Video Burst Web Video Production

How to Use Social Media

david — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:13:47 +0000

There is so much nonsense on the web about social media!

There, I said it.

I feel a little bit better.

Seems like with every “hot new thing”, one half are totally

confused and the other half are experts.

And it’s funny how this deluge of experts only seems to make things worse.

So this quick overview is designed to put social media in perspective and conclude by answering the question: “How should I be using social media now?”

Part I: The Fax Machine

The fax machine era lasted roughly 20 years and it’s sometimes hard to remember how “cool” faxes used to be. But no major cultural transformations here.

Part II: The Internet

Twenty-five years ago, the internet was the cool new thing. The first shock was that anyone could broadcast his or her opinion far and wide. There was a lot of quirky stuff, a lot of individuality – kind of like YouTube without the video.

Initially, there was no huge pressure on individuals and companies to do anything particular besides try to understand this game-changer. From the outset, one thing was clear: the web was going to change the ways in which people came together to share interests and exchange information.

Part III: Static Websites

Pretty soon it became clear that you had to have a website. And man, were most of them terrible! Unfortunately, most still are. But even with the best websites, it soon became clear that no matter how pretty or informative they are, users needed a reason to come back. Unless it was a store that you returned to in order to buy something, “been there, done that” applied to even the slickest.

The missing ingredient was interaction.

Part IV: Social Media

Which brings us to our current dilemma. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, AdWords, LinkedIn, RSS, Groupon, etc. Blogs, vlogs, aggregators, forums, wikis, podcasts, video, social news, social navigation, social listening, etc. All the interaction you could ever want, right? Except for one thing: how to begin?

The most common reaction I see to the feeling of being left out of the social media party

is “I don’t have time for that.” The problem is, a thoughtful social media strategy can probably help your business a lot. In other words, chances are you can’t afford to throw up your hands.

You can start by answering two basic questions:

Why do I need Social Media?

and

How exactly should I be using it?

Back To Basics

While pounding his chest and advertising his most marketable virtue, the Cowardly Lion memorably posed this poignant question, “Whadda they got that I ain’t got?”

With that in mind, let’s briefly review why we need social media (with thanks to wikipedia for the neat list):

reach
accessibility
usability
immediacy
permanence

It simply does things old media can’t, does them a lot cheaper and you can have way more fun with it.

So, what does this all mean?

Get Started

First, take the time to customize a plan for your industry, location, audience and the amount of energy you are willing to expend. Then…

Identify your online audience

1. Existing communities are best – your Facebook and Twitter followers, your contact list, your past and current clients, forums where people discuss your product or service, etc.
2. Put processes in place where you are continually building new audiences using opt-in email lists and other techniques for “taking names”

Engage your audience on a regular basis

a. Blog on a schedule and learn how to make your blogs keyword rich so they

will get noticed by search engines.

1. Update your social media on a schedule with useful, concise information such as helpful tips, current trends and industry news. Be engaging and informative, a “friendly expert”.
2. Offer specials, coupons, teasers, discounts, trials.

Do as much as you can for free

1. Remember: social media is cheap but somewhat labor intensive, so…
2. Assign someone to update your accounts a certain amount of minutes per day.
3. Even 5 minutes a day can be extremely valuable – “consistent” trumps wordy. You want to be “present”, not exhaustive.

Include rich media whenever you can

1. Mix it up: use links, photos and videos as often as possible. Either entertain viewers, give them something to interact with, or both.
2. When you spend money on something like a professional video, toot your horn, make sure the audience knows something special just happened and make it really easy for them to find it and enjoy it.

Create an attention loop for your viewers, fans, friends and even casual browsers

1. embed your YouTube videos in your website
2. link your website to all of your social media
3. talk about your videos on Facebook
4. mention your Facebook in your blog
5. you get the idea…

Good luck!

A tiny little HD cam and some editing skill can go a long ways

david — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 15:42:16 +0000

It’s amazing what you can do with an HD camera that is smaller than a smartphone in a dark bar when the mood is right. Kimberly Fairchild and David Reinstein lit up the Ghost Bar at Detroit’s legendary Whitney on a cool spring Friday night and I happened to be there with my Tiny Cam. Is the video grainy? Ya, a little bit! But sometimes, it’s all about the vibe.

“Always Open” Gets it Right with Short, Edgy Webisodes

david — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:52:02 +0000

One of these days, someone will pull off a webisode this good without famous people, but we’re still waiting for that day. Until then, Always Open, a branded entertainment series for Denny’s Restaurants, will have to do. Host Dave Koechner interviews Jason Bateman in the series opener in just under four minutes of non-stop, quirky entertainment. You might be surprised that Denny’s is going this far out on a limb to attract young people who have the munchies to its all-night restaurants (thus the title of the series, Always Open). If so, just wait until you see the second installment where Koechner interviews Sarah Silverman. (Even farther out.) But it has to be edgy in order to grab the attention of the target audience. This is the future of entertainment in more ways than one: short form, web-based, highly targeted and very tightly edited. And in the case of this particular web series, the title might also refer to the “anything goes” attitude of the host who even declares in the opener, “I have a good imagination.”

See the series opener here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMYZf7LtBjY

Rich, relevant and dynamic video content builds ROI

david — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:19:34 +0000

Adobe just came out with a report titled “Top 10 Tips for Optimizing ROI with Dynamic Content” about how “rich and relevant” media like video increases return on investment.

Some of the salient points from the report that relate specifically to video:

“Deliver dynamic experiences to all devices”

This is a hot topic now, for obvious reasons. Video has to work on all size and shape of mobile device, in addition to relics like computers. The operative idea here is to have a “mobile optimized site.” I couldn’t agree more.

“Deliver details to break down the touch and feel barrier.”

I like the wording of this tip. Video should be tactile and jump off the page: you should “feel” it on more than one level. It’s much more than a question of dynamic vs. static. Video should create a bridge, an immediate connection between you and your viewers.

“Videos have proven their ROI”

Adobe claims that their Scene7 product has increased closing stats by 30% for their customers who have tracked it. Especially when used in conjunction with enhanced graphics such as multiple image views on retail sites, video gets more buyers to the finish line faster.

Now I know the main reason they sent me this report was to get my email address, but it’s not like my email address is a big secret…

Videoburst Helps Clients Navigate Web 3.0

david — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:38:40 +0000

http://westbloomfield.patch.com/articles/videoburst-helps-local-businesses-navigate-web-30

Really nice article by Jina Sawani in the West Bloomfield Patch about videoburst, complete with pictures, links, and accurate information.

Daron Powers and Alex Hoxie are both quoted and some recent photos from video shoots in Metro Detroit are included. Very well done.

10 Best Funny Viral Videos

david — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 21:53:07 +0000

Here are the ten best funny and heartwarming viral videos, in the opinion

of the experts at videoburst. These mostly feature kids, animals and a few grownups.

The number of hits per video goes up every day – these numbers are current as of 3-1-11.

(If you are REALLY in a hurry, skip 4 down to The Sneezing Panda. At 17 seconds, it

is a one-liner that would make Henny Youngman jealous.)

Enjoy the two bonus videos!

RickRoll’D

44 million

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

Evolution of Dance

163 million

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg

Charlie bit my Finger Again!

276 million

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM&feature=related

The Sneezing Baby Panda

95 million

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRH3iTQPrk&feature=related

Christian the Lion

15 million

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNTdWbVBgc

David After Dentist

80 million

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs

Backin’ Up Song by Auto-Tune the News

8 million

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIoG4PlEPtY

JK Wedding Entrance Dance

61 million

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

The Landlord

75 million

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/74/the-landlord-from-will-ferrell-and-adam-ghost-panther-mckay

Her Morning Elegance

17 million

http://www.youtube.com/user/vidburst#p/a/f/1/2_HXUhShhmY

OK Go – This Too Shall Pass

24 million

http://www.youtube.com/user/vidburst#p/f/4/qybUFnY7Y8w

Pink Glove Dance (for breast cancer awareness)

12 million

http://www.youtube.com/user/vidburst#p/f/5/OEdVfyt-mLw

The New York Times Discovers Online Video

david — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 02:25:08 +0000

3-16-11 My friend Kurt Hines at HLC Technology Solutions just sent me an excellent article in today’s New York Times about a whole slew of companies that have started communicating directly with their customers via web video. It also mentions one thing I’ve been saying for years, that video now is what having a web page used to be: the way to stand out from the crowd and get noticed. It’s well worth the read.

My favorite points from the article:

1. A series of videos posted on one company’s website reduced customer questions by half. This not only freed up sales staff to be more productive, it actually allowed the owner to avoid hiring several more employees.

2. The videos also allowed the same company to shave 40% off their customer service budget and do away with phone support completely.

3. Instruction manuals and how-to guides work much better as videos for more and more companies.

Here’s the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/business/smallbusiness/17sbiz.html?_r=1

Google extends Instant Preview interface

david — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 02:15:19 +0000

Google recently announced that they would extend “instant preview” in order to make video searches faster and more interactive. The idea is to let viewers spend less time searching and more time watching videos by including more information during the search process. Users just click on the small magnifying glass to the right of the search description in order to see a pop-up with more detai. The catch is, depending on your browser, it might be easy or not so easy to enable instant preview so that you can see the magnifying glass in the first place.

The ROI for Web Video

david — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:37:19 +0000

Exact measurements of web video’s ROI are difficult to come by since video is usually a piece of a larger social media puzzle. Using video means buying into the bigger picture of how best to engage clients in a web environment. Online video is an effective way to promote your brand and practice good business ethics – in this light, it is likely to help in some ways that you can measure and some ways that you can’t.

Ballet Video Engages New Students

david — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 01:05:12 +0000

Being married to a dancer, I have learned a lot about dance by osmosis. (I also used to play piano for dance classes, but that was in another life.) Since Geiger Classic Ballet Academy is the premiere dance school in the region, I thought they deserved an educational video that was also a promotional video that showed people how exceptional they are. I was lucky enough to get the assistance of Kirsten Haglund, Miss America 2008, who feels that she owes a lot of her success to the Academy and its founder, Mary Geiger. (She studied there for several years). This mini-documentary video features interviews with Kirsten, Mary Geiger, a dance student and her father who all give their unique perspective on what the academy has to offer. It’s a great compliment to the articles, information and pictures on the dance school’s website.