Dave Ramsey has been getting a lot of play here lately. It’s well-deserved. Talking about my family’s journey to debt freedom, what a good job he and his team does creating marketing videos… and today… his latest EntreLeadership newsletter focused on content marketing. It immediately made me think about video content.

Dave’s social media director Steve NeSmith discusses some of the basics, and one of them I think is particularly relevant.

Steve NeSmith says…

“What I’ve learned is that the most powerful content is timely and relevant, with an emphasis on timely. Connect it to something that’s going on in the world, an industry or your community—something that’s front-of-mind with your audience. More people will pay attention and respond or share.”

I think that’s an important one to always keep in mind. On the surface, it might seem difficult to do with video. If something happens in the news, it’s easy to respond with a simple blog or social media post. It’s a little more complicated producing a quality video. Or is it?

Dave Ramsey Inspired T60 video content tip

Think about your business and how certain current events might impact your audience. Maybe it’s certain weather events. Maybe it’s good or bad fluctuations in the market. How about holidays? My point is most businesses are impacted by current events we can count on. Focus some of your video content on those subjects.

The videos might just talk about general themes, but you can use your social media post to focus them on current events.

Consider a PR firm… maybe they create a video highlighting the firm’s philosophy on crisis management. Then, when something damaging happens to a company that’s widely publicized… they can send out a social media post like, “Can you believe what happened to Company X? Hope they had a plan for crisis management. VIDEO LINK”

That’s just one example. If you think hard about your own business, I’m sure you can find current event situations that make sense for you. Keep them in mind when you’re planning your video content.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

 

On Tuesday, I wrote the blog post I’ve been waiting to write for four years. The story of my family’s journey to debt freedom. The way we got their was by following Dave Ramsey’s baby steps. Dave’s a guy we can all learn a lot from in life… and business. He started his brand as a financial counselor, but take a look now and you’d swear he’s a media company… because he is.

Media company case study

On the surface you might be thinking sure he’s a media company, he’s a syndicated radio personality. True. He also just launched a website channel, YouTube channel and an iPhone app for his radio show that rivals any television network. Having said that… take a look at his Dave Ramsey YouTube channel, not the show’s channel, the one for his personal brand. You’ll find he’s been operating a media company for years.

Videos educating people about the dangers of debt… they’re there. Videos to help launch his books… there too. Videos highlighting tools people can use to get out of debt… you bet.

Dave uses video the way all businesses should. He uses it to provide valuable content to consumers. It’s a good balance of education and promotion. He’s a media company, and he gets it.

Now, for sure, Dave Ramsey is not your run of the mill small business owner. He’s grown his company into a multi-million dollar empire. He has his own video staff. He’s dedicated a lot of time and money to creating good video content, but so can you.

It doesn’t take a gazillion dollars

Your video content might never get to that level. You might not be able to devote tens of thousands of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars to the effort. You can, however, use video to help promote your company… your brand.

Pick a budget and talk with a professional storyteller about how you can maximize that effort. I meet a lot of small business owners who focus on creating an awesome 5-minute video. Instead, I frequently recommend creating five 1-minute videos for the same price. You get more content for the same budget. Commit to doing it once a year, then develop a social media strategy to distribute the videos. You’ll look back a few years from now and smile at all those videos racking up views.

Good content + social media = media channel.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

If you’re producing online videos, chances are you’re doing some content marketing to go along with them. I hope you are anyway. Well, if so, here’s an important tip. Make sure you have a quality email list.

We all know there are different theories on lists. Quantity versus quality… which would you rather have? Clearly, I fall on the quality side, and that belief was confirmed last week.

Why?

I received some spam. Shocker… I know. We all get it. Have you ever received spam from one of your competitors?

Yup. A video company sent me a fake-personalized email telling me how video can help my website.

After I stopped laughing, I investigated a little further. Not about how video can help, I’m pretty well-versed in that. No, I started looking into the company.

I had never heard of it. The company wasn’t local, and clearly it was running some sort of national spam… I mean… email campaign.

Does this really work? The email was “personalized,” but it was clearly fake. The only reason I even opened the email was because it mentioned video and I had a feeling it was from a competitor.

My other issue is where did they get their email list? I mean, I know I’m just another address on the list, and they could care less that I’m a video company. What’s their open and click rate like?

Online videos + quality list = good campaign

I’ll take a smaller list with more motivated readers any day, but we all know that’s only part of the battle. If you’re getting a good open rate, you also want people to click. Video is an awesome enticement. An image with a play button on it… it just calls people to click.

Send them to a quality video that tells a good story? Your email campaign is on its way to paying off.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

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Video production is what I do, but if you ask me what I am I would quickly respond… I’m a storyteller. Today, I’m treating you to a story that has nothing to do with video, but it might be my most heart-felt post to date. It’s a journey Mrs. G and I started four years ago when we got engaged, and it took an exciting turn at the end of last week.

WE’RE DEBT FREE!

Okay, we’re not totally debt free. We still have to pay-off our mortgage, but other than that we have no more debts and it feels awesome. No student loans, no car notes and we don’t have a single credit card to our names. Zero. Zip. That goes for our business as well. T60 has actually been operating debt free for two years already.

This all started after I popped the question to Mrs. G and we really began digging into what would be our combined finances as a married couple. Katie had a little credit card debt and a student loan. I had some personal credit card debt, business credit card debt… and a whole lot of stupid.

I think I was probably like most Americans. See something pretty, want something pretty, put pretty thing on plastic because me no have money right now to buy pretty thing. Stupid.

We visited a financial adviser… very adult… and he added up our newly combined debts. My heart fell into my stomach. HOLY SH$$$! I couldn’t believe the total. He suggested paying it off before doing anything else, but it was so much. We needed a plan, and that’s when Mrs. G’s sister suggested we read a book, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

The book changed my life… period. I’ve never been a math guy. My buddies used to literally taunt me in math class because I’d ask so many questions. I’m a creative guy… I don’t do math.

Dave’s book and my math nerd wife solved that problem for me. Dave’s baby steps (video) to getting out and staying out of debt gave me the framework I needed, and monthly budget meetings with Mrs. G and her spreadsheets (she’s the Excel Queen) did the rest.

Sacrifice to win

We sacrificed buying things we would have liked, rarely went out to eat, held garage sales, down-sized to driving one paid-for and… shall we say… seasoned car, dumped cable TV (ouch), and that’s just what I can think of off the top of my head.

And a funny thing happened along the way… our perspectives changed on life and money. Saving for the future became more important than spending in the present. We learned to be content with what we have. We discovered a more frugal way of living that agreed with us.

It’s not to say there aren’t luxury items we’d like… there are. Those desires just don’t rule our lives any more.

You’re dying to know how much we paid-off, aren’t you? Well, after some thought Mrs. G and I decided it was a bit tacky to announce that here on our business’ blog. I’ll just say it was a lot and was slightly worse than the national averages for personal debt. We were “normal.”

Well, no more. We’re not going back. I won’t sugarcoat it. It was hard at first, but it’s doable. Meaning you can do it too!

I just can’t tell you how good it feels not to be normal.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

Is “good enough” really good enough for your company? I hope not, but I feel like it might be when it comes to many businesses’ corporate video.

I try to feature the good and the bad of those videos here. Either way, they provide some valuable lessons for anyone producing video content. Finding the bad ones, unfortunately, is pretty easy. That prompts a question for me.

Where’s the pride?

I find it hard to believe the leaders at many of these businesses look at their videos and think, “Great! We nailed that one. This video makes our company look awesome.” That just can’t be happening.

Most of the videos I feature here tend to be borderline, and I offer some expert ways for how they could have been improved. The thing is there are also some real clunkers out there. I don’t even bother highlighting those because I feel like there’s a fine line between being constructive and being mean, but trust me… those bad videos are out there.

So… back to my question, Where’s the pride? First, how does a company end up making a bad video? Second, once it’s done… why release it?

Corporate video gone wrong

The reasons for how a bad video gets made are numerous. Hiring a bad producer, not communicating well with the producer, not hiring a producer at all and attempting a DIY corporate video… and those are just a few. I guess I understand how things can go wrong, but I’d hope someone would have the guts to step-in, say this isn’t working, and figure out a new direction.

The inexcusable mistake I don’t understand is releasing a bad video to the public. It’s just a bad PR move. Even if a company spent a lot of time and money on a failed video, there’s nothing that says it has to be released.

It also doesn’t have to be a total loss. We’ve stepped in to “save” plenty of bad videos in the past. Your nightmare experience might be salvageable by contacting another producer and seeing what they can do with the existing material.

All of that being said, if you produce a bad video, please… don’t upload it to the web. It only makes your company look bad, and I’m guessing that’s the opposite of what you were hoping for at the beginning of the production.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

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I’ve been a big fan of Half Price Books for a while. I used to buy a lot of books there (pre-Kindle), and recently Mrs. G and I have sold a TON of books to them. I caught one of their marketing videos the other day and it spurred a couple of thoughts.

Getting attention for something new

First, video is a great way to launch a new product or in this case… a new store location. Half Price Books posted this video in July about its new Austin, TX location and it has over 1,100 views. Now, in an age when everyone is looking for the next million-view viral video, that might not seem like much. However, I challenge you to think about it from a more realistic perspective.

That’s more than 1,000 people they enticed to sit and watch a video about the new location. Think those people will check it out? I can only imagine the video moved them in that direction. Now think about the last thing you launched. How would you like a 1,000 person head start letting people know about it? That’s what producing a quality video can do.

Multi-purpose marketing videos

Second, this could also be used as a multi-purpose video. It features a short voice-over at the beginning about the new Austin store, but the bulk of the story really features testimonials about why people like the company. That testimonial core could be used again as a stand-alone marketing video for the entire company, or if they open another store, all that’s needed is a new open with the new store information.

Producing a launch video is a great way to generate some enthusiasm for your new venture and, in the right circumstance, it might even be a good value for your marketing dollars.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

I found a company producing a ton of video content. The videos are well-produced, tell pretty good stories and are posted on a frequent basis. The only problem is something marketers, PR pros and business leaders need to know about.

If nobody sees your videos, they’ll never matter.

Video content case study

I discovered Schneider Electric recently. It’s a company producing green energy solutions. They have a pretty impressive rundown of videos and by all accounts, they’re doing things right. The company is producing lots of videos, they’re featured prominently at the website and they’re being shared via social media.

Nicely done. That’s exactly how you want to do it folks.

However, I do have one issue. The videos posted at the company website load soooo slowly. I logged on using three different computers just to do a comparison, and in all three cases many videos took about 30-seconds before they started playing.

That’s a HUGE deal. You know why? People’s patience for online videos starting to load is apparently 2-seconds. 2-seconds!!! That’s according to a study by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Akamai Technologies.

Why your videos might not play

Producing a great video is only part of the process. You also have to figure out how you’re going to host it. There are several platforms, both free and subscription-based. YouTube and Vimeo are the big boys, but you do give-up a bit of control when you use them. The big advantage, certainly with YouTube, is that you get SEO value in return. The videos also load and play quickly.

Now, a bunch of things factor into how well a video plays. The hosting platform, size of the file, speed of the users’ computers, speed of their internet access… etc.

I have no idea why I had a problem with Schneider Electric, and I hope I’m the exception. The key takeaway is to be aware of these issues. Talk about them with your video producer and web manager. Make sure there are as few obstacles as possible for viewers to see your video content.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

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Companies have some tough choices as they produce their corporate videos. One of them is whether to script and storyboard things in advance or take a more organic approach to production.

The recruiting video I found from First Midwest Bank is a prime example of what can happen when you plan things in advance. First, let me say I’m thrilled to see the bank’s leaders are producing a recruiting video. Business leaders who are serious about recruiting top talent NEED to show recruits what the company is all about, and video is a terrific way to do it.

Second, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with the video. It’s clearly professionally produced. There’s good sound bites and a decent story. Here’s the thing though. While I like the sound bites… they sound genuine… everything else is soooo staged. None of it seems natural. In my book, that’s a problem.

I prefer an authentic approach

I’m all about authenticity. I want authentic sound bites, and if at all possible… authentic raw video (b-roll). Even on the occasions we have to stage something, we always try to make sure it looks natural. We have people doing things they would normally do in places they look like they would normally work.

That’s not how things come across in the bank video. They have a series of shots featuring employees smiling into the camera. Okay, we do that sort of thing from time to time, so I get that… it’s a style thing. The problem is the video of people “working” just doesn’t look natural. The shots look and feel staged.

Staging corporate videos hurts your company

Viewers recognize that sort of thing, and your company ends up looking and feeling the same way. Your business comes off as artificial, or worse… deceptive.

Not exactly the impression you want to make whether you’re recruiting new employees, or if you’re trying to market the business.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

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Ending the week on a high note with Hightail. I blogged about the file sharing company not too long ago when they produced a video about its name change from YouSendIt to Hightail. Today, they follow that video with a traditional testimonial.

It isn’t revolutionary by any means, but it’s a great example of solid video content. It’s also something every business leader can learn from.

Why testimonials work

Testimonials are nothing new. They’ve been around and used for marketing purposes for… well… probably forever. Here’s what I love about testimonial videos.

1. you have the option of making them in a way that’s marketing without sounding like marketing… although the Hightail example is a little more overt.
2. getting a client to do a testimonial for you means an opportunity to give them some added publicity as well.
3. no bones about it… real people telling viewers that they like you is a powerful message.

Tactic changes, results the same

It’s funny… probably the thing I love most about testimonials is the ability to sell without selling. You can feature a client, show how they use your product or service and not hit people over the head with the message. I mentioned that the Hightail video is overt. They basically leave no doubt that this is a marketing video, but they do it in a pretty awesome way and one worth mentioning.

The COO featured in the video comes right out and says, “I hate being on-camera, and I hate doing testimonials.” I’ll bet that sound bite changed the whole approach to the video. Throwing that in throws away the notion of selling without selling, but it works.

Actually, I love it. What a great statement to get on-camera! It says it all… I don’t like doing this sort of thing, but I believe in this company so much I’m willing to be here.

That’s a powerful message. That’s the power of video testimonials.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

The cutting room floor… where good ideas go to die. Actually, that phrase should be left on the cutting room floor because there really is no more cutting room floor, so you better not be leaving your good ideas there.

Huh? Okay, a brief history if you’re not up on the origins of that phrase.

The actual cutting room floor

It all goes back to film editing. The editor would have to splice the raw film that was shot into a finished movie, newsreel, etc. That process would result in all sorts of good material that didn’t make it into the finished film literally being left on the floor of the editing room.

Well, very few people still shoot and edit on actual film. The vast majority of what you see in theaters, on TV or online is all shot on digital formats and edited on computers.

The point behind this history lesson is that your good ideas and cool shots don’t have to end-up dying. Save that raw material for future projects whether or not it makes it into the original project. Your creativity doesn’t have to end-up scratched and broken on the cutting room floor like old film strips.

We’ve got that b-roll

Mrs. G will tell you, I even shoot stuff when there isn’t a specific need for it. Over our vacation, I shot some video of Bond Falls in Ottawa National Forest. Did I do it for any specific project? Nope. But why not shoot it? You never know when it might come in handy. You need waterfall b-roll? We’ve got that b-roll!

Back in the day, storing random stuff like that would have been a nightmare. Developing the film, storing it in bulky canisters, knowing that most of it would be destined for the cutting room floor.

Not any more. I shot some raw b-roll in Washington, DC about four years ago and used it for the first time in a project last winter. Bonus… I can save that same raw video and use it for multiple projects in the future because it’s all digital.

There is no more cutting room floor, so keep those ideas alive.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.