Tune in to Video Marketing

Is your product or service visually appealing? Do you offer workshops? If so, consider making videos to highlight your business on your website. It's not as hard (or expensive) as it once was.

Video marketing can range from a clip of a seminar, a tutorial, a demonstration of your services, to a commercial.

Tips:

• Your video should fit with your business image and target market.
• Know your niche.
• Provide something of value (even humor has value). Just like in all marketing, you want people to pass your information around to others in their network.
• Ensure that your website's name is prominently displayed throughout the video. You want people to be able to find your business easily (if they aren't watching the video on your website).
• Offer your video in both low-fidelity and high fidelity options. Lower fidelity takes up less space on the screen (smaller), grainier, and monaural (and is quicker to download).
• If you'll be offering the video for viewing on your website, offer both QuickTime and Windows Media formats.
• Allow your videos to be downloaded to your client's computer (not just viewed in the browser).
• Consider uploading the video to free video sites such as YouTube and Google Video.

I've recently been involved in two (online) video projects:

The first project was shot using a (unattended) digital camcorder on a tripod. I transferred the raw footage to a Macintosh computer using MediaFork and edited it with iMovie HD. During the editing process, I titled, compressed and reduced the high-definition video in size. Total out-of-pocket expense: $69.99 (iLife '06). With no marketing budget, on the first day, there were over 500 viewings of videos on YouTube alone. It has generated significant web traffic, inquiries, and sales.

The second project was shot on a makeshift set with green screen backdrop (to insert a digital background). It was shot using a professional video camera, a stereo MP3 recorder, and 3 floor lights. Total out-of-pocket expense: over $2000 (set + rentals + camera man + director + editing). This project is still in production.