1.  Product training videos save countless hours of telephone support:

Last year Jeff Long (one of our stunningly talented video producers) was hired to travel to Texas for a week to film a series of training videos for Bowie Industries.  They had 7 main pieces of machinery that were complicated to operate and maintain.  Bowie Industries was constantly getting phone calls on servicing and operating the machinery.  The videos cut down on the amount of time on the telephone.  Instead, Bowie sent a link to the caller which had short videos that walked through each aspect of service and operation.  It was a huge time saver for Bowie and meant they didn’t have to be on the phone all day and could devote their day to other needs, which saved the company a lot of money.

How could you create training videos, product demonstrations, or video FAQs that would help save a lot of time for your personnel?

2.  Recording live presentations saves money and builds a training catalog:

We’ve seen a huge increase in companies asking Exit Row Productions to come to their presentations to film them.  We’ve live streamed them over the internet, as well as put them onto DVD and created web formats.  We can even create a special website or web page that is password protected.  This enables each company to be able to send the videos to those that couldn’t attend the live presentation or training.  It also means that you don’t have to fly everyone from across the country in, just so they can be a part of a presentation.  We’ve found that video taping these presentations is a huge money saver for these companies and allows them to have a catalog of training videos, presentations and information that can be used for years to come.

Do you have any upcoming live presentations, seminars, or training that needs to be recorded?  We’d love to help.

 3.  Product Promotions shows your target audience:

Do you have a product or service that needs to get the attention of potential buyers?  Do you spend a lot of time explaining, making phone calls and sending out literature?  Why not put all the benefits and features into a short video?  Video shows off your products in ways that explaining just can’t accomplish.  In fact, Dr. Fames McQuivey of Forrester Research said that, “A minute of video is worth 1.8 million words” .  When you take into account, the adage that, “an image is worth a thousand words” and most videos have several thousand still images moving at 30 frames per second.  It makes you wonder why you’ve been wasting your time on brochures, text only website and other outdated tactics.  Video will take the pressure off of you and put the spotlight back on your great products and services.

How can you utilize video in your product promotions or as a way to showcase your services?

As you can see in the above examples, video can actually save you money, rather than being inefficient by wasting time with unneeded customer service calls, live presentations, and product promotions.  Plus, video is becoming more affordable as equipment prices gradually drop.

So how can you use video to save money?  Let Exit Row Productions help you determine the best ways to utilize video in your business.

Website of the week: Snopes.com

Does a wealthy sultan from another country want to send you free money?  Do you get e-mails, messages or questionable information online, and you want to check the validaty?  The definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation. Use Snopes.com to see what’s true, and what isn’t. 

Video of the week: Google Wallet and Seinfeld

Get ready for your smart phone and your wallet to collide with several new services being announced in the coming months.  In this video, George Castanza shows why he needs Google Wallet.

[youtube width="580" height="325"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKGptWtzeaU&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=Exit+Row+Productions+Newsletter+List&utm_campaign=8ad5df7207-Through_The_Lens+Sept+2011&utm_medium=email[/youtube]

So I have been thinking of the best way to get the word out about our company, what is the best and most effective form of marketing? I think if every company mastered this, than it would obviously be successful. So what is the answer? Well, in my humble opinion, word of mouth is still the best form of marketing.
Now, word of mouth, has obviously been around since people could talk. So with all of the new interactive media and technology, how is word of mouth still the best. Technology is constantly changing, but something that isn’t changing is the fact that people talk. So the better question is…. How are you using the newest technology to create word of mouth marketing for your business?
Video on smart-phones and on the web is a powerful way to create word of mouth. I couldn’t help but notice these things about how people get their news these days, it is:
1. Instant
2. Mobile
3. Interactive
4. Dynamic
With that said, video just happens to be all those things as well. So find ways to integrate video into your business to create that word of mouth that is so powerful to any message. Exit Row Productions is constantly looking at new ways to do this for you. Let us know if we can help.

Video of the Month:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nSsBr67BqA

Email Signature Videos:

This is something we have been personally testing over the past 9 months. How many e-mails do you send every day? Why not put a video in your e-mail signature? That way everyone can see it. We put clickable icons, such as Twitter and Youtube, in our e-mail signature. We also put a link to a video. In the few months that we tested, in one of our e-mail signatures saw that around 250 people clicked on our social media links, but just over 2,000 people clicked on our link to the video. That’s about 8x the click throughs on the video link over the social media links! You can see how much more people want to see a video. Imagine if your company has 5-10 employees with the same clickable videos in their e-mail signatures! Multiply that times the amount of e-mails they send every day. It would maximize not only your video’s effectiveness, but it would also drive traffic to your website with every e-mail sent from your company. How many e-mails do you and everyone in your company send every day? Are they also a marketing tool for your business? They could be. Ask us how we can help you incorporate this into your next video with us.

Training Videos:

We’ve had a lot companies call us to film their training sessions. In fact, last month we were asked to film an all day training series which was broadcast live through online streaming. We also edited the videos together and delivered them in DVD and web formats so the company could put the training on their website as well as send out DVDs to all those that couldn’t attend the event. The cost for this was vastly more affordable since the attendees were from all over the world. There were several people watching online in other countries! Can you imagine paying for them to fly into town to attend the one day event? It was much cheaper to have us record the event.

We have also been asked to record live speaking engagements where we edit the videos and break them into 5-10 minute videos. They then perform what is called, “Drip Marketing”, where they release one video every week. It keeps people coming back to the website for more content and is a great way to build traffic to your website.

These are just two ways you can use training videos in your business to save money and generate traffic to your website. How can you use training videos in your business?

Employee Orientation Videos:

How many companies hire someone new, but then have a long and painful training process? Training manuals are boring and long orientation sessions can give a lack of results. Their can even be a lack of consistency in what is presented during the training. But video is the best way to have a consistent message for your new employees. Why not mix up the orientation by having some videos that introduce your company, message and key staff through engaging video segments? You can then use these videos for years and years to come. Are you looking at revamping your employee orientation with videos? We can help.

Video Pick of the Month: Harvard Business Channel

If you like videos that teach new ideas and practical ways to grow your business, than you’ll like this YouTube channel.

“Harvard Business School’s YouTube channel showcases “ideacasts” that focus on “practical insights, tools and resources.” The web-show offers interviews with prominent Harvard professors, authors, and business leaders who speak to issues in markets large and small.”

Web Pick of the Month: PDF converter

How many times have you wanted to convert your Word document to a PDF.  Or, do you need to convert a PDF to a Word document to edit?  I need this functionality every week.  Check out this service that converts these formats.

That statement in and of itself is controversial. Not only can you not make a viral video, you might not be able to make a video viral. It seems as though everyone wants to have a “viral video” these days. That is well and good, however you cannot create a “viral video”. Wikipedia defines a viral video as one “that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites and email.” Now let me explain how you can do this. You must first make a video that is full of great content. Whether that content is funny, interesting, educational, or just crazy is up to you. Once a video is created than you can attempt to make the video viral. The key word there is “attempt”. The bottom line is that if no one wants to watch your video, than it will not go viral.
There are some things to consider when attempting to make a video that can go viral. As a business you must first consider what the goal of your video is. There are several questions to ask yourself:

- Who do you want to watch your video?
- What kind of people do you want watching your video?
- How many people do you want watching your video?

It is important to answer these questions before you go producing a video. If you do not care who sees your video, and you just want as many views as possible than your content could be wide open. If you want to market the video to your industry than the content will need to be slanted towards that particular industry. So while there is no way to make a “viral video” there is a way to make a video that has a good chance of going viral.
The key to producing a video that has the best chance of going viral is, like I mentioned before, great content and also a distribution strategy after the video has been produced. The video must be a video that people will be inclined to watch. It is critical for someone who specializes in video to create a video that they know people will watch. Ideas sound good in a board room, but we are talking about internet viewers here. People are impatient and very critical of online content. There is so much out there, so you must find a way for yours to stand out. Also, it is extremely important for someone who is knowledgeable of social media to spread your idea. Once the video is online, it must spread, and one of the best ways to do that is by using a company who understands how social media works. Exit Row Productions are specialists in both content creation and video distribution online. We would love to help you create videos that go viral.

Videos of the Month:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAllFWSl998

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8cAU475dQo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnJX2FiW-ik

Web Pick of the Month:

Letter Me Later

Merry Christmas!

1) Website FAQ

Do you get the same questions from customers? Do you have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website that gives answers to those questions? Think how much time and energy you could save if you pointed them to your website for questions. Think how personal it would be if you or one of your employees answered those questions personally on a video? Not many websites take advantage of this simple yet effective strategy. You could create graphics that demonstrate what you are talking about or it could be as simple as someone sitting at a table answering questions. Both can work and are each effective. Having a video FAQ would allow you to answer the question as well as let them see you interact on camera, which builds trust. No longer does your website seem cold and impersonal with mostly text on it but having a video will bridge the gap between the website visitor and your company.

This video FAQ was done using more graphics rather than having the owner be on camera. There are a multiple of ways to do video FAQ for your website.

Example:

2) Training Videos

How many times have you told someone to refer back to the owners manual? Some companies heavily rely on these manuals for training internally or for explaining their product. Or, how many new employees do you have to personally spend time with? What if you could boil most of your training down to a video for someone to watch? They could then fill out a survey to make sure they understand. Then you can review the material with them to make sure they understand. This could be internal or external training videos but most companies have some type of training for: new hires, safety, HR, procedural, policy, etc. In May, Exit Row Productions was hired to go to Texas and film a training series for some industrial machinery. The task of the project was putting the training manual into video format so people wouldn’t have to dig through the manual. For years, people would not be able to find the answers in the manual and would call the company for basic questions. This video drastically cut down on those simple customer calls. This video training also helped with the sales department because the video was also put on the companies website so potential customers could see how it worked and how it would benefit the customer to buy such a big piece of equipment.

Training doesn’t have to be limited to external customer training. Employee training is an important part of bringing a new employee up to speed or giving new skills to a current employee. Do you want to take the time to train every single time it’s needed or create a training video one time that can be used for years to come? Imagine how much time, productivity and money you will save by doing this!

Here is a video we did for a local chiropractor a few years ago. He wanted to train or inform potential clients about what he does and how his unique brand of chiropractic can help people.

Example:

3) Video Success Stories

I’m sure you have plenty of success stories at your company. The could be how your company helped solve a problem with their products or services. It could also be how your customer service saved the day. Why not make these stories available on your website for all to see? Don’t you think you would gain more business if everyone could see how you fixed a problem for your customer and went out of your way to do it? Imagine the impact that this could have on gaining more customers.

Earlier this year we filmed several interviews for the Dayton YMCA (now called, the “Y”) about how their programs are helping people lose weight and feel better about themselves. These videos were shown to their donors and posted on their social media platforms. It was a simple way to show people that the YMCA is effective in helping families with their countless programs.

These are only 3 simple ways that you can utilize video in your business. Many times these videos can pay for themselves when you factor time saved in customer service calls, time and costs to train internally or externally, and customers gained through success stories. Give us a call and let us know how we can help you with these 3 ideas…or any other idea you may have to utilize video. We love what we do and love helping people succeed.

Perhaps you haven’t thought of using video in these 3 ways.  There are countless other ways you can use video in your business.  Exit Row Productions strives to be creative by staying on the forefront of video and how you can utilize it in your business.  Let us know how we can help.

Video pick of the month: Gmail introduces Priority Inbox
Do you use Gmail at work or home?  It’s the best e-mail platform and we prefer it a LOT better to Outlook or other email clients.  They just released a new service that should make your e-mail experience a lot easier.  Check out the video below!

Web Pick of the Month:   Slideshare.net
Slideshare allows you to upload and share your presentations.  It’s a great way to put presentations on your website as well as share it with those who want to keep learning after the presentation is made.  You choose the security of how people can view the presentation. There are free and paid options.  We use it and LOVE it!

1)  Customer Testimonials
We’ve all heard for years that it’s important to get customer testimonials for our website and literature.  But have you thought about getting those same happy customers on video?  Many people overlook this key way for other people to brag about you and your company.  No one likes to hear you go on and on about your company, but it will do wonders if someone that has used your product or services can say those great things on a short video.  You can put this on your website, Youtube, business card DVDs, and more.  Make it once and reuse it throughout your marketing campaigns.

A)  Here is a television commercial we shot that highlighted happy customers of the Dayton YMCA.  Your video could be 2 minutes per person so they can each tell their story…or it could look something like this.

B)  This is more traditional customer testimonial:

2)  Presentations
We have found great success in giving presentations at various networking and industry meetings.  It’s a great way to inform others on the trends in media (let us know if you need someone to speak at your meeting). Over the last few presentations we’ve recorded and combined it with our Powerpoint slides.  Now we can put it on our website, Youtube and countless other websites.  Go ahead, go to our website and see what we’ve done.  It has been a great way to send people back to our site. I’ve told people who were interested in video, Twitter, web SEO, etc to, “go to our website and watch the presentations we’ve done to learn more”.  Another great reason to put your presentations into video format is to help with your SEO (Search Engine Optimization. aka getting ranked higher in Google).  Since Google loves fresh, new, relevant content and puts a huge priority on video, then having your presentations put to video will greatly help others find your company website…which means they now know who you are, what you provide and how you can help them.  This has been incredibly valuable for us.
See some examples here:  Click here to see some presentations we’ve recently done.

3)  Video Case Studies
I’m sure that you have success stories about how you and your company saved the day with your product, service or customer service.  Why not create a video case study that walks someone through your processes?  We’ve all seen this done on paper and it is an effective way to help a potential customer see what you provide, but having it on video will only enhance who you are and what you do.  It will allow you to shine through and stand out from your competition.
This is a GREAT video that not only shows you a simple case study but it also shows the power of the combination of video and YouTube. 

You may haven’t thought of using video in these 3 ways.  There are countless other ways you can use video in your business.  Exit Row Productions strives to be creative by staying on the forefront of video and how you can utilize it in your business.  Let us know how we can help.

Website of the month: Zoho.com

Zoho is all you need as a small business owner. It is email, hosting, reports, invoicing, planning, sharing all done on a cloud. So it is all hosted online, and can be streamlined for your business. You can use many of the services for free with less than 3 people.

It’s a question we should all think about. It used to be that you would get your business up and running and one of the first things that you would get is some business cards printed. Now, it is an important thing to have your contact information available to those who need it. However, maybe we should think through what they are contacting us for. What is it about our business that will “wow” them once they get a hold of us.
With all of the technologies available to us now it is important to stay focused. Just as common as a business card these days is a website. The same rules apply for your website as a business card. You see, we spend a lot of time chasing the things that, “we are supposed to do.” There is one thing in common behind all successful marketing campaigns…..something worth marketing.
We think because we lay down a business card, build a website, make a video, launch a campaign, or start a twitter account that we will get business. A good idea for every business would be to make sure that once people come to them, there is something to keep them there. A website is only as good as the company, product, or service behind it. The same is true for a business card.
At Exit Row Productions we feel that video is a powerful tool. It can be used in all of the aforementioned forms of marketing, yes, even in business cards. So the answer to the question is ….no. Business cards are not dead. No matter what form of media we use, whether it be print, video, or web, they all adhere to the same principle of only being as good as what’s behind it. So, we can get people to come check out your business, service, or product. Once they are there it is up to you to convince them to stay!

Video of the Month:

Click Here

Web Pick of the Month:

Click Here

We’ve been telling people for a while now that they need to have a website that has: rss feeds, social media integration, blogs, video content and visitor participation.  Having a “Web 2.0″ website is all about interacting with the visitors to your site.  This helps by getting people involved on your site and it also helps with your Google rankings.
We are proud to announce our new website that offers all of the features that we advise people to have on their site.  So why are these aspects necessary?
RSS
By having rss (Really Simple Syndcation), people can “subscribe” to your website and be alerted every time something new is posted.  This means that people don’t have to magically know when you have new content on your site.  No longer can a business survive by pasting their outdated brochure onto their website.  People don’t want to have to go to your site every day and rss lets them stay in touch with you as needed.
Social Media
Social Media is booming and isn’t going away.  Without getting into all the facts and details, we can just let you know that it’s important to have this integrated into your website.  Your website, blog and social media should be seamless and all be directed back to your site…so you can make money…which is why all of this is important.
Blogs
Many people think of 17 year old girls writing out their latest drama on their blog.  This thinking has changed drastically as most large corporations have blogs directly from their CEO.  Since people want to be involved with you by writing comments to your blog posts.  The most transparent and real you can be, the more people can trust you as a person.  As you know, people do business with people they know and trust.
Video
Video content is important to you for several reasons.  First, people like to watch a video about the services and products you offer rather than reading about it.  Whether you like it or not, people’s attention span is only getting shorter.  Secondly, having videos on your site helps your Google rankings.  Google loves video…which is why they bought YouTube a few years ago.  By having videos on YouTube AND your website will help tremendously in people finding your company.
Interaction
Making sure your website is “web 2.0″ compatible means that people can interact with you on your site.  People expect interaction and want to communicate with you through leaving comments, seeing your posts on social media outlets or reading your newsletter.  It’s the best way to build a community around your business.  Remember, people don’t want to be sold to every time you communicate with them.  Feel free to let them know you’re a normal person that loves what they do and that has a life outside work (you do have a life outside of your job, right?).

Having our new website let’s us easily integrate all of the aspects above, which lets us move on to other important things like: doing our jobs, creating incredible videos for our clients, and enjoying the life we each have outside of our fun, little video production company called, Exit Row Productions.  If you would like to learn more about getting a new website that has all of the features above, or if you want to create a video to put on your website and YouTube, then give us a call.  We’d love to help.

Video pick of the month:

When asked why they watch the Super Bowl, most viewers would likely respond by saying, “the commercials”. And who can blame them? Advertisers are spending big bucks on high concept, high energy and high profile spots. The commercials are an event to themselves; certain to live on as water-cooler conversation topics for weeks after the big game.

But 2010′s ad lineup is missing one of its key starters; Pepsi. The soda giant has pulled the plug on all Super Bowl advertising in lieu of a different approach, one that has more of a lasting impact than that big screen TV that crushed Justin Timberlake in one of last year’s spots. Pepsi is banking on a secret formula of online, social-media charity-something Pepsi hopes will be a refreshing change for its fans.

The interesting side effect of this marketing strategy is that numerous articles have been written and there is a buzz about Pepsi’s decision to take all of its Super Bowl spend and invest in an online, philanthropic  endeavor. Giving money away is great, but it’s not unique enough to merit an Exit Row newsletter. The big story here is that Pepsi is shifting the millions of dollars it would spend on a Super Bowl ad and putting it all in online efforts.

Pepsi has been doing Super Bowl commercials for the past twenty years, so this shift is a sign that the soda juggernaut is waking up and smelling the gigabits. With an overall $20 million dollar budget, there will likely be television spots to promote this initiative however these spots will certainly drive traffic to the www.refresheverything.com site.

Take a look at how your marketing and advertising budget is spent currently and throw out “the way we’ve always done it” mentality. In particular, investigate ways to harness the power that is the internet. Pepsi now has huge advantage here in that online media can be tagged and tracked, giving them measurable, key data to make informed choices about their products.

Make it your 2010 resolution to reinvent the way you reach your customers and let Exit Row guide you through the process.

Video of the Month:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q1RithxrzY

Merry Christmas!

To see what happens, watch the video below.

Is there a competitor that your customers are going to because it’s easier or cheaper? Maybe your competitor is the easy choice for people but your product is better in the long run (isn’t exercise on the stairs better in the long run, then a short term convenience of an escalator?). What can you do to make people aware of your products or services? Can you make the process interesting, fun, or memorable? Yes, this will take some thought, but isn’t it worth it? Imagine getting more customers just because you provide something different (think of what they did to the stairs in the video).

In an interview Siskel & Ebert said that since they watched about 5-10 movies per week, they could always tell when a good movie came around. But, in order for that to happen, it had to really stand out. All the bad and average movies mushed together in an unmemorable glump (is that a word?). But, when a really good movie came out, it was different than all the average movies. Seth Godin, calls this a Purple Cow. Wouldn’t you tell everyone you know if you saw a purple cow? It stands out and is very different from all the other cows you’ve ever seen. Is your business, product or service a purple cow? Aren’t you impressed when a company shows some personality, or they make things fun and interesting instead of being mushed together in an unmemorable glump. Which is your company, product or service?

So what are you doing that’s superior to the status quo? What stands out? What are you doing to make your product or service fun, interesting or a “purple cow”? Perhaps spicing up your website that separates it from your competitors will make you stand out. Would new creative business cards that look different and stand out from everyone else? Or maybe creating a video that isn’t a typical boring sleeper, but something people will be sharing with everyone on YouTube? I bet we know a company that can help you out!