Producing Winning Videos: Part 2 (Action Wednesday/Physical Evidence)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  It’ Action Wednesday and we’re going to talk about creating a script and shooting your video in Part 2 of “Producing Winning Videos.”

One of the elements that make a video truly successful is a compelling story angle.  If it isn’t very compelling, informative or entertaining, your audience will not be interested.  Spend enough time considering the story you will tell in the production about your business or product.

Next, establish what the video will visually depict, what you are going to say and who will be the on camera talent.  Finally, consider the production aspects.  Set the amount you are going to spend on production, however, ensure you maintain production value regardless of your budget.  Establish the production schedule.  It may be one day, a week, perhaps over the course of a month.  These are all aspects you have to determine when you are the producer of your video.

Create titles and graphics.  If you are not able to do this yourself, engage a graphic animator or graphic illustrator.  It’s very important to include graphics to enhance production value.  The higher the quality you are shooting and the more add-ins such as titles and graphics you use increases the perception of a higher end product and, ultimately, a higher end brand.

Once you go into production, the key driver of your video is the script.  A script can be created simply in Word using a two column table.  In the left column, document the video activity, everything that will be seen in your show.  In the right column, transcribe the dialog.  Begin the video creation process by scripting what will be on camera and what the participants will talk about.

A great video has a call to action.  Incite your audience to get excited about something and to call you or to go to your website.  You want to engage your audience and give them a call to action that will benefit your business.

As the video producer, you have to decide who is going to direct and shoot the video.  Then determine the equipment to be used and the location of the shoot.

Additionally, you have to arrange for the talent you will use in the video.  This is very important.  The first thing you might consider is including yourself or your employees.  That’s good news/bad news.  Employees have a good understanding of the product, however, if someone leaves the organization would that make your video invalid?

You might think about hiring a corporate spokesperson.  Many firms hire outside talent to speak on behalf of the company.  I’ve hired a lot of key spokespeople and the very good ones are worth the money that they charge.

Finally, remember to fill the minor roles in your video, background people, extras, etc.

Regardless of who you have on camera, ensure you obtain a release from them authorizing the use of their likeness in the production.  If employees participate, pay them as for any other part of their job so there is consideration for their services in your video.

Lights, camera, action!  You are now ready to be a producer, director, maybe even the star of your own video.

After you have completed your shoot, you have the video edited.  It is fun to sit down and see all your clips assembled it into a show or a story that has a beginning, middle and end…like any great story.

I hope you have enjoyed our two part series on “Producing Winning Videos.”  In my experience, there aren’t many things better than producing a video, especially with YouTube and smart phones where video goes straight to the customer when they want to learn about your product.

If you feel you might need support in producing your video, feel free to contact me.  I am always available for a one-on-one service engagement.

I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day marketing, and we’ll see you next time.

James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com

Producing Winning Videos: Part 1 (Strategic Tuesday/Physical Evidence)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Strategic Tuesday and we are starting a new series centered on videos.  I’ve been involved in production of professional television films, videos and interactive multimedia my entire career.  So today we’ll be talking about one of my favorite subjects.

Why should you consider video as part of your marketing campaign?  Look at the success of YouTube.  In 2011 there were 1 trillion video views.  That is 140 views per person for everyone in the world.  And, since not everyone is online, many are watching much more than 140 per year.

Why are videos important for your business?  When you create a great video with a compelling story, it can be produced once, put into cyber space, and can be viewed again and again for years to come.  If it happens to go viral, it could potentially be seen by millions of people.  Also, production costs are significantly less than in the past, so it isn’t an expensive proposition any longer.

Key factors for producing a winning video: Compelling story angle, what will entice people to watch your video; Informative without being boring; Entertainment value if possible; and Short unless it is instructional in nature such as a demonstration video for your product.  Ensure any video you use in connection with your business and/or products is high quality and looks professional.  Any perception it conveys will become part of your brand.

The last item I would like to discuss is production value or the overall quality of your production.  When I started producing videos costs were in the range of $5,000 per finished minute.  Based on the current capability of cameras and editing software, that cost has been greatly reduced.  Seriously consider the production of videos to market your company and your products.  It’s never been easier to tell you story through the power of video.

Based on my experience working with clients and even this blog, it should deliver great results for you.

That concluded Strategic Tuesday and Part 1 of our series on Producing Winning Videos.  Join me for Part 2 tomorrow on Action Wednesday, when we will discuss scripting and physical production.  If you would like to engage me for one-on-one consultation regarding your video, please contact me.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com

7Ps of Marketing: People (Smart Monday/People)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing, and it is Smart Monday.  We’ve got a great topic for you today in our continuing series of the 7Ps - the “7Ps of Marketing: People.”

We’ve talked a lot about the 7Ps of Marketing.  It’s a great tool to assist you in developing a strategy to achieve goals within your organization.  Today we are going to talk about People.  When you really think about it, do your customers buy your product or are they buying into the people in your organization who represent that product?  There’s an argument both ways.

Having the right kind of people in your organization can be a huge asset with respect to the enhancement of your brand.  Your brand can be severely diminished if you have people in your organization who are not truly brand ambassadors and are not representing your products or company values in the right way.

One aspect of your goals in relation to personnel is ensuring employees understand that they are brand ambassadors.  What they say and do, as well as how they interact with your customers is critical as it becomes part of the perception of the brand in the mind of the customer and, is also critical to creating a positive experience for customers.

How do you enhance your brand through your people?  You should start with yourself, “brand you” if you will.  Everything we’ve been talking about with respect to branding applies to the individual.  You can enhance your own personal brand and your relationship with your customers. 

You should also consider all the touch points where employees engage your customers.  It might be face-to-face in a sales capacity or customer services.  Often it’s on the phone or via the Internet.

We’ve talked about place or the distribution of your product.  Everywhere your product is distributed there is a person or an experience representing your organization.  Ensure those encounters are as favorable as they can be.  People are an essential part of the 7Ps of Marketing.  To truly enhance your brand, and potentially sell more product, looking at every interaction with your customers is key to success.

You may identify a need to create training around how to be a great brand ambassador for your organization.  Consider it for yourself, for the people in your organization, and perhaps even for people outside your organization who are representing your product. 

That concludes our Smart Monday.  Stop by tomorrow for Strategic Tuesday.  If you need more branding assistance, feel free to contact me to discuss a possible one-on-one service engagement.  That information is at the end of the blog.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing, and we’ll see you next time.

James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com

Sharing Information with SMS and RSS (Digital Friday/Promotion)

Hello there, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  It’s Digital Friday and that means we get to have one more blog together before you run off and have fun for the weekend.

Now, a question for you.  Isn’t it nice to both give and receive?  I think so and that’s what our subject matter is about today: “Sharing Information with SMS and RSS.”

As you’ve probably surmised by now I’m not a technical geek.  I’m a marketing geek, if there is such a thing.  As I talk about SMS and RSS feeds please bare with me to understand that I am trying to talk to you from the point of view of an application user rather than a technology developer. 

SMS stands for short message server.  In other words it’s text messaging that is delivered to your phone.  And RSS is really simple syndication and that’s where email blogs or updates to a website can be automatically sent to you.  When a customer chooses to receive SMS or RSS feeds, they get instantly alerted when new content is available. 

How do you use SMS and RSS feeds to your marketing advantage?  What you want to make sure is that when customers come to your website or your blog they have the ability to select your SMS or RSS feed so that they will automatically receive your updates.  What’s great is that you don’t have to spend the time to send it to them.  They’ve opted in and requested your feeds.  Their readers will find your information and pull it to them automatically.  That’s very powerful. 

You may also want use RSS and SMS feeds to find content that you are tracking.  By going to a website or a news blog you like and clicking on that RSS feed you will get notified when changes are made to the website.  How nifty is that!

Now let’s think about our taco stand again.  Let’s say our vendor has a website (it’s a very sophisticated little taco stand) and when people visit the website he’s got an offer for coupons.  People are able to select on the SMS or RSS feed and are automatically notified of coupons.  Near the end of the day the taco stand owner decides he wants to sell out all his tacos so he puts up a coupon for 50 percent off which expires in the next few hours.  Customers with his SMS get the coupons right to their phones and other through RSS right to their computers.  Before you know it he’s got a rush and sells out completely and they literally gobble up the last of his tacos.  SMS and RSS worked for him and his loyal following.

As I mentioned at the start of the video blog today giving and receiving is a good thing.  And you can do that with SMS and RSS feeds.  From your perspective as a marketer you want to make sure that people coming to your site that are trying to find your digital content can select an RSS or SMS feed so that they will automatically get your notices.  You should talk to an I/T expert to be able to accomplish this.  But I want you to be thinking about it.

On the other side as you go out there into the world exploring other sites, it could be your competitors sites or general information you are trying to seek, you select RSS and SMS feeds and they will automatically come to you.  It keeps you in the know all the time and technology is doing the giving and receiving, not you.

This wraps up another week of Once a Day Marketing.  Hope you join me next week when I start off with Smart Monday.  If by chance you need a little more branding support than my daily blog offers, feel free to contact me to discuss a one-on-one service arrangement.  My my contact information is available below.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing, and we’ll see you next time.

James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com

SWOT Analysis: Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (Recon Thursday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  It’s Recon Thursday, and today we are going to talk about one of my favorite tactics to use when working with my clients.  It’s called a SWOT analysis and that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

What is a SWOT analysis?  It is a tool for analyzing internal and external factors that may enhance or impede achieving your objectives.  You can apply SWOT analysis to a business, product, brand, your competition, even to yourself in a personal assessment.

First let’s look at strengths.  This is where you assess the strengths of your organization.   Create a list either by yourself or with input from friends or peers.  Some items are very important, other less so, focus on the important items.

Next, look at the weaknesses of your organization the same way.  Again, create a list and prioritize the most important items to address.

Identify opportunities.  What opportunities may be available to you?  These are external areas where you may be able to leverage your strengths, or, convert a weakness to strength, and go after opportunities as well.

Lastly, what are the threats to your organization?  Generally, this is something you don’t have control over.  It may be high gas prices, a hurricane, power outage, etc.  There may be threats, however, if you know about them you can work around or minimize them to reduce your risk.

Why is the SWOT analysis important?  First, it enables you to match your strengths with opportunities.  If you have weaknesses and/or threats, you can focus on converting them to strengths.

Let’s take a look at our Taco Stand for a moment.  Using a SWOT analysis, the owner has identified the strength of having great, authentic tacos served fast.  One weakness is that they are positioned on the far side of the plaza today, away from where the tourists are expected to arrive.  A second weakness has been identified as the potential for rain.

An opportunity may be receiving information that several tour buses will be arriving at lunchtime with foreign visitors who want an authentic taco experience quickly

After identifying these items with a SWOT analysis, what can our taco stand vendor do?  He is mobile and can reposition to be in the right place when the buses arrive.  He can also park under an overhang so when it rains his customers won’t get wet.

What happens when the buses pull in?  The tourists see his stand, that his food is authentic and served quickly, they get in line and buy their lunch.

Utilizing the SWOT analysis, the taco stand made more money than he might have otherwise and the analysis really paid off for him.

The purpose of Once a Day Marketing is to inspire you with ideas you can follow up on.  More details regarding a SWOT analysis are available online than I can share with you in this short blog.

My recommendation is that you perform a SWOT analysis.  Then develop an action plan and strategy to use it to your advantage in accomplishing the objectives you set out in your strategic plan.

That’s our Recon Thursday, join us tomorrow for Digital Friday.  And, as always, if you need more branding support, please contact me to discuss a one-on-one service engagement.  I am Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing, and we will see you next time.

James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com

Using PR to Enhance Your Brand (Action Wednesday/Promotion)

Hello again, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Action Wednesday.

Today’s topic is: “Using PR to Enhance Your Brand” and I’m going to be discussing PR and Publicity.

When was the last time you sent out a press release?  Was it a while ago?  Have you ever sent out a press release?  Recently, there was an article regarding Once a Day Marketing in the Santa Fe New Mexican, our local paper.  That article appeared because I took the time to send a press release to the newspaper.

Just what is publicity?  It is when you are attracting attention through public notice.

Why is this good strategy?  Newspapers need stories, as do radio, internet and other outlets.  Through your press release you are announcing you have a story of interest to share and there may be an opportunity for your item to be picked.  That’s the whole premise around publicity.  

Publicity creates a slightly different promotion for your business than a paid advertisement or other tactics in the traditional mode.  When people see a news related story, it lends credibility to your company and your brand.  I believe customers will have more confidence in your product than they would seeing an advertisement you paid for.  There is a subtlety with respect this kind of publicity.  The press release is what drives it.

Two components comprise a successfully press release, the text of the press release itself and who you send it to. 

With respect to the press release, the content has to be interesting, timely, and relevant.  Like all the strategies we have talked about here at Once a Day Marketing, it should be focused on the audience of the publication or the radio/television station you are sending it to.  It’s important to understand who that audience is.  Include the Who, When, Where, Why, and How elements along with your contact information in the event an editor or publisher has questions.

Target the right channels.  The Once a Day Marketing story in the New Mexican was submitted to the Business Editor.  That was good fit, he covers local businesses and Once a Day Marketing focuses on assisting local businesses. 

To be successful, ensure you develop relationships through networking or cold-calling.  Ask what types of stories editors are looking for, etc. and create that interaction.  Also, research the various publications and outlets that you are interested in to better understand their audiences. 

Lastly, follow up to see if there is interest in your story and, if your story does receive coverage, be sure to thank the appropriate party.  This may increase the likelihood your next story will be covered as well.

Your assignment for Action Wednesday is to develop a press release.  If you’ve never done it, or if you haven’t done it lately, it will be a good exercise.  Determine what your story angel is, develop your distribution list and send it out.  And be sure to follow up.

Fortunately there are numerous ways to do distribute a press release.  I e-mailed mine to the Business Editor at the New Mexican.  You may want to consider other means such as PR Newswire or PRweb.  These are online services that will distribute your press release, across the globe if you like.  Base distribution on the audience you are trying to reach and how much money you have, etc. 

I hope you do send out a press release and get coverage that develops positive exposure for your company and drives a little bit more traffic your way. 

That’s our Action Wednesday, be sure to stop by tomorrow for Recon Thursday.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing, and we’ll see you next time.

James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com

Planning Your Strategic Future (Strategic Tuesday/Process)

Hello there, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Strategic Tuesday, and we are continuing our series on strategic planning.  Today’s topic is: “Planning Your Strategic Future.”  We are going to define what strategic planning is all about.

I know most small businesses and entrepreneurs are so involved in day-to-day operations that they forget about their strategic future.  However, if you don’t know where you are going, how will you get there?

A strategic plan is the process of looking into the future and determining how you are going to get where you want to go.  You should also consider the resources you have available to enable you to make that journey. 

A strategic plan is not a business plan.  You’ve probably heard of business plans or even developed your own.  A business plan contains much more detail around your organization, product, market and marketing plan, as well as your operational and financial plans.  The business plan contains the numbers, so if you are seeking out investment capital the business plan is what you would share.

A strategic plan is also not an action plan; we’ll be talking about that in the future.  An action plan is very tactical as to what tasks you are going to do today, next week, next month.  It addresses who is responsible for task execution, target completion and cost. 

The strategic plan is about the future and the journey to achieving your goals.  It is a roadmap.  And, just like planning a trip, you know where you are and you know where you want to go.

There are various ways you can get from here to there on your journey.  A paved road, an unpaved road or a route that is less conventional.  Determine which route makes the most sense for your company. 

You also have to determine the means you use to reach your goal.  In our trip analogy, if you are going to take the freeway, you might want to drive a Ferrari.  If you’re going via the unpaved road, you had better take an off-road vehicle.  Similarly, the resources you leverage depend on the route that you’re taking.   Lastly, you have to determine how fast you want to reach your target which relates to timing and duration. 

The strategic plan provides a sense of direction for you and the other people in your organization.  Think of the strategic plan as your company’s GPS system.  It tells you where you are now and provides directions to reach your future goal.  And, like the GPS, you have to recalibrate now and then because circumstances change in the market place with respect to your competition, the products that you are offering, etc.  The strategic plan that may have been forward looking two or three years ago is no longer relevant, so update it periodically to ensure you stay on track. 

There is a great deal of information related to strategic planning on the internet.  My recommendation is to dive in and look at the various methodologies for developing a strategic plan and then put your plan in place.

That wraps up another Strategic Tuesday.  Join us tomorrow for Action Wednesday.  If you would like to arrange a one-on-one service engagement, please contact me via the information at the end of the blog.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com