Posted by Catie Foertsch on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 @ 10:05 AM
The world of free or low-cost video hosting for small businesses has changed drastically over the past few years. Options used to be pretty limited: you could create an .swf file and host it yourself, or you could use a free hosting service like YouTube, Vimeo, or Blip TV. But those options had issues. The quality of
YouTube sucked. Vimeo had good video quality but was (and is) hostile to business. Blip TV wanted ‘series’ video, whatever that meant. An .swf file on your own server was a good solution, because there were no simple, high-quality, affordable hosting sites that were friendly to – and specifically for – business video hosting.
Wow, have things changed.
Now there are many more hosting options to choose from. And within each one are more and more cool features, like detailed analytics. Here's another crucial point: iPhones and iPads won’t play swf files, but they happily play YouTube videos. Many other hosting services now offer this feature as well.
There is no longer any reason to host your own video, because video is now easy to host externally at low or no cost. And there are good reasons not to host your own – like analytics. So from now on, use a hosting site for your videos. If you’ve got swf files on your website, think about whether you want to leave them there, or re-code and upload to a hosting site.
Where should you host your business videos?
Here are four good video hosting solutions for small businesses.
(Feel free to add your favorites in the comments section.)
- YouTube – how funny is it that YouTube has become one of the most used free hosting services for small businesses? The visual quality YouTube delivers is very good (which is remarkable given how crappy it used to be). You can upload hi-def video and viewers can play it back full-screen and it looks great. YouTube is still totally free, and makes it very easy to share your videos – on Facebook and a bunch of other sites. YouTube has never been hostile to business (like Vimeo) or confusing (like Blip TV – what is that series thing?) One limitation is that YouTube videos must be less than ten minutes long, which means it’s not a good solution for hosting longer webinar videos.
- Brightcove - the 900 lb gorilla of video hosting, Brightcove’s client list includes big companies like Fox Entertainment and General Motors. But Brightcove also has affordable hosting for small businesses too ($99/month). They’ve got good analytics, i-device capability, and the newest thing in video delivery: bandwidth detection technology. You upload a high-quality video, and Brightcove creates six versions of various lesser qualities. It then detects a viewer’s bandwidth, and delivers the version that matches the best possible quality given that particular download speed. If you're hosting multiple videos, and your small business is large enough to afford $99/month, Brightcove is a good solution.
- Wistia – delivers very cool analytics such as the ‘video heatmap’ of individual viewer interest over the length of the video, and charts of aggregate viewership over time. It’s easy to use, and supports i-devices. You can use it for video and also for webinars. The low-price package, which is fine for most small businesses, is $39/month.
- Screencast - a good solution for hosting webinars as well as video. Maintains the video format and size you upload – so quality isn’t lost through re-encoding. And length is not an issue like it is on YouTube. No i-device support, though, and analytics are limited to number of views. You can use this service for free or pay $9.95/month for more storage and bandwidth, plus the ability to brand your on-site pages.
Now that the market has figured out that small businesses need AND will pay for video hosting, look for more and more options that combine low cost with features like bandwidth detection, delivery across all devices, and detailed analytics.
So say goodbye to hosting your own video as .swf files. Say hello to high-quality, affordable video hosting that's specifically designed for the needs of small businesses.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Thu, Jul 01, 2010 @ 10:59 AM
If you're thinking about using video to market your business, good for you. Video's interactivity and rich content are very effective for engaging, communicating and connecting. But before you invest time or money (or both), it makes sense to be sure you aren't just making video for the sake of having video on your site. You want your video assets to work hard for you and justify your investment, don't you?
Here are the top four questions to ask before you begin shooting. Consider them thoughtfully, and you'll have the answer to the really big question: what kind of video should you make?
1. What do you want your video (or videos) to do for you? This forces you to get beyond the very general "We just want to have video on our site" and define your goals. Be as specific as possible. Here are a few examples:
- streamline our customer service process
- introduce our key people
- inject humor into the early stages of our sales process
- move people through our sales funnel
- demonstrate how our product works
- provide different ways for visitors to understand who we are and what we do
- provide in-depth learning experiences
2. Who are your audiences and how do they learn? Who will watch the videos you'll make? This question will help you define what style of video to make. If you're connecting with 19-year-old males, you'll make a different kind of video than you would for new mothers or retired golfers.
3. What is the message you want to deliver to your audience(s)? If you make them correctly, videos are like arrows. They deliver a specific message to a particular target. Figure out what message you need to send. If you have more than one audience, don't use the same video for all of them. Instead, create different versions of your message so that each group sees and hears exactly what they care about.
4. How will you measure success? It's not a good idea to invest in assets and then leave them alone because you trust (or hope) that they're doing what you want them to do. Better to know how you define success so you can determine if they're working. If they are, great. You've figured out what works, and you can continue to create video assets that do the job. If you find that they aren't doing what you want them to do - understand why not, and then try something different. The goal is to create assets that achieve your goals and contribute to your success. You won't know if that's happening unless you measure and analyze.
Take the time to answer these four questions before you begin production, and you'll have the information you need to make video assets that are powerful and effective communication tools. They'll work hard for you, and they'll do the job you made them to do.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Mon, Feb 22, 2010 @ 11:20 AM
Recently, I had a conversation with a friend who's involved in running a regional professional organization. His organization hired a speaker based on that speaker's impressive-looking website, testimonial text quotes, and lengthy list of organizations to which he'd presented. Sounds like a good vetting practice - except that the reason this organization was looking for a speaker was not because he had spoken to other organizations, or because those organizations liked him, or because he had a great-looking website.
All they wanted was an excellent speaker. Unfortunately, said my friend, "You cannot believe how bad he was."
So how is an organization supposed to know if a speaker will be as good as he or she promises? Take a look at this video, of sales expert Peter Dennis of PMD Sales Training and Consulting. If you were looking to hire someone to speak about sales to your organization, Peter's video would give you very good idea of what you'd get if you brought him in.
The speaker's website will help you understand if his or her material is what you're looking for. But that's not enough information. You also need to see the person in action, so you can tell if the presentation is dynamic or a snore, and if the tone is appropriate for your organization. Video allows you to see exactly what you're buying before you buy it. Without video, you're taking a risk that all your assumptions about the speaker may very well be nothing more than marketing hype.
So - if you're looking to book a speaker, look for video on your candidates' websites, and hire only after you've seen what you're buying.
If you're a speaker or presenter, videotape your next presentation and place some good, representative clips on your website. (And make them very easy to find.) Those clips will help you book engagements with groups that are a good match for what you do. Your audiences will be more enthusiastic and receptive, and you'll avoid unhappy audiences who thought they were getting something else.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Wed, Nov 18, 2009 @ 08:14 AM
Company X makes complicated and expensive software. Company X is having a tough time communicating what their product does because it's so very complicated. So they decided they'd make a three-minute video - to explain exactly what Software X does, and to talk about its benefits. They plan to use this video on their website home page, at trade shows, in presentations to end users, and in presentations to upper management.
What's wrong with this picture?
Simple - one video is not what Company X needs. If they go ahead with their plan, that one video will be packed with many different messages for all its different audiences. And none of those audiences will be able to absorb their message, because the background noise - everybody else's message - will be too distracting. Making that one video will be a complete waste of Company X's money and time.
What's the lesson for your company?
If you sell a complex product or service, and you want to use video to explain its benefits, think about who you're trying to connect with.
- Is it upper management? They'll need a clear statement of the problem you solve from their perspective and in language they understand. This usually means information on how your product will save them money. Add animated charts and graphs - because this is the language they speak. And don't show product details, because they don't care about details, and they really don't care about the product. What they care about is how much money your product can save them.
- The end users, on the other hand, don't care about ROI. They want to know how the software makes their jobs easier. And they'd also like to see cool features they'll have fun using. Skip the analysis, skip the charts and graphs. Show the product in action, and focus on aspects that will get them excited.
- For a trade show, where audio is a bad idea, you'll need to produce a looping dvd with visuals only. The primary audience at your trade show will tell you what to emphasize - ROI, features and benefits, or a combination of both.
- Plant managers? Engineers? The accounting department? The nurses? They all need a different message, delivered in a different way.
Whatever you do, don't start with how to jam as many messages as possible into one single video. That's a recipe for creating junk. Instead, use your video assets like arrows - aim one video at one single target. This way you'll hit your targets, because you'll be telling each one of your audiences the exact story they need to hear about your product - so they can understand what it will do for them and how it will help them.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Wed, Oct 21, 2009 @ 10:19 AM
(This is a true story. Names and other details have been changed, but the story is real.)
Company A is an office supply company. One day, Company A's owner - let's call him Bob - had a great idea. "We'll make a video to promote the company," Bob said. "And we'll make it a funny video! We'll put it on a dvd, we'll make a bunch of copies, and we'll hand them out to potential customers. People will love it! We'll put it on YouTube and it'll go viral!"
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So Bob found a video producer named Tony. Bob had a general idea of what he wanted, and he and Tony wrote a script. The video would be a funny little play about a business that buys all their supplies at the local office supply store, only they always get inferior products. The shredder dumps paper all over a worker's desk. The ink doesn't work in the printers. The furniture is too hard to put together, or else it breaks. |
The punch line is that if that company had bought its office supplies at Company A, none of that bad stuff would have happened. And Bob, because he's the owner, gets to be the one who says the punch line at the end of the video. He knows how to give just the right sympathetic smile to make the point.
It's a complex play, so Bob rents a vacant set of offices for a week, for the shoot. As actors they use Bob's people, so his company stops doing business for the week of the shoot. They need many, many takes to make sure they get the right shot. And there are technical challenges - how do you have a chair break when someone sits on it? How do you rig a pen so it spills ink all over someone's hands? It takes time, but they work these challenges out.
They shoot the video, it takes three months to edit, and it looks great. Bob is thrilled. He orders 500 dvds. He pays a design firm to make a beautiful dvd label and insert. The project is costing a boatload of money, but Bob isn't worried - he just knows that three or four or five times the money he spends will come back to him in profit on increased sales.
The dvds are made, and Bob gives them to his three salespeople. "Hand them out to everyone," he says. So the sales people do. Bob posts the video on YouTube. And then... nothing happens. Bob waits, and waits, but the phone doesn't ring. People don't call to tell Bob how great his video is. Sales don't go up. There are only 27 views on YouTube, and that number doesn't budge. But that's OK - obviously the word hasn't gotten out yet. Bob tells his salespeople to hand out more dvds. Bob instructs his salespeople to tell prospects to go to YouTube and watch the video. Again, Bob waits. Again, nothing happens.
Two years later, Bob is still talking about what a great video he made. How much fun the process was, how ingenious he and Tony were to figure out how to get that chair to break when Sue sat on it. How the design firm nailed the dvd insert. How the whole experience really helped him understand video production.
What Bob doesn't talk about, or let himself think about, is the video's complete lack of impact. Except, of course, for the impact to his bottom line, which was a doozy.
There are many things you can learn from Bob's adventure, but I'm going to mention just one: if you have an idea for a video and you're in love with it, if you're dreaming about how it's going to go viral and your sales are going to shoot through the roof, then you should ask someone to dump a bucket of cold water on your head. Because you don't understand how to use video to market your business and you're about to make a very big and very expensive mistake.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Fri, Aug 21, 2009 @ 09:16 AM
A few years ago, video on websites was a new phenomenon. Most companies preferred to wait and see rather than investing in video, in case it was a passing fad. The few companies that were placing video on their websites were proceeding slowly, creating one single video, posting it on their home page or elsewhere on their site, and that was it. Because video was a novelty.
Things have changed. Video has become a mainstream component of an effective Internet marketing plan. The question for companies now isn't ‘Will you use video on your website?' but rather, ‘What kind of video content will you make?'
To find the answer, start with more questions:
- What do you need to show people? A product? A process? A physical space? A person being an expert? Satisfied customers who bought your product?
- What questions do you need to answer? What do people ask you, over and over and over? What message do you need to communicate? Trustworthiness? Authority? Credibility? Effectiveness? Great customer service? Friendly people?
- What feelings do you need to generate?
Now, prioritize your answers. Figure out which are the most important. Once you have that list, assign a video to each item. Then look at how you can cost-effectively create video content for as many items on your list as possible. A good idea is to break your list into phases: what content you'll create now, what content you'll create six months from now, etc.
Here's one example:
An accounting firm decides that it needs to show people expertise, trustworthiness, great customer service, friendly and helpful staff. It decides to make the following videos:
- Expertise: a videotaped seminar presented by three of the firm's partners. The raw seminar video will be broken into six to eight small two-to-three-minute videos.
- Trustworthiness: a video of the firm's partners talking about what trustworthiness means and how the firm exemplifies trustworthiness. Also, a video of a customer testimonial/case study that specifically addresses trustworthiness.
- Customer service: two customer testimonials/case studies that address the firm's excellent customer service from the customer's perspective
- Friendly and helpful staff: six short videos for the ‘About Us' page with six staff members. Each video features a staff member talking about the kind of person he or she is, how they look at the world, what they do for fun, what causes they contribute money and time to, etc. While not directly addressing accounting, the videos will help potential customers make connections to staff members as people.
The firm decides to phase production. Phase one will include the seminar and the customer testimonials. Six months from now, they'll move to phase two, and create the staff videos.
If you're ready to create video content for your website, starting with questions about what you want your video content to do will help you understand what kind of video to make. Then, phasing production will help you create your video content in a planned, orderly, and affordable way.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Mon, Aug 03, 2009 @ 08:30 AM
A new study by PC Magazine on online video use is full of useful but expected statistics and demographics on the growing number of people who watch video online, and are migrating from TV to online sites like YouTube and Hulu. For the most part, the article tells a story we already know, because we're participating: 62 percent of web users now watch online video, and the number keeps on growing. But at end of the article, something caught my eye: "At this point, online video watching outranks social networking use (46 percent), podcast downloading (19 percent), and Twitter usage (11 percent)."
Makes perfect sense. All video requires you to do is click the play button. Social networking, on the other hand, requires much more. You have to join. You have to learn. You have to participate. You have to keep up. You get rewards from social networking, of course - you feel connected to other people, and in this increasingly online world with its increasing real-world isolation, that's no small thing. But it requires continuing effort.
Video, by contrast, gives consistent rewards for very little effort. People click on the play button when they see a video on your site because they always get a small reward - the video starts to play. And very often they get a big reward - it's interesting. It's funny. It gives them good information while making them feel connected to the person onscreen. It gives them something to send to their friends & family.
If you were in a socially-righteous mood, you could argue that social networking is good for people, and they should do it more. I wouldn't disagree - isolation is not healthy, and online social interacting is probably good for that part of the human brain that withers when we're alone too much.
But for businesses that are looking to connect with potential customers, online is where it's happening. And the message is clear: video gives you the best chance - by far - of making that connection because far more people will watch your videos than will find you on Facebook or talk to you on Twitter. Those sites are important for businesses, and will become more and more important, but right now, video on your website is crossing the line from important to vital.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Thu, Jul 30, 2009 @ 07:43 AM
Had a great conversation with sales guru Peter Dennis this week about what video can do for websites. Peter asked a terrific question: does video on a website get stale?
Usually, businesses that decide they're ready for video on their site want to jump right into production. They feel a sense of urgency - maybe their competitor has a video-rich site and they've decided they need to keep up. Or maybe they've visited a site, clicked on a video, and suddenly they got it - that most people do the exact same thing. Most people see a video, click on it, and watch it. And that company wants the same thing happening on their site. Now.
But before the rush to production, it makes sense to stop and ask good questions. To Peter's point, a very good question to ask is, What can we do about our video getting stale?
Unfortunately, just like your other website content, video content will eventually get stale. If you're lucky, your video production is ramped up to constantly generate new video, in which case shelf-life isn't an issue for you. When something feels a little dated, you'll just replace it with fresh video. If, like most businesses, that's not your situation, then a smart thing to do is to create video content that has the longest possible shelf-life.
Some things to think about:
- Specific dates. We've all been to websites with a ‘Current Events' link, clicked on it, and been directed to a page where the latest event was a year old or even older. That kind of experience tells you something about the company - they're short on resources and can't keep their website updated, their website is an afterthought, or they're disorganized and lose track of things. Whatever you take from the experience, it's never a positive, trust-inspiring message. If you create a video that names a specific date, either in the video itself or in the video's text, be aware that after that date is past your video may feel stale, not because of its content but because of that date. You can get around this by not mentioning a date, and not putting a date in the video's text. Title your video "Sales Seminar, Dallas, Texas" instead of "Sales Seminar, Dallas, Texas June 2006"
- Specific types of video. Brief clips from seminars and presentations are a great way to show you and your people in real life. These tend to have a long shelf life as long as the content stays relevant to your business. Again, for your presentation, dress timelessly. And while your barber may think that gelled spikes would be a good look for you, you might want to consider a haircut that's less fashionable and more ordinary (at least until after your seminar).
- Customer testimonials/case studies also hold up well, if your business doesn't outgrow the content. For example, the customer testimonial that features the three-employee business you helped grow into a six-employee business will stay relevant as long as this is the market you continue to serve. If, however, your business grows and changes, and you now only work with firms with 50+ employees, that testimonial is very, very stale.
- Fashion. In videos with real people in them, try to dress the people in
timeless clothing. As every woman knows, fashion constantly changes. On video, wearing clothes that are fashionable may make you look great today, but six months or a year from now you'll look dated. Depending on how fashionably you were dressed, you may even look silly.
The thing to do when you're planning your video content is to understand that it's unrealistic to make video once and then keep that video content forever. A better approach is to be aware of the stale factor, and to plan your content so that you're not making videos that have a short shelf-life.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Sun, Jul 19, 2009 @ 07:52 AM
This video is an excerpt from Seth Godin's talk to the first Acumen Fund Student Leaders Workshop. It's a great example of a nonprofit using video to spread its story. Two points, one about the video itself and one about the content, but first watch the video:
About the video: if your nonprofit is thinking about making its own videos, do what Acumen did. Use an external microphone so the sound is good. And don't post the whole presentation - edit it. This one is shorter than the original talk, and rightly so - people are FAR less likely to watch an unedited, 30-minute or 45-minute talk even if it is Seth Godin. And they won't spread it, because asking your friends to watch a 45-minute video presentation is like asking them if you can come and visit for three weeks. It will make them cringe. In this case, the edited version is seven minutes. AND it has a cool-looking opening, which adds a layer of professionalism and gives weight and credibility to whatever follows. So you should also invest in, or create, a cool, professional opening you can use over and over .
Second, the content: finding stories of optimism and hope, putting those stories on video and getting them to spread is a great way for all nonprofits to grow their volunteer and donor communities, even in these tough economic times. ESPECIALLY in these tough times.
In this case, the story is a perfect antidote to the hangover we're all suffering from decades of rampant greed. Here we have young people, all talented enough to start their own companies and make bazillions of dollars for themselves, but instead they want to start companies that help the world's poor. These are young people who will live incredibly rich lives because they get something that all those financial company CEOs who made tons of money and spent it on solid gold shower fixtures didn't: a rich life is not about how much money you accumulate and how much stuff you buy. It's about creating a lasting impact, changing people's lives for the better, and meeting and working with really interesting people.
The story told in this video is also about the reality of change: significant, lasting change does not come from within the big machine. In order to be a change agent, you must exist outside the status quo. That takes courage, an adventurous spirit, and the ability to fail over and over and over without giving up.
I don't know about you, but I find this video incredibly inspiring. It gives me hope for our future in a time when it's often hard to find reason for hope.
What's your reaction?
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Wed, Jul 08, 2009 @ 09:49 AM
Is your website feeling tired? Are you pondering a website rebuild? Before you invest substantial time and resources in a total website redesign/rebuild, why not add cost-effective video content that freshens your website’s look and feel - and increases the engagement of your visitors - without the need for a total rebuild?
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One simple way to cost-effectively add video content is to create videos that contain no actual video. This example, from one of this website's landing pages, is an example of ‘kinetic typography,' which simply means it's a video constructed of moving words, along with narration and music. |
Three factors to keep in mind when creating kinetic typography videos are design, tone, and length:
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The design should fit with the design of your website. Colors, background colors, fonts, composition, all should augment your website design so the overall feel is one of coherence.
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The tone should also be in agreement with the tone of your website. Words that may help you decide on proper tone are serious, somber, fun, fast-moving, lively, academic, soft, supportive, edgy, pop culture, retro, etc.
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The length that works best with kinetic typography videos is short. Generally, a minute to a minute and a half is best. Longer videos can also work, but the longer the video, the more carefully it must be crafted so viewers don’t become bored (it is, after all, just moving text). Keep your message punchy and to-the-point.
A variation on pure kinetic typography is to mix animated words with photographs or even short video clips. The point is to widen your concept of what video-based media is, and how you can use it cost-effectively to provide your website’s visitors with a rich and engaging experience.