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

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

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

ISWV president, Clint Pollock, explains, “ISWV produces online testimonial videos for our clients — videos featuring our clients’ real customers talking about their experiences with our clients’ products and services.”

Classic selling technique brought to today’s web venue

Customer endorsements have long been recognized as a powerful way to increase sales. Happy customers put would-be customers at ease because they’re highly credible. ISWV’s breakthrough is successfully importing this time-proven marketing technique into today’s most active and powerful marketing venue: the worldwide web. “We videotape our client’s customers speaking candidly about or using our clients’ products or services and load the videos onto our clients’ websites,” says Pollock. “Our clients’ customers get instant access to see and hear what their peers have to say.”

John Hoge, Vice President of Sea Eagle inflatable boats, says, “Thanks to ISWV’s online video testimonials, our newest boat went from nothing to our best-selling boat in just one year, a 30% increase in our business overall.”

$1 a day

Hoge emphasizes “the low cost to show our testimonial videos to thousands, if not millions, of customers — hosting fees are less than a dollar a day.”

See full story, ONLINE VIDEO TESTIMONIALS BOOST SALES 30%

Sea Eagle is one of many companies that has harnessed the power of online testimonial videos with help from ISWV. Will Johnson, President of TimberKing Sawmills, says, “Having testimonial videos on our site just reaches out and grabs our web visitors in a way that nothing else can.” Johnson explains further, “Nothing can match the ‘hook’ a testimonial video provides. It’s almost irresistible, and our web traffic analysis confirms it.”

Marketing pros agree. Steve Edwards, President of Direct Response Advertising, says, ISWV’s customer testimonial videos are the best-of-breed. Their videos have huge marketing power because of their candid authenticity. Their videos feature real people expressing their real thoughts in real language. There’s no ‘Hollywood’ artifice, no paid actors, no glamorizing — just the real facts delivered by real people.”

ISWV goes on location to videotape its clients’ customers. And, depending on what their clients sell, ISWV cameramen have shot footage in offices, moving vehicles, wood shops, even kayaks zooming down Class III rapids.

But much goes on behind the camera in ISWV’s PerfectTestimonial™ process: a sleek, streamlined, efficient, proprietary testimonial-generating system. ISWV does an extensive marketing review of its clients’ product/service and its unique selling points then contacts testimonial candidates within their clients’ customer base; screening, interviewing, and preparing  them prior to shooting and subsequently editing  and refining  the interview to create the perfect video testimonial. 

Videos run on any website

What’s the future of online selling? Cameraman and ISWV technician, Mike Pudlo, says, “Selling on the web has come into its own. Older forms of marketing are dwindling and the web is booming.” Pudlo adds, “It’s easy to add our testimonial videos to any website and our clients say they’re supercharging their sales.”

Visit www.IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com.

The ISWV team includes videographers, post-production engineers, marketing people, graphic designers, copywriters, and researchers. For more information on ISWV, examples of online testimonials, and articles on the selling power of online video testimonials, visit www.IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com.

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