While visiting with them putting together their video we learned that Jeff had been paying $430/month for Yellow Pages advertising and had determined it brought them little business, and definitely not $430/month of business, in the last year. So they bravely made the decision to dump the Yellow Book ads altogether in 2010 and apply more effort to taking advantage of the new advertising avenues that the Internet had birthed.

He explained that they had set up a Facebook fan page and in the first week it was live they had two customer purchases from the effort. We were obviously there shooting a video which has been posted to the COVIDCO channel on YouTube and was posted to their Facebook page, will eventually be on their web site and posted to their Google Local Business Ad.

This morning visiting their Facebook page I saw a great use of the fan page:

In this case they are sharing some interesting trivia and giving a great related-to-the-fact discount to anyone who brings in something specific to ask for the special pricing.

What are some of the reasons I think the efforts of The Optical Centre are so brilliant?

1. Jeff and crew know their target client demographic is most likely going to be on Facebook over the Yellow Pages or other traditional print media
2. They have not only embraced the new media, they are working regularly, although not spending all day plugged into it, to build their fan base and to stay in touch with them as more than just a static ad on a page
3. They are not paying premium dollar to be compared side by side on the same page to all their local and national competitors (something you are doing if you are still pouring top dollar into the Yellow Pages btw)
4. Their Friday Fun Facts are interesting AND totally trackable… they know exactly who came into the store because of their efforts
5. In a traditional advertising model they would have spent some significant money to have a catchy ad designed which then got printed once or twice to a set circulation and maybe only offered one single special for the duration of the ads life – I could go on about details of this, but that might need to be another article altogether
6. Jeff and crew are doing more than advertising, they are investing in developing relationships with their customers

I just have to give Jeff and crew props for bravely going where few even timidly are going before them. Now, Jeff and crew… where’s that OpticalCentreLongmont (or Great-Glasses) twitter account?

I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist because I don’t see this as a big conspiracy. Actually, I marvel at the prowess of these marketing moguls.

Initially there were two approaches to the rouse. In both of the approaches the national companies sought to enlist local videographers and filmmakers to shoot video for their companies to supposedly be profitable for both (did you ever notice you were never told what the cost to the company’s clients was… I’m just sayin’). One set of companies were seeking to sell clients on a specialized video for their business to be showcased on one of several national and local platforms. In most cases these clients payed an initial fee (as high as $1500 from what I’ve been told) to have their video created and then some recurring fee to what was often a middleman to keep the video on the web for their customers to see. The other set of companies was enlisting videographers/filmmakers to shoot generic videos, often how-to types of videos, which were placed online in some massive online searchable library. In this instance, there wasn’t a client so no initial or recurring fees were collected. However, the BIG payoff for these companies was the massive online traffic and subsequent advertising revenues.

In either case, the average payment to the videographers/filmmakers was around $200-$225 per video. Some would sweeten the temptation to the video/film folks by offering multiple segments in one assignment. On the surface the offer sounds really tantalizing. And for some video/film folks who are getting started it seems like a great deal to get paid for doing something you love to do.

Early on I recognized a major flaw in the system for these companies was their lack of a decent sales force in the field where the videos would be shot. The early business models were dependent upon either a detached middleman sales force, or a middleman with a local sales force but one who viewed and marketed the videos as an added value proposition rather than the product itself. They knew they had a problem. Recently one of those companies attempted to solve the problem (for themselves) by shifting to eliminate the middleman and further take advantage of the videogaphers/filmmakers under the rouse of offering a proposition where the video producers could make “as much money as they wanted to” by becoming the local sales force and offering a “free” video to any business (and if the business wanted to keep it online they could begin paying a monthly recurring fee after 6 free months or they could pay a hefty price up front -hefty enough to be a barrier to most of the businesses their sales force would be courting- to “own” the video outright). Sounds like a great deal for the video folks, right? Make as much money as you want doing what you love to do?! Everyone likes that proposition, right? Wrong and wrong.

So, I’m saying it out in the open now, the emperor has no clothes! Well, not literally, but all videographers and filmmakers should consider carefully before jumping in on some of these assignments. Don’t be drawn in by the rhetoric and take the time to step back, rub your eyes, and recognize what’s really happening here. For instance, the most recent adjustment of one company to allow you to pitch and shoot as many videos as you can give away. How much more money per video are you getting? $0.00 Yes, you are still being offered the same astounding $225 (often for $500-$1000 worth of work at going rates in your area). Who’s doing the majority of the work on each project? The company enlisting you or you? There was a time when one of these companies was getting $1,000 – $1,500 per video and you were seeing $225. You were creating the video that was necessary for the company to exist and they were throwing you a bone or worse the scraps from the meal. Now, not only are you still only getting $225 but you are providing a local sales force solving one of their greatest problems and costing them $0.00 for your added work.

So, I’m begging you. Don’t do it. While the lure of seeing income pretty quickly for doing that which you love stares you in the face, instead of buying into the false pretense go talk to some local small businesses yourself and see if you can work directly with them to shoot and edit a video they’ll love and then help them get it on their website and on their Google Business Ad. Charge them something that makes sense for the amount of work you are putting into it and something you and they can feel good about. Rather than just being a video person… now you are a partner in the success of their business.

Okay, that was fairly non-judgmental in introducing the issue, right? Now the not so judgmental portion and where I ask for your opinion. Personally, I hate this.

I went to look at the web site of the company he was promoting. I’d been there several years ago (hated it then too), but had not been back since. Wanting to give it an honest shake I tried again. No cigar. Here’s are some reasons why I hate it:

Tacky… I don’t think I’ve seen one of these yet that isn’t tacky.
JBYCDMYS… This is a principle everyone should learn, but especially those of us who work in the media world. Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should. Placing these videos on your home page (and worse subesquent pages) to me is kinda like the craze when web folks were putting all kinds of widgets on web pages. Like the weather on a crafter’s page. Just because they could, not because they had a reason for it being there.
Gimmicky… It kind of says “desparate” to me. Kind of like, “Our site is boring… or not effective… so we’re throwing this video on here to try to fix it.” Oh, and green screen. It’s the latest craze. Clients think they have to have a green screen because it’s the latest cool thing going.
Technically challenging… I have a screaming Internet connection and on even the one on the company that does them’s web site was choking. Bad enough to have it there, but to have it stuttering is worse.
Often redundant… Many times when I’ve seen them, they are only saying what’s on the page, or telling you where you can go on the site and what you’ll find there. Isn’t that what content on the page is for? Isn’t that what good navigation is for? At least write some new and engaging content if you MUST do it.
Talent sucks… At least if you are going to do it, get someone who is REALLY REALLY REALLY good on camera.
Substitue for real content… Folks who are using video effectively on their web sites appear to be doing in a blogging or news this week about our business/topic type format. I feel like people are wanting to be cutting edge with video on their site, but won’t make the commitment to keep it up to date and relevant. The static “host” is a cop out on video for video’s sake.

I’m willing to admit I’m predisposed to my opinion, and may just have not seen the REALLY effective ones out there. So point me to them if you have some you’ve seen that really make it worthwhile. And what’s your opinion? Like ‘em? Hate ‘em?

Several months ago, Google and YouTube announced another great way businesses can benefit from their services and one that will certainly contribute to the decline of Yellow Pages use. Your Goolge Maps Business Listing can now include a web commercial about your business (Did you know about Google Maps Business Listings?) which can help give you a leg up on the competition. Here’s my favorite example of this great service in use: I Dream of Cake in San Francisco CA.

Zeke Camusio posted a great article (Video Marketing – How to Promote Your Business Using Videos) about using video to boost customer’s visibility. Here’s five steps he suggests for producing a video:

5 Steps to Producing a Video

1. Decide what kind of video you want to record (talking head, based on a PowerPoint presentation, from your computer screen, interview, etc.)
2. Get a good microphone and a camera. It doesn’t have to be a professional camera. Sometimes a simple digital camera is enough.
3. Write the script or prepare the content. Do a practice run first.
4. Record it.
5. Do some minor editing using free software such as Windows Movie Maker. You will probably need to trim out the end and the beginning, and add a watermark with the URL of your website.

This is a great list of steps to create a video for your business. If you have the equipment and aren’t afraid to experiment I’d say go for it! Get your web-mercial shot, edited and uploaded to your business listing. If you are not quite as sure about doing it yourself, find someone in your area to help you. Area community colleges, or even high schools could be a great source to find someone with skills and equipment itching to help with a project like shooting your web-mercial.

It won’t be long before businesses begin transitioning marketing dollars spent on Yellow Pages for decades to capitalize on new media opportunities. Kendall Media Group has begun to specialize in creating videos for businesses, and assisting businesses with setting up their Google Maps Business Listings. If you are in the Denver area, or a business within a day’s drive and you’d like to talk about how your business can take advantage of Google Maps Business Listing or about having a video to place on your listing we can help. Shoot us an email. We can help get you up and running!

“Hello fellow Comcast subscriber, this is Champ Bailey of the Denver Broncos thanks for hanging on the line we’re working to get you up to champ speed as quickly as possible. Please stay on the line and someone will be with you shortly.”

What! C’mon, gimme a break. I don’t know if it’s more sad that they’re using this gimmick in the first place, that there’s folks out there that actually think it’s cool, useful, or whatever the right word is to describe it, or that my subscriber fees (all too high nonetheless) are being used to pay a NFL millionaire to record and license the use of on hold messages. C’mon!

In this case, FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. So does that mean that FAQs actually stands for Frequently Asked Questionss? I know, looks absurd. But that’s what it is. And unless someone’s business, site, etc. was incredibly obvious and simple, it wouldn’t make sense that anyone would have a Frequently Asked Question. That’s the only way FAQs would make sense.

So, how’d it get this way? I mean afterall, FAQs is a fairly common reference on the web. Having worked with a number of programmers over the years, they are less concerned with content and more concerned with functionality. But, often they must generate content initially to create the functionality (sometimes foobar or foobar1, foobar2, etc. just doesn’t cut it all). So in order to do their job they enter some text and continue writing the code around it. FAQs makes total sense when you are in a hurry and don’t really thing about it. However, I’ve seen far too many editorial types turn my TN and CO into Tenn. and Colo. because they adhere to some antiquated style guide to believe they miss it.

Could it be the Internet and programmers have just created a phenomenon where some misuse repeated over and over across thousands of sites has actually changed the mindset of those who proofread?

Twitter in Plain English
These guys do great work, and that’s why their whole series is on my list for how to watching.

So companies are spending on average $1.8 million on banner advertising on web sites and a little over $300k on email advertising, yet look at the return!

So I can spend $6.53 to get an order from a client or up to $71.89? This makes me realize I need to focus more on cultivating email contacts and using those contacts more effectively.

That’s pretty easy to sell. What if I can help you reduce your cost to acquire an order? Spending less to make money is always enticing to business owners.

So here’s the killer app question. If I were find a way to help customers use email and video (ComScore estimates a 66% increase between Feb 2007 and Feb 2008 of videos watched online) in a reasonably simple fashion what are the chances I’d have a real winner? I think they are high. So, what do you think? As a consumer/customer, what marriage of email and web video would interest you?

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