LOCAL BUSINESS NEWS

TOPIC IDEAS

⋅ ANSWER A CUSTOMER QUESTION – Take any customer question that you want to address and make a short video about it.  Not sure what customer questions to address?  Just wait until someone asks one.  HINT: Videos can help you permanently answer questions that you get repeatedly.  

⋅ DEMO VIDEO – Demonstrate how one of the products works or how the process goes with one of the services that you provide. It could also be a procedure or technique that you use in your business. This is a great way to help people better understand the intricacies of what you do and how you are good at helping your clients. Show the world what happens behind the scenes and why you are a pro!

⋅ DISCOUNT / SPECIAL PROMO – Make a short video about a special promotion or discount you want to offer. It can be something simple, like a free consultation, free site visit, or a free custom quote. It could be a financial promotion like half off or it could also be a short term sale to try and drum up some business or promote a seasonal event. There are no rules to what you want to offer, just make it valuable and you’ll get better results. TIP: Offer a very attractive offer to first time customers only. It makes it easy for people to try out your products or services, and you can market a flashier promotion that will attract more interest.

⋅ BEFORE AND AFTER – Make 2 videos – one before you got started and one after you’ve completed a project. This could be anything from videos about a house being painted to testimonial videos from a happy client before and after they received services.

⋅ ARTICLE SERIES – Make a series of videos that include part 1, part 2, etc.  Each month, week or even day, your readers get a new video in the series.  EX. 4 Steps to Getting Ready to Buy A Home

⋅ SERIES OF SHORTS – Instead of a series of articles with videos in each article that connect to form a continuous story line, try a series of short videos in one article. This is helpful when trying to demonstrate something to your viewers in a step by step fashion, separated by sections of written content. For example, an instructions manual or how to article may have step by step instructions, with short videos included for sections that need visual guidance.

⋅ STEP BY STEP GUIDE – Show your viewers, in step by step fashion, anything you want to show them. From guides and tip lists that help people do things on their own to overviews of how your process works, help them know what to expect when hiring your business. There are no limits on what kind of step by step article you make, other than make sure to number each step and make sure each step is clear and concise.

⋅ INTERVIEW – Interview someone, or a group of people, and share it as a video blog. You can interview a client, colleague, fellow employee, or even yourself! Keep it interesting and keep it to topics related to your industry.

⋅ TERMINOLOGY – Every industry has their own industry terminology or jargon. Take a term or phrase that relates to your industry and simply provide a definition, as well as examples of applications and how it’s used in context. If you’re describing a product that you sell, show it off in a video for everyone to see, actually hold it up or display it and describe the product. If it’s a service, a process or an idea, show whatever you need to show that will help your viewers better understand what you want them to get out of your video.  

⋅ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – Probably one of the best types of videos for your business that you can share on the internet is a testimonial video.  They can be taken right on your phone, or your client / customer can just send you one they record on their phone. You save it to your phone and then load it up using the app. Whenever you include a testimonial, it’s always recommended to give a little bit of context to the reader, describe how your client came to need your services or products and how you helped them,  give a little background and then introduce the testimonial.

STYLES

⋅ POV – This is the most common video style where you film using your mobile device’s main camera and typically show what you are looking at. A demo video or a step by step guide are two types of videos typically filmed in this style.

⋅ PROFESSIONAL – This is a more staged style where you are being filmed in front of the camera with your subject. Instead of the viewer seeing what you are seeing as you work, the viewers are seeing you in the frame of the video doing the work, or giving the interview, etc. TIP: For even more professional shots, consider investing in an inexpensive tripod and even zoom lenses that can be attached directly to your mobile device.

⋅ SELFIE – Using the flip feature in your mobile device, you can do a selfie version of a video. This is a great option for tutorials and up close videos where you are talking directly to the camera from a short distance.  

⋅ FLIP STYLE – Using the flip feature in your mobile device, you can flip back and forth between filming yourself in selfie style and showing your viewers what you’re looking at. This style can be used during narration to better engage your viewers by including your facial reaction to each key point, emphasizing its importance to the overall success of the project. 

IMPORTANT

⋅ LIGHTING – Great lighting is one of the keys to capturing great videos and photos, make sure that whatever you are filming is well-lit. If you’re filming a person, the sun should be in or on their face. Position yourself with the sun on your back so it illuminates the person, object, or scene you’re filming. If you are indoors, just make sure it’s not too dark. TIP: A low light camera equipped smart phone is very helpful for capturing low light situations.

⋅ AUDIO CLARITY – It’s pretty disappointing to make a great video and then play it back and find out you can’t hear anything, or the audio is too loud or garbled. Try and film in an area that is not too loud and where there are not a lot of echoes. Keep the phone or device close to the person talking and you should be able to capture better quality audio recordings. If the audio in your video is difficult for the app to decipher, the audio to text conversion may not work properly.

⋅ TEXT ONLY CONVERSION – You don’t have to include a video. You can simply create a video and record yourself talking as a way to get content written easily for your blog. Just record a video and upload it and then delete the video. HINT: Typing with your voice is almost always faster than typing with your fingers, no matter how fast you can type!