When you are searching for locations to post your web video, you will want to ensure that they have enough daily traffic to give your video a chance to shine.  Of course, there are plenty of websites that will allow you to have this exposure, they key is putting your video on the right sites.

For many individuals who make web videos there is only one site that provides them with enough traffic and daily viewers to satisfy their need for page views.  This site is YouTube, and it is quickly becoming one of the top sites for individuals to be entertained, informed and enlightened.  With the ability for literally anyone to post a video, you are able to show the world what you have to say.

However, the key in getting your video seen by YouTube members is by placing keywords that are popularly searched and relate directly to what your video is about.  If you are showing a new product, type in keywords that refer to the product and what it fixes.  It is very simple to gain views from YouTube; however, you must know how to describe your video properly.

Another website that is quickly becoming popular in posting videos is MySpace.  There have been many individuals who have gained notoriety through this site, and if you are promoting a service or product, than you don’t want to miss this website.  The reason why videos do so well on this website is because it allows you to watch videos and then instantly show your friends, because MySpace is more than a video hosting site, it is an extremely popular social networking site.

Thus, if your video truly sheds light on a particular subject, or is very helpful, it won’t be long until your video makes its rounds throughout thousands of friend’s lists.  Of course, make sure that your video clearly explains its topic and is very helpful, because the last thing that you want to do is mislead an army of MySpacers.

If you want to post your video on another site that has millions of visitors, than you will want to put your video on Google Video.  This amazing website will allow you to post your video, similar to YouTube, and then let people search for the video either through the main page at Google Video, or through the Google search engine.  Again, this is where putting proper keywords is extremely important, if not pivotal to your videos success.

Remember, if you put time and energy into your video, you will want to also put time and energy into where and how you post your videos.  By doing so, you will most likely experience web video success, and increased traffic to your website.

Need help producing web videos for your business?

Give me a call at 423.757.9585 or send an email to start a discussion. In the meantime, check out my website and online portfolio.

Whether you own a huge business, or if you are just starting off, you can benefit from using web videos as a main source of advertising.  One of the greatest reasons why so many businesses, large and small, are using web videos to promote themselves is because it is cost effective.  This is a huge reason why so many small businesses are taking hold of web videos, because they only have to pay for the cost of making the video, and in some cases this is close to zero.

Many businesses that use web videos host them on popular video sites, such as YouTube or Google Video.  However, if you want to make a video about your business there are several steps that you should take to ensure a positive feedback.

If you run a specialty store, or something that has a niche audience, than you want to design your web video around your customers needs.  A great way to gain customers and create a good brand loyalty is by making a web video that not only informs customers about your product or service, but also gives them something in return.  An example of this would be if you owned a computer repair store, you would want to publicize your company, as well as help your potential customers.

A great way of doing this is by showing your customers how to fix a common problem with their computer.  After you have shown them something that is useful, begin to mention your company, and soon many individuals will begin to call or visit your website because you helped them without asking for money.

This is a great way to let your customers actually trust you, and when customers trust a business, they usually will stay with them for many years.  If you have owned a business for any time span, than you understand repeat customers make up most of your businesses revenue, thus you want to make as many repeat customers as possible.  By allowing your customers to trust you, you will have a better chance of building a relationship with the customer.  Using web videos are a great way to not only promote your business, but also to help people.

In a world that is surrounded by cut-throat advertising, it is imperative that you have a business concept that allows individuals to trust you, as well as feel that you are there to help them.  After you have done so, you have created a successful web video campaign.

Need help producing web videos for your Chattanooga business?

Give me a call at 423.757.9585 or send an email to start a discussion. In the meantime, check out my website and online portfolio.

1. Make sure you have plenty of time to produce a successful video. I get calls all the time from professionals who want to produce a video in a matter of days…in some cases in less than 24 hours! From the perspective of a corporate video producer, it’s nearly impossible to create a quality presentation with such short notice. It can be done, but you will almost always pay a lot more money for a finished product that will have trouble meeting or exceeding your expectations.

Every corporate video you produce needs to go through the proper planning stages to make sure your goals for the project will be achieved. An ideal turnaround for the average corporate video production company is 6 to 8 weeks although my company, Fire Eye Productions, Inc., typically turns complicated video projects around in 3 to 4 weeks. Turnaround time depends on how many projects your production company has in their queue and the level of difficulty associated with your corporate video.

By all means, if you need a video ASAP and don’t have a lot of time before you have to show it to your audience, call the video producer anyway. But, the rule of thumb is to give the producer and yourself plenty of time to plan and produce a successful video presentation.

Questions about producing a successful video for your business or organization? Contact Kris Simmons at 423.757.9585 or send an email.

2. Decide whether you want your finished presentation to be produced and mastered in High-Definition (HD) or Standard-Definition (SD). There is a lot of confusion among business professionals regarding which format is the best for showing their corporate videos. Obviously, HD video is a hot topic right now and I get a lot of customers who want us to produce their videos in HD. A problem with this…and a major problem at that…is that even though we produce and deliver the finished video in HD, the client rarely ever has the ability to show the video in High-Definition.

They may have an HD screen in their conference room but they won’t have a BluRay player that can play the HD DVD. Or, they may have a BluRay player or a computer than can playback the HD video but the projector they are using in the meeting isn’t a digital HD projector. So, before you move forward with producing a corporate video for your business, decide how you will deliver it and to whom before choosing HD over SD. For instance, if your plan with the finished video is to send it via DVD to thousands of members, customers or prospects, the best delivery option will be SD. The reason for this is because the majority of people out there DO NOT have the ability to play HD video in their office or home.

The other thing to consider is how long will you be using this video as part of your communications strategy. If the video will only be in the marketplace for up to two years, I’d seriously consider producing it in SD. If you plan on showing the video beyond 2 years from now (8/26/09) then I recommend you produce the video in HD and down convert it to an SD DVD for your short-term delivery solution.

A compromise, and one that many of our clients are choosing at this time, is to shoot all the footage in HD but edit the video in SD. That way, if you want to come back in a couple years and update/re-edit the corporate video project, you’ll have all the original footage in HD and can remaster the edited video in HD.

One more thing to consider regarding HD video production. It takes quite a bit longer to edit an HD video than an SD video. So, if you ask your corporate video producer to develop an HD presentation for your business, don’t be shocked if their estimate is about 30% higher than what the fee would be for an SD presentation. HD videos contain files that are almost 3 times the size of SD files. This causes our edit computers and software to work a lot slower than when processing SD content. In a world where time is money, the longer it takes for computers to process HD footage, the more if will cost you as the video client.

HD what? SD who? Need someone to give you the Tech-to-English translation? Call Kris Simmons at 423.757.9585 to schedule a free consultation.

3. Make sure you schedule the time and resources necessary to help the corporate video producer make your project a huge success! As a corporate video producer, my job is to quickly learn as much as I can about your company or particular initiative so that I can produce a successful video that speaks to your target audience. It’s sort of like cramming today for a test you have to take tomorrow that you just found out about yesterday. Okay, so its not that bad but its close.

Your job as the video client should be to help the producer collect as much information as possible about the company or initiative as soon as possible so they can get up to speed. The other things you should be doing as the video client is rounding up any images, graphics, logos, video footage, etc. that your video producer can use or should use in the project. There is often a huge disconnect here.

Clients assume that once the video producer is on board that they will take care of everything. This is only true IF you have armed the producer with the necessary resources inside your company or organization. Who can provide a high-res version of your logo and branded graphics? Who on the inside will help coordinate interview shoots with company executives? Who will sit down with us to make sure we understand EXACTLY what you want to accomplish with the video? Who will be responsible for reviewing all versions of the script and edited video to make sure those goals are being met?

Sometimes its best if the video producer has a single point of contact for all questions and issues related to your video. On other occasions, it’s better to give your producer the names, phone numbers and email addresses to the exact people responsible for certain things inside your company. For instance, I have a large client that I produce videos for regularly and in order for me to meet their tight deadlines, I have the contact information for several people within their internal creative and marketing departments. This gives me the freedom to work with EXACTLY who can get me what I need instead of going through a project manager (middle man). Some companies prefer to always go through a single point of contact but I’ve found that its easier to get things done faster if I have access to multiple people inside your organization. Now, if the project manager is a rock star, and many of the people I work with are, a single point of contact is great because as the video producer, I only have to make one call or send one email to get multiple things done.

Finally, try to return phone calls or emails from your video producer immediately during the course of your project to answer any questions or to address any issues. Waiting several hours or even a full day to hear back from the video client can either delay the video project or force the producer to continue working in a direction that may not be what you were hoping for. The video producer has to deploy resources in order to meet a deadline within a particular budget. Any delay in response from the video client can create problems that may pop up later in the project as missed deadlines, miscommunication regarding expectations or an increase in budget. Dealing with any of these issues isn’t fun for you or them so do your best to communicate often with your corporate video producer to make sure your project results in a successful video for you and your business. If they are worth their salt, they will return the favor. Frequent communication regarding project goals and milestones will ALWAYS result in a better experience for everyone.

Want to produce a corporate video for your business? Need a video producer with years of proven experience? Call Kris Simmons at 423.757.9585 or send an email to arrange a discussion.