Article Contributed by Rajib Patel

Business videos come with a wide variety of options. Some are the explanatory videos, some about us, some marketing and the last but not the least some are videos that are meant to educate, with some others that are meant to entertain and some designed for both. And while there is no way to guarantee you with a fact that your next business video would immediately gain 10 thousand views and likes on YouTube, below given are some of the major tips you could use to increase the likelihood of being viewed, liked and shared.

Know who your target audience is: Before you write the script or go ahead with the camera rolling, it is very important that you first know who your marketing audience is, what are their needs and requirements, and how your video would help them in their business. Remember your business objectives would help you target who your marketing audience is. For instance if your goal is to drive awareness for your products and services then your marketing audience would be quite different and larger when compared to folks already on your site and need some nudging to drip the products on their carts.

Having a solid concept and script: When it come to the process of creating an influential video for your business, then having a solid script and concept is considered to be the foundation your business. So start by determining the format of the video say for example is it a video regarding the demo of a product or a talking head style video that requires a carefully worded script. Once you are done settling down the format then have an outline created, filling in the required details making sure to story board it.

Hiring a professional to film it or using professional grade and sound recording system: Some of the most viral video on YouTube were filmed by amateurs recording something funny along with mediocre sound and video quality. Having a quality recorded video equipment or a controlled environment is critical when recording a business video for your organization. So in case the sound quality of your video is poor or has too much of external noise then viewers would not respond in the way you want them too.

Have a clear, simple message minimizing the co-operate jargon: A successful video is simple to understand. Customers are generally looking out for things that would help them understand what your business could lead them with. Say for example if your video is a detailed and a complicated one then the viewers would just click away and search for something that is simple and easy to understand. So do make sure that your video is compelling, brief, and is focused on a specific message.

Keeping your video short: Research studies have shown that 53% of your clients and customers who are watching your videos would leave in a minute if they find it to be long. So try and being concise as this would help you keep your audience engaged driving them towards whatever your call to action is.

Feature real employees or customers: Many potential customers would be drawn through the authenticity of real people in the business video of your organization. Through this the customers would know who the real people are in your business and would not turn out to be a skip corporate video.

So have you made any business video that your customers would love to watch then what are the tips and tricks you have learned all the way. Do leave your comments below.

About the Author

Rajib Patel is an expert in the IT industry with over 12 years of experience. He has collaborated with various companies to work on improving enterprise video streaming solutions.

Congratulations on opening a new location of your retail store! Whether this is your first store opening or your 15th, you are no doubt always on the lookout for new ideas to make your grand opening party extra special. When it comes to throwing a great grand opening event, the most important thing is that you find a unique way to give your target market a memorable experience, and that you make sure that all of your guests leave with a good first impression. Here are some tips to help you get started on making your grand opening especially memorable.

Think Big!

If you really want your grand opening to be memorable, start out by brainstorming as many unique ideas as you possibly can. Don’t be afraid to think up things that are too big or too expensive. At this stage, the sky’s the limit, so just make sure you get your creativity flowing. Some questions to consider while you brainstorm:

• What is unique about your business? What distinguishes it from its competitors in the area?
• When people have complimented you on your business in the past, what good things do they most often mention? Considering these things will help you discover new ways to advertise and play up your business appeal.
• What do people associate with your business? This could give you fun ideas for theme parties. For example, if you are opening an ice cream parlor for the summer season, you could have a beach themed party. Go all out and get some beach decorations and toys to set the scene of the beach party atmosphere.
• Be sure to leave room in your budget for the “wow factor.” Your party should include something that really sets it apart from the rest. This might include free gifts, a celebrity appearance, or an open bar or food truck.
• Don’t limit yourself to in-house events. Think about other things you can do around town to promote your business during the week of your grand opening. For example, if your business is going to open around the Christmas season, have a photo booth at your local supermarket with Christmas props and maybe even hire someone to play Santa, especially if children will be attending.

Set Your Expectations

Once you have some creative ideas to get you thinking, you should start to realistically consider what kind of event you can host and who you will like to have attend. Some questions to keep in mind:

• What will the focus of your event be? A BBQ? A concert? An outdoor movie?
• Who is your target audience? Who generally buys your product? How many people like this live in your area? What type of event would appeal to them?
• How many guests can you reasonably expect? You don’t want to throw a huge party and have no one show up, but you also don’t want to organize an event without enough capacity for your guest list. Make sure you will have enough food and drinks, enough parking, enough merchandise, etc.
• What will your budget be? Some recommend a budget of 20% of your first year advertising budget, or at least $6,000, but this really depends on the size of your business and your plans for your event. Don’t spend too much on an event you can’t really afford and leave yourself nothing for advertising during the remainder of the year!

Get the Word Out

Start advertising for your upcoming event around town with local advertising efforts. Distribute flyers, hire sign twirlers, order and arrange some eSigns.com vinyl signs around town. Put ads in local papers and on local TV networks. This should all factor into your total event budget, so plan carefully how you will use your money. Would it be worth more to produce a high quality video you can put online than to go out for that radio spot? Plan according to your demographic.

You should also consider inviting some high profile guests like local celebrities or politicians. See if you can get someone to speak or perform at your event. This can become some advertising in and of itself.

Give Yourself Plenty of Time

In most cases, you will want to wait at least two weeks past your actual opening date to have your grand opening event. This will give you plenty of time to iron out the kinks in your regular operations and to get a better sense of your space and its potential. Throwing a really great and memorable event takes time and patience, but don’t be afraid to take risks! The most memorable events will be the ones that offer something especially fun, goofy, or enlightening to its target market.

Did you ever ask yourself, “Why don’t people buy from me?”

The Biggest Marketing Challenge WE All Face

The biggest challenge we’re dealing with today is change. Things are changing so fast. As a result of this rapid pace of change people do not know who to trust!

There are six questions your prospects want answered before they will buy from you. These questions are designed to allow you to think like your buyer and speak with them so they know you are the right and safe choice.

Why the Six Questions are Important

When I started my business back in 2001, I lacked trust. What I really mean is that I did not know who could help me get clear on my ideal client. Every time I ask someone they said things I did not understand. I was confused and a confused mind does not take action. This is what we’re dealing with.

Stick with me as I talk about things you may not have thought about before. Keep an open mind because, to grow your business, you need to find someone you can trust.

Remember we stated earlier that “trust” is the biggest marketing issue we need to address. This is what marketing is about – helping our prospects to trust us so we can start the sales process.

Let’s jump right in.

The Six Questions

Question 1: What Do You Do?

What do you do? What would you tell me?

If you answered, “I am a financial planner,” or “I am an accountant,” or “I fix computers,” then you got it wrong. This is not what you do; it is how you do it.

People want to know what you do before they want to know how you do it.

For example, if you are a financial planner, here is what I would hope to hear: “I help people make the right choices about their money,” or “I help them make wise money decisions,” or “I build, protect and transfer wealth (my favorite).”

People want to know what you do before they want to know how you do it.

Question 2: Why should I care about what you do? Or, “What’s in it for me?”

If I asked a financial planner how he is different, what would he say? This is really important because there are thousands of financial planners that want my business. Why would I hire one over the other?

If you’re a business owner and looking for customers, you have prospects who are asking, “What’s in it for me?” Your job is to marry your skills and the outcome you provide to the prospects that have that need. Don’t make your prospect figure it out, tell them. That’s all your prospects want know. Don’t make your prospect guess.

Question 3: Why are YOU the Right and Safe Choice?

They’re going to want to know the answer to this question: “How do I know you are the right and safe choice for me, right now?”

The question of why you are the right and safe choice addresses a very powerful question for your prospects: “Can I trust you to do what you say you will do?”

They want to know how you will make them more effective and productive, how you make them right and how would you make them look good?

Business owners have a strong need to be more effective and more productive. Here is what you need to know. Simply ask them what they want to achieve and tell them how you will help them achieve that goal. When they understand how you’re going help them achieve their goal and how you can make them more effective and more productive, they are on board.

Question 4: What do you do better than anyone Else in the World?

You are unique. There is no one like you. The uniqueness you bring to the business is a great example of how to answer this question. It is not the only answer but it is a great place to start. Let’s look at a specific example.

How many people have heard the Southwest Airlines commercial where they discuss “bags fly free”?

What does Southwest Air do better than anybody else in the whole world?

Fun?

Yes, Southwest is fun to fly, but what do they do that no other airline does? “Bags fly free.”  That’s really all it is. They are the only airline that does not charge for bags. This isn’t rocket science.

Question 5: Why is that Important to my Prospects?

Why is what you do better than anyone else in the world important to me?

When you answer this question, you’re moving into allowing the customer to buy from you. This is actually the beginning of the buying process.

Will you:

• Make them more money?
• Give them more free time?
• Create more value?
• Reduce risk?
• Save them money?

This is the beginning of the business case of why you are the right person or your company is the right company.

It’s just that simple.

Question 6: Why Buy From Me? Or Prove It.

So here’s the last one question. Why buy from me? This is really the fundamental question; this is where the proof exists. Do you have the credentials? Can you say that you’ve done this for another company and can do the same for me? Do you have endorsements from others who will vouch for you?

If what you are doing is not working as well as you would like. Try this process. It works. The answers you create can be used to craft a killer 30 second commercial, create actionable contents for your web site and make it easier for prospects to understand why they should be from you.  There are 16 modules on answering the six questions. To make it easy you can purchase or rent this course at https://gumroad.com/l/6-questions

America’s Backbone Weekly: Stay Connected

Promote Your Small Business With E-Newsletters

By Nicole Altavilla for America’s Backbone Weekly

Spending the time and energy to obtain clients’ email addresses can give small businesses a big advantage when it comes to marketing efforts. E-newsletters, for example, are an inexpensive yet highly effective way to communicate with clients that can enhance a business’s reputation, provide instant tracking results, help publicize services and special promotions and increase client loyalty. And because 95 percent of online consumers use email, according to an infographic by renowned digital marketer Wolfgang Jaegel, small businesses can be confident that the e-newsletter is reaching a large number of current and potential clients. Erika Taylor Montgomery, CEO and chief publicist at Three Girls Media, with locations in California’s Silicon Valley and Seattle, offers tips on what to include in an e-newsletter to engage clients:

• A Personalized Introduction: According to Montgomery, most e-news providers like Constant Contact and MailChimp allow a company to upload a list of contacts, including the recipient’s first name. “It’s a nice personal touch to start an e-newsletter with, ‘Hi Susan,’ for example, followed by an introductory paragraph from the company CEO or other senior executive,” she says.
• Blog posts:Montgomery believes that providing links to blog articles is a great way to gain exposure and increase website traffic. She recommends including the first paragraph of a couple of recent blog articles in each e-newsletter, along with a “read more” tag at the bottom that takes the reader to the full post. A financial advisor, for example, could include a link to a blog article about how to effectively budget spending costs and save money.
• Upcoming Events:Including information about upcoming events allows clients to stay in-the-know about events the small business will be participating in that are open to the public. A spa, for example, could highlight an upcoming Girl’s Night Out pampering event to attract both new and current clients.
• Social Media Links:Social media links in an e-newsletter help drive traffic and encourage clients to find out more about the company on those channels. “Include not only a link, but an introduction to the content such as, ‘Are you following us on social media?’ followed by one or two posts from each social media platform,” says Montgomery.
• Images: Montgomery suggests including one image for each different section of the newsletter. “It breaks up the copy and is visually stimulating for the reader,” she says.
• A Coupon or Special Offer: By offering a discount or special offer of some kind, it gives recipients incentive to work with the business and try something that they may not have done otherwise. For example, a retail store could include information about a special promotion or coupon to save on in-store purchases.
• Business Information: Montgomery recommends including information about the small business, like a description of services and contact information, and have a link to the company’s website at the bottom of the e-newsletter.

The Wolfgang Jaegel infographic indicates that for every $1 spent, $44.25 is the average return on email marketing investments, which means that when done right, e-newsletters can be an inexpensive yet highly effective way to connect with and attract new clients and keep current clients engaged. “Former clients are more likely to refer new business to a company if they receive regular reminders, which can be included in an e-newsletter,” says Montgomery. “It is also a great way to keep current clients in the loop of what’s going on at a company, and gives potential customers insight into a business that they may not get simply from the business’s website alone.”

Nicole Altavilla is a freelance writer with more than seven years of experience writing for B2B publications, including American Spa and American Salon. She resides in New Jersey with her husband and son.

Planning a charity event can take months, but what’s the use of all that event planning if no one knows about it to show up? Promoting your charity event is a vital part of the process and needs to be a factor when considering your overall budget. While you want to make sure costs are covered when planning any event, the purpose of a charity event is to make sure that the funds raised can go directly to the charity.

When budgeted improperly, costs can add up quickly, but promotion is one area in which you can keep them low. Think of inexpensive or free ways to get the word out about your upcoming event. With a little brainstorming and creativity, you and your team can come up with what will work best for your event. Here are some ideas to get started:

1) Use Social Media

Generally, social media is free. You don’t have to buy into the advertising that is offered to share your event with the public. Create an event on Facebook that lists all the important information with regular updates counting down the days until the event. People like to see the details all in one place and keep track of who is going. If you are using Eventbrite to sell tickets, make sure this link is included within the Facebook event.  Also, use social media to share your event with online influencers who might be interested in attending and will help spread the word. Twitter and Instagram are two useful networks for planning posts to be released several times a week to increase viewership and engagement. It is also a good idea to find the sub-Reddit of the city or town that your event will be held in to notify those users as well.

2) Reach Out to Your Network

Put together an email blast to be sent to everyone you know. It is important that you encourage them to attend your event without feeling like they are being spammed. Make the email fun and include information about the charity and why it’s an important cause to you. Use a service such as MailChimp to create a template that will be eye-catching and informative. Let your network know you’d love for them to be part of your meaningful event and make sure all the details are included. For a tentative guest list, you can also set up a free Evite account online.

3) Get Creative with Signs or Fliers

Marketers have found that promoting brand messaging online has a better chance of being seen than paper fliers, but it’s still a good idea to put efforts into both, especially when considering your target audience. You can order signs online delivered to the event space to help spread word around the town of the event.  Create one simple design and share it across all the promotional materials you’ll be using to reach the people you already know and also the people in your community who may be interested in your charity. Since you can create signs in bulk, this cuts down on cost and makes it so you can reach a larger audience in a more cost effective manner.

4) Hold a Raffle

Everyone likes a chance to win something and when the money is going to charity, people are likely to be more generous. Contact local businesses who may be interested in being an event sponsor and ask if they’d be willing to provide prizes to be raffled. They’ll get additional promotion and you get fantastic raffle prizes – it’s a win/win situation. Prizes don’t have to be expensive or over-the-top either. They can be as simple as restaurant gift cards, gift baskets filled with products from a few of your sponsors, or even handmade items from your crafty friends.

5) Word of Mouth

People immediately turn to marketing online when promoting their events, but forget the power of good old-fashioned word of mouth. Most likely if you are spending months planning your charity event, your friends and family will be well aware of what you’re doing. Encourage them to tell others about the event and talk about it in your social circles. The more people who know about it, the better chance for a successful turnout you will have.

Although there is a lot that goes into planning and executing a successful charity event, these are just a few tips and tricks to make the entire process easier for you.  As a leader, you have a lot of choices and decisions to make.  Have you ever thrown a charity event? What worked for you? What didn’t?  Let us know down below in the comments.