Create Video Content for Your Business

You’ve known that video is the biggest thing in online marketing for some time, but you just don’t know how to get in. The good news is it’s becoming easier and easier for your business to tap into this massively growing opportunity.

If you thought video was big in 2016, just wait till you see 2017!!

Think what video can do for your business

Creating video content offers so many advantages for your business it’s worth overcoming whatever barriers — psychological, mechanical, economic, talent — you envision that are keeping you from this pot of gold. Experts agree that video:

• Increases organic traffic from search engines by 157%.
• Keeps visitors at your site 88% longer.
• Makes consumers 85% more likely to buy.

The venerable Dr. James McQuivey, in fact, tells us a 1-minute video is worth 1.8 million words.

Creating online video content presents an opportunity so huge for your business — in terms of adding value to your brand, increasing conversions, or demonstrating empathy — you can no longer responsibly avoid jumping on the bandwagon.

Types of video content to create

You can create valuable video content for your business in a variety of types, e.g.:

1. Culture: employee interviews, game day at the office, parties, etc.; show the human fabric of your brand; working hand in hand with HR, these can be used to attract the best and brightest.
2. Interviews: inject authority into your online content, build relationships with experts in your field; let your subject do the talking (for a change).
3. Events: cover a company event in a shareable fashion, perhaps sharing snippets in montage form; enhance your online presence more than a live event ever could.
4. Presentations: combine the excitement of an event with the usefulness of a webinar to create compelling and shareable content.
5. Webinars: like live events that offer valuable, interactive insights to participants.
6. Product instruction: make using your company products seem easy; help your customers avoid misusing them (or wasting their time learning how to).
7. Testimonials: used as a review of your company, these can be recorded at an event you throw at your business premises, or captured from customers in other ways.

For an exciting style of video to create, animation is perfect for your company if you have products and services that are difficult to explain. Those whiteboard animations are affordable, popular, and trending.

Overcome the barriers to creating valuable video content

You’ve got the resources already to start creating video content for your business. Various free apps reduce the cost, as do the recording capabilities of today’s smartphones. You’ve got a list of types of video to create. Now all you need is to marshal the creative and technical forces in your organization to make it happen.

Ask Michael J. Farrand about creating video content for your company or organization.

SOURCES: "The Quick-and-Simple Guide to Getting Started With Video Content Marketing" Buffer; "A Video Marketing Guide On Creating Epic Content for Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and More" by Brian Peters on Buffer; "6 Tools to Help Create Video Content for Your Business" by Lilach Bullock on SocialMediaToday; "10 Useful Types of Video Content Viewers Love" by Eric Siu in Single Grain.

MDG Advertising

Create the Killer Business Plan

“Capital isn't scarce; vision is.” Sam Walton

Your business plan must relay your vision — in as exciting a way as possible — while delivering the financial and research data that satisfy. With so many business plans being created every day, floating around among prospective investors everywhere, yours must be the one that sticks out and says: “Fund me!”

Creating a killer business plan requires a few simple ingredients, to which you add your energy, spirit, and vision.

Standard ingredients of a business plan

By now we all know the basic elements of any decent business plan. As a quick review, here’s the pieces the Small Business Administration recommends:

• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Market Analysis
• Organization & Management
• Service or Product Line
• Marketing & Sales
• Funding Request
• Financial Projections

Those reading your business plan expect these elements every time, and have seen just about every rendition of them. What’s different about your plan is the life you bring to these ingredients.

Go to the Dream Room first

The step before creating your business plan is to do some intentional dreaming — imagining your new business in every way but logistically. Now’s the time to dream up a powerful and compelling vision for what you want your business to be about. What do you aspire to become? Once you’ve dreamed big you can write a tactical plan for getting there.

Focus on a sparkling mission

To those who’ve read a thousand mission statements from entrepreneurs like yourself, a well-written one is like fine wine. Your job is to pierce through their hardened wall of perception enough to convince them you got the vision and mission to make real change happen. Here’s what you want to include:

• A market-defining story
• How your business idea will make your customer’s life better
• What your business does for its employees (and contractors and suppliers)
• What your business does for its owners (financially)

This is your opportunity to define your organizational goals, ethics, and culture. Consider going beyond the three basic dimensions — customers, employees, owners — to what your company does for the community (and world).

Make blue sky real with clear goals and solid timelines

Brimming with big ideas from your team visit to the Dream Room, now’s the time to put some practical teeth into your blue sky. Include measurable outcomes with realistic timelines. Each strategic objective met will inspire and motivate you (and your investors) through tough times ahead.

Write a plan people will actually read

Create a plan that is clear, concise, complete, and — most of all — readable. Go lightly on the big words and fancy equations. Keep in-the-know jargon, hip buzzwords, and jarring terminology to a minimum. Instead of impressing your team with inside knowledge, keep in mind the underlying interests of the people whose assistance you’re seeking. What motivates them to get involved in your venture?

THEN: discuss, digest, cut, polish, review, revise (repeat).

Ask Michael J. Farrand about creating killer business plans.


SOURCES: "How to Write a Business Plan" Small Business Administration; "5 Keys to Creating a Killer Business Plan" by Daniel Kehrer, BizBest; "How to Write a Mission Statement in 5 Easy Steps" by Tim Berry, Bplans; "The Business Plan that Always Works" by Michael E. Gerber", Inc.

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