Hello Everybody,

Since we are big advocates and early adopters of desktop video as a communication tool, we are launching our own series of regular video blogs which address some of the essential online marketing tools, solutions and new developments in the online marketing world. 

As we tell our clients...it's much easier to click PLAY on a video...than to read, pages and pages of text...with the added benefit of being amble to "emote" WHEN and AS desired !

  Excuse the pregnant pauses and measured tone...this is the first run...I get better as I go.  (The very  same thing I tell our clients, who get nervous in front of a camera.)   Remember: The more you do this, the better, calmer and more comfortable you become...I guarantee ! 

In this months Video Blog for Small Business, I'm dishing up tjos short V-Blog on using webcam hardware and software for your messaging.  It's more immediate, effective and believable than writing and clients, potential sales leads, staff, vendors or Social media contacts can tell that your a real person...which can't be undervalued.  (That is the foundation of Social Media !)  Another nugget of advice...try to talk about what you know and keep it short.   

We specialize in high end production software for elaborate shoots, but in many cases...as this, a company wants something short, sweet and to the point...hours of post production aren't necessary.  It's the old adage...content is king...even a 640x360 pixel video-blog.  A good message and strong content will be remembered after the last cross dissolve fades to white. 

I can set up this on anyone's desktop for a small fee, which includes the camera, hardware, software and basic tutorial.  Call me for more info.   

Next month I'll talk about using Google Voice or software that comes with the actual camera.   AND give feedback on using Youtube video creator software...

Until next time.

Sincerely, Allen

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 Note: A more detailed version of this article has been published here: "Inbound Marketing and the Next Phase of Marketing on the Web" by Brian Halligan, July 2010. (Google Search).

When I talk with most marketers today about how they generate leads and fill the top of their sales funnel, most say trade shows, seminar series, email blasts to purchased lists, internal cold calling, outsourced telemarketing, and advertising.  I call these methods "outbound marketing" where a marketer pushes his message out far and wide hoping that it resonates with that needle in the haystack. 

I think outbound marketing techniques are getting less and less effective over time for two reasons.  First, your average human today is inundated with over 2000 outbound marketing interruptions per day and is figuring out more and more creative ways to block them out, including caller ID, spam filtering, Tivo, and Sirius satellite radio.  Second, the cost of coordination around learning about something new or shopping for something new using the internet (search engines, blogs, and social media) is now much lower than going to a seminar at the Marriott or flying to a trade show in Las Vegas. It's Time to Transform Your Marketing.  Rather than doing outbound marketing to the masses of people who are trying to block you out, I advocate doing "inbound marketing" where you help yourself "get found" by people already learning about and shopping in your industry.  In order to do this, you need to set your website up like a "hub" for your industry that attracts visitors naturally through search engines, the blogosphere, and social media.  I believe most marketers today spend 90% of their efforts on outbound marketing and 10% on inbound marketing, and I advocate that those ratios flip.

The best analogy I can come up with is that traditional marketers looking to garner interest from new potential customers are like lions hunting in the jungle for elephants.  The elephants used to be in the jungle in the '80s and '90s when they learned their trade, but they don't seem to be there anymore.  They have all migrated to the watering holes on the savannah (the internet).  So, rather than continuing to hunt in the jungle, I recommend setting up shop at the watering hole or turning your website into its own watering hole.

Advertisers think that consumers want to have a deeply rooted connection with their company offerings, but the fact is that advertisers want to have a connection with their consumers/clients.  Advertising clients think that social media platforms are perfect advertising platforms because they want to be able to measure and classify all communications with the consumers and sell their story, products or service in the most cost effective way possible. Consumers/customers see Social media as a tool, a convenience, a trend, an exciting technology playground...but they will only utilize it if it presents relevant, engaging, multi-dimensional content and is a positive, entertaining experience.

Don't underestimate the power of production value either.  Consumers are demanding a message and visuals that get their attention. The days of putting someone up against a concrete back office wall and then rolling the video camera...won't keep interest or eyeballs.  Utilizing the simple white screen background can have great results...without breaking the bank. (Just ask Apple). The focus must be on message, content, professionalism and cleanness (uncluttered).

Content Is King...was chanted as the marketing mantra in years past.  This has not changed, but has become more important and relevant. Advertisers/Clients must capture their message and deliver it cleanly, professionally and clearly.  This doesn't mean that one has to invest in high-end graphics, after-effects or spinning or whirling text titles...(Although a great animation never hurts. )  Clients/Advertisers need to focus on the message, delivering video blogs with sincerity and passion can have more sway than the slickest (and usually) most expensive Adobe After Effects animation. 

It boils down to these few truisms...Advertisers need to offer an experience that has value, entertainment that has value, or goods and services tied to the Social Media engagement that has value. Advertisers have to earn the interest of the consumer if they want to be relevant in an interactive environment. It's a technology enabled communication platform/s driven by consumer use. It's not a advertising sponsored platform. As soon as companies/advertisers focus on splashing their latest pricing, promotion or service without paying mind to delivery, content, believably or without being mindful of their audience...their message gets lost among the millions of others.  That does not make for good return on investment.   (Special thanks to Chuck Ryant for inspiring this rant).

Google is testing a new search feature that would pull messages from a Gmail account in response to a regular web search.

Email marketing is already one of the most effective channels available. If Google’s new search experiment catches on, email marketing campaigns may be the next big SEO tool.

Even if a subscriber barely paid attention to an email campaign when it was sent, the addition of inboxes to a standard web search would mean that same subscriber would be able to re-discover a relevant email campaign at the precise moment when he or she is looking for related content.

Google's plans should give all email marketers reason to think about "inbox stickiness." Simply put: even if a subscriber didn't connect with a particular message, relevant, engaging content might keep the campaign out of the trash and in the inbox where it can have a second life in searches.  (Contactology).

We will post tips and tricks of maximizing your Email campaigns in this and future months.  Our goal is to make you more aware of the power of direct Email marketing and in the process, make your campaigns more relevant, interesting and readable.

Were also developing a cool auto responder function (aka:drip) to email campaigns, which will make it easier to send targeted, topic specific emails automatically to your opt-in respondents, once certain criteria is met. Example: You send a birthday greeting on their special day, or you send a follow-up letter once a trial offer is extended. 

If there are questions or feedback you want to give, please reply below in our feedback...all comments will be viewable by all viewers.

What happened to Google Places?

As a business owner, you can still use Google Places to manage your business. As a user, you can now rate, review and upload photos through the new local search experience, Google+ Local.

Google+ Local is a new destination for all your reviews, plus much more. You’ll get personalized recommendations, see what your friends are up to, and help others find great places. You can also get deeper insights into locations from Zagat’s expressive 30-point scoring scale and Zagat’s summaries of user reviews, and even make reservations with OpenTable directly from a business’s Google+ page. Learn more about Google+ Local by contacting us. Need help in setting it up and managing it...you know who to call.

If you previously wrote reviews or uploaded photos in Google Places, all of your old Google Places reviews and photos are currently public but attributed to, “A Google user.” If you want to attribute these reviews and photos to your Google+ name, all you need to do is migrate your old Google Places reviews and photos to Google+ Local. At that time, you can choose which content to make public and attributed to your Google+ name, and which content to make private. Private reviews and photos will not appear publicly across Google, but you can view or delete your content by clicking on My Places in Google Maps, and selecting Rated from the More menu.

If you need help on how to move your Google Places content into Google+ Local, and for more in-depth explanations about what will happen to your old reviews and photos:
bvodigital@gmail.com.  Tel: 925-609-4bvo (4286).