2-Minute Warning

Tick, Tick, Tick... Like it or not, the clock is ticking that is rapidly turning the Internet into a visual environment that will be dominated by players who are savvy enough to realize that text-only is the surest way to lose your online audience. The bad news is that those sites that continue to resist the trend toward video inclusion are going to find browsers and buyers going elsewhere. The good news is that it still isn’t too late for you to get with the YouTube crowd before the clock runs out. In fact, with a little bit of practice, you may soon find out that online video could well be the best thing that ever happened to your company. 

Did You Know that:

n       In November of 2009 31 Billion videos were viewed online in the US.

n       85% of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in 2009.

n       The average online video viewer watched more than 5 hours of video (in one month!). 12.2 hrs. per viewer in 2009!

n       98.9 million viewers watched 5.9 Billion videos on YouTube (that's 59.2 videos per viewer per month!)

The first thing you have to understand before you rush out to buy a webcam is that bad video is worst than no video at all. What works on paper can be as boring as watching paint dry. That doesn’t mean it takes Steven Spielberg to turn out must-see online TV With a little practice, almost anyone can create corporate videos that are some of the best sales tools a business could have. What follows is what you need to know in order to create and deliver a marketing message by telling a story so that your audience will remember the message and act upon it. Best of all, we can even show you how to do this on a shoestring budget.

Lights, Camera, Online Action!

Online it’s all about production value, not airtime The first thing you have to understand is that Web video is completely separate from the world of broadcast television, where the cost of airtime is at a premium and show formats are from 30 to 120 minutes in length. “A typical 30-minute block of television airtime includes 22 minutes of programming with 6 minutes of national advertising and 2 minutes of local (although some half-hour blocks may have as much as 12 minutes of advertisements)." 

We've all had to gnash our teeth while sitting through the now all-too-familiar 3-minute commercial break, wondering if we are even going to be able to keep the dramatic train of thought sustained long enough for the programming to resume. Fortunately, the world of web video doesn’t work that way. There aren’t any commercial breaks during a typical web broadcast, the length of an average YouTube clip being anywhere from two to five minutes. With that kind of format, there isn’t time for a commercial. 

That being said, an argument needs to be made for discipline when creating an online video presentation. The way to format an effective video is to do it in the most efficient and memorable manner possible. No-Frills Filmmaking at its Best is about telling your story, whether it's a thirty-second elevator pitch or a five-minute web TV microcast. If you don't tell a story you aren't communicating your message effectively. Best of all, since YouTube doesn't require you to purchase airtime, your video presentation once uploaded, is available 24/7 for all to see, anytime, as often as they want. 

Since you have so much freedom of expression when it comes to online video, what you need to ask yourself, is, “What is the best way to make my point?” If you follow the standard television format and drone on for half-an-hour all you are going to accomplish is boring your viewers to tears? The best format for successful Web video is to hit the viewer right between the eyes and deliver the message in an unforgettable way. 

Just as with most things in life, discipline is very important when it comes to video production. Particularly when it comes to video shorts, the producer needs to stay focused. Lose this focus and you won’t just lose the viewer, you could very well lose track of your shooting budget as well. Time is money on the set. Unlike producing a show for broadcast television where ads and episodes are timed to the second, when it comes to web-based video you have the freedom to fudge the timing to meet your needs. Online, it makes no sense to cut a presentation because it runs fifteen seconds too long, or to add filler because it runs fifteen seconds short. However, it is still sound practice to create a structure that allows you to build a presentation that works. This means just as in any TV or Hollywood production, your video must have a beginning, a middle, and an end.  More importantly, it you also need to tell a story that will grab the viewer’s attention. 

What I have done below is create a simple formula for web video production.  It’s loosely based on the standard, three act Hollywood treatment, scaled down from a one hundred and twenty minute movie to a one hundred and twenty second video short. 

Put On Your Producer’s Hat

Before rolling tape, the first thing you need to learn about video is that for every hour you put into preproduction, you will save two in post. What this means in a nutshell, is that you want to have the production well laid out before you shoot video. This boils down to either writing a script, or at the very least laying out some talking points that will give your production structure.

Act One introduces your hero.  It also needs to create an object of desire. This is what’s known in literary circles as the hook.  It’s the hook that creates viewer interest, holds the viewer’s attention, and generates suspense. 

Act Two is all about establishing conflict and building tension by creating an obstacle that provides the motivation necessary to resolving the problem. It also plants an element of doubt in the viewer’s mind.  Will the hero carry the day?  Will he get the girl? 

Act Three involves the payoff which resolves the conflict.  The best payoffs are ones that not only save the day, but also plant a seed in the mind of the viewer that leads to the hero’s next appearance.  This is how Hollywood makes most of its money: the sequel.

Production: Armed with either a script or talking points, you can now lay out the meat and potatoes on tape.  Usually this involves scouting a location, assembling cast and crew and shooting your video.  However, one of the things you are going to quickly discover about location shooting is that you can’t control the environment.  Having produced hundreds of videos, I can’t tell you how many times the weather, or someone running a leaf blower, or simple traffic noise has spoiled the best laid production schedule.  That’s why I now shoot about seventy percent of my productions on green screen.

Regardless of how you shoot it, you will need to shoot at least two takes of the script, preferably from different angles. (example: one medium and one closeup)  This way you will be able to cover any gaffs on the part of the talent by cutting away.  This is also the way in which most people are accustomed to viewing TV shows.  Plus it helps hold the viewer’s attention.

Postproduction: Once you get the tape back to post, you should first lay out the rough cut. This means laying out all the action first. Don't worry about narration, music or titling, as these will all be added later. Use transitions with discretion. Too many can give your video an Amateur Hour look. On the other hand, you definitely want to add some cutaways that reduce the “talking head” action so common to amateur videos.  Transition from time to time to a photo, a graphic or even another video clip, anything that helps break up the monotony.  Once you are happy with the flow onscreen, then you can work toward the final cut by adding narration, titling and music.

Post-Postproduction: The best part about web video is that you distribute them free of charge on any number of video hosting sites that have sprung up like weeds since the inception of YouTube. In upcoming posts, I’ll tell you how to use YouTube as an alternative search engine optimization tactic to provide not only content for your website, but also added traffic as well.

Just keep in mind that one of the best ways of adding web video to your repertoire before the 2-Minute Warning runs out, is to call in the video marketing professionals at Jacksonville Video Production  - 904-234-6007.     

http://jacksonville-video-production.com 

Video Samples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFDU9kyWPCA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG83B2cG4f4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIs7F1Fx2N0

Put a Little Pep In Your Online Step

Baby, it's cold outside...unless like me you live in Florida.  Alright, so it's a brisk 73 outside.  Brr.  The point I'm trying to make is that during the holiday season there's a chill in the air that puts a rosy glow on your cheeks and a little extra pep in your step.  So why not use the reason for the season to step your blogs, vlogs and social networks up a notch or two.  Why let the big boys have all the fun.

Spread a little Holiday Cheer

As you know, nothing online has a higher probability of going viral than humor.  I mean, 10,500,000 funny cat videos can't be all wrong.  So why not use the touchstones of the holiday season to spice up your web presence.  Madison Avenue and Hollywood have been featuring Santa, elves, and/or a snowman or two in their advertisements and motion pictures for years.  You don't have to be David Ogilvy or Stephen Spielberg to get in on a good marketing schtick when you see one.  Just roll up your sleeves and join in the fun.

Lights, Camera, Sleigh Bells

For instance, last year we shot a humorous video featuring Santa Clause asking a 12 month old toddler what she wanted for Christmas.  (See the video below)  While the video didn't exactly glean thousands of views, it did generate a lot of  good-natured responses from those who viewed the video, which was broadcast on our social networks and newsletter.  It was also clearly passed along to friends and family of many viewers.  We also tagged the videos on Twitter with #santababy which helps to promote it beyond the local neighborhood.  We also rebroadcast the video this year.

Santa Baby Part 2

So this year, we thought we'd try the Santa Clause theme once again.  So we rented a Santa suit and hired an actor to play Santa.  Only instead of using an infant, we decided to opt for a little eye candy, in the form of a vivacious 25-year old blonde actress.  Once again aiming for a tongue in cheek approach, we asked  Santa Baby the same question as we had the little girl from the first feature.  Her answer, along with Santa's surprising response, is sure to make this video an even bigger draw than the one previous. (See below)

You Can't Get Enough of that Jolly Old Elf

While we had the suit, we also decided to shoot a third video, this one showing how the Internet has clearly effected Santa's business in 2011.  We will drip this video (below) and the one above out over the course of the Christmas season.  All told, the entire project set us back less than $200.  Ho ho holy mackerel, what a jolly good deal.

The bottom line is that if you get into the spirit of the season and employ a little creativity, there is no telling what you can come up with to entertain both prospects and customers while simultaneously promoting your business.

I think next year we'll give the Grinch a shot.

Have a happy holiday from all the elves at Access-JAX.com.

When Carl Weiss isn't directing jolly St. Nick, he helps clients maximize their results online.  If you want to find out how you stack up online, go to either of Carl's sites at http://access-jax.com or http://jacksonville-video-production.com and sign up for a FREE Web Presence Analysis today.  

Feeding Your Facebook

While many of you understand the importance of using Facebook to build an audience, precious few realize that there are a number of facilities built into the platform that can make the endeavor more proactive.  Below are a few Plugins to help you feed your facebook.

Plugin#1: Adding the Like/Send Buttons

Facebook offers a set of widgets called Social Plug-ins that you can drop into any web page.  One of the first you will want to familiarize yourself is the Like Button.  Adding the button isn’t all that difficult as long as you follow the instructions.  First you need to go to http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/ and look for the dialog box under the heading Step 1 – Getting the Button Code.  By simply copying and pasting the url of the page you wish to add the button and hitting the button that reads, “Get Code,” facebook will return both the Java and html code you need.  Simply paste the code where you want the button to appear and then follow the instructions below.

Direct from Facebook

The Like/Send buttons lets a user share your content with friends on Facebook. When the user clicks the Like button on your site, a story appears in the user's friends' News Feed with a link back to your website.

When your Web page represents a real-world entity, things like movies, sports teams, celebrities, and restaurants, use the Open Graph protocol to specify information about the entity. If you include Open Graph tags on your Web page, your page becomes equivalent to a Facebook page. This means when a user clicks a Like button on your page, a connection is made between your page and the user. Your page will appear in the "Likes and Interests" section of the user's profile, and you have the ability to publish updates to the user. Your page will show up in same places that Facebook pages show up around the site (e.g. search), and you can target ads to people who like your content.

I know what you’re thinking…“What the heck is the Open Graph Protocol?”  Don’t panic, it isn’t as complicated as you might think.  Follow the steps below to add the Like/Send Buttons it to your website.

To use Open Graph protocol, follow the following steps

 Step1: Add following tag just before the <head> tag on your web page:
<html xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml” xml:lang=”en” xmlns:og=”http://opengraphprotocol.org/schema/” xmlns:fb=”http://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml”>

Step2: Add following open graph protocol meta tags in the head section (<head>…</head>) of your web page:
<meta property=”og:title” content=”Enter title of your web page here“/>
<meta property=”og:type” content=”article”/>
<meta property=”og:url” content=”Enter the URL of your web page here“/>
<meta property=”og:image” content=”Enter image URL which represent your object here“/>
<meta property=”fb:admins” content=”Enter your facebook user ID here“/>
<meta property=”og:site_name” content=”Enter the name of your website here“/>
<meta property=”og:description” content=”Enter one or two sentence description of your web page here“/>

Step3: Once you have added your special meta tags, you can now add the code of ‘like’ button into the body section (<body>..</body>) of your web page. You’ll need to include the JavaScript SDK on your page once, ideally right after the opening <body> tag. (Copy this from the top box of the “Your Like Button plugin code:”)

It should look something like this:
<div id="fb-root"></div>
<script>(function(d, s, id) {
  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
  if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
  js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1";
  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script>

At first blush all this sounds like a lot of work, but once you have done it even once, it takes less than 5 minutes.  Just make sure you dot all the I’s and cross all the t’s. You'll know right away if you have left something out of the equation, since the plugin will not display.   If you want to see what the finished product looks like, go to my blog at http://jacksonville-video-production.com/onlinetv.html  By right clicking and hitting “View Page Source” you can see what you need to include to get the buttons up and running.

Why should you add the Like/Send Buttons?   

This is a great way to increase your distribution with the click of a mouse. Whenever a Facebook user visits your site and clicks on the button, a link to your page will automatically be added to their activity stream. This also means that all of their friends can see and click on it which will send them to your page. Better still, when the friend arrives, the Like button shows which of their friends have already clicked it, and when they click on it, a link to your page gets added to their stream.

When someone Likes your page, it does more than just pass the link around. For instance, if you are an author touting a book and  I go to your fanpage and “Like” your book, Facebook will add a link to your book’s website in my profile. If I keep a list of my favorite books in my Facebook profile, a link to your website will be added there.

Now here’s the part you are really going to like.  Once you have the page configured per the instructions above, it is a snap to drop other plugins onto the page.  Below are a couple more that I use to increase readership.

Plugin2: Recommendations
 
The Recommendations plugin shows personalized recommendations to your users. Since the content is hosted by Facebook, the plugin can display personalized recommendations whether or not the user has logged into your site. To generate the recommendations, the plugin considers all the social interactions with URLs from your site. For a logged in Facebook user, the plugin will give preference to and highlight objects her friends have interacted with.

You must specify a domain for which to show recommendations. The domain is matched exactly, so a plugin with site=facebook.com would not include activity from developers.facebook.com or www.facebook.com. You can specify multiple domains and the results will be mixed together.

To add this plugin to a page, go to http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/recommendations/

Plugin3: The Registration 
This little beauty allows users to easily sign up for your website with their Facebook account. The plugin is a simple iframe that you can drop into your page. When logged into Facebook, users see a form that is pre-filled with their Facebook information where appropriate.  The registration plugin gives you the flexibility to ask for additional information which is not available through the Facebook API (e.g. favorite movie). The plugin also allows users who do not have a Facebook account, or do not wish to sign up for your site using Facebook to use the same form as those who are connecting with Facebook. This eliminates the need to provide two separate login experiences.

Go to http://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/registration/ to obtain the code needed to install this plugin.

Plug This In

For a complete listing and description of available Facebook Plugins, go to
http://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/

Carl Weiss has been plugged into the Internet professionally since 1995. He owns and operates Access-JAX.com and Jacksonville-Video-Production.com among other sites.  If you want to turn your website from an E-brochure to a lead generating, cash register ringing machine, go to either of the above sites and click on the Free Web Presence Analysis form to find out how plugged in your company is online.

Give Your Little Tweets Big Drawing Power

If you are looking for a way to take your tweets beyond your own following, hashtags are a great solution. Adding a hashtag to your tweets, broadcasts your tweet to anyone that is following that particular hashtag.

For the uninitiated, hashtags were developed as a means to cluster tweets that are similar on Twitter.  To initiate a hashtag, all you have to do is add a pound sign (#) to any word or phrase.  The trick is not to abuse the privilege.  This means that you don’t want to include more than one hashtag per tweet.

It is also a good idea to check to see if the hashtag you are considering carries any weight.  If no one else is searching for the subject there is no reason to employ the hashtag.  How do you find out if a hashtag has any merit?  The answer to this question couldn’t be easier.  Simply go to Hashtags.org.  On the site you will find lists of the most popular tags.  The site also provides a handy search box where you can enter your proposed hashtag and not only find out how many people are using the tag, but you can also see who and when last tweeted the hashtag.

Used with care, hashtags can provide a helpful for other Twitter users who are interested in the subject of your tweet. Overuse can annoy, confuse or even frustrate followers to the point that they may choose to stop following you. The best policy is to use hashtags only to add value to the tweet, rather than barraging the reader with tags.

Straight From Twitter

Hashtags are simply keywords preceded by a hash symbol (“#”) that makes them both searchable and linkable on Twitter. For example, let’s say you wanted to find out what Twitter users are talking about right now on the topic of Social Media. You can type the phrase “Social Media” (minus the quotes) in Twitter’s search field and you’ll get related results.

You’ll notice from the above-linked results that the phrase “social media” is bolded but not linkable.
Now try searching for the hashtag “#socialmedia” instead. (Note: hashtags have to be one continuous keyword, with no spaces in between words — and they are not case sensitive).

This time you’ll find that the hashtag “#socialmedia” is actually a clickable link. If you click the hashtag in any tweet, you’ll display a live feed of every tweet that has that hashtag in it. You can find the most up to date tweets by clicking the bar that says “x new tweets.”

Twitter describes hashtags as “themes” for your tweets.

In other words, when Twitter users include hashtags in their tweets, they are deliberately assigning a unique theme to that tweet by virtue of its linkability to all other tweets containing the same hashtag.
Furthermore, users who include a hashtag in their tweets are assuming that it will be searched by other users who are interested in the same topic.

This allows your tweets to potentially be seen by millions of users throughout the world who are searching for a certain hashtag. This is a powerful tool because it allows your tweets to be seen by people who don’t even follow you.

Start a Trend

There are even different classifications of hashtags, depending upon their popularity.  For instance, if a hashtag is used by thousands of users simultaneously, it becomes what Twitter refers to as a “Trend”.
Trending hashtags have the added benefit of appearing right in the Twitter Home page and are thus exposed to hundreds of millions of Twitter users!

Hashtags Can Also Helping You Find Interesting Tweets

• People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more easily in Twitter Search.
• Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.
• Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet.

Using hashtags

• If Tweet with a hashtag on a public account, anyone who does a search for that hashtag may find your Tweet.
• Don't #spam #with #hashtags. Don't over-tag a single Tweet. (Best practices recommend using no more than 1 or 2 hashtags per Tweet.)
• Use hashtags only on Tweets relevant to the topic.

What you don’t want your tweet to look like is this::

My name is Carl and I’m an #internet #marketing #consultant that specializes in #Internet results.

·         Make hastags relevant - Don’t talk about cooking food and add #socialmedia to the Tweet. If it’s about food, make it #food. About blogging? Use #blogging. Don’t use frivolous hashtags that come from out of left field.

The Last Word on Hashtags

Properly researched and employed, hashtags can help you build followers, broadcast your message to potentially millions of fellow tweeters and put your tweets on steroids.  Abuse them, and you’ll be considered as nothing more than just another spammer.  And that's nothing you want tweeted.



Carl Weiss has been helping clients generate results online since 1995.  If you want to see how you stack up online go to http://access-jax.com or http://jacksonville-video-production.com and click on the link that reads FREE Web Presence Analysis.

The 64 Billion Dollar Question

Where is advertising heading in the twenty-first century?  That’s the one question that every business owner needs to ask themself.  Why?  Because if you don’t know the answer to this question, then you can’t devise an effective long term marketing plan.

Back in 2009 $155 Billion was spent on local advertising in the US. Yet only 7% of that figure was spent online. Why so small a percentage do you think?  Was it due to the fact that online advertising was priced out of the reach of most small businesses?  Hardly.  A month’s worth of online advertising on Google can cost less than a couple days of display ads in a major metropolitan newspaper. Was it because online ads are only good if you are looking to promote your products on a global basis?  That may have been the case back in 1995, but the birth of Geo targeting has provided the solution to that conundrum.

So what’s the real reason why so many businesses seem to be reluctant to embrace online marketing?  Especially when it is predicted that 50 percent of local advertising will shift to electronic media in the next 5 years?

Personally, I believe that inertia is the real culprit.  It seems to me that all too many businesses have been clinging desperately to old style print and broadcast advertising simply because that’s the way they have always done business in the past. 

Are you using yesterday’s technology to promote your business today?

Well let’s take a look at print advertising, shall we?  Face it, this medium has been around for a long, long time.  Up to the end of the twentieth century, it was one of the dominant forms of advertising.  But it’s starting to show its age.

Sorry to say it, but most traditional forms of print advertising have been in decline for years.  In 2009 alone, industry analysts reported that newspaper readership across the US dropped 28 percent.  That’s huge!  Nearly the same holds true for Yellow Page advertising. Last year U.S. yellow pages revenue declined 11.8%. A recent quote from Simba Information predicts that the industry’s revenue slide is expected to continue in 2011 as the transition from print to digital products continues.” 

Let me ask you, is anyone out there still using the Yellow Pages?  What do most people use instead? Google.  If you have been paying attention to the news you will remember hearing about Google and Facebook duking it out for number 1 visited site on the Internet, right?  But what you probably didn’t catch was the fact that Google all by itself currently accounts for nearly 6 and a half percent of all Internet traffic. 

Getting back to traditional broadcast venues, just like print advertising, TV and radio have been feeling the pinch.  You have to feel for the poor tv networks. In 2010, they took a 12% hit in advertising revenue compared to 2009.  Yet during that same year the Yankee Group reported that although TV advertising as a whole dropped, internet advertising actually increased – in part due to the popularity of, get this, “online tv”.  Since the advent of Tivo, many viewers simply switch TV ads off.  Even if they don’t, nearly everyone on the planet has the ability to mute TV ads.

Of course, there’s always radio.  In 2010, while radio ads were experiencing a double digit dip in listenership, online radio revenues actually rose more than 500%.  So what does that tell you?

It seems obvious, that as Americans continue to become ever more connected, their reading, watching and buying habits are following suit. Conversely, more traditional advertising media, such as newspapers, direct mail and TV commercials, continue to decline in both popularity and profitability. 

Now let’s take a look at electronic media.  In 2010 Google took in more than $26 billion in revenue.  And that trend is not expected to end any time soon.  In fact, Google reported revenues of $8.44 billion for the quarter that ended December 31, 2010, an increase of 26% compared to the fourth quarter of 2009.

Online Ads Break Out of the Box

Why the sudden groundswell in online marketing?  It seems that technology is one driver. With the advent of such things as the i-Phone, i-Tunes, Netflix and Kindle, American consumers are shifting more and more of their viewing, reading and buying habits to online media.  And I’m not just talking about their laptops.

How many of you have a smart phone?  Well guess what, so do many of your customers.

With 72% of all mobile users in the US using text messaging, mobile marketing is in overdrive.   eMarketer predicts that spending on text message marketing, mobile banners, video and other mobile based media to crack the one billion dollar mark in 2011. Growth from 2009 to 2010 almost doubled at 79% with next year predicting another increase of 48%.

Let's face it, online marketing is here to stay; And with good reason.  As you have seen, most traditional forms of advertising are in decline.  What you may not be aware of is the underlying cause.  You see, print or broadcast ads are based on what is known as “The Shotgun Approach,” which predicates that if you send enough shot into the air, sooner or later you will bring down a bird.  Face it, even at its best, this is not a very efficient form of marketing. 

Fortunately, online marketing doesn’t use this principal.  People go online and key in their area of interest.  They are then presented with a list of vendors who can satisfy this desire.  This makes online advertising more like a smart bomb than a shotgun.

Then all you as a business owner has to do is intersect with this traffic and give that person a reason and means of doing business with you, right? Well, almost right.  As you will see in upcoming blogs, the devil to creating, tweaking and managing a successful online advertising campaign is in the details. 

Carl Weiss is president of Access-JAX, which specializes in online lead and sales generation.  Call him at 904-234-6007 for a FREE Web Presence Analysis that will show you how your company stacks up online. http://access-jax.com http://jacksonville-video-production.com

Does Your Website Need to Go On a Diet?

In the past, the prevailing wisdom with regard to website design was to build sites with numerous subsidiary pages in order to best describe your business to the general public.  In many cases this meant sites that contained ten to twenty or more pages, each of which described a facet of the business.  The thought was that people would come to the homepage and then wander through the site to glean the information necessary to make a decision as to whether the business best served their needs.

That was then and this is now.

Today, people searching the web have neither the time nor the inclination to spend ten minutes or more to search a website.  They want the information and they want it NOW!  What this means to the average website owner is that like it or not, you have less than two minutes to make your point, set the bait and reel in the fish.  Far from being inclined to spend fifteen minutes sniffing around your site, few prospects will even scroll below the fold on your homepage, let alone click around your site.  So you need to keep this in mind if you want to convert clicks into cash.

Take a hard look at your website.  When someone clicks onto your homepage, what kind of an experience are you providing front and center?  Are you still wasting valuable real estate by cramming a group of meaningless graphics atop the page?  Or have you evolved your web presence by shooting a 60-90 second elevator pitch video that introduces you to your audience?  Do you have a clearly defined and highly visible offer or call to action?  Is your phone number easy to locate?  If the answer to any of the above is “no” then you need to consider putting your homepage on a weight loss regimen.

What Does a Search Engine Mean To You?

When I look at a search engine I regard it as a kind of oracle.  Ask a question and you will be provided with an answer.  That being said, if you are optimizing your website for the search engines, you will want to create subsidiary landing pages for every major keyphrase you wish to target.  For instance, if your business involves irrigation, such as the sample below of Kenny Hunt’s Jacksonville-Irrigation.com, you probably want to optimize the homepage for Jacksonville Irrigation.  This way when a prospect keys in Jacksonville Irrigation, the link to your website and/or video will pop up on Google and once clicked, your link will take the prospect to the landing page that is specifically geared towards irrigation.

However, Kenny also does landscaping and sod replacement.  Therefore we created two more landing pages, sod-jacksonville.com and landscaping-jacksonville.com where the video, text, and offer correspond to Sod Replacement and Landscaping.  The reason we did this was so that anyone searching for Jacksonville sod replacement or landscaping would be directed right to the horses mouth without having to search for and click onto any subsidiary links.  (using the question and answer school of search engine thought)

This equation applies equally well whether you are purveying Air Conditioning Repair or Zuni artifacts.  Plus it will go a long way toward eliminatng unsightly website bloat.  That doesn’t mean that you should scrimp on content by any means.  In fact, far from it.  That’s why blogs were invented. 

So if you are looking to create a lean, mean, lead producing machine, put your website on a diet today.  Your wallet will thank you.

Carl Weiss is president of Access-JAX, an online marketing company that specializes in turning overgrown websites into lead generating, cash register ringing machines.  If you are interested in a Free Web Presence Analysis that will show you where you stand online, call Access-JAX at (904) 234-6007, or email carlw@datasync.com.

Must-See Online TV

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.  

1. 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
2. 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
3. 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