You Have the Right to an Attorney: Expertise video shoot with attorney Michael DelSignore

Recently, Skillman Video Group shot an array of “expertise” videos starring client Michael DelSignore, a Boston criminal defense attorney. The shoot took place at our studio location in Chelsea, MA.  Michael, who also hired SVG to produce a videomercial for his Criminal Defense law practice, knows the importance of his business having a strong web presence. Unsatisfied with the videos he shot himself for his website, he found SVG via a Google search and made the wise decision of hiring a professional video production company that is experienced in law firm marketing. Michael’s needs were on par with the type of service that SVG provides its clients- producing videos that draw customers to your business through the use of video marketing, social media and SEO. With an unprecedented number of lawyers in the US today, standing out as top notch can be difficult. It is crucial that people find your business first when searching online and this is why SEO is so imperative.

Shooting the videomercial with SVG was a great first step for getting customers to Michael’s website.  The  short 2-minute marketing video we produced gives the viewer an immediate and visceral experience on how their needs can be met through his services and expertise.  In addition to the videomercial, Michael also wanted an array of videos that would be concise yet informative for clients who needed legal representation after an OUI (Operating Under the Influence) arrest.  Collaborating creatively with SVG’s creative team, this info came in the form of seven individual 1-2 minute expertise videos explaining such things like where to go and what to do at your arraignment, to demonstrating the faults of the field sobriety tests.  Michael is clearly passionate about practicing law, which is why he chose to market his skills using video.  SVG is there to help customers and businesses meet in the most efficient way possible, by using the combined power of video, SEO and social marketing.

The Hollywood Effect: Stylized Video Marketing

The Academy Awards have been glorified as a film industry phenomenon since it was first held in 1929. They were first televised in 1953, and have subsequently become an internet media sensation. Before the Red Carpet has even been thrown, website personalities are asking their audience to tune into the glamour, the hype, and their web videos. Asking the viewer to watch a two minute clip in which they critique scenes from the year’s best picture contenders, or a video highlighting the history of the ceremony in Hollywood, is a way to engage him or her in a personalized fashion.

When your website features a video with a particular style and purpose, visitors understand your business more clearly, as if your company website put on its very own tux or gown. Depending on the image you want presented publicly, video marketing sends a message unparalleled in today’s audio/visual culture. We crave the excitement and visual mastery of The Oscars, and for the same reasons, we are more likely to convert our audience into clients with video marketing!

SVG Produces Promotional Video for NFC Cluster with the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge

On Monday November 7th, the NFC Cluster Group, a collection of Boston-Area supporters of the development and commercial success of Near Field Communication, held an event at The Boston Park Plaza Hotel with over four hundred attendees. We were among those in attendance. The MIT Enterprise Forum, a producer of educational events promoting entrepreneurship, put on the event. While similar to Bluetooth’s data transfer technology, NFC’s transfer rate is slower and its working distance is much shorter. Why then does the NFC Cluster Group exist?

Unlike Bluetooth devices that need manual configurations to identify each other, NFC connects devices automatically in less than a tenth of a second. It uses much less energy, can be paired to an unpowered device, and its shorter range reduces the likelihood of unwanted interception. Possible applications are vast, but (credit) card emulation, “tagging” the world around us, and instant connectivity are the big selling points.  The NFC Cluster Group, through the MIT Enterprise Forum is looking to partner the hardware (chip) developers with software (app) developers to help grow this  NFC technology.  To that end they hired Skillman Video Group to produce a high quality promotional video with interviews from board members, app and hard ware developers as well as some pretty heavy hitters such as PayPal and Verizon.

With proper optimization, data indicates that video content yields a 53% better chance of getting on Google’s front page.  However, at Skillman, we believe that video for video’s sake is dangerous as quality DOES matter to your audience. As video becomes more important and easier to shoot, organizations can’t afford NOT to have it.  Contact us today to see how high quality video content can help with your online marketing initiatives.

That’s a Wrap!

For the past four months I have been fortunate to hold an internship at Skillman Video Group. I came here after working as a professional in film, television, and commercial production for a number of years. I’m working on a career shift and SVG was the perfect place to combine my production experience with my social media hobby. What happened with me and SVG over the summer?

Big things:

When I took the internship I wanted to make a marketing video for SVG that was more ambitious and cinematic than their previous videos. I brought my skills as a set designer, contacts with actors, and access to cinematographers and wardrobe stylists together for the Old Timey Marketing project. I’m quite proud of what I did, and it is helping us find new clients. I think it shows that SVG can make movie-like videomercials for clients that want to stand out.

I had the privilege of attending a Muslim Ramadan service in Chelsea when SVG shot a fundraising video for a community center. I’m not a religious person, but it was still a powerful, moving experience. And we shot some amazing footage. I doubt I’ll ever have another opportunity to go. You can read all about it here.

Social Media does work for SEO. Our page rank has risen, which is good. Getting people to follow you and comment is tricky, no matter how good the content is. I looped in a few new subscribers and I think it’s paying off. Read all my posts here.

Small things:

Managing a multi-platform social media campaign is not that difficult. A few hours a week. More businesses should do it.

I discovered many interesting social media and viral video campaigns and got to blog my analysis of why they work. Some interesting and inspiring ideas.

Anchor links, micro sites, pingbacks, landing pages, etc.

I got a much needed brush-up on Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack.

I hadn’t used a Lowell lighting kit since college, so I got a valuable refresher course on lighting from Andrew, our usual Videographer.

Now that I’ve attended client meetings I can add actual “agency experience” to my resumé.

Until you ask, the answer is always “No.” Most people are really happy to help you out with locations, props, wardrobe, camera, etc.

I’m excited that I’ve got these new skills that will propel me into new career choices. Thanks SVG!

The Importance of Video on Your Website’s Home Page

The impact of a video on your website’s Homepage can be significant. It plays a key role with conversions since it can give viewers an immediate and visceral experience on what it would be like working with you.  A video can also help with Search Engine Optimization and driving search engine traffic as well since you can optimize them with landing pages and strategic linking.  Not to mention the use your video may have with Social Media!

To evaluate the effect your video is having on conversions an important statistic to note is your “drop off rate”. When people first visit your website’s home page – what do they do? Do they immediately drop off or “bounce” and leave your site because they don’t like what they see? Or, even worse, they can’t find (immediately) what they are looking for? Video can play a key role in keeping and holding those web visitors and ultimately converting those visitors at a much higher rate.  Having a video professionally produced is helpful since it is imperative your audience understands the mission of your business and how it connects to their needs and can help solve their problems.   The quality of your video does matter, since your marketing video will directly impact how your business or service is viewed.

Imagine one of Skillman Video Group’s professional videos on your Homepage: flattering lighting scheme, rich color contrast, exceptional sound quality and editing. Each element enhances your vision, your mission, and your connection to potential clients. In your industry, you are the expert but when it comes to Video Production and Video Marketing, Skillman Video Group can help you achieve your goal of creating a greater connection with your viewers and thereby also improving the performance of your website.

An SVG video on your Homepage highlights whatever topic you choose, so prospective clients have a clear understanding of your business’ goals and achievements. Formal or informal, a video will catch the eye of the browser so he or she is able to make an informed decision about your services or products. Contact Skillman Video Group today to learn more about “video conversion points”.

Are You Blogging? Our Webinar @ Cambridge Chamber of Commerce

This month Skillman Video Group used live, interactive, social media to talk to local businesses about interactive social media. Cambridge Chamber of Commerce hosted our webinar discussing the importance blogging for businesses. From the comfort of their offices and homes, attendees could watch and talk with SVG’s Principle, Christina Skillman, as she delivered her presentation over the internet. The webinar format allowed viewers to interact with Christina asking her questions on the web. It was a great interactive experience. Webinars are now another social media tool we’re using at SVG.

SVG has  talked about blogs and other social media many times on our own blog: link, link, and link. A blog is an easy way to start using social media to market your business, interact with customers, and increase search engine visibility. You can use it to announce new products, discuss developments in the field, gather market research from readers, and illustrate your expertise. Frequent blogging increases traffic and wins new customers. This is what we do here at SVG everyday and it works for us.

The online audience understood why they needed a blog and  Christina recommended a few solutions to get them blogging: hire an internal social media expert or outsource to social media marketing companies like SVG.

Next month we’ll be doing a presentation on SEO at the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce. Subscribe, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn to hear more. Check out out a sample of the slides from the webinar. We created our presentation using Prezi, an online presentation creator. Prezzi is a exciting new application that has remained presentation software with its zooming interface. There was lots of new interactive technology this month at SVG.

Social Video Media Marketing for Job-Seekers

The Boston Globe recently featured an article by Scott Kirsner, “Social media advice for job-seekers, from CEOs, HR execs & recruiters,” in which Kirsner posed the following two questions to company CEOs, hiring managers and bloggers alike:

1. What should candidates be doing with social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and blogs to improve their chances of getting a job?

2. What shouldn’t they be doing?

Each company representative responded with particular examples of social media efforts they find compelling. HubSpot CEO,  Brian Halligan, recalls a video job application that got the applicant an interview with the company right away, because it “bounced around [the office] like wildfire.”

Bouncing like wildfire isn’t always a good thing for prospective employees. Some executives and recruiters think social media sites hinder an applicant’s chances: think inappropriate Facebook wall photos!

All in all, the interviewees, especially the execs of internet marketing (unsurprisingly), think social media marketing (of oneself) is a positive way to reach out. It’s “inbound job searching,” in which the company finds the applicant online.

Your online persona, that includes you’re the look and content of your website, microsite, blog, and various social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, can be extremely public if it’s popular enough. Search engine optimization and video is the easiest and most effective way to enhance your online image so companies will give you the chance you deserve!

Even better if you can put together a clever video about a prospective employer’s products or services then you might be able to hit a home run. Not only can you get their attention for yourself but you can showcase your knowledge and excitement for the company and show you are a team player and can communicate the benefits of the company. What better way to get hired. Call Skillman Video Group today when you are ready for your close-up?

TwitVid = Twitter + Video

Twitter is cool, right? Celebrities, businesses, non-profits and average-joes all use Twitter to spread their message 140 characters at a time. Web video is cool too. You can use it to advertise your products, ask for money, rant about politics, and show cute kittens.

What if you could combine the two? That would be internet coolness squared! Or would it?

TwitVid combines the two social media applications nicely. TwitVid has some interesting SEO tools, time saving integration features, mobile apps, and general buzz. TwitVid makes it easy to share videos with your followers and generate discussion amongst your friends, partners, clients, and customers. It has stuck around longer than most other Twitter video services and received a lot of capital investments. TwitVid has some impressive business and celebrity users and partners.

Building a service around Twitter seems a little opportunistic: take something popular and add video to it. That’s bound to be a success. The trouble is there are many other services doing the same thing and it won’t be long until Twitter makes its own video service. Maybe that’s the founder’s plan: get bought by Twitter. It also lacks Twitter’s original communication gimmick that made it so popular: restrict messages to 140 characters.

We’ve been sharing our videos and clients videos through links on Twitter for a few years without this added application. You can post advertisements, marketing videos, video blog, and all other business video tools to Youtube, Vimeo, Facebook, etc. and link them on Twitter. SVG embraces social media and marketing trends in our work everyday, but TwitVid leaves us feeling a little underwhelmed. With so many other social media options you have to manage your outlets carefully. It may, however, be the greatest web video service of all time.

We’re going to try it ourselves for some of our projects and see what you think. Follow us on Twitter for updates on TwitVid.

The Trouble With Social Media

I could start by talking about why you need to embrace Social Media at your business, but someone else already did that here. If you already do, good for you; call us for a video sometime. If not, it’s probably because you think you don’t have the time.

Is it really that hard to do social media?

If you look at lists like this and don’t know where to start (or stop), it can be. As your company expands its social media web to more sites it can be difficult to maintain all of them. Luckily most websites offer automatic integration. With integration one Tweet or blog post or video is reposted automatically to all your accounts. One click will update five websites.

Even better, though, is to figure out which sites best suit your company rather than try to use every one. Are you a non-profit?  Perhaps Kickstarter will connect you to other fundraisers, donors, and young idealists. Want to reach the college crowd? Try Facebook. If you are an artist you could use tumblr to host your daily portfolio additions. Want to converse with celebrities and try to get them to endorse you (good luck)? Try Twitter. Is your company involved in current events, news, and the law? You could you could host relevant articles and columns with your commentary on del.icio.us. LinkedIn is practically a requirement for B2B organizations looking to find new clients and partners.

The trick to making social media easy is finding your audience on the web and setting aside a little time for conversations with them. You can do as little or as much as you’d like, but you need to do something. Soon. This is what we do everyday at SVG: help companies and organizations communicate.

It can’t be harder than this, right?

How Video Ties “Past,” “Present,” and “Future” Marketing Together

“Is the Corporate Website a Digital Dinosaur?” asks ClickZ author Lauren Price. Well? Is it?

Executives might think  company and business Facebook pages will “soon replace corporate websites as the center of the commercial world,” or that Twitter will outperform traditional websites. But whatever the latest medium, social video marketing has a proven record to reach perspective clients online with outstanding results.  The beauty of internet marketing is that you can combine all the elements in a unique, purposeful way. Draw your clients from your corporate website videos to your twitter page; link to your blog and videomercials; and stay connected to the marketing strategy of the future with Skillman Video Group.

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