All of us have seen HGTV and the Food Network, where chefs and contractors are turned into celebrities overnight. Getting the call from Hollywood not only translates into popularity for these newly minted stars. It also means added profitability for their businesses as well. While that’s all well and good for those lucky enough to be approached to host a cable show, what are the chances that you are going to get star treatment. Probably not very likely. That’s the bad news. The good news is that you don’t have to wait for Hollywood to beat a path to your door.
YouTube to the Rescue
With the advent of YouTube, you can easily create and distribute programs of your own. Best of all, they don’t have to be the standard 22 minute length required for a half hour cable show. (The other 8 minutes are reserved for commercials.) On YouTube less is more. That means that you can create microcasts of 2-4 minutes in length. This will give you the chance to dazzle the audience without having to break the bank.
Now for the big question: How do you shape your telecasts? For starters, there are three gotta-haves for must-see-online-tv.
- Funny – Never underestimate the value of humor to make your point and generate an audience. While I am not suggesting that you add a stupid pet trick to your lineup, unless your business revolves around pets, what you need to do is look for the lighter side of life. For example, check out my video: The Care and Feeding of the 800lb Gorilla. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZhLs-g1qjY
- Solves a Problem – The reason that how-to shows are so popular is that they help people solve a problem. I have a pet theory about the fact that most of the people who watch all those cooking shows can’t do toast. So it is the allure and not necessarily the delivery of a tangible solution that can help you get viewers to tune in. Take a look at my video: How to Get your Video on Google Page 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwmC0V2QeZE
- Eye Candy – No, I’m not necessarily talking about a buxom blonde, although that never hurts. What I am referring to are elements in your videos that offer something in the line of visual appeal. Watch me bring the house down in my promo for Access-JAX.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfNilfGHjxY
Putting on the Producer’s Hat
Now for the hard part…i.e. using these three guidelines to come up with programming. When I take on a new client, the first thing I do is explain to them that if they want to produce a series of broadcasts as opposed to the standard one or two videos that most website owners post on their sites (if that), then they need to put on their Associate Producer’s hat. What I tell them is that they need to start thinking like a TV producer, which means being cognizant of the things that occur in their businesses everyday that would make for riveting programming.
In order to facilitate this, I tell them to bring a digital still camera and a small notepad on the job with them. Whenever they start a job, they need to shoot a series of before photographs. Then during the job, they should take notes, as well as shooting a few pics while the job is underway. Last but not least, they need to take the after photos. Between the photos and the notes, they should be able to gather enough material to rough out an episode. (I remind them that it is benefits that sell prospects and not features. The reason that someone buys a drill is not for it's power or torque, but to make holes. In other words, don't talk tech to your audience. Act as though you were trying to explain the process to a twelve year old.)
Once they have a couple of episodes in hand, they come to me to shoot the intro and closing shots on our green screen. This provides the look and feel of an HGTV show. It is at that point where they give us their photos and notes from which we produce the polished episodes before loading them onto their YouTube channel.
I also tell clients to always be on the lookout for visually appealing and/or funny scenarios that occur during the course of business as usual. You would be surprised at how many times clients tell me about oddball moments on the job. If they weren’t able to capture them on camera, many times we can do a reenactment. The most vital ingredient is to train yourself to make notes of these moments in order to turn them into killer episodes.
Life is the Ultimate Reality TV Show
The thing is to avoid is making the performance of these duties a chore. Have fun. It should take no more than an hour or so a week to actually capture the elements needed to continue producing your series. As you gain more experience your production values and your audience will continue to grow. Eventually producing your own online series will become as natural as pulling on your shoes in the morning. As a bonus, you will be able to rerun these videos on your website, your blog, your social networks and even in your printed literature by using a QR code. As your YouTube channel gets more programs, both Google and your audience will take note. Suddenly your videos will start popping up on Google page 1and your viewers will start passing your videos along to friends and family. Who knows, if your series becomes popular enough, maybe you will hear a knock on the door one day from your friendly cable producer.
Carl Weiss’ video production company, http://jacksonville-video-production.com specializes in viral video marketing. If you are looking to shoot a video for promotional purposes, check out Carl’s blog at http://jacksonvillevideo.blogspot.com/ or follow him on Facebook
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