New Years Resolution for Your Business

It’s a new year, and the time when everyone’s thoughts turn to the dreaded New Year’s resolutions. Now that the ball has dropped and we’ve sang a round of Auld Lang Syne, it’s time to focus on how to improve over the next 12 months.  SVG has some suggestions for internet marketing resolutions that will enhance your online appearance and increase traffic to your site, benefiting your business.

Get a Google+ Account:  In 2011, Google+ joined the ranks of Facebook and Twitter as a leading social media site. As we’ve mentioned before, there are a lot of benefits to being involved with Google+.  This latest member of the social media family created by the search engine Google is quickly becoming an amazing platform for finding customers and keeping clients informed, and is now open to the public, so setting up an account is easy.

Become involved in Social Video Marketing: Social Video Marketing (SVM) is a great way to enhance your online appearance. By combining interesting and engaging content with the efforts of search optimization, social media, and strategic linking, you can drive more customers to your site and increase their interest in your company.  A marketing video delivers information in a way that is easy to follow and more captivating than text, and allows you to show off the best qualities of your company in a unique and professional way. If you haven’t considered SVM, 2012 is the time to start.

Update your website design: If your website design is a few years old, it may be time to update.  The internet is a fast-moving technology, and a site that hasn’t been updated or redesigned in a while can look antiquated very quickly. Even if you like the format of your site, consider adding a blog, or ensuring none of your information is outdated.  The goal of the website for your company is to bring in new business and to keep current customers up-to-date, and if the design of your website is stopping this, it’s time for an upgrade.

Make the most of SEO: Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important elements of online marketing. If customers can’t find you through search engines, then all social media, video marketing, and website design won’t help. Learn more about SEO and what Skillman Video can do to help you enhance your company’s appearance in search engines.

New Years resolutions can be daunting, but the benefits of these few tips will help your online business substantially, and SVG has the knowledge and experience to help you succeed in 2012.

Google+ outranks rivals in SEO

Recently, a blog posted  on the site seomoz.com outlined the effectiveness of Google+ in SEO. When a company or individuals name is searched, their Google+ page outranks Twitter, Facebook, and many of their competitor social media sites in the results. While this information may be bad news for Facebook, and Twitter, the blog outlines the tools used by Google+ that you can apply to help with your business’ online appearance.

For obvious reasons, a Google+ page is the top result in a search done on their parent company’s search engine, Google. Visiting someone’s Google+ page (as opposed to their Facebook or Twitter) ensures the company is more popular and retains more of it’s users, which leads to more advertising and prestige. And while this method may seem to only benefit Google, you can use it to your advantage to enhance your online presence and SEO. When most people use a search engine, they turn to Google. In fact, according to some statistics, more than  1 billion Google searches are performed per day. With all that site traffic, having a Google+ account that shows up early in the search results, before other social media sites, can really help your business. The faster a potential customer can find you, the better.

With Google having a hold on the search engine market, it’s no surprise that their social media site Google+ would rank higher in SEO than their competitors like Facebook and Twitter. But there are several other reasons why this site has better SEO standings, and it has little to do with their parent company. As the blog outlines, there are 6 main reasons Google+ ranks higher, including the amount of indexable content the site has and the use of internal linking to maximize the amount of people connected. Making the most of these built-in advantages to Google+ can be beneficial to your business, providing more information to your customers, partners, or clients.

Check out the original blog post on Google+, and learn more about the strategies the site uses to optimize SEO. Consider adding this newer social media site to your company’s online roster to garner more attention online.

Listen up! The new Pandora Radio, and what you can learn from their website design.

If you’re a music lover, then you are probably familiar with Pandora Radio. Pandora is a free website that allows users to customize radio stations based on their favorite artist, genre, or song. Users can further hone the music selection by giving tracks a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”, allowing them to listen to their favorite tracks and find new artist with a similar style. Pandora has a music selection for almost any taste, from electronica to easy listening, and has seen a lot of success over the past few years.
Several months ago, Pandora announced that they would be updating their website, making both aesthetic as well as program changes to enhance their listeners experience. The site went through some major changes, and overall the response to these changes has been very positive. Blogs and websites ranging from music enthusiasts to tech fans have been abuzz with the new site design.

While there are a lot of great advantages to the site’s new layout, the most of the bloggers agree that several factors make the new Pandora great. These include the streamline appearance and bigger buttons that make it easier to use, the use of  HTML5, and the new social media aspects of the website that make it more user-friendly for the 21st century twitter/facebook-crowd. People are also excited about the removal Pandora’s of the listening cap, which used to cut off the music at 40 hours unless users upgraded to a paid version of the site.  The new Pandora will stop your music with advertisements, but it now allows users an unlimited amount of time to listen to their favorite music.

I have been a Pandora user for a few years now, and I must say that their new website design is a welcome change. It’s streamlined, sophisticated, and simplified, making it a thoroughly enjoyable site to use. This got me thinking about how your business can use the same methods that Pandora did to update your website. As we’ve said before, people make judgements on your site a mere 50 milliseconds upon viewing it, and so the design elements must be able to draw potential customers in, and keep current clients engaged. If your website is out of date, hard to use, or just unappealing visually, it can seriously hurt your potential business and online appearance.

So what can your company learn from the new updates that Pandora has made? Here are the biggest changes the site made that can be applied to your website:

Streamline: Your homepage should give potential customers a strong idea of who you are and what you do. But this is just an overview; wordy specifics and details of what you do should be saved for landing pages on your site.  Keep your homepage simple, elegant, and easy to follow, so that clients have an impression of company as a whole, rather than individual elements.

Be Social: The new Pandora allows you to connect to your friends and your social networks. Having an online presence that crosses from your website to facebook, twitter, youtube and other social media sites is beneficial. People may not check your website regularly, but they may be on twitter or facebook more often, and so reaching out on a variety of sites increases your company’s visibility.

HTML5: Even if you’re not tech-savy and HTML is lost on you, all you need to take away from this is that keeping your website up-to-date, both with the information from your company and with the latest technology, is very important. Making sure you have the latest technology will keep your website running smoothly and efficiently. The faster the site loads, the better it looks, and the better you look.

Make it Easy: People want to explore a website that is easy to use. Keeping things streamlined will help, but remember that organization and placement of important links or videos can also ease a customer’s use of your site.

Updating your website design can be a great way to increase traffic to your site, and to make sure that customers and clients get the information they need. While website design may not be your forte, Skillman Video Group has the tools and experience necessary to take your website from hard to hear to easy listening.

SVG shoots viral instructional video for Brewster Home Fashions

A couple weeks ago, Skillman Video Group shot an instructional video on wallpaper installation for Brewster Home Fashions, a Boston-based manufacturer and distributor of fine wall coverings and home décor. This video will be posted to Brewster’s website to enhance their online visibility and web-based marketing. As mentioned previously, on Wednesday we built the set for this video, using drywall flats, paint, and a little elbow grease to give it the appearance of a real room in a home. It was the first time SVG had built a set for a shoot, working with the client to ensure that the space was optimal. By Wednesday night, the set was ready to go, with white walls just begging for a fun, new wall treatment.

The stylistic choice for this instructional video was  shots of our talent, Lauren,  putting up the wallpaper in her

“room”, and a narration recorded separately to be added in later. The video covered the most common issues a homeowner might have when installing wallpaper, such as insuring the first sheet is straight, successfully navigating around a corner, and working around outlets, light switches, and doorways.  A scripted narration is a great option for a how-to video; it ensures that the instructions are succinct and easy to follow, and takes the pressure off the on-camera talent to get the information out and allows him or her to focus on doing the job right.

Once again, a video like this can be a great way to introduce potential customers to your company. The use of a real customer like Lauren with the straightforward instructional narration gives the client a look at the beautiful wallpapers Brewster Home Fashions has, and the simple, stress-free application of the product.

This two-day shoot was a success, and the “room” looked fabulous after it got a makeover with a fantastic Brewster Home Fashions wallpaper. We were able to shoot some more footage for our “behind the scenes” video, which will give people a glimpse at the process from start to finish. Check in soon to see the final product!

For the first time: SVG builds set for Brewster Home Fashions!

On Wednesday, Skillman Video Group built the set for our  shoot with Brewster Home Fashions, a prominent manufacturer of fine wall coverings, wallpapers, and home decor products. The shoot, coming up this Friday, will be a how-to video on proper wallpaper installation.

A how-to video like the one for Brewster Home Fashions will be a great viral marketing tool for the company.  Many people turn to the internet for tips on everything from making the perfect souffle to installing a car radio. Putting a video demonstrating  proper wallpaper installation on Brewster Home Fashions site will draw frustrated homeowners to their website, and when they see the professional demeanor of  the company, as well as the beautiful wallpaper they create,  the viewers will be more likely to use the company for their business in the future.

SVG worked closely with Brewster Home Fashions and Hollywood  set designer (and former Skillman Video intern) Chris Plummer to conceptualize the perfect set for their shoot. We put together a mock room made up of 6 drywall flats, including a door, light switch, and outlet to replicate all the challenges a homeowner comes across while their putting up their wallpaper. We painted the “walls”, and put together some furniture pieces so the video feels like a real room.

Skillman Video Group also shot some footage for a behind the scenes video of the set construction. Check in soon to see the process, and what the final set looks like when Brewster Home Fashions has installed the wallpaper!

Breaking the Fifth Wall: What Dunder Mifflin Teaches Us About Marketing and the Human Psyche

If you haven’t seen an episode of NBC’s long-running comedic hit, The Office, you’ve probably at least heard of it. While telling the tale of a paper company locked in a constant battle against, one: the shrinking demand for paper, and two, the bottom barrel prices of its bigger competitors, The Office is actually quite funny. Originally conceived by British comedian Ricky Gervais, it became a hit in the UK before the US adaptation made Michael Scott (Steve Carrel) and Dunder Mifflin household names. While the show is funny, what made it unique was it’s constant “breaking of the fourth wall,” a technique thought too taboo for primetime TV, or at least prime-time fiction. Reality shows had done a version of this, but that’s how they’re formatted. Fiction is different, it is supposed to be observed, and not interacted with.

On The Office, characters send quick glances directly to the camera and subsequently to the viewer. They also speak directly to the camera, “confessional” style. Something that all people share is a need to be “on the inside.” They want to be included, sit at the cool kids’ table, get VIP access; they want the inside track. Having characters speak directly to viewers gave them that sense, and now tons of shows do the exact same thing. Another great TV comedy is Community, which in a recent episode discussed how Hearts of Darkness, the documentary about the making of Francis Ford Copolla’s epic Apocalypse Now, was actually a better movie than Apocalypse Now. What Community was trying to say is that while people like the end product, be it a movie or a pencil, they like to know who made the pencil and what they went through to make it.

So where does a fictional company like Dunder Mifflin go once its show has broken the fourth wall? Well, it breaks the fifth wall and becomes a real paper company. Ironically, the fictional company’s biggest competitor, Staples, has now, in real life, bought the rights to the Dunder Mifflin name to help sell paper on their Quill.com website. In a race to the bottom of paper prices, they intend on selling paper of the same quality as their competitors for higher prices, simply because it has the name of a fictional paper company on it. However, Dunder Mifflin is no longer a fictional company. No it does not have Michael Scott and his antics, but it does have real employees with a real product. Folks can take care of their paper needs with boxes labeled with all the best catch phrases from the show.

What does this reverse product placement tell us about ourselves? That’s another topic for another blog post, but in short, it tells us that people will spend more on a product that means something to them. This type of sentiment is hard to put a number value on, but is nothing to be scoffed at. If you let your customers in, and provide them with something that they feel they have ownership over, great things can happen. Something else to take away is to not let fear stop you. Doing what is taboo and doing what could “never work” is exactly what needs to be done to innovate and stand out. Breaking the 4^th wall was a risky move but it paid off in spades, and most importantly, The Office was first to do it.

Reverse product placement is nothing new; many brands have tried this before with mixed success. What the real life paper company should have learned from the fictional one is not to wait. The Office has been on a decline for the past few seasons and no longer has its centerpiece, Steve Carrel. This move probably would have been timelier years ago when the show was at its peak of popularity. Whether you’re creating paper or a corporate video, don’t be afraid to do it with style and to stand outside of the norm. Skillman Video Group provides innovation for all of its clients. We will happily help you tackle taboos, break down walls, or at the very least, make a great video.

The Viral Video Virus

Picture a time before YouTube; too difficult to remember that far back? Born in 2005, the video giant is only 6 years old. It grew up quickly and was bought for a cool $1.65 billion barely a year after its inception by a little company called Google. More video content is uploaded to YouTube in any given sixty day period than all 3 major US TV networks have created in 60 years. Large and small companies alike realize the importance for quality video content. Not only is the Web already saturated with video, it is equally saturated with articles about why video content is important.

Better search optimization, more intimate fan/customer engagement, and the ease of viewing vs. reading are only some of video’s selling points. These days, everybody wants a viral video. Is going viral the only thing that matters though, and more importantly, is YouTube the only destination? Not every video is going to go viral; by definition it is impossible. Viral videos are great, but they’re the junk food of the video world. Everyone loves them, they’re easy to consume, and often times they don’t have much substance behind them.

A fascinating lecture given by a brilliant astrophysicist probably won’t garner as many views as Lady Gaga’s latest hit, but does this mean that the lecture is of lesser value or quality? The two videos, simply put, contain different content with different intentions. As ostensibly easy as shooting and posting a video has become, it can be just as easy to forget that not all content is created equally, and that not all content serves the same purpose.

Anyone can shoot decent looking video on an iPhone, but can they add quality sound, smooth editing, and a concise story? Who is the audience? Is the video intended for the Web only or will it have internal purposes? Is its sole intention to make people laugh or to convey a serious message, or both? While it has become drastically easier to produce video content, it’s as hard as ever to make it good and worth watching, especially with all the competition. Skillman Video Group knows this, which is why we make sure everyone of our clients knows what they want and what their expectations are before any cameras start rolling. If viral is the goal, let’s make it, but if reaching a specific audience is the end game, we’ll make sure your video is worth their while, and more importantly, that they know it exists.

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.

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