It’s finally here. Google has unleashed their serious entry into the social media market. The initial reaction has been very favorable, and with an estimated 18 million users already signed up and circling their friends, it would appear Google’s latest attempt at being social, unlike their less than spectacular Buzz and Wave projects, is off to a great start.
Of course, this successful social network has many predicting the demise of Facebook and Twitter. I don’t think so. Every new phone that is released is the supposed “iPhone Killer”, and iPhones have been just fine. In fact, I tend to agree with Vincent Wong, who used a photo slideshow to express what he thinks G+ is really about. It’s going to be tied into Google’s other products, like documents, calendars, and YouTube, to make it the ultimate collaborative tool. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace, Google+ starts as an information and collaboration tool.
Myspace was built around music and pop culture, and drew users who wanted to rally to their favorite mass media icons. It was high school, where everyone wanted to be at the cool table. Facbook took the social network to college, with much more tightly knit groups of friends. Friends were friends, and like college, it was all about forming your niche community. In the end, however, it came down to who was dating who.
I believe Google+ is the first social network for adults. Mark Cuban described it perfectly here. It’s all about collaboration and information … and ideas. If the other social networks grew to incorporate this concept, Google+ got it right from the beginning. Google+ also embraces a very adult way of organizing your social connections. Google+’s circles allow you to build your own spheres of influence while also allowing you to become a part of the spheres of influence of others.
Google+, with it’s adoption by professionals, has created a culture of sharing. It’s not just a place to sound off about what was on your vegan pizza. It’s a place to share your thoughts with the expectation of engagement. It’s about ideas.
So what role will web video play in all of this?
Read the rest of Google+ and Web Video »
What does your creative process look like? Everyone has one, whether they realize it or not. No, you may have never written a poem or painted a masterpiece (past the age of 6), but you still have a process for coming up with ideas to help solve the problems you encounter in life.
I believe an essential part of every creative process is Brainstorming, or as I like to call it, letting your mind go crazy destroying preconceived notions, and then finding gems in the aftermath.
Here’s a few tips for successful brainstorming:
- Write every idea down, even the bad ones. Remember that plate tectonics was once a crackpot idea. It’s now science. You never know when your crazy, off-the-wall, brain-flatulence turns out to be the right idea
- If you can, brainstorm with a friend. Sometimes your best idea is an offshoot of someone else’s best idea.
- Leave no stone unturned. Outflank your problem. Once you think you have a good solution, hold onto it, but attack it from yet another angle. The best idea will reveal itself pretty quickly.
So what happens after a good brainstorm? A simple idea — in this case an image of someone turning on an amp in close-up — grows into something like this:
You need video on your website. You need an active YouTube channel.
You know this. Your SEO guy told you this. Your web developer told you this. Your landscaper told you this. So you’re ready to dive head first into the world of web video. You go out and buy a webcam, a flipcam, or you figure out how to turn on your laptop’s built in camera.
Good.
And then you make your first mistake.
You produce a video that looks great but sounds like something my cat coughed up at 5:30 this morning.
How could this be? Your flip camera records HD video. It looks as good as some stuff you’ve seen on TLC. How come it sounds so awful?
The answer is in pretty much every consumer grade camera out there. The stock microphone included on your flip cam, your computer, your cell phone — they’re all designed to record as much around them as possible. They’re made this way because they know the average person shooting video of their kid’s soccer game wants to catch all the action, so they use an omnidirectional mic (a mic that records in all directions). It’s great for catching all the action at the party, not so great for an intimate sales pitch.
How do you solve this problem? Read the rest of The first mistake web video bloggers make »
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Anyone who has known me long enough knows that I have always hated spiders. Hate is not a strong enough word. I fear them. I am arachnophobic. But lately I’ve noticed that my abject terror of them has lessened quite a bit. Just last week I saw two spiders in my garden, and I didn’t start running around the yard screaming like a little girl (which has happened before in the presence of arachnids). It all has to do with my recent foray into organic gardening. Spiders kill bugs that eat plants that give us delicious veggies.
The same goes for wasps. Yes, wasps. Those mean flying jerks who sting you with burning acid. Like the spider, the wasps primary prey is not humans, but buggies. Wasps have a particular taste for caterpillars — cute little caterpillars who have German accents and are comic relief in pixar movies. The same caterpillars who represent new life and beauty. Well, if you saw what caterpillars did to my poblano pepper plant last year, you’d feel the same way as I do.
Bring on the wasps. Eat some caterpillars.
What’s the lesson to be learned? A negative isn’t always as negative as you think. Or, another way of putting it, your enemy isn’t necessarily an enemy.
So who do you see as “enemies” to your business? Here’s a few:
Read the rest of I like spiders and wasps, and so should your business »
Here’s three simple, creative ways web video can save your business time and money:
1. Save money on advertising using Web Video vs. TV Commercials
Television is still arguably the most powerful advertising medium, but the age of DVRs and the internet are threatening that. While the cost of producing a high-quality, well-executed web video may not be drastically less than a television commercial, you have to remember that producing a television commercial is just the beginning. You have to pay every time that commercial airs, and that can add up quickly.
The cost of producing a web promotion, and then positioning it on social media outlets is far less than that of a traditional television commercial, and you reach a more highly targeted audience.
A viral video is shared by an audience who has engaged your content. You watch things your friends share with you, and you are more likely to interact with the content yourself because it has come from someone in one of your social circles.
With television, it’s like spreading your message with a bull horn in a shopping mall. Only a small percentage of those listening will be interested in your business, and everyone else will either ignore you, or be annoyed by you. The difference between the bull horn and television approach is that with television, you are paying to annoy people! Read the rest of 3 Ways to Save Your Business Cash with Web Video »
Organic gardening starts small, but yield big fruit (or veggies)
“Organic”, like “viral” is a buzzword. I hate buzzwords.
Does anyone besides overpaid consultants and businesses who hire overpaid consultants like buzzwords? Maybe, but buzzwords, like cliches, quickly lose their meaning. The problem is that I really love the word organic, I just hate that it’s overused, because words with such great meaning and application shouldn’t lose that meaning being applied incorrectly.
So let me redefine organic — 0r perhaps I should say “define it” for those who only know it as an annoying business marketing buzzword. I’ll define it by putting it back where it belongs: in the soil.
One of my favorite hobbies is gardening. I love the sights and smells of well-groomed plant life. I really enjoy eating from something that I put in the ground. I am a big fan of organic gardening. There’s the word.
So what is organic gardening? Quite simply, it’s all-natural gardening. The emphasis is on using naturally occurring products, such as compost, molasses, seaweed, turkey litter fertilizer, citrus oil, etc to encourage plant growth and discourage bad insects and disease. Essentially what you are doing is encouraging a balanced ecosystem in your backyard. You don’t want to kill all insects, fungus, and bacteria, since there are good insects, fungus, and bacteria. You want to encourage the good, because they will naturally take care of the bad. In the end, you get healthier plants and a healthier you, since you aren’t exposing yourself to the poisons and carcinogens found in many household fertilizers, pesticides, and cleaners.
However, an all natural approach takes time. My lawn has a lot of weeds right now. But I know that by nourishing the soil, I will encourage the grass, which will then kill the weeds. The remains of the weeds will the decompose in the soil, feeding the grass. It starts with healthy soil. The emphasis is not on healthy plants; it’s all about the ground. Why?
Read the rest of Organic, and other annoying buzzwords »
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In just one week, Rebecca Black unseated Charlie Sheen as the internet’s latest “it” person, however, like Sheen, it probably has more to do with a train wreck then a new sensation. One week ago, Black’s debut music video, “Friday”, had a few thousand hits on YouTube. Then a few blogs picked up on it — not because it was anything special, but more because it was the exact opposite.
The video and song were produced by Ark Music Factory, a vanity recording company who creates songs and videos for wannabe teen pop stars who have the money to make it happen. In this case, what happened was a horribly written song, sung by a young girl who needed plenty of autotune help, set in an overly cheesy music video cast with all of her awkward teen friends. It’s so bad you can’t look away.
So a few blogs posted the video as an example of what not to do, and one week later, it’s closing in on 15 million views.
So is this a viral success story?
Read the rest of When Viral is more like a Virus »
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I am always a bit surprised when I find a business who is hesitant to embrace social media and search engine marketing, though I know I shouldn’t be. The internet is a global megaphone. Thinks whispered in the corner of chat room can quickly become the topic of international conversation. It does not surprise me that given the ability to easily defame a business online has made business owners hesitant to embrace the online culture.
The old way of marketing gave the marketer complete control. A small business could print flyers, mail postcards, pass out t-shirts, and even do a radio and tv spot in which they had complete control over how their information was presented. For them, the Yelps and Facebooks of the world, which a promote a completely organic approach to interaction, present a complete lack of control. If anyone can say anything, how do they manage their image? So the response is to limit the interaction. They delete the facebook pages and request their profile be removed from Yelp. They do whatever they can to make sure their name is not associated with any online conversations.
The problem with this is two-fold:
1. A private approach to web marketing is like overusing antibiotics. You kill the bad, but you kill the good as well.
2. It’s impossible to completely regulate every online conversation out there. It’s a fools errand.
Which brings me to the super-bold letter point for all business owners: Read the rest of Used and Abused by Social Media »
I have not one, but TWO new videos to share today. Both involve a great New Mexican food restaurant, Santa Fe Flats. One is a web video for the restaurant, and another is a fun promo for a networking event I am sponsoring at Santa Fe Flats. The networking event is called Santa Fe Flats Business After Hours, and it will be a great place to meet other business owners.
The great thing about both web videos is that they are SHORT. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with having a longer video online, but if you’re trying to promote an event or your business, you don’t want to give them a reason to click away. If viewers see a long timeline scrollbar at the bottom of your video, they might move on. Make your videos long enough to showcase your business, organization or event, but short enough to keep them interested.
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I guess this is supposed to be the obligatory “my new blog” post. I’ll spare you the drama. This is the blog to end all blogs. The final blog, if you will. If a blog is all me, this is it.
And just who am I? I am a professional filmmaker, photographer, cinematographer, videographer, and marketographer (I made that last one up) in Cypress TX, and my goal is to help you tell your story. Hopefully I’ll be showing you how to make great videos as I make videos of my own.
I have a facebook. And a twitter.
I have company, and my company has a facebook and a twitter. I am working on using those more.
I spent the day yesterday shooting a ton of video. A lot of it still needs to be edited, and you’ll see it soon. I shot at a beautiful restaurant called Santa Fe Flats here in Houston. You’ll be seeing some of SFF soon.
I also got to shoot a quick promo for local Houston rock band The 71s, and you can see it NOW:
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