I was involved in a conversation with a new business owner the other day.  He knew that he wanted to use social media to grow his business and was discussing how he planned to set up a blog and post multiple times a day.  Sounded good, blogging is a great way to increase your web traffic and create a presence for your business.  But something wasn’t right in my mind.  Here was a new business owner, networking to grow word of mouth referrals, and a novice to web marketing.  I didn’t see a clear connection between his efforts to start blogging and growing his business.  I also know – from experience – that when you start blogging and the hits don’t immediately come, it can be frustrating.  Too often I’ve seen fired up new bloggers loose their passion when they didn’t see immediate returns.  I was concerned that my friend might become a victim to this syndrome.

As we talked more about his business, I discovered that he works in the landscaping business and specializes in doing landscape designs for home owners.  He’s networked with outdoor gardening shops and worked hard to get his company noticed.  His company will create a landscape layout for a very reasonable rate (if you’d like more info on his service, email me).  It seemed like a great business model.

So my brain started to process what he offered, and how I might be interested in his service.  To be honest, I do not have a green thumb, so I’m the last guy who’d spend a lot of time on my landscaping.  However, I do enjoy watching those HGTV shows where they talk about landscaping and remodeling.  I also know that I love to see fun pictures and videos of my friends on Facebook as they remodel or update their homes, landscapes, etc.  A little light went on inside my head…

What if, instead of spending lots of time blogging, he just took a camcorder, went to local garden store and talked about the various plants and how they can be used to improve curb appeal.  With very little effort, he could create short video segments that would have a great deal of interest to novices who need to upgrade their home’s look.  By creating a YouTube page and posting his videos on Facebook, it seems natural that he’d get some traction and web traffic.  If he could cultivate this traffic by getting folks to sign up for a newsletter or video of the month, he could begin building his tribe of fans, customers, and referral partners.  With a little creativity, he might be able to get the garden shop to pitch in a few bucks in exchange for sponsorship mentions.  Bada boom, Bada bing.  Business is off and running.

The key here is to use social media and web tools to reinforce your DNA.  Don’t try to change who you are to fit some ‘conventional wisdom’ of what you should do.  In this case, there is much more potential interest in fun, fact filled, videos than in blog posts.  In addition, if he can feature his customers and real life case studies into his business, he’ll create a ‘buzz’ that only helps to grow his exposure.

That is the best way to look at social media and the web.  Ask yourself, what would I like to see a company like mine put out?  Then have fun with it.  If your fun is blogging, great.  If it is video, fantastic.  Maybe it is Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook…  It really doesn’t matter.  Just find what works for you and go after it with a passion.    Your tribe is waiting to hear from you.

Last month we had the opportunity to work with a local manufacturing company My-te Winch Hoists as they reworked their website. Take a look at the site – www.Myte.com.

My-te came to us when their old website stopped working. Their site was built using a Content Management System (CMS) so they could add and update products themselves. We converted their content to a WordPress structure. This allowed them to enjoy a nice looking site, while being able to easily maintain and update the site themselves.

The My-te site offered several unique challenges. My-te has a product line that includes winches, hoists, accessories, and parts. All these items need to be easily sorted and browsed while offering additional details for customers who need to know more about a product. We put created each product as a post within WordPress that allowed us to search and sort the content dynamically. We were also able to offer key information in an abbreviated manner so that the items could be browsed easily and yet still have key information available for those who want to know more.

In addition to a wide product range, My-te also has a chain of distributors in both the United States and Canada. These distributors needed to be grouped by location and easily browsed. Again, we used WordPress’ post function to create each state’s distributor listings. Then, using several neat plugins, we were able to have the distributors listed on the navigation bar as if it were a page.

Finally, My-te needed a little ‘pop’ for their front page. We redesigned the page layout using Artisteer, and inserted the cool slideshow on the sidebar.

At the end of the project, all our goals were met and My-te is happy with their new site. If you’re site is ready for an update, give us a call and let us help you out.

Last Friday I had a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience when I took a flight in a World War II B-17 bomber. I was flying with a group of media photographers covering the Mt. Comfort Air Show. We took some cool video, but even more exciting, we broadcast live from inside the old bird. Using Livestream’s web service, a cellular broadband card, a laptop PC, and a camcorder, we were able to marry 1940’s high tech with today’s cutting edge.

While a flight in a vintage plane may not be the optimum application for Livestream, the ease and effectiveness of going ‘live’ make web streaming a terrific tool. Are you planning a training session or a seminar? Expand your audience to anyone with a computer. Need to bring the whole organization together to improve communication? Livestream’s tools allow for broadcast of full-motion video, audio, and high resolution PC screen capture.

Livestream is a free service available at www.Livestream.com. Pinpoint Multimedia offers the Livestream premium service for individual events (we can use your free account to stream without advertisement) and also resell monthly service. In addition, we help you get set up and offer full production services to broadcast your event.

We also work with other services such as UStream.tv and Justin.tv. Give us a call and let us work with you to broadcast your next meeting. And keep your eye on www.GeistTV.com for our next fun online stunt.

The next generation of WordPress, version 3.0, will be released very soon. This new generation promises to be a big leap forward. If you have a WordPress website, you’ll be prompted to upgrade, but is your site ready? Are all your plugins up to date? Is your site adequately backed up? What if something goes wrong? If you’d like help updating to the new version, give us a call. We’ll offer a free review to let you know of any possible concerns. If you need any help, we can assist you with a site back up, WordPress upgrade, and upgrade of all plugins.

Do you edit your videos?  Or just throw them out there as is?  Tell us about your editing experience, what software you like, and any tips you can share.

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See all the tips, visit our Pinpoint Tips page on YouTube.

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I had a conversation the other day about the value of blogging.  My friend was trying to understand how providing help to potential users of their service via a blog could grow her business.  ‘It seems like I’d be spending a lot of time providing information that really doesn’t guarantee results.’ she said.  ‘Wouldn’t my time be better spent on advertising?’

Sound familar?  Maybe you’ve asked the same question yourself.

If you follow this blog, you can find lots of info on how the Internet has changed the dynamics of mass media marketing.  Instead of rehashing that discussion, the interaction with my friend reminded me of a company that I got to know through years in the audiovisual business, Extron Electronics.  Extron is famous in the AV world, but if you’ve never been an AV geek, you’ve probably not heard of them.

In the late 1980′s, Extron’s primary business was building boxes that connected computers to large projectors.  Prior to LCD projectors and flat panel monitors, it was a daunting task to connect a computer to a large screen display.  There were hundreds of computers – each with a different configuration – and a variety of very expensive projectors that took specialized skills to set up.  AV technicians struggled to get the information they needed to make these devices work in a pre-Internet world.

So how does a small business like Extron, selling a specialty product, with no tie to the larger computer manufacturers or the high end projector manufacturers, make its name?  Well Extron decided to not only make great products, but also to become experts in how to interface all types of computers with all the types of projectors on the market.  This small, innovative company became famous within the AV business for its persuit of information on new models of computers and projectors.  AV techs all over the world learned Extron’s number and used it anytime they were in a pinch.

In a further brilliant move, Extron also started shipping small screwdrivers (called tweakers) with all their products.  These tools became indispensible for AV techs and was a great way to keep their phone number handy.  I’ve been out of the active AV business for 4 years now and still have a half dozen tweakers in my office.

So what does that have to do with social media and Internet marketing?  Extron gambled in an age before the Internet that providing valuable information to people who use their products would grow their business.  By providing support to key users of their products rather than just advertising their products, Extron conquered the industry.

So the moral of this story is simple.  Figure out who uses your product and focus your business on becoming indispensible to this group.  If you are successful, the users will make sure the market knows how to buy your product.  Oh, and if you need a cool electronic gizmo, check out Extron.  I love those guys.

What is the best way to use video to grow your business?  In and interview with Grant Crowell, David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Online Video Marketing and PR makes the case that interview videos are one of the best forms of content for your website.  Scott recommends taking your flip camera with you everywhere and take any opportunity to interview interesting and important people.

Interviews often do make compelling content.  In addition, they are often very easy to get when attending seminars, press events, and trade shows.

If your website or blog could benefit from interview content, here are a couple of tips:

• Prepare your questions in advance.  Open ended questions that get to the ‘meat’ of the subject will make a more compelling video.  Often times you’ll have to scramble to get a few minutes with your subject, so being ready with great questions will insure you come away with something you can post with pride.
• Have a camcorder with a microphone input and invest in a wireless microphone.  This will let you clip the mic to your subject and be sure you pick up their comments clearly.  It is better to have the questions a bit ‘off mic’ than to have the main subject hard to hear.
• Check out the venue to find the best place for conducting the interview.  Consider ambient noise, lighting, background framing.  If you have a good interview position staked out, you can ask your subject to step to that location quickly and get your interview taped knowing the video will be good quality.
• Get a business card from your subject.  This will let you make sure you have the proper spelling of his/her name, company, and job position.  It is important that you identify your subject properly.  There is nothing worse that publishing a video with someone’s name spelled wrong.

So, next time you’re out and about, make sure you have your flip camera and be ready to get a good interview.

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Dave discusses how to improve your videos. He discusses audio and wireless microphones, effective lighting, and proper framing. Use these tips to make your video look like it was shot by a professional.

Is there a secret for using video to grow your business?  Sometimes it seems like it.  All around are examples of video being used to grow business, but there are just as many examples of where video fails to perform.  I’ve come up with a non-scientific formula for online video marketing success and I want to lay it out for your scrutiny.  Here it is:

C (Content) x F (Frequency) x Q (Production Quality) x D (Distribution) = Success

Content is one of the most important factors in the equation.  Content must be relevant, concise, and speak to the target audience.

Frequency amounts to how often new content is being produced.  Just like blogging, video is most powerful when content comes out regularly.

Production Quality is not the most important factor, but it must match the content.  The bottom line is that all videos should have clear audio, decent lighting, proper framing, and minimal camera movement.  As the message becomes targetted at a more upscale or corporate audience, production quality becomes more important.  Production quality is also important for commercials and entertainment videos.

Distribution is important.  There are a variety of ways to put your video online.  Services like YouTube offer access to huge audiences, but may not be the best solution for all applications.  In many cases, it is critical to put your video on multiple distribution services to broaden the reach.  Keyword tags are also important so your video can be found on the web.  Along with where to post your video, tracking analytics (times the video is played) is another important aspect of distribution.  Tools like Tube Mogul help you with distribution and analytics so you can get your video out there and watch how it is performing.

If your video strategy has been just to shoot a video and post it on YouTube, make sure you’re considering all these areas so you get the most out of your efforts.  Give us a call if you need any help with creating a successful online video strategy.