A David Creation

I’ve been on the soap box for months now telling my contractor clients to start recording, producing and publishing/sharing videos NOW. Videos online are also called “video blogging.” Why? Because videos can be optimized for search engines, just like a blog. The videos don’t have to be a hollywood production either. All you need is a good high quality Flip Cam, Smartphone or HD Camcorder, editing software such as iMovie or MovieMaker and a YouTube account to get started. YouTube is free and owned by Google, so it is a great place to begin. Once you start seeing some fruit from your labors, you can upgrade to some of the more powerful video hosting sites: Viddler, Squidoo and Vimeo to name a few.

What Kind of Videos Should I Be Producing?

You can produce many types of videos. To start things off, publish a few how to videos and a few before and after videos of jobs you are doing. Keep them short 1-3 minutes as visitors get bored after 3 minutes. The only way you can get away with a longer video is if you are doing more of a “Webcast” educating folks live. Oh and don’t be afraid of How To Videos. If you have not figured it out by now, the web is public, very public. If you post something online, your competitors might see it. You just have to be the leader, the company people look to as the experts in remodeling, painting, HVAC, and so on. Post those How To Videos: the more the better! Also, consumers like them. You might get a few people looking to do things themselves, but many consumers use the web to research and educate themselves so they don’t look like an idiot when they talk to a contractor. Think about it, how many times have you been in a prospects home discussing their kitchen remodel or paint colors and the homeowner seems to know a lot about the latest products, appliances or paint brands? The web is making people appear smarter. So give them what they want. You’ll become their education source. Your goal is that they will bookmark your website, Youtube Channel and/or share with their friends.

One final piece of advice about videos: make sure they are halfway decent and that you are proud of your work. I’ve seen a few videos online recently that were done well but the work was not so hot. Videos can help or hurt your brand, so choose your videos wisely. If you want to learn more about why videos are good for promoting your business and getting leads, read or listen to Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk.

A few videos done by BIG companies (there is a reason they are investing in videos…so watch and do likewise)

Customer Feedback by Outback Steakhouse

Product Success Video & Case Study (Toro)

Behind the Scenes Look at Designing a Car (Ford Motor Company)

Fiesta Product Demonstration (Branding to The Right Audience) This one was funny

How To Remove Acoustic Ceilings

No Ugly Doors (Good How Tos)

Facebook: What´s the Big Deal?

Six years ago, Harvard sophomore Mark Zuckerberg began Facebook—a website for Ivy League students to connect and interact online.  Gradually, the site opened up to new groups of users until anyone over the age of 13 can have a profile.  Now, the 1,400 employee company boasts 500 million active users, and suddenly “facebooking” and “friending” are verbs!

But the landscape is changing at the world´s largest social networking site: though youths are using facebook from their phones during classes, church services, and while driving, there are now more Facebook users over the age of 35 than under.  In the age 65+ category, the number of users has doubled in the last 12 months.  Facebook is growing up!

So what does this mean for the future of Facebook, and for businesses?  Two things are very likely:

1. Facebook will begin targeting their site more towards businesses and adults, because that is where more money is found.  They have already started down this road by creating Facebook Places: whenever a Facebook user enters a location or business registerd as a Facebook Place, the user can instantly announce to all his or her friends where they are.  Users can find friends while out on the town, and businesses get a free name-drop!  Also, business “fan pages” are multiplying rapidly, and new applications are being developed that make company websites almost unnecessary.  Imagine your business fan page with the tabs of your choice: Customer Reviews, Portfolios, Signup Forms, Surveys, and much more, all for free!  As companies sign up, Facebook will increase its services that cater to businesses and consumers.
2. For business and social reasons, adults are learning the language and mapping out the terrain of Facebook.  As this trend grows, young users will begin looking for a new place where parents can´t monitor them so closely.  I think it likely that the younger generation will begin to drift away from Facebook and back towards texting and instant messaging until a new company comes along with a social site just for teens or college students.

Who Gives a Tweet?

I commonly hear the complaints, “Argh!  I hate Twitter!  It is so annoying.” and “I just don´t get Twitter!”   Yes, Twitter can be aggravating, but the site has gained 100 million users in four years, and it´s not likely to disappear.  In fact, if you aren´t connecting with clients through Twitter, a competitor probably is.

Twitter is a site that lets users become “authors,” posting short messages that are automatically displayed to all of their “followers.”  Casual users use it to find out what their friends are thinking and doing, as well as to post their own thoughts and doings.  More strategic users, such as politicians, non-profit organizations, and businesses, use Twitter to grow a list of followers who enjoy reading their short updates.

Let´s look at a Hollywood example:  The actor Ashton Kutcher currently has 5.7 million followers on Twitter, and a similar amount on Facebook.  These fans read his updates to feel connected, and to “know the inside story.”  Now imagine Kutcher is in a new movie, and it´s not one he´s really proud of—it´s a bit of a flop.  If he mentions the movie on Twitter, even if only half of the people who read the post go to the movie, at $10 per ticket, it would make at least $28 million!  On top of that, his Facebook users are an eager audience to his subtle advertisement, and any of these followers and fans might also end up bringing a date along!  Clearly, the business potential is there.

It´s easy to look at those numbers and be discouraged, but you don´t need to be rich, famous, and handsome to make Twitter profitable.  Research shows that 64% of Twitter users are over age 35, and the median user age is 39.  With so many users out there, many of them would be interested in your business.  Even if you just have five followers, that´s OK—just make those five followers love you!  They´ll tell five of their friends about you, and you´ll be up to 25, and so it goes.  Share expert tips, interesting articles, news updates, trends in your field, and anything new happening in your business.

Many followers look at Twitter the same way people scan the Highlight section on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.  It gives a quick overview of the main content in the paper, and if something catches your eye, you open to it.  An interesting Twitter post will draw visits to your site in the same way.

What now?

You don´t have to love Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or whatever´s next, but you do have to know that these social networking sites are growing, and many of your customers are on them.  Put away your shield and dagger, and ask your clients what they do online.  Many clients are embarrassed to admit just how much time they spend on those sites—especially on Facebook. Some of your customers use Facebook religiously (some even in church!), while others hate it.  Others are using Linkedin and still more visit Amazon.com, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, a community forum or even Grandparents.com to stay connected and research purchases.  Once you find out how your clients are using social media sites, you can plan and budget the strategy you need to reach them.

If you really want a great gift idea, you need to check out this LEGO Jewelry website! The owner and designer is my wife’s Uncle, Damien Howard. This guy is incredibly creative. He started a business a few years ago creating Jewelry using only LEGOS. He designs earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Each piece is designed and created on the Eastern Shores of Maryland, by Damien himself. What a great business idea. Tell your friends and spread the word.

Check out their online LEGO Jewelry Store

How many times have you sat on an airplane and listened to the safety message that typically sounds like this, “Blah blah blah?” One words crosses my mind, “boring.” Companies are always marketing…remember that! When you have a boring old safety talk, that is marketing. How you greet a client, write a blog, paint a house, remodel a kitchen, it is all marketing. So how do you make your marketing different? Be creative! Very creative if possible. Air New Zealand has done just that. They wanted their customers to have a more pleasant experience when it came time for the boring old safety talk.

Watch the video below and keep thinking how you can do something remarkable that will make your customers come back to you and tell their friends.

Special Thanks to David Meerman Scott for sharing this video on his site.

Below is a recent article by the Wall Street Journal entitled “Author to Bypass Publisher for Fans.” This is a must read article. Traditional marketing has never seen so much change the last 1-2 years thanks to the online and social networking communities such as Facebook, Twitter, and many others. Social networking sites have made inbound marketing popular! Now “fans” and “customers” get to decide what they like . A consumer can follow who they want, when they want and even comment and share info in seconds. Seth Godin has a cult following. His fans tell him what they want, and he realized it is time to take action. Read the full article of Author to Bypass Publisher for Fans and consider how your business can do something similar.

A number of my customers, friends and family know about this “extreme” adventure I will be participating in on August 28th with three of my friend. This is not a nationwide event, and so far we only have 4 hikers. The Maryland Appalachian trial is 41 miles long. It starts at the border of Pennsylvania and ends at Harper’s Ferry (near West Virginia). All 4 hikers were, at one time, athletic, but we’ve all been spending the last few years raising young kids. We’ve made some vows to get in shape and stay in shape and now we  are doing the hike of our lives for two reasons: 1) To do something extreme and 2) Raise money for clean water in Africa for the Blood Water Mission organization.

We decided to make a video introducing the 4 hikers and had a hard time making it a serious film. To sponsor a hiker, go to MEUtley.com

Amazon.com has done an incredible job with their brand since its inception back in 1994. When you look at the Amazon.com logo (a part of their overall brand) and think about their company, what comes to mind? A hint, you should be able to think of at least three things!

I’ve known Kevin Nolan, President of Nolan Painting for about 10 years now. My dad and Kevin first met back in the late 1990s when they started the PDCA’s Residential Forum. Kevin has done an incredible job running a successful painting business. He has great people working for him and in the right position. I thought I’d post a recent blog post that describes a little more about the man behind Nolan Painting. You can learn a lot from the way Kevin runs his business.

Read the blog post about Kevin Nolan

Just wanted to point out a great website if you live in La Jolla, California or plan to visit there anytime soon. A customer of my dad’s painting company, Kate Dillon, started a blog/site called “La Jolla Mom.” The website is easy to navigate, bright and cheery, inviting and full of very helpful information for both locals and vacationers. La Jolla Mom can also be found on twitter and has an impressive following base. Make sure you bookmark her site but take the time to read over the existing content. This is a good lesson of building a website that is not about selling a product but in connecting, sharing and creating remarkable/useful content. People don’t like to be sold, so don’t do it on your website or blog. Instead, connect, network, invite, post, comment: interact! That is the power of Social Networking.

Social Networking seems as though it is growing at the speed of light these days. Connecting with fans and friends on Facebook and creating an email blast is a piece of cake. Social Networking and Media is becoming the normal way to communicate. Although there is a place for Facebook, Twitter,  LinkedIn and Email marketing for your business, have you asked yourself, “Is my company still personal, approachable and real?” Can they schedule a meeting where they meet a real live person? Can they schedule a meeting where they meet a real live person? With technology at our fingertips (literally), it is becoming harder for companies to remember the good old days of old-fashioned marketing.

One old-fashioned marketing technique I’d like to reintroduce is the “handwritten note.” Yep. That’s it. Let me explain how it works. It is where a business owner or estimator spends 5-7 minutes of his or her time writing a thank you or follow up note to a prospect or past client using a pen and stationary. This concept is not just marketing. It is relational, personal and real. People buy from people they like. They want a relationship. Facebook started as a great tool to reconnect with long lost friends. Now it is a social online chat club…sometimes enabling chats with people you’ve never met or can’t remember if you were once friends.

Go back to the basics this spring. Dust off some old stationary and get started today. By the way, for the remodelers and painters reading this, try a custom stationary with a featured home you’ve worked on. I’d recommend talking to a watercolor artist to paint a photo or two you can use on your stationary. Check out this site: Watercolor Artist: Cath Howard.