Month: October 2017

Tell Me a Story

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It’s no secret that we are attached to our phones and other electronic devices. In fact, a recent study in the UK found that most people would rather give up the following as long as they got to keep their smart phone: sex, shoes, house keys, their partner, alcohol, a car, and… get ready for it… JOY. Let that sink in for a minute. People would forfeit joy if it meant they got to keep their phone.

Ok. So, we can accept that electronic devices are not going away anytime soon. But what does that really mean to you and your business? If you’re in the market of selling something – pretty much anything – you need to reach the people who are on those devices. And that means that you have to find something interesting to say – and a way to say it – on a consistent basis.

It’s not enough to write an article or blog post one time and call it a day. In this crowded but all-important digital space you have to learn how to define your company’s story and how to tell that story in an impactful way.

And just what that way is depends on your business. You have to know your customers and find out where they’re hanging out online, then find a way to be in that space in some meaningful way.

Across the board you’ll find that people tend to spend the most time on social media sites. Most of us are on these sites 1-2 hours a day, and for many it’s a lot more than that. This means that if you’re in business it’s a good idea to have a social media presence that people find interesting and engaging. Depending on your sales cycle or type of service people may or may not purchase from you right away, but staying top of mind is worth the investment of maintaining an active presence.

Also, speaking in general terms, YouTube is a site that cannot be ignored. Not only is the YouTube search engine second in size only to Google, but the platform is growing at mind-numbing speeds. At this point in time 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every single minute. It’s important to have a presence here for all sorts of reasons (Google the statistics on the percentage of people who would prefer to watch a video about a product or service instead of reading about it). But it’s even more important that you have a message that will get noticed among all of that clutter in the YouTube space.

At the end of the day, people want to be entertained, but they also want to be smarter about all kind of topics, especially if getting to that place of being smarter is fun and easy to understand.

So, please, make story part of your strategy and use videos to help engage your audience too, but make sure you’re doing so in .an interesting and consistent manner, and preferably one that brings value to your clients. People are always up for a good story. You just have to figure out the right way to tell yours.

Elin Barton is the President of White Knight Productions and the host of the podcast, Ready, Set, Grit.  Her first book, Ready, Set, Grit: How to Turn Your Daydream Into a Phenomenal Success, will be released early 2018. To find out more about how you can use video to grow your business visit our website.

Using Video Sounds Good, But What Do I Say?

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Social media posts with video are 1200% more likely to be shared than posts with just text, and text and pictures COMBINED.

Consumers who watch a product video are TWICE as likely to purchase the product than those who do not.

Websites with heavy video content are 53 TIMES more likely to land a first page Google ranking than sites without video.

Many of you have heard the impressive statistics about using videos to reach your current and potential customers, but are unsure how to proceed when it comes to knowing what to say in a video, or in creating videos about your business.

With our Video Crisps subscriptions our clients get professionally edited and/or animated video content given to them each and every month. When we launched this program we didn’t anticipate how many people would struggle with not only knowing what to say in the videos but also with knowing how to use them.

That’s exactly why regular consultations on content and strategy are an important part of the program. This is the first of a series of blog posts in which we’ll be looking at different type of video content and usage, starting next week with community outreach and public education.

But in the meantime here are some ideas to get you started brainstorming what video can do, in very tangible terms, for your business.

  • Explain how your services work
  • Collect customer testimonials
  • Recruit fresh talent
  • Describe your mission
  • Train your employees
  • Enhance your social media
  • Increase open-rates on emails and newsletters
  • Introduce your staff
  • Showcase your products
  • Show your audience your space
  • Highlight your community events
  • Stay top of mind
  • Create videos that can be shared
  • Communicate your message

If any of this sounds interesting, give us a call at 607.239.5423, and remember to subscribe to our blog so you don’t miss a single post about how using video in your messaging can significantly impact your business.

Elin Barton is the President of White Knight Productions and the host of the podcast, Ready, Set, Grit.  Her first book, Ready, Set, Grit: How to Turn Your Daydream Into a Phenomenal Success, will be released in the Fall of 2017. To find out more about how you can use video to grow your business visit our website.

You’re Weird and Unusual? Me Too!

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I’ll never forget the first conversation I had with my friend, Meagan. We were hiking in the Angeles National Forest outside of L.A. There were rather a lot of us on this day hike as friends-of-friends rounded out our original core group of hikers to about 15 or 20. We split off into smaller groups of twos and threes as fitness levels and varying degrees of patience created a kind of natural selection process and determined who was going to end up in conversation together.

Meagan and I found ourselves together and as we made our way down the trail we discovered that we both loved traveling and had done a lot of it. As we talked I was starting to realize how much I liked this person, but when our discussion turned to food and cooking – another passion for both of us – the conversation had gotten to the point where we were already planning our next meeting. But then Penzeys came up and that’s when we knew we’d be friends. You may know that Penzeys is a company that sells spices, herbs and seasonings. These days they have specialty shops all over the country, but back when I first met Meagan they were a fairly small mail order business. Not many people knew about Penzeys in those days, but Meagan and I were both huge fans, and once we realized this our conversation – and friendship – really had gone next level.

Today Meagan and I live across the country from one another but we’ve stayed friends. We both are still loyal Penzeys customers too, and that’s the issue that I want to talk about in this blog post. Penzeys has always had a strong brand and a clear voice. Back when they were the “little guy” there were certain things that they always talked about, and which came across in all of their materials: quality, integrity and a kind of homeyness. It made Penzeys customers feel loyal and inspired, like we were part of a movement of goodness, healthy home cooking and a place where the little guy could come out on top.

Now, decades later, the tone of Penzeys hasn’t changed much, even though the business has become much, much larger. The company has put their voice behind social issues and hasn’t been shy about political ones, either. While their choices may cost Penzeys the business of a few customers, the remaining ones are loyal advocates who feel like the company understands them. And the steady growth of Penzeys earnings speaks for itself as a testament to what happens when you’re real and authentic. You end up with a tribe of brand advocates – loyal customers like me and Meagan who not only talk about the brand, but who bond over it, forming a life-long friendship halfway up a mountain!

These days, more than ever before, it’s imperative that businesses begin to show their real selves to the world as a way to attract the right people to them. Even corporations need to realize that it’s okay to be a little weird and quirky. Trying to please everyone only leads to a bland vanilla brand that no one will ever get excited over, so go ahead and let your hair down. Be yourself.

Take a chance and share your thoughts. Let us hear your voice, peek behind the curtain of your operation, see you step in front of the camera. When you find the courage to let your voice be heard, and do so consistently, week after week, you’ll watch with amazement as your tribe begins to form around you, one loyal follower at a time.

Elin Barton is the President of White Knight Productions and the host of the podcast, Ready, Set, Grit.  Her first book, Ready, Set, Grit: How to Turn Your Daydream Into a Phenomenal Success, will be released in the Fall of 2017. To find out more about how you can use video to grow your business visit our website.