Video stars

There’s no denying that video gets more attention.  Plus when you post videos onto your YouTube channel, you’re putting them directly onto the second biggest search engine worldwide.

But videos are expensive to produce - aren’t they?

They can be - but they don’t have to be.

Most of us have a good enough video camera in our pockets - the smartphone!  Invest in a little tripod and a plug in lavalier (clip mic) and you’ve got a set up that will work well for talking head videos.

If you have a Zoom account you’ve got the facility to record interviews, slides with voiceover or you talking to camera, a combination of any or all of those.

Get the basics right

• Make sure your chair is comfortable, quiet and the right height.
• Check where you appear on the screen - it’s more interesting if you’re not smack in the middle; try sitting slightly closer to one side of the screen instead.
• Make sure you don’t have a cluttered or distracting background.  If you don’t have a greenscreen, then sit in front of a plain wall.
• Wear what you would wear to meet a client - but ensure you’re comfortable.
• Ensure you’re well lit.  Bad lighting can result in ‘floating head. Effects, pale highlights, reflections in your specs or, worst of all a dark silhouette where nobody can see your face.  A halo lamp set up behind your screen is a good way to light your face and good lighting to either side of you so you don’t get half your face in shadow.  If your halo lamp is above eye level you shouldn’t get reflections in your glasses.
• The best spot for your mic is around the base of your neck or as near to that as you can comfortably clip it.  If you want to invest more in a free-standing mic, a Blue Yeti is a good choice.

Get the message right

Think of your presentation as the equivalent of standing on a stage and speaking to a room full of potential clients.  That means you need to think carefully about what you’re going to say and how you get your message across.

Planning pays off.  You don’t have to have a set script, but you do need to think about the main points you want to make and in what order.  I often use bullet points or even a rough script and have it in front of me while I speak, as nobody can see it on my screen!  It stops me rambling and losing track.

Remember your title should have the key word for your subject and you can tag the MP4 file with your keywords too.  When you upload it to YouTube use the title as the key phrase and the same keywords.

Your video doesn’t have to be long - say what you need to say to make your point - then stop.

As soon as you start padding it out to make some ‘magic’ number of minutes, you’ll lose your audience’s interest.  It can be one minute, a few minutes or a more in-depth presentation.  But whatever length it is it must have value.

Avoid delivering a direct sales pitch - there are ads for that!  Your aim is to impress the socks off your viewers with your knowledge, wisdom and approach.  If people like what you have to say and can see you know your stuff, they’ll come to you anyway.  By all means add your contact details on the final slide - at the very least your website.

Being an accomplished presenter doesn’t make up for a boring presentation.  And while you should make every effort to deliver good value, it doesn’t matter if your video isn’t professional level.  People will ‘buy’ you and your ideas if you’ve got something they want - even if you’re not using state-of-the-art equipment and are a polished presenter.

Tidying things up

If you use a Mac you should have inbuilt video editing software.  If you’re a PC user, you may need to get something like Lightworks and learn to use it.  Alternatively, look at Fiverr.com and find a video editor who will tidy things up for a small fee.

If you’re not particularly techie, outsourcing your editing is more cost-effective as it can take a while to do what you want if you don’t know what you’re doing.  A professional can do it in a few minutes and deliver a better result.  If you just want your video topped and tailed with your brand and contact information it’s not a big job and shouldn’t cost much.

With a little practice and some planning you should soon be able to put together videos that you can use on social media and your YouTube channel.

Open or delete?

Email marketing is a very effective marketing tool - but only if you know how to use it effectively.  

You may have seen some really bad examples of email marketing, where you’re bombarded with emails daily demanding that you ‘buy this’ or ‘subscribe’ to a webinar you know is a thinly disguised opportunity for someone to sell their stuff to you.

But I bet you’ve had email marketing that you may not have recognised as such.  The emails are friendly, chatty and often amusing.  You feel like the writer is talking to you directly and, even though there may be the occasional offer in there, they give away massive value along the way - without you having to part with any money.

How do you feel about receiving either kind of email?

My bet is that in the first example you hit the delete button or unsubscribe.  However, you probably read most of the emails you get from the sender of the second example.

Open me!

The secret of getting your email read is to have a great subject line.  People see the subject line and that is often the point at which they decide if the communication is worth taking a look at.

Effectively, your subject line is your headline.  Ted Nicholas said “You should spend 80% of your writing time on the headline.”  It’s the point at which people decide whether the rest is worth reading so it needs to get your reader’s attention.

If you know your audience well you should know what they’re interested in.  What are their pain points?  What will make them sit up and take notice?  What will intrigue them or engage their curiosity?  This is all good raw material for your subject lines.

Content

When someone has given you their email address they don’t want to be spammed.  My advice is to deliver value first and foremost.  

Put yourself in the reader’s shoes - what would help them?  If they’ve signed up to a lead magnet, that will give you an idea of their interests, so more around the same subject or allied subjects will usually work well.

By all means promote other things, but primarily aim to add value first.  If you add enough value, people will be open to purchasing from you.

Ask for action

If you don’t ask, you don’t get!  Also if your reader has to work hard to find what you’ve asked them to do, most will give up.

If you want people to do something don’t forget to ask.  Then make it easy for them to take action.  That means a button with a link directly to the web page you want them to visit.

Fill your funnel

If you aren’t a natural sales person, how do you find new customers?  There are plenty of ways to connect to your target audience:

• Cold calls
• Networking
• Advertising
• Social media
• Referrers/advocates

The right strategies all work - but my favourite of all is the sales funnel.  Why?  Because:

• Once you’ve built it, it continues to work in the background while you do the stuff you’re good at
• It showcases your expertise, educating your audience about your knowledge and experience
• It moves people from free to paid to long-term on automatic pilot.

Given that I am never going to pick up the phone and make a cold call, I have not yet found an ad that really works well and I already do networking, social media and value my referral network, I like the sales funnel.

It’s what could be described as influence marketing, but it’s more reliable than just hoping someone will like what you have to offer and get in touch.

The lead magnet myth

Most business people have come across the odd lead magnet or two.  This is where you’re offered a free document or webinar of value to you, in return for your email address.  If you haven’t actually got one, you’ve probably signed up for one somewhere along the line.

However, many people think that’s all they need - a decent lead magnet and people will not only put themselves on your list, but also pick up the phone and call you for the kind of help you offer.

This only works in fairyland!

In the real world the lead magnet is only the beginning.  You need the foundation sitting underneath to make it an effective marketing tool.

That means:

A series of automated emails, giving more value and signposting your next offer - generally something low cost (i.e. less than £50)

The low cost item - which might be a book, a webinar, an ecourse or online event.

A series of automated emails, following up the purchase and adding more value, with an invitation to join your next level offer.

The second level offer - usually delivered one to many.  This could be a subscription to an information source (usually a regular email), a membership of a knowledge platform, or a course over a specific time frame.

This also needs following up to ensure that people are getting value from their purchase.

The final level in most marketing funnels is the premium level 1-2-1 service, where you work directly with the client offering a bespoke, personal service.

If you get this all set up you’ll have a system that virtually runs on its own.  Everything is created in the set up process and is automated (until you get to the final level).

What’s not to like?!

Are you a radio star?

When you think of PR - are you thinking ‘press releases’?  There are far more opportunities that are more effective than simply issuing press releases.

Press releases are hard to get published and you’ll need a really good story, not just a business announcement to get past the editor’s spike (the delete button!)

If you’re an expert and have knowledge to share look at your local radio stations.  If you’re business-to-business, most radio stations have a drive time show and/or a business slot somewhere in their schedule.  

If you’re selling direct to consumers you can find a presenter who is interested in giving their listeners good information.  Whether that’s how to make a wedding tree or the latest materials for sports clothes, you don’t have to do a sales pitch, just sharing your knowledge.

How to make the connection

Your local PR agencies will have a list of contacts, but if you want to do it yourself the first thing to do is to listen to the radio station.  You need to know what kind of content the various shows feature so you pitch your ideas right, if you’re familiar with the different show formats you’ll find the shows, slots and presenters that are the best place for you to start.

Most radio stations have an online digital feed on their websites and many have the option to replay programmes, so you can skip over the music and listen to the talking bits.

There are usually contact details for the station on the website and sometimes specific emails for different shows or presenters.  Bear in mind that well-established stations will have producers for one or more shows and they are often the best contact to approach. 

If there isn’t an obvious slot for your idea, but you can see that it would fit into a particular show, you’ll need to put together a pitch - even if it’s in note form for you to talk through on the phone.

The more specific you are about how you could help their audience the better.  You’ll need to have a good idea who listens to each show - and there often listener demographics available either online or in their advertising packages.

There has to be a win-win for the station and for their listeners, so be clear about how both of these parties will benefit.  Whether you get a slot to just talk or you’re interviewed by the presenter, ensure you keep this in mind.

Top 3 tips for radio

• Be flexible about time - turn up in plenty of time and be prepared for the occasional delay if new breaks or something comes up that pushes your slot back a bit.  
• Talk clearly and a bit slower than you would in normal conversation, but not too slowly or you’ll lose the energy of your message.
• Don’t chat with the presenter during off-air time (i.e. during music, ads or pre-records) unless they instigate it.  They will have other things to do, clips to schedule and may be watching one or more screens to ensure everything goes smoothly.  They’ll let you know when it’s OK to talk - either off air or on air - there’s usually a red light that indicates you’re live.

Once you’ve done this once on one station and ticked their boxes, they’ll be open to you coming back again.  Smaller local stations may even be interested in a regular weekly or monthly slot if you can deliver great quality material regularly.