I was creating my first local TV commercials at the age of nineteen back in 1977. Do the math: I didn’t just roll off the turnip cart yesterday. Besides being in the business since 1977, I only recently obtained a BFA degree in MultiMedia/Web Design from the Illinois Institute of Art: graduating in 2004. All though I’ve been designing ad materiel and helping small businesses in general advertising campaigns for decades, the four year degree was a great refresher course in how things are being done today, post digital revolution.

Because of my unique situation of advertising experience and schooling, I feel that I have a better than average perspective on the small business advertising landscape and I see a perfect storm coming. As a matter of fact, the leading front of the storm is already here. Those not prepared to utilize their company web site for a video platform to showcase their products and services are missing the boat because chances are their competition is already either on board or getting their passport in order now.

When comparing advertising mediums, online video far and above presents the absolute best platform for telling the story to potential clients and customers. Obviously, looking your target buyer right in the eye, and sharing the benefits while shaking their hand and smiling is certainly the best approach. And, video comes the closest to achieving that, while limitlessly multiplying that eye to eye contact by potentially thousands and more.

The Web’s growing strength in social medias like FaceBook and Twitter, plus the quickly growing number of households with Internet video capability, make the Web an ideal advertising medium that will soon surpass the expensive Super Bowl Ad as the gold standard of advertising. In the not so distant future, comparative ad campaigns will probably be measured in cost per hit instead of viewing households because of the increased use of web testimonials.

That being said, the matchless power of video on the Web is certainly the best advertising investment for budgeted dollars. Therefore, it’s a no-brainer to shift existing advertising dollars towards web videos. This makes the cost of video on the web virtually free in comparative ad dollars. You were going to spend those dollars on large ads in local and regional newspapers. Now, you can shift the bulk of those dollars towards your company web site, and only buy small display ads in your newspapers, pointing to your web address.

Click on this link to see these simple and inexpensive examples of customer testimonials.

Every advertising agency in the Western World rates advertising campaigns by the cost per unit of reaching each individual during that campaign. Using this method, the cost of web video comes to as close to 1 cent or lower than any other medium. One of the reasons is that if handled correctly by your video vendor, each web video can last long enough to bring cost per unit way down. This is not something that all advertising elements can enjoy. Long after TV and radio spots have been produced, one is still required to buy airtime for every airing of that spot. But, with web videos, you own the “air time” by virtue of the very simple nature of how the Web operates.

Cost per unit of web videos is lower than radio, lower than TV, lower than brochure, and even lower than direct mail advertising, which for many years has been recognized as the least expensive while being one of the most effective types of advertising.

Imagine then, the powerful impact of combining the best of all of these worlds. What do I mean? Reduce the amount of advertising funds being directed to all other mediums by enough to cover the startup of your web video campaign, and use your conventional advertising mediums to point the public to your new online advertising videos and you have a dynamo advertising juggernaut that just can’t be stopped; your own personal perfect storm advertising campaign.

You may not be able to greet each individual in your potential market of tens of thousands with a warm hand shake and a folksy demonstration, but you can achieve the next best thing, a custom produced video on your own web site.

See these other excellent web video resources:
The Triple Whammy
The Perfect Product Demonstration Video
How to Increase Sales With Video — Hands-On Tips

Lower Cost or Free
Human to Human Contact
Much Longer Interest Level

When both large and small businesses are struggling, one thing is for sure, we are all looking for better or more efficient ways to bring in more revenue. Certainly, now is not the time to cut back on advertising. But, it certainly is the time to be smarter with our advertising dollars.

I have been involved in virtually every type of advertising venue from newspapers and direct mail flyers, to radio and TV furniture spots. And my opinion is that video on the web is absolutely THE BEST way to utilize an advertising budget in today’s economy. As a matter of fact, I’ll even say that there has never been a better time for video on the web, like product demonstration videos, customer satisfaction testimonials, and product or service videos than now.

LOWER COST or FREE Cost per unit can’t be beat by any other graphic advertising medium. The numbers of folks to see a video ad on a busy web site can be counted in the millions if you are actively managing your web site (If you aren’t shooting for millions, then only a few tens of thousands saw the video: a win/win situation). Imagine getting the same number of views on your video that a Super Bowl placed ad did! And you didn’t have to pay the millions to be seen. The cost per view is so low, that it can’t even be expressed in any demonization that The US coins. It’s lower than a penny!

HUMAN to HUMAN CONTACT I used to think that direct marketing through the mail was the best way to get responses, and most will agree. But, since the advent of web based videos, all of the old stand-bys are stepping aside for the new king of advertising. I’m not saying stop printing your color brochures, or sending out direct mail flyers, or buying local spots on the radio. I’m saying, get a video on your web site, and like FAST dudes and dudettes! Your brochures, flyers, radio ads, TV ads and all other forms of advertising should be able to point to your web site where the viewer is met with an eye to eye contact human being telling them how great your product was when they bought it, or tried it out. Nothing is more powerful than hearing stories being told from a fellow buyer’s point of view, eye to eye, and mouth to ear. It’s like a warm hand shake and arm over the shoulder, welcoming your potential customer into a greater fold of other buyers who have already stepped into the water and found everything just fine there.

“Yep, no sharks in here. The water’s fine. Jump on in, friend.”

MUCH LONGER INTEREST LEVEL = MORE POWERFUL IMPACT It’s a proven fact that the more time an individual invests in your advertising message, the more likely they are to either search out even more info about your company and product, or buy outright right then. And the good news is that video done right maintains viewers longer than any other media. Color brochures get put down or tossed before being completely read way more often than a good video fails to get finished from start to finish. The same is true for flyers, email campaigns, phone calls and pretty much anything else we can think of.

In going through one’s possible advertising mediums, I was reminded of the few times I’ve seen airplane flying banners dragged behind small craft over large cities and heavily populated county fairs and summer beaches. How many reading this right now saw flying banners behind airplanes AND WEREN’T ABLE TO READ THE BANNERS? Show of hands? Yeah, that’s what I thought. The only thing I can remember reading from one is something about a Ford. And that’s only because the famous Ford logo was part of the banner.

Each advertising medium carries its own set of rules and specific conundrums through which it must leap in order to get viewers. And video is the absolute shortest distance between your message and your potential clients.

For the last several decades, humans in the western world, and now the entire industrialized world, have been more and more drawn to visual mediums like TV and video. And, with the advent of so many viewers on high speed Internet, it’s no wonder that companies as large as E-Trade have spent big bucks (something most businesses don’t need to do) getting into the online video game. The hits on those baby commercials are huge. You gotta’ know that when big name Hollywood directors and writers are taking time out from TV scripts and Hollywood movies to produce web videos, that something is there.

So, you want an edge over your competition? You want to increase service sales, increase retail sales or increase product sales? You want to get some massive traction from those web testimonials? Then, you need to add a web video or better yet, a web video series to your company web site. Check out this page of testimonials.

Here’s how many businesses of all sizes are implementing video in their lead generation cycles:

-An Online Video Product Demonstration will not only increase inbound leads to your web site, it is also the single most powerful and convenient sales tool for your inhouse and outside sales forces. And, the video can be easily published to DVD and play in trade shows or be carried around by outside sales persons and played on a portable DVD player: right in the car or in the office.

-Your web testimonials can be turned into Customer Testimonial Videos and also play online and from a DVD. Make sure you contact a company that specializes in Testimonial Video Production.

-Some of the best Sales Videos are no longer just at trade shows. They can be found on the web. Handing your sales force an online sales video is like handing them a raise and a guaranteed increase in your bottom line as well.

Here are some more reference articles on succeeding with video:
The Perfect Product Demonstration Video
How to Increase Sales With Video — Hands-On Tips
Quick Quiz: How to Tell if Your Business is a Video Candidate

Why’s that? Mostly because YouTube accesses videos….free videos. And people love watching videos…especially free ones. Many savvy marketers are leveraging the popularity of YouTube and other social media into free online advertising. Of course, you need a video first.

Video showcases products beautifully
If you sell a product, you’re perfectly positioned to take advantage of consumers’ appetite for online video: a product demonstration video can show and tell your product’s features and benefits in all their glory.

Here’s a product demonstration video that is about as close to perfect as any I’ve ever seen. This video demonstrates a portable lumber sawmill — a monster machine that saws logs into lumber. Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka8Q6PSDEJQ  Here’s what makes this such a powerful sales video:

-The opening – strong animated logo with sound effects says, “Hey! Look at me!”
-The star of the show — the product, the TimberKing sawmill, is shown early and often in the video.
-The testimonial — mill owner, Jason Parker, has a strong camera presence. His endorsement is extremely credible.
-The demonstration — all the machine’s features are shown with dramatic action while Jason narrates. So the viewer gets a “double dose” of salesmanship — seeing and hearing the sales message.
-The on-screen text — a third helping of the sales message.
-The closing — Jason sums up the key benefits beautifully.

Must do your homework
Of course, a product demonstration video like this just doesn’t fall together all by itself. I spoke with Clint Pollock, President of www.IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com, the video company that produced this video. “The video itself is the end product,” says Pollock. “You’ve got to do your homework well before the camera starts rolling.” Here are the homework questions to ask yourself as you’re planning your product demonstration video.

“What are my product’s unique selling points? What makes it different and better than competitive products? What are its key features? How do those translate into benefits? How can I “show off” my product to its best advantage – what should it be doing? Do I have a spokesman who can tell and sell in my video? Or do I have customers who can give as powerful a presentation as Jason’s in a customer video testimonial?”

With those considerations nailed down, you’ve got a good start on creating your powerful product demonstration video!

Steve Edwards
Copywriter/Direct Marketer
www.EdwardsDirect.net 

Some more references on Succeeding with Video:
How to Increase Sales With Video — Hands-On Tips
Quick Quiz: How to Tell if Your Business is a Video Candidate
How to Get Customer Testimonials

Anything that gets sales moving is worth checking out these days, and a 30% lift is cause for a full-blown investigation.

I asked John for the back-story. “Today, marketers have the huge advantage of being able to use online videos with broadband access,” Hoge told me. “Thanks to online video, our new FoldCat went from nothing to being our best selling boat in just 1 year.”

John credits IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com, a Chicago-based video company, with the success. I visited their blog and got some handy advice that helps take video from “I wish we could do that,” to “Hey, check out our new online video!”

How to post videos online
Their post, http://blog.increasesaleswithvideo.com/index.php/2009/12/growing-your-small-business-using-video-2/  points out that TV was once the only video venue, and cost made TV the exclusive domain of mega-corporations. Then, the post gives the good news: today’s online environment makes video possible — and a significant selling tool — for even the smallest business.

Stu Marks, Media Designer/Video Producer for IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com, lays out a simple marketing plan for broadcasting video. “Simply go to www.facebook.com and sign up for a free account,” writes Stu. Then, step by step, Stu tells you exactly how to upload your videos to your Facebook page.

If you’re 15 or younger, you probably already know how to do all this. But if you’re like the rest of us, the post gives you enough info so that you can tell your kids, “Look, I posted my video myself!”

How to leverage 1 video 8 ways
OK, you’ve got your video on Facebook. Now what? IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com has another post, http://blog.increasesaleswithvideo.com/index.php/2010/02/how-to-sell-8-ways-with-1-video/  that shows you how to leverage 1 video 8 different ways, turning your 1-time investment into a 24/7 salesman.

For example…..mount your videos on your home page. Mount them deeper in your site, too. Offer free videos in your advertising. Use them to increase retail sales: loop them in your showroom. Or use them in business-to-business selling environments — trade shows, sales presentations, or conferences.

And, lest you forget your own troops, the post advises you use your video internally to train new employees, and at company meetings to focus everyone on your core selling story.

Like any other new sales tool, putting video to work to increase your sales may seem beyond your reach. But with good advice and hands-on tips from experts like Stu and others at IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com, you’ll be running with the big dogs in no time.

Steve Edwards
Copywriter/Direct Marketer
www.EdwardsDirect.net

Some more references on Succeeding with Video:
Quick Quiz: How to Tell if Your Business is a Video Candidate
How to Get Customer Testimonials
Hiring a Video Producer: Why a Pro?

There are so many ways to advertise: so many marketing tools from which to choose. But, the medium with the most value for the buck is video: both online and offline video. Online video is exactly like what it sounds: videos playing on the web. Offline videos are those not playing on the web, like DVDs playing in the office or at a trade show, or simply being mailed out on DVD discs.

Custom videos can be applied in many ways:
- Client Testimonies
- Increase Product Sales or Online Video Product Demonstration
- Increase Service Sales
- Training Environments

All though video is so versatile; it is more noticeable for some than others. There are actually two categories of businesses that work well with using video: one is the Golden Zone, those are businesses that best enjoy the use of video such that the cost per unit actually becomes zero or near zero at some point. Fortunately, this is true for most businesses; for them, video well more than pays for itself very soon.

The other category is Silver. Silver businesses have a hard time tracking the impact of a video marketing tool because the video tool can’t be implemented alone. It is accompanied by several other factors that make it nearly impossible to track; such as a web site and the video being rolled out in the same month. But, they still enjoy the benefits of creating a powerful marketing tool once, and then using it perpetually: the ultimate overhead cost reducer.

The following is a check list of elements that will help to expose businesses that are in the Gold or Silver Zones. It is our experience that companies in these two zones pay for the video in a matter of months or even weeks. One of our clients actually increased product sales by over 30% in just one quarter. This was not only an increase in inbound leads; rather actual sales were increased by over 30% by doing nothing more than implementing our custom video productions. Finding anything in marketing that delivers that kind of increase is phenomenal.

TAKE THE FOLLOWING VIDEO QUIZ.
Your business will benefit from video marketing if:

1)                Your company markets a service or product to the masses or to businesses.
___YES   ___NO

2)                The product you market can be of interest to millions of individuals on the planet or thousands of businesses
___YES   ___NO

3)                The service you market can be of interest to millions of individuals on the planet or thousands of businesses
___YES   ___NO

4)                There are existing satisfied customers you have served: at least one, but more is better
___YES   ___NO

5)                You have on staff successful media designers with a proven track record of writing scripts that bring in leads, or you can hire a reliable media design firm who has a proven track record of writing scripts that bring in leads
___YES   ___NO

6)                You have the ability to add a video to your company’s web site, or can hire someone to do this for you
___YES   ___NO

7)                You have the ability to contact your satisfied customers via mail, email, or telephone or can hire someone to do this for you.
___YES   ___NO

8)                Your company has an existing web site
___YES   ___NO

RESULTS
Two to four YES’s, and you are in the Silver category.
Five to eight YES’s and you are probably in the Gold category; the same category as Sea Eagle Inflatable Boats, the company that showed a 30% increase in sales from using our custom video productions.

Good News
IncreaseSalesWithVideo is a media design firm that specializes in contacting satisfied customers and handling all of the details that culminate with customer testimonies and customer video testimonies. This is something that virtually no other video production company is setup to do, and we are loaded with ready samples of real customer testimonies to prove our work is professional, powerful and deliverable upon your request.

It must be stressed here that our experienced writers do not create scripts from which the satisfied customers read. Rather, the scripts serve as support documents that fulfill the visual aspects of the words that the customer testimonials deliver. So, all testimonials are absolutely legitimate and authentic, spoken at will in front of a camera. Our job is to capture the real passion that your customers have for your business. And no one does it better than IncreaseSalesWIthVideo.

Also, there is no need to worry about your good customers having to deal with a third party company such as ours. As a matter of fact, every single testimonial video recording session we conduct, is looked upon by everyone who takes part in it as a fun and rewarding experience. Most people have never been in front of a commercial grade video camera and enjoy being treated like the stars that they truly are.

Three important elements that set us apart from other companies are;
A) We are more than a video production company, we are a media design firm with professional writers experienced in testimonial writing and designers possessing years of successful experience in this business.

B) We have a list of satisfied customers who have recorded customer testimonials on our behalf.

C) Our crews can literally travel anywhere to get the footage, and have. From the Florida Keys to the Rocky Mountains, from swamps and mountaintops to florescent lit offices, we have captured customer testimonials that get out the powerful success stories of our clients.

What you have been looking for
Maybe the recent economic downturn has set you looking for a way out. Or, maybe you just started a business and need to hit the ground running. It could be that you are the one in charge of marketing, and your people are counting on you to make a difference.

You owe it to yourself, and your business to look into marketing with customer testimonial videos, and discovering how to increase retail sales and increase business sales with video.

Please check out our video portfolio at www.IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com/VideoPortfolio.asp

Some more references on Succeeding with Video:
How to Get Customer Testimonials
Hiring a Video Producer: Why a Pro?
Video or Written Word: Content is King

Ever see online customer testimonial videos? You know, videos of real people talking about a product or service they’ve used. Kind of a reality TV style commercial.

If you’ve gone online recently, I’m sure you’ve seen some. Here’s a great one. TimberKing 2400. Credibility just pours off Bruce Baker. He’s a real customer, a real guy, telling of his real experience, in his own words. That’s good advertising.

The beauty of these online customer testimonials is that they aren’t beautiful. They aren’t Hollywood. They aren’t a fantasy, like commercials that promise a better love life if only you had fresh breath…

Pay attention and you’ll see customer testimonials at work all over the place. Magazine ads, newspapers, brochures for all kinds of products and services.

But how do you get customer testimonials?

“Sure,” you say. “I get it: customer testimonials have selling power. But how do I get customer testimonials in the first place?”

You’ve got a business, right? You’ve got customers, right? Well, chances are you’re already receiving great customer testimonials but you’re just not collecting them.

Put your sales people on special alert: “Collect all customer feedback!” And don’t forget the clincher: “And get it to me immediately!”

If you use product registration forms or warranty cards, they’re rich sources of customer feedback. Your “contact us” form on your website is another one. And tell Sales and Customer Service to cc you on any and all e-mail that contains a customer’s opinion or comment – good or bad.

(And by the way, the only thing “bad” about a bad comment from a customer is you, if you don’t respond to it.)

Send an e-mail to your customers asking for feedback. Invite feedback on your website. Mail customers a letter. Talk to them in the showroom. Stop and chat with them in the parking lot.

After you’ve collected customer stories…

Build a library of customer comments then turn them into customer testimonials. Start with the short comments. You can run them as-is in an ad or brochure. “I love my new Mazda. You guys at Acme Motors are the best!”

Stack them up. Build a column of short testimonials in your sales brochures. Put them on your website under “Customer Testimonials.”

But you can do much more. A good short comment can turn into a great long story if you pursue it. Give the customer a call and ask them to elaborate. Tape record the conversation and transcribe it for later use – but ask them if it’s OK first, and get a signed release afterwards.

Harness the power of testimonial videos

A great customer endorsement becomes an extraordinary testimonial when you capture it on video. I video-document my clients’ testimonials with help from www.increasesaleswithvideo.com, a Chicago-based video company that’ll go anywhere, any time to shoot video customer testimonials.

Once in video format, you can mount your testimonials on your website, put them on DVD, use them at trade shows, or loop them on a monitor in your showroom.

It all starts with awareness: you’re already getting customer feedback. Launch programs to capture it and build the feedback into powerful, versatile customer testimonials.

Steve Edwards
Copywriter/Direct Marketer
www.EdwardsDirect.net

more resources for increasing sales through the use of inexpensive video:
Hiring a Video Producer: Why a Pro?
Video or Written Word: Content is King
The Magic Zone: Finding a Vendor to Produce Your Business Videos

You are the manager of your family’s two star hotel right on Brikell Bay Drive in Miami because your younger cousin didn’t have what it took to make decisions and the property started to suffer. It’s a nice hotel located on a premium footprint but lacks the expensive amenities to gain more stars because you are landlocked and can’t build a restaurant and add the two parking spaces you are short from that coveted four star positioning.

It’s a busy weekend, the weather is great and you are packed. Life is good. Until, the top suite overlooking the beach has a plumbing failure overnight and the $3,000 a night whale staying the week has no tolerance for maintenance excuses: she wants it fixed “…like yesterday, dude!” Who do you call? Is this a job for Uncle Roberto again, or are you going to start leafing through the Yellows for cheap plumbers? No way, “dude”, you’re getting the plumber in here right now who you know can and will fix this immediately. You’re getting one of the best. Because your very livelihood depends on this moment in time. This is an opportunity to show the family that you are the get-things-done-guy in the right place at the right time.

Plumber gets there in thirty minutes, replaces a cracked shower drain and is out by noon. The bill is $400. Seems high but you don’t spend that every day, and it’s fixed, Ms Whale is happy not to have to move to the other suite and that leaky little maintenance problem won’t be coming back for another 25 years.

Deciding who shoots your customer testimonial video for your web site is no less important than any other important decision moment for you the business owner. You choose a professional to manage your taxes, a professional to handle your real estate and legal matters, why would you hire anything less than a specialist in the area of your web testimonials?

In advertising, everyone deals with getting noticed above the white noise of competition and the mundane, so don’t settle on the lowest common denominator when your business’ very existence based on what you do to increase sales is at stake. You MUST increase business sales, increase service sales or increase product sales. These are all retail sales. No one is left out of this survival requirement.

All businesses must increase retail sales and the tools you use are required to have outreach leverage in order to bring in new business. These outreach leverage tools can’t just speak to new blood, they must excel at it. Therefore, your outreach leverage tool should be crafted and applied by someone who has a proven track record in this genre’. You must hire an established professional.

There are many reasons why business owners fail this simple test over and over again. Instead of making the right decision, they get stopped by three common mistakes:

-         bargain hunting
-         glamour profiling
-         personal attachment issues

BARGAIN HUNTING
When one is focused on bargain hunting they usually miss the telltales of success and failure. Now a days, with the advent of so many so-called video producers entering the arena due to the perceived simplicity of digital video, we don’t even begin to cut rates to match Uncle George down the street’s wedding shooters. Uncle George is usually higher than us. Go figure.

GLAMOUR PROFILING is when one is looking for some sort of Hollywood glitz element in the production company’s profile just because they expect it there because, “hey, it’s TV, right?” Wrong. Entertainment is not business. Producers are not all the same. If you want to produce a game show, call a Hollywood producer. But, if you want to produce customer satisfaction testimonials, you need to hire a producer who has been there and done that. Great producers are not ones who can produce anything in terms of a broad spectrum of genre’. A great producer is one who does well in at least one genre’ and sticks to that as their bread and butter deliberately so that they can end up leading the industry in that area of expertise.

If you are going in for heart surgery, which surgeon would you pick: the one who has done hundreds of different surgeries, or one that has done hundreds of heart surgeries?

A testimonial producer is one who has a proven track record at testimonial writing, and there isn’t much in the way of peripheral experience that can substitute for real experience.

Writing a testimonial is a specialized craft. One has to know exactly how to create a script for someone “in their own words.” Testimonials are real statements, so the talent is not really reading a script. But, there needs to be a script anyway in order to handle all of the other assets that go into a testimonial video production. How to handle this dilemma takes years of experience in order to arrive at the end of the process with great customer testimonials.

PERSONAL ATTACHMENT ISSUES
When a business owner has personal attachment issues, there is usually other baggage being dragged around as well, because this is just plain and simple a character issue. Running a business doesn’t have much room for any other kind of decisions than business decisions. Family and friendship won’t stand up very long against the all mighty bottom line.

So, when hiring a plumber, get a good one. And when hiring a video producer for your customer testimonials, get one who has a proven track record in crafting products that increase retail sales.

For examples of customer testimonial samples that can be used on web pages, or as stand alone DVDs, check out our portfolio page.
IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com/videoportfolio

Here are some other good references:
Video or Written Word: Content is King
The Magic Zone: Finding a Vendor to Produce Your Business Videos
HOW TO SELL 8 WAYS WITH 1 VIDEO

By Stu Marks, Post Production Editor
IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com

Don’t get caught up in such a hurry to start your blog just for the sake of its social media/web2.0 facilities, or create your first video just because you own a camera and have a product that you forget to deliver rich and compelling content.

PAGE TURNERS: Books and Videos Alike.

When was the last time you sat reading a real page turner or watched a riveting movie? For me, it was age thirteen, (an entire lifetime ago) staying with my sister in her apartment in Medford, Oregon. I was staying up late at night reading Edger Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars series. These are written for any age from teen up, and are action packed adventure novels crafted by the creator of Tarzan. After that it was probably my first viewing of Star Wars in the theater, the week it was released back in May of 1977.

My sister Christal introduced me to sci-fi paperbacks. Even though my father had been a somewhat successful writer in that genre’ [Double-Take (1953), I’d Give a Dollar (1954), The Water Eater (1953, 1966) and many more] and whose writings are now on display at the University of Oregon in Eugene, it had never been good timing for me until then, alone in the apartment of my big sister, with no TV, that reading for recreation became a viable pastime.

I sat for hours and hours many times that summer reading entire books in one night. I couldn’t get enough. The better known works of Edger Rice Burroughs, J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert A. Heinlein became my sole reasons for living as I delved into Tarzan, The Hobbit and The Rings Trilogy and then discovered the original Starship Troopers of recent movie fame. Truly, I couldn’t have tripped over a better opportunity at that time in my life to discover how interesting reading could be. My school grades started to do better as reading more led to being generally more interested in studying. I went from barely staying with my class in the D and F realm, to graduating from high school with the honor society with a 3.57.  I now hold a college degree from a prestigious art school, all from reading compelling, page turning content.

And movies and other videos are no different. Why do the big name studios spend millions on one special effect action shot? Why are large portions of a great movie’s overhead invested in story and screen writing? Why are there art directors and continuity directors all over each movie checking for deviations from established pace?

The answer is, for the content. Movie producers know that without satisfying the movie- goer’s desire for great content, the movie project will fall into the abyss of B movies and may never even pay for itself.

APPLICATION: The Business Video

The business video is no different. Sales videos and promotion videos tend to be rather dry anyway. But, our production team feels that it is a crime against the viewer as well as the client to produce a boring, almost pointless video that leaves the viewer looking for something to clean out their attention palate. No matter what story we’re telling to our target audience, we are humans conveying a message to other humans. The basic tantalizations are always there on which to build a good story.

One good example is a project we did for Mario Batali’s Chicago Brick Oven. They hired us to layout and produce a ten to fifteen minute video for both web and big screen presentation that told the story about their outdoor oven. This Made-In-The-USA outdoor brick oven could be simply told in terms of its technical strata. After all of the physical elements are laid out, how much it costs and how one can order one, isn’t the video complete?

OF COURSE NOT! HAVEN’T YOU BEEN READING?! We wanted a compelling, interesting video that made folks stop what they were doing and take notice for at least ten to fifteen minutes. And, we succeeded.

Sorry for yelling. I get carried away sometimes.

A SUCCESSFUL VIDEO EXAMPLE

How did we succeed? We did it by telling the story of the oven.

In the oven’s world, it serves a wonderful purpose to humans by lovingly, beautifully and even sensually handling and putting out breathtaking dishes in only a matter of minutes. Our visuals were of close-ups containing crusty, toasted pizza crust slathered with rich red pizza sauce, mushrooms, sweet Italian sausage and onions all covered in melted and lightly goldened mozzarella cheese. The pizza was shown sliding effortlessly out of the fiery oven on a giant, shiny pizza peel to be quickly sliced and devoured by happy, hungry partiers. Colorful lights, a swimming pool near by, attractive young ladies talking animatedly with interesting young men: all strong visuals telling the oven’s non-technical story. All of these worked to tell the viewer not what the oven is, but what it does for humans.

The fire is live, hot and crackling, the coals are glowing as hot wavy lines of heat lift refracted images up into the brick dome covered in smoky carbon of meals past. The chef has on a crisp black front apron with a snazzy logo that matched our video animation. He is charming, smart, knows all about hot food, culture, wine and everything it means to a group of friends and family.

At the end of the video, Mario Batali himself is accompanied by the call to action as the resonant announcer’s voice delivers the well crafted lines letting landscapers and homeowners know how simple it is to get one of these killer ovens in their back yard this spring.

The video began, carried through and ended with an up beat, fast-paced percussive and deep background music bed that was a driving force to the message. The music bed swelled and ended at the precise moment that the live fire filling the brick lined oven was crackling audibly which continued for thirty seconds while contact information moved across the screen. Viewers were left with the final image and feeling of being right next to the hearth of a cozy fire at the end of a long day: a place most humans have been. As I finished that final edit, I could feel the heat, smell the smoke and hear the cracklings of a hundred fires before at camp side, in snowy mountain lodge, or at home.

WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER

When you write and produce video towards the end for what your reader is searching, it makes no difference the topic; your reader and viewer should find your words and images compelling and page turning. And, if you use rich, compelling content, your web site will gain momentum ahead of those who just throw stuff in there to take up space.

Writer must serve the reader. The body of the blog must be authentic and serve a real purpose. Somewhere, a writer must have spent some real time writing real words as he or she poured over a real keyboard before the work ended up on someone’s screen or printed out for later perusing. And, the video producer must exist to serve the viewer. Video can be much more of a moving experience than the written word if handled properly. Written word, visuals, and sound must all work towards the same end of satisfying the viewer’s expectation while fulfilling the client’s needs for the all important story to be told.

SO, WHO TO WRITE AND PRODUCE FOR YOU? You are in one of the following categories:
-You are already using these tools of blogs and videos but aren’t getting the results you need.

-You need to increase hits to your site or inbound leads for your sales force but aren’t sure how to go about it.
-You don’t have a clue what you need and want some guidance.

Regardless of in which of these categories you find yourself, we can help. There are two ways to get started. You can talk directly with one of our partners, one of the country’s leading marketers, Steve Edwards of Edwards Direct.net, or contact us, IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com. Either way, you’ll be connecting your self with a seasoned group of storytellers, writers and media specialists with years in the business of exposing the public and other businesses to products and services that make their lives easier. Between us, our clients include Sea Eagle Inflatable Boats, Eastwood Products, Woodmaster, Dump-Pro, DrPower.com, Smithy Company, Mario Batali Chicago Brick Ovens and many more.

Don’t forget to check out our business video portfolio. We have many good examples including video testimonials: a tool that is way under used online and in good promotional and sales videos.

Here are some more good references on getting out your story with new affordable video.

Magic Zone
How to Sell Eight Ways…

Do You Think I Should Buy This?

Growing Your Small Business Using Video

The classic expense-busting method in marketing is to utilize the same advertising materials more than once. With the cost of video shrinking, and the avenues for distributing it expanding, video is a logical, practical, and cost-conserving method to promote your product or service. Certainly, you can expect to increase your sales with video. 

1/8 the cost & 8X the power 

It’s actually possible to make 1 video and use it in your marketing program at least 8 different ways. That amortizes your cost and increases your selling power: 1/8 the cost and 8X the viewership. 

The formula’s the same no matter what kind of video your business uses: sales videos, customer testimonial videos, product demonstration videos, factory tours, and so on. You amortize your costs and maximize your exposure. Here’s how. 

1. Mount ‘em on your home page.

 It’s easy to place your videos front and center, right on your website’s home page where they get seen and viewed immediately. Here’s a site that that makes it easy to mount videos on your site yourself and avoid programmer fees:   www.EZWebPlayer.com.

 2. Mount videos deeper in your site, too.

 As visitors drill deeper into your site, give them more videos along the way. More videos can mean longer visits…and longer visits can translate into more sales. Product page? Show a video of your products. About us page? Show a video of your facility. Selling a service? Show it in action.

 3. Offer videos in your advertising.

 Mention “Free Video” in your ads. That little extra gives people a reason to respond to your ad and has been proven to increase the number of responses to an ad.

 4. Grabber at trade shows & conventions

 Job 1 at a trade show is to draw traffic into your booth. A looping video is a great way to attract attention, instantly communicate what you’re selling, snag the passer-by, and bring him or her into your booth.

 5. Babysitter in the showroom

 If you’ve ever had two customers vying for your sales attention at the same time, you’ll appreciate how helpful video can be in the showroom. You can sit one customer down with your sales video while you work with the other.

 6. Video shoot is perfect photo op

 Here’s a high-efficiency trick I learned from www.IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com, a video company I’ve worked with quite a bit. While they’re shooting videotape, they also shoot still photos. Makes sense: if they’ve got the setup for video, they’ve got it for stills as well. That’s value added — you get great photos for very little extra.

 7. Sell internally with video

 You market your company to your customers, right? Don’t forget to market it to your shareholders, partners, and employees, too. The same videos you use in advertising can bring your core corporate values into sharp focus at company meetings, picnics, and in-house events.

 8. Web 2.0

 Don’t be shocked but the Web is changing before our eyes. “Web 2.0” is the new Web – not new technology, but new ways to make web browsing more interactive. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media give web users more access and more choices of what they view and how they view it. The bottom line for you: Web 2.0 allows easier, broader distribution of your video than ever before. More on Web 2.0 in my next blog entry!

 Some more powerful resources on increasing your sales with video:
- Do You Think I Should Buy This
- Growing Your Small Business Using Video
- Online Video Testimonials Boost Sales 30%

Steve Edwards
Copywriter/Direct Marketer
www.EdwardsDirect.net

Whose advice do you trust when you’re pondering a purchase? Most folks’ first pick is a friend who already owns what they’re considering. And, overwhelmingly, their second most-trusted source of purchase advice is a complete stranger.

A stranger, that is, who’s already, bought the product or service they’re considering.

If you say it’s true I’ll believe you.

So says The Nielson Company, global leader in tracking consumer trends, in their recent Global Online Survey. Nearly three-quarters of consumers surveyed said they place great trust in purchase recommendations made by complete strangers.

Pay attention, because this is important: a nod from your existing customers can put prospective customers at ease and make them far more willing to do business with you. Simply put, using customer testimonials in your advertising materials – online and offline – will increase your sales.

It only makes sense. Human nature being what it is, when one of your past customers sings your praises, would-be customers believe. And when they believe, they buy.

Harness the power of customer testimonials

Using testimonials in advertising is hardly new. I have in my collection of advertising ephemera a 1920’s ad for a firewood saw in which Mr. G.W. Smith, 73, of Vero, Florida, is pictured and quoted as saying, “I cut 100 cords of wood in 4 days with my Ottawa (Log Saw). I can make good money by having this outfit. I feel very proud of what I am doing for myself.”

Now, if Mr. Smith owns one and says it’s so, it must be. See the ad on my blog at www.edwardsdirect.net/blog/

Today’s online sales environment is ripe for the tactical use of testimonials. I’d certainly recommend salting your home page with a few of your best customer endorsements with links to additional stories deeper in your site.

And today’s super-fast connection speeds make it simple to deliver the most potent form of testimonial endorsement ever devised: online testimonial videos.

I spoke recently with Clint Pollock, President of IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com, a Chicago-based video company that specializes in producing testimonial videos. “The testimonial videos we’ve shot have increased our clients’ sales up to 30%,” said Clint.

Lights…camera…action!

It’s easy to see why. Pollock’s videos are like a fireside chat with a friend. Visitors to your site click your video and there’s your happy customer, talking, smiling, and telling the world how great you are.

Here’s one that I liked a lot:  TESTIMONY SAMPLE.

And IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com has found ways to leverage their clients’ videos. “It’s easy to distribute your videos broadly using Web 2.0 techniques,” says Clint. “Link videos from your site to YouTube. Send links in e-mail. Include video links

inside your email signatures. Feature video links in press releases. Create a viral wave with an especially unique video presentation that gets passed around within Twitters and Instant Messages. You can also create stand alone video player loops in stores. Play promotional videos at trade shows as support for your sales crew. Create a 24/7 sales and marketing tool by playing a video online on a dedicated site that calls for action at the end of the video. Or create a testimonial page within your site that has several video testimonials for really powerful sales increases. Create a video that utilizes many elements, and you’ll be able to maximize the investment of that one video in multiple tools.”

Clint goes on to list several results of using online testimonials videos:

-The online testimonials are an immediate gratification for the information itch that consumers want scratched “right now”. No other sales tool provides that. The buyer wants to feel like someone else has taken the plunge and that they don’t have to be the guinea pig for this product buy. “The water is fine, come on in.”

-Online testimonial videos tend to push undecided buyers over the edge in an easy to purchase environment due to online sales stores being handy right there next to the video. They watch and listen to a happy consumer wax eloquent on your product or service, and then start looking for the BUY NOW button. It’s a win-win situation.

-Video testimonials are powerfully unique in their delivery. An individual viewing a video in the privacy of their home feels perfectly safe and in control when they experience the urge to buy after hearing an online testimonial video. No other sales medium has that powerful quality. Even door to door salesmen can’t match the power of online testimonials.

-Our customer testimonial videos playing on their web sites work 24/7 without fail to turn leads into buyers; day after day, week after week, year after year. This brings the cost of that video down so low, they are virtually free advertising after playing for a while. Compared to conventional sales tools which often get produced once, used a handful of times or only once, online testimonial videos are a unique and priceless tool in the sales force toolbox.

-Online testimonials are the most powerful type of customer endorsement. They increase traffic, turn lookers into buyers and therefore increase sales.

-Online testimonial videos are one of those few sales tools that cause people to truly buy now.

So there you have it. If you want to increase sales, put customer testimonials on your website; if you want to REALLY increase sales, load testimonial videos onto your web site, today.

Steve Edwards

Copywriter/Direct Marketer

www.EdwardsDirect.net