Steve Garfield, the online video ninja, joins us for episode 17 of
Inbound Now
. Steve is the author of
Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building your Business
and is one of the web's first video bloggers and a mastermind when it comes to all things online video.
In the episode we talk about:
- Why companies should start producing video content
- Some of the biggest video mistakes to avoid
- W hy the content and the passion behind video content is a key component
Enter to win a Copy of Steve Garfields Book "Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building your Business"
Winner will be announced Wednesday April 27th 2011.
Why would companies want to do online video?
Video is the best way to tell a story.
"You capture the emotion of people. Companies are made up of people, and people have stories. Video is the best way to tell a story."
You can give a behind the scene look into your company and humanize your business.
Robert Scoble is a prime example of how he took a video camera behind the scenes in Microsoft.
Where to start?
Start with what you have . Do you have a smart phone? Record a simple video and upload it.
The barriers of entry to online video have never been lower.
If you don't have a decent camera on your phone, Steve suggests using the basic webcam on your computer! The key is to start small and work your way up to fancier equipment.
Do Casual Video
Every video you create doesn't need to be polished and edited to the max. You can shoot simple one take videos of you talking with your customers, answering questions, or sharing some interesting industry information.
Chevrolet has a great Posterous blog as an example of this casual video mentality. "If you go to the Chevrolet website and it’s these multimillion dollar TV commercials that look gorgeous. They also have a blog, a media blog. It’s Chevrolet.Posterous.com .
Over there, they just throw up YouTube videos, little Flip videos and things. They have the Volt car, the Chevy Volt, the electric car. People drive it, and then they get out of the car, and some marketing person with a Flip cam says, “What did you think about the car?” And they’ll say it in like six seconds something like, “It was great. I really like the ride, and it’s a lot bigger than I thought.”
They’ll take that video and put it up on the Posterous blog. No editing, no titles, no credits, no music, nothing, but it’s this real and authentic moment that they captured and put up. And the thing that’s cool about it that this is the distinction, if you go to Chevrolet.com, you’re expecting highly produced videos. You go to Chevrolet.Posterous.com, you’re like, “Okay. It’s a blog. I’ll be getting these random videos and things.” So it’s setting the expectation of what the visitor to the site is going to get. So it’s a fine place to put casual videos like this."
Set Videos Free
Keeping your video content locked up on your own domain won't cut it anymore. Post your videos on a number of different video channels and leverage the power of the search capabilities of these video platforms.
Steve recommends using good titles and descriptions on every video you post. Video SEO is a critical component that most companies overlook. People are using YouTube as a search engine (it's actually the 2nd largest search engine in the world).
Leverage Transcriptions
All those magical search engine friendly words you speak deserve to be indexed.
Get your content transcribed, this will enable search engines to find and index the content within the video and help pull in that organic search.
Find a transcriber via Craigslist or use a professional service. I utilize Speechpad for all the Inbound Now Shows.
Syndicate Videos
Steve recommends using video aggregators like a Tubemogul to put your videos in various online video locations. He (and I) also recommend using Blip.tv as a platform is you are running a series.The Biggest Mistakes to Avoid in Video
The cardinal sin of video is having bad audio . People can stomach slightly blurry cameras or bad lighting but if the audio is bad, ringing and/or grating it can give your audience a headache and turn them off.
Get a decent microphone for videos. I personally use the AT2020 USB Mic for my interviews. It's around 100$ and will give you great audio on any recording from your computer.
LiveStreaming
"Live streaming is so easy. A number of ways that companies can do live stream, two of the most popular, well three I’ll say, Ustream, Livestream, Justin.tv are just on the top of my mind."
LiveSteaming is a great way to tap into live events and connect with your audience in real time.
Wine Library TV
Gary Vaynerchuk is an excellent example of how someone took online video and completed revolutionized their business with it. Gary worked with his father at a wine shop in N.J. Using the power of online video he transformed the company from a $4 million-a-year business to a $50 million-a-year enterprise with his daily show Wine Library TV .Content and Passion are What Matter
The bottom line: Worrying about your equipment is simply an excuse!
You should be spending a majority of your time focused on the content.
If you are not passionate about the videos and subject matter you are producing this will be painfully obvious to viewers (they can see you).
"Just be authentic and real" and share your knowledge with the world.
Connect with Steve Online
You can connect with Steve on SteveGarfield.com and Tweet @SteveGarfield on Twitter. If you have any online video questions or want some feedback on what you are doing feel free to reach out to Steve or me ( @DavidWells ) . Thanks for tuning in.
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