheers!

Who Defines Your Brand? From Business Lexington’s “Smiley Pete TV” channel on YouTube.

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