After being interviewed by a Herald Sun journalist here in Melbourne about new video trends, I decided to make this video while these ideas are fresh in my mind. This will be useful if you are in marketing, communications, or responsible for commissioning video productions because it should give you some ideas about ways to use video production to promote your business and connect with your audience.

[leadplayer_vid id=”5186F41A1A8C9″]

Listen to the audio version: 

00:40 – One-Off to Episodic

00:59 – Monologue to Dialogue

01:20 – General to Specific

01:37 – More Use of Real People

02:04 – Budget

I’ve been producing video in Melbourne for around 15 years now. Here are some of the main changes that I’ve seen:

Move from One-Off to Episodic

Previously it was more common to produce one-off videos. We’re now working with more and more clients who see video as part of their ongoing strategy. We’re producing new videos for them every month for things like sales, internal communication, and content marketing updates.

Monologue to Dialogue

Ten years ago, companies would have complete control of the message of a video, and how it’s distributed. Today, a lot of video content is distributed by end users such as being shared through social media. And its become far more important to structure content around what will connect with this audience.

General to Specific

Companies used to make one off, generalized videos (e.g. company history, service etc). It’s More common now to produce a number of short, very focused or niche videos about specific areas of the business.

More Use of Real People

So there’s been a shift to greater authenticity, and more transparency about the business beyond its glossy surface. People want to do business with people. And they want some insight into who they will actually be dealing with, and what their thoughts and attitudes are. For that reason, it’s less common to use actors in promotional videos, and more common to use the real people within the business.

Budget

There’s been a shift from investing all of the budget into just one video to spreading it over a number of smaller videos. We are still making large budget videos, but now in many cases we will do a series of 3 or 4 smaller videos.

So these are the main trends in video production for business. And it’s worth considering how these trends can benefit your business. If you have questions about video production, contact me and I would be happy to help.

This video will take you through some basic SEO for YouTube that will help optimize your YouTube video. Listen to the audio version:  00:31 – First Things First... Read More

It’s becoming more and more common for people to shoot their own videos for websites. In most cases, it’s best to work with a professional. But there are... Read More

It’s becoming more and more common for people to shoot their own web videos. In most cases, it’s best to work with a professional. But there are situations, such as shooting a quick update for your blog or a social media post, where user-generate content works fine.

Unfortunately, in an effort to keep costs down, and without the right knowledge and experience, there are some really sub-standard videos being produced. Bad lighting, sound and host presentation are sure-fire ways to get your audience to switch off. And the danger with this is that it can undermine your whole brand.

If you decide to produce your own web video content, here are 4 simple steps to follow in order to get the best results possible.Hi, this is Ryan. Today I’m going to teach you four simple steps to create your own great DIY web videos. It’s becoming more and more common for people to shoot their own web videos. In most cases it’s best to work with a professional but there are situations like shooting a quick update for your blog or social media post were user generated content works fine. Unfortunately in an effort to keep costs down and without the right knowledge and experience there’s some really sub-standard videos being produced. Bad lighting and sound are sure-fire ways to get your audience to switch off and the danger with this is that it can undermine your whole brand. So you should hire professional video production company to get the best results but sometimes you just need to create a quick, no frills video to something like your face book page in your blog. So if you decide to produce your own with video content, here four simple steps you can take to get the best results possible. Lighting. Because you probably won’t have any professional lighting equipment, it’s important to make do with what you actually have available. So, if you’re in a room with large windows try sitting facing the window. You might need to turn all the lights on in the room you’re in if natural light isn’t really available. Try to avoid sitting in between the camera and a bright light source. The camera will probably be set to auto-exposure and will make you look dark inside the video. Framing. As a rule of thumb try to make sure the presenters eyes are two-thirds of the way up the screen. This will make sure we don’t have too much headroom or space above the presenters head and the top of the frame. Having too much dead space above the presenter will not only make it look poorly composed but it will actually psychologically diminish the presenters authority to your viewers. Sound It’s very easy to overlook or underestimate sound when recording your video. A really common mistake is to record sound through the on-camera microphone and placing the camera far away from presenter and the problem with that is that it’s going to cause a lot of background noise and you’re not going to hear the presenter clearly. So, to record good quality sound either move the presenter close to your sound recording device, or better yet, use a lapel microphone that clips onto the presenter’s collar. Remember also to close any windows that may be around and turn off any electrical equipment that produces noise. So by doing this you’re going to make your filming location as quiet as possible and you’re going to hear the presenter as well as possible. Be natural. When presenting try to be as conversational and natural as possible. Imagine you’re sitting and talking to a client or a colleague. Don’t mimic tv personality presentation styles, it’s going to come across as contrived and you’re viewers will see right through it. The more authentic you are the more engaging you’re going to be. When hiring professionals isn’t an option these four simple steps will help you achieve the best possible results from your next DIY web video.

Today’s podcast is all about building your business by harnessing one of the fastest-growing areas of the web: video. Have you read a book called “Crush It!” by Gary... Read More

Today’s podcast is all about building your business by harnessing one of the fastest-growing areas of the web: video.

Have you read a book called “Crush It!” by Gary Vaynerchuk? I read it a last year, and I found it incredibly interesting. I strongly recommend you check it out, as it is full of fantastic marketing tips and ideas that you can implement yourself.

In “Crush It!”, Gary Vaynerchuck talks about taking your passion, or a subject you’re an expert in, and building a business around that, no matter how niche that area is.

With that idea firmly in mind, I’m speaking to Brenton Ford, the brains behind Effortless Swimming. He’s a swimming expert, and he has created a incredibly successful online business that provides coaching and training to swimmers.

One of the secrets to Brenton’s success is how he uses video to publicise his brand.

In the four years since Brenton started his YouTube channel, he has had well over two million views. Brenton is the prime example of someone who is effectively using video to grow their business. During this podcast, you’ll learn his smartest and most effective ideas that’ll help you to build your brand online.

We’ll discuss his video marketing strategy, why his approach to web video has changed during his time marking them, and how he’s rapidly grown his audience by following a few simple tips.

You can download this episode directly from this link, or find The Web Video Marketing Show on iTunes.

Episode Transcription

Ryan:  This is the Web Video Marketing Show. I’m your host, Ryan Spanger. Brenton Ford, welcome to the Web Video Marketing Show.

Brenton: Thanks, Ryan. It’s my pleasure to be here.

Ryan:  It’s great to have you on the show. Now, you are a swimming coach, Brenton. I suppose, when people think about video production, they don’t sort of automatically think about swimming, but you’re using video in a really interesting way. It’s really one of the key things in your business. That’s why I wanted to talk to you on the show, to learn a little bit more about how you’re using video and YouTube to build your business.

Brenton: My background is in swimming. I started coaching in 2006. I always wanted to have an online business. I wasn’t too sure how to go about it, how to get started. Long story short, I basically started putting some videos up on YouTube and getting people going to my website from those YouTube videos. It’s just been the main driver of my business from the very start. I’ve found YouTube to be just such a great tool to use to market my business. Just putting together useful and helpful videos for swimmers and triathletes.

Ryan:  That’s fantastic. It will be really interesting to break down that process. I’m looking at your YouTube channel now. You have nearly two and a half million views on your YouTube channel. Nearly 6,000 subscribers. That’s a pretty decent amount. I’m interested to talk through the process of how you got started, how you first got into the online world and started building the channel. By the sounds of it, initially, you were working as a swimming coach with not much on an online presence. Is that right?

Brenton: Yes, that’s right. I started out when I was in my teenage years. I started selling things on eBay and I kind of liked that online … the ability to be able to sell things online and not have to physically be there. Then, in unity I wanted to start an online business. I always thought the first thing I would do would have b...

Today’s podcast is all about building your business by harnessing one of the fastest-growing areas of the web: video.

Have you read a book called “Crush It!” by Gary Vaynerchuk? I read it a last year, and I found it incredibly interesting. I strongly recommend you check it out, as it is full of fantastic marketing tips and ideas that you can implement yourself.

In “Crush It!”, Gary Vaynerchuck talks about taking your passion, or a subject you’re an expert in, and building a business around that, no matter how niche that area is.

With that idea firmly in mind, I’m speaking to Brenton Ford, the brains behind Effortless Swimming. He’s a swimming expert, and he has created a incredibly successful online business that provides coaching and training to swimmers.

One of the secrets to Brenton’s success is how he uses video to publicise his brand.

In the four years since Brenton started his YouTube channel, he has had well over two million views. Brenton is the prime example of someone who is effectively using video to grow their business. During this podcast, you’ll learn his smartest and most effective ideas that’ll help you to build your brand online.

We’ll discuss his video marketing strategy, why his approach to web video has changed during his time marking them, and how he’s rapidly grown his audience by following a few simple tips.

You can download this episode directly from this link, or find The Web Video Marketing Show on iTunes.

Episode Transcription

Ryan:  This is the Web Video Marketing Show. I’m your host, Ryan Spanger. Brenton Ford, welcome to the Web Video Marketing Show.

Brenton: Thanks, Ryan. It’s my pleasure to be here.

Ryan:  It’s great to have you on the show. Now, you are a swimming coach, Brenton. I suppose, when people think about video production, they don’t sort of automatically think about swimming, but you’re using video in a really interesting way. It’s really one of the key things in your business. That’s why I wanted to talk to you on the show, to learn a little bit more about how you’re using video and YouTube to build your business.

Brenton: My background is in swimming. I started coaching in 2006. I always wanted to have an online business. I wasn’t too sure how to go about it, how to get started. Long story short, I basically started putting some videos up on YouTube and getting people going to my website from those YouTube videos. It’s just been the main driver of my business from the very start. I’ve found YouTube to be just such a great tool to use to market my business. Just putting together useful and helpful videos for swimmers and triathletes.

Ryan:  That’s fantastic. It will be really interesting to break down that process. I’m looking at your YouTube channel now. You have nearly two and a half million views on your YouTube channel. Nearly 6,000 subscribers. That’s a pretty decent amount. I’m interested to talk through the process of how you got started, how you first got into the online world and started building the channel. By the sounds of it, initially, you were working as a swimming coach with not much on an online presence. Is that right?

Brenton: Yes, that’s right. I started out when I was in my teenage years. I started selling things on eBay and I kind of liked that online … the ability to be able to sell things online and not have to physically be there. Then, in unity I wanted to start an online business. I always thought the first thing I would do would have b...

On today’s podcast, we’re focusing on social media video on Facebook. Whether you love or loathe Facebook, there’s a likelihood that almost everyone you know is on it,... Read More

On today’s podcast, we’re focusing on video on Facebook. Whether you love or loathe Facebook, there’s a likelihood that almost everyone you know is on it, so it is practically unavoidable.

With this in mind, it makes sense to access Facebook’s massive audience to market your business.

In my opinion, there are plenty of businesses out there that aren’t using Facebook to market their business, and who can benefit by utilising video on Facebook. Facebook is a fantastic place to communicate what a business is offering, and help that business grow their market.

I’ve invited Jen Sheahan on to the show to give her first-hand experience of Facebook. Jen is a Facebook guru, and runs a company named FBAdsLab.com, as well as speaking at a number of high-profile internet marketing events.  I first heard Jen speaking at the Fast Web Formula 3 conference, and was blown away her extensive knowledge about Facebook, as well as her ability to make it engaging and understandable. She’s the perfect person to talk to when it comes to Facebook marketing and video on Facebook.

 “Marketing is transforming right before our eyes. It’s more important than ever before that we engage with our audience, engage with our customers, engage with the people who are most likely to sell our message. And the best way to do that is with video.” Jen Sheahan.

This episode of The Web Video Marketing Show answers:

* What are people looking for in videos on Facebook?

* How can you use video to create a human connection with your audience through Facebook?

* When is it worth employing a video professional to create a video on Facebook?

* What is more effective – uploading a video directly to Facebook, or linking to a video on YouTube or on your website?

You can download this podcast directly from this link, or find The Web Video Marketing Show podcast on iTunes.

Episode Transcription

Ryan:  Hi. You’re on the web video marketing show with Ryan and this is episode 14.

Today, we’re going to talk about “How to Promote your Business More Effectively by using video on Facebook”, because my sense is, that there’s a lot of businesses out there who aren’t really using Facebook that much to promote their business, and can use video on Facebook a lot more effectively to grow their audience, and to communicate their offering far more effectively.

Jen, thank you very much for joining me on the Web Video Marketing Show. We’re going to be talking about video for Facebook. This is actually an area that I’m really excited to talk to you about because there’s actually not a lot of information out there on video for Facebook.

Jen: Yes. That’s right. Not a lot of people are talking about it, and things have changed so much in the last couple of months really, and now it’s important to know what the strategies are that are most effective.

Ryan:  I think there’s a huge opportunity for businesses. I mean my impression is that in general, a lot of businesses particularly offline businesses are not really making the most of the possibilities of Facebook, and in particular video for Facebook.

Jen: Exactly. You’re spot on with that. There’s a huge gap in the market. There are some people who are doing it very, very well, and then there are other people who don’t have enough video. One of the things that seems to stop people like when we’re talking with our clients, a lot of people just feel like their videos just have to be amazing every video they post. That’s just not true, so it’s good to have a good blend of professional and more casual videos. We can talk a little bit more about that if you like.

Ryan:  Definitely.