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Video, some love it, most hate it.  Why?  They don't like the way they look on camera, or hate their voice, or some other really bad excuse.  But, with 3 billion views daily on YouTube, video is something that your business can no longer ignore.  There are simple ways to incorporate video into just about any business that is out there.

As we all know, many people consume things better when they can either hear or see it instead of just reading.  Hence why you always should try to include images to keep the consumers interest in your blog posts.  However, when you embed a video into the blog post you increase this exponentially.

As I was scanning YouTube videos, I came across this one from a real estate firm in Australia.  They do a great job explaining the importance of video in their industry:

As the saying goes, proof is in the pudding.  Both the top sales person in the state & country are using video to promote their business.  Also, they discuss spending $1,000 on a newspaper ad versus spending $500-$1,000 on a professional looking video.  Let's look at this in detail for a moment.

The ad that you place in a newspaper runs for a limited time.  Normally only once or twice making it's shelf life very short.  Secondly, the reach of that ad is the audience in your city that gets a newspaper.  If this was my hometown of Myrtle Beach, SC, the circulation of the paper is about 50,000 daily.  So you would be paying roughly $2 per viewer if you are lucky enough to get 1% to view your ad.  Since it is not interactive, you would then have to rely on the consumer going to a computer visiting your website, or picking up the phone to call you.  Of course this also doesn't take into account those who are not in the market for your product right now, which would make that number dramatically less.

In comparison, if you pay a video company to design a dramatic video or create one yourself for your product/service you are offering the video can easily get thousands of views if you title & tag it properly.  The other big differences between the print ad & video is that your video doesn't have a shelf life.  Unless you delete the video or have your account suspended, the video can live online for eternity to be found by consumers moving forward instead of just those looking on that day.  Secondly, the people viewing your video are those who are typically interested in that thing.  They have done some sort of search and landed on your video.  So, conversion should be much higher than the print ad.

So, if you have not started with video yet, now is the time to begin.  2012 is a year in which video will continue to remain a strong tool to implement into your online marketing strategy.  To help everyone get started in the right direction, I've created a free webinar that will take place on Monday January 9th, 2012 at 1PM EST.  Seating is limited, so register now!

This is part three in my series on creating better videos. In our first segment we covered indoor shots and how to keep the light balanced. Then, we discussed why using a tripod is crucial to the quality of your video. For today's segment, we are going to discuss audio.

Good videos are made up of two main components. The images on the screen and the sound that accompanies it. If one of these parts is lacking or missing, the quality of your video goes down. While you may think you need to spend several hundreds of dollars on a good microphone setup, you will be surprised what you can get for under $40.

Before I show an example, let's first discuss the different types of microphones that exist. There are three main types that you may want to use:

1. Shotgun Microphones- These microphones are highly directional and pick mainly the audio that is just in front of them. It is used many times on movie sets with a boom stand that hangs it overhead those speaking. They can get a little more expensive, but can be effective in situations where you cannot have a microphone 6 inches from your subject. They can pick up sounds usually within 10 feet. Unfortunately though, if you are trying to interview someone in a noisy room, it can be difficult to distinguish their voice and the noise of others speaking in the room.
2. Handheld Microphones- Handheld microphones are like those used by news reporters. They can be wired or wireless. They provide a good sound of those close to the microphone. If you want the ambient noise of others in the room, this may not be the best option. Also, if the person using the microphone has weak arms and the microphone moves away, you may lose some of what they are speaking.
3. Lapel Microphones- Lapel microphones provide very good quality audio that will remain consistent as you clip it onto the persons shirt or jacket. These microphones pick up only the person wearing it so if you are trying to interview someone else, this is not the option for you. Unless of course you use an audio mixer and two of them. In the example below, I use a simple $25 Audio Technica ATR 3350 wired version. (aff link)

Here's a demo:

As you can see, adding just a simple $25 microphone changes the quality of your video immensely. No longer do you hear the wind blowing and my voice faintly. Instead my voice now is coming through crystal clear. So, if your camera allows for the use of an external microphone, then put the additional investment into your videos and see the major difference. If your camera doesn't have the option for an external microphone, have no fear! I will have a guest post coming soon that will show you how you can accomplish the same type of audio quality.

To learn more on how to create better videos, check out this presentation that I have shared as a social media speaker on Video Basics.

photo credit: Mike Mueller Areweconnected.com

Originally Posted at: 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors

The other day I started a series of posts on creating better videos.  The series came from some recent presentations I have given as a social media speaker on using video more effectively in your online marketing strategy.  The first post dealt with picking the right angles for your indoor shots.  Today we are going to tackle another one of the issues I see in too many videos.  The fact that you feel like you are riding a roller coaster throughout the entire video due to the shakiness.  If you wonder what I am talking about, here's an example from one of my golf outings.

So how do we go about fixing this problem?  Well, absolute easiest is to just use a tripod.  It steadies your camera and removes all the shake.  You can purchase one for anywhere from $20 for an inexpensive one to some that can cost you several thousands.  Personally, I use a tripod/monopod combo from Sunpak that is around $85. (aff link) This tripod is a little taller than some of the others out there which comes in handy if you are taller or interviewing someone who is taller than 5'7".

In addition to this tripod, I also use a smaller lightweight one, but that can can be hard to use since it is so lightweight it causes some vibration when you try to do pan shots.  The third tripod I carry in my bag always is a small desktop tripod.  This one might get more use than any other tripod I own as it is with me all the time.  It doesn't always work the best with the DSLR camera due to the cameras weight, but with the pocket cameras it is perfect.

Here is a quick demonstration video showing the importance of steadying your camera:

So what if you want to shoot a video and do not have a tripod handy?  What should you do?  Well, obviously you wouldn't want to just give up on shooting the video.  Instead, lets think of some other ways to imitate the tripod.  Here are just a few things I have done in the past when I don't have a tripod nearby to steady my video camera:  

• Find a steady flat surface to sit/prop the camera.  I've used everything from sidewalks, desks, railings, you name it to steady the camera.  I've even used my wallet before to prop a camera up & get that perfect shot.  

• Put your camera strap on & pull the camera tight against your neck.  This will help to steady the camera more than just using your arms.  

• Find something to lean on.  If you can find something to lean your elbows against you can use your arms as a tripod fairly well.

These are just a few ideas, there are plenty more crazy things I've done in the past to try & get the right shot.  Have you ever used any of the things I mentioned in the past?  Or maybe you have another idea.  If you do, please share!

Originally Posted at: 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors

Wow! What a crazy month it has been here for me. Over the past few weeks I traveled several thousand miles to share as a social media speaker at many events around the country. One of the more popular presentations I have done recently has been on video in real estate. In that video I share several video demonstrations on various tools & tips. Things like the importance of using an external microphone, using tripods, etc.

I think these video tips are fairly important and could be useful to others, so I will be sharing these short video examples and tips over the next few weeks here on the blog. Today I am sharing tip 1 for creating better real estate video.

Getting The Right Indoor Video Shot

The biggest issue I have seen in most indoor real estate videos has to do with the camera position. Too many times I see the shot focusing on the windows of a room and shooting directly at them. While it is important to point out the lightness & brightness inside a room caused by a window when trying to sell a home, if you try to convey this the same way in your video that you do when physically in the home with a buyer you end up with all kinds of problems.

Because there is so much brightness, many ignore turning on the lights in the room to try to keep the shot from being over exposed which causes problem one. Then you have the unbalanced amount of light as you pan the room. Most cameras can not adjust fast enough as you pan so you end up with part of your shot looking fine, part completely washed out and then another segment that is so dark you may think you are in a real estate cave. Not to mention the fact that it looks like the room changes color from tans to yellows to grays to whites.

You can spend hours in the editing booth trying to adjust color and exposure in your shot causing you to want to pull your hair completely out. While this option is available, there are others that are much easier. The angle you choose to shoot your video at can fix all these issues almost instantly.

Instead of shooting your video directly into the windows with no interior lights on, move the camera to the other side of the room near your windows. Turn on the interior lights and begin your video shot there. By doing so you will see a more consistent amount of light across your shot without the white balance & exposure changing as many times as a chameleon.

Here's a quick demo video from my recent presentation on Real Estate Video Basics:  

Originally Posted at: 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors

Yesterday I read an article on Mashable that YouTube recently passed 2 Billion views a day on their network.  YouTube, a company that recently celebrated their 5th birthday has become quite the major component to any businesses online marketing strategy.  Whenever I am doing online consulting with a client regarding their social media marketing strategy, I always try to encourage them to integrate video as a main component of the online marketing strategy.

Next to behemoth search enging Google, YouTube (which is actually owned by Google) is the second most used search engine in the world.  Companies can gain instant notoriety by establishing a solid video online.  Examples: Remember the Social Media Revolution? This video regarding some statistics on the power of social media gave a businesses YouTube channel an instant jolt of traffic.  Or maybe you remember the infamous song of how United Breaks Guitars? The band Sons of Maxwell became overnight successes because of their catchy tune about how United Airlines broke a guitar and refused to pay for it.  They created a quick video poking humor at the event & within no time the video had been viewed over 8 million times.  Their success was so great they even created another video United Breaks Guitars Breaks My Career that basically says thanks for destroying our gear, you made us famous!

So how does someone optimize their efforts on YouTube & other video sites? Well, there are a few things that if done consistently will help you to get the best results.

1. Tagging & Title of Video. Just like when you write a blog, the title of the video is one of the most important parts.  I had a client who had a video that was really good on something that people would want to see, but the title was done all wrong.  In fact, it had just the basic random title that the video camera named it when they downloaded the video.  When the client uploaded it to YouTube, they never took time to change it and could not understand why their video was not getting much traffic.  So, we renamed the video to a term people would search for & the video started to take off almost instantly.  Now, that video has over 1,100 views!  The tags are also important on a video because they help to categorize your video properly to be searched.  I find myself going to YouTube now for answers on a question rather than search engines.

2. Distribution of Video. The second thing most people is load their video to YouTube but nothing else.  Nowadays we all have Facebook, Twitter, websites, blogs, Posterous accounts & more.  YouTube has now made it really easy to distributet your videos out to other networks.  When I take my reach of all these networks & add them together, it is well over 8,000 people.  Why not share those videos with that audience?  The more exposure you can give to a video, the more likely it is to be viewed by masses.  Not to mention, those who watch the video & like it will then also share it on with others. Each person has a wide net of connections and you can see quickly how your video can then spread like wildfire!

3.  Keeping it to the point. Have you ever clicked on a video to watch & as it starts you see it is 8:39 and you just do not want to sit there that long?  Videos that drag on longer than 3-4 minutes normally have a lot higher viewing level than those that are 8-10 minutes.

In addition to these three tips on how to optimize the use of YouTube & other video services, here is a post I wrote a while back on how to create effective videos.  This post shares with you 5 really basic tips on how to make videos that people will actually sit & watch without having to spend thousands of dollars to have the videos produced.  It covers things like music, how to pan shots properly, and much more.  It is a great beginners guide to starting on video.

In closing, if you are not yet using video in your marketing strategies, it is definitely time to start exploring this.  One final piece of advice:  You do not need to be a professional videographer to create good video.  Most videos that go viral are ones shot with basic digital cameras, flip cams, and most of the times are not even edited.  So do not allow things like that hold you back from getting started.  Raw video can be just as beneficial for your business as one that is shot by the pros.  If you want some assistance in getting started with this, feel free to contact me and I can help you.  The biggest key however, is to just get started!

PHOTO CREDIT