Turn a Bad Economy into Good Marketing

The combination of deteriorating financial markets, continued housing slumps and 4 dollar milk has people moving quickly to figure out how to cope. If you are a personal finance professional the downward slide could be a boon. All it takes is a little video in just the right place.
 
By producing an instructional video of your recession management strategies seminar you can influence your program attendees and potentially attract thousands to your menu of services. If you are new to seminar marketing, here is a good primer (Click Here). If you are a local Chamber member they will probably give you “free” meeting space and promote your seminar at no cost as a benefit to their members. From here consider distributing your seminar video using your website, YouTube, your blog, on the Chamber’s website, pitch your video to newspaper websites for exposure or even distribute it for profit.
 
Prospects are never more receptive to a message than at a time of a related crisis. People want and need your financial expertise, so give it to them.
 
Related Topics:

1. Your Speakers Video: Tips From an Expert
2. Working With Multi-Channel Video Players (1 of 3) 
3. A Little Known Secret for Chamber Success
4. For hundreds of ways to get customers to call you (subscribe to our newsletter) (browse archive) 
    

What should I do next?

Add to: | blinklist | del.cio.us | digg | yahoo! | furl | rawsugar | shadows | netvouz

A Look Inside Charlotte.com

Anyone who’s followed the news recently knows that daily newspapers are experiencing dramatic change. (Need to get up to speed? Check out stories here, here, and here). Most of these changes are driven by the fact that more and more people are using online newspapers (or the Web in general) as sources for news and information.

This shift has sparked debates across the country about how the newspaper industry will respond and the future of daily papers. Only time will tell. What’s evident now is that the explosion in online newspaper readership has transformed newspaper websites into multimedia portals that not only deliver news, but also videos, pictures, and even blogs from popular reporters. Because of this continued growth, I thought it would be beneficial to get an inside look at how online newspapers operate in comparison to their print brethren.

Dave Enna, the Senior Producer of the Charlotte Observer’s Web partner Charlotte.com, was gracious enough to provide insights that will help you navigate this terrain. In the below exchange, he shares tips that range from stories that work better in an online news environment to what you should avoid sending to content editors at Charlotte.com.

KTM: How long have you been at Charlotte.com?
Dave Enna: I have been with Charlotte.com since it launched in March 1996. Our staff in ’96 consisted of 2 editors and we worked at night, alternating days off to cover 7 days a week. Our staff now includes 7 editors (including me), and the newsroom multimedia director, Dee-Dee Strickland. We cover from 6 a.m. to midnight 7 days a week. The newsroom also provides a full-time online reporter, Steve Lyttle, who works Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is also a newsroom photographer who shoots for online and begins work at 6 a.m. I have been at the Observer since 1982. I have been national editor, weekend editor, and the real estate editor in past positions.

KTM: You are listed as a “Senior Producer” on Charlotte.com. Can you tell me what your specific duties entail?
Dave Enna: I guide the daily content on the site. I work from 6 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m. M-F, and also Sunday mornings. The six online producers report to me. I report to the newsroom multimedia director. Her job is more ‘big picture’ — planning for the future and working with the newsroom’s top editors.

KTM: How many visits does Charlotte.com receive on a daily basis?
Dave Enna: Measured in page views, Charlotte.com averages about 30 million a month. On a typical weekday we generate 1 million plus page views. That equates to about 150,000 visits a day, with each visit generating about 7 page views.

KTM: How is news covered on Charlotte.com vs. the Charlotte Observer?
Dave Enna: The online team re-packages the content from the Observer and then presents breaking news and updates through the day. A lot of our most popular content was never in the printed newspaper. We get about 40 breaking news stories a day from the newsroom, plus many others from wires.

KTM: Any tips on how people can better shape story pitches for the print environment so that the ideas also work well online?
Dave Enna: Generally, the online team will re-route story pitches to the newsroom. The exceptions are events that have a lot of potential for photos or video. The newsroom generates about 20 videos a week, and that number is growing. Also, many more photos appear online than appear in print. The Black Tie slideshow – Charlotte’s social scene – is an example. It generates about 100,000 page views a week.

KTM: In your opinion, are there any particular stories that work better online vs. the print environment?
Dave Enna: Breaking news, traffic, sports and weather are the most popular stories online. The stories do not need to be highly detailed. We can update them often. Photos of people at parties are also very popular. Celebrity news is very popular.

KTM: What kind of multimedia elements do you accept for Charlotte.com?
Dave Enna: Videos and photos can be uploaded by readers at www.charlotte.com/upload.

KTM: Do story ideas that include video or photos have a stronger possibility of being used on Charlotte.com?
Dave Enna: Possibly. We welcome videos from readers, but it is still the topic that will determine play.

KTM: Being that Charlotte.com is online, do you face the same deadlines as your counterparts at the Charlotte Observer?
Dave Enna: Our deadlines are constant. We face constant pressure to keep the site updated. We do not keep the same lead story and lead photo more than about 3-4 hours.

KTM: Is there an ideal time to submit story ideas or contact content producers?
Dave Enna: The mornings are extremely busy, but this settles down after about 9:30 am.

KTM: One final question. Are there certain things that people should avoid doing when submitting information to Charlotte.com?
Dave Enna: They should avoid attaching things like word documents or Excel spreadsheets, which we generally will delete without opening because of the virus risk. The only way we will open them is if we have advance word from a trusted source. A .pdf document is safer. If they are attaching photos, they should drop them down in size, and only attach one photo per e-mail. Photos for online don’t need to be larger than 600 pixels, height or width.

Thanks for the interview, Dave. One important takeaway from this “inside look” is that the popularity of online newspaper sites expands how you can share your story with the local community – and even the world. When thinking about your next PR campaign, try telling your story using video or photos. Your ability to do this is a key ingredient to succeeding in this new media landscape.

————————
About Kristina Hill

An expert in marketing communications, Kristina Hill provides integrated marketing consulting services to small and mid-sized businesses through MarComm Creative Group, LLC. The business offers an array of services, including: public relations and media relations; advertising planning and placement; integrated marketing plan development and execution; and, writing services.

Related Topics:

1. Tips For Avoiding The PR Spam Zone
2. Add Video To Your Press Releases
3. The Ever-Evolving Press Release

What Should I do Next?
Add to: | blinklist | del.cio.us | digg | yahoo! | furl | rawsugar | shadows | netvouz

Win an Award? Don’t Make This Mistake!

Successful companies are always winning impressive trade and community awards but all too often they neglect to use the award to market their organization. If there is a banquet associated with the award, professionally produced videos are often used to highlight each recipient.  I know because we produce such videos for professional and community clients on a regular basis. 

If added to your website or added to your sales kit as a DVD insert; your award vignette becomes a fully blown commercial that could cost you thousands of dollars to produce on your own.  What’s more, the credibility factor is much greater for an award vignette than a straight promotional video because it comes from a neutral third party who has seen fit to recognize you as something special among a large pool of similar businesses.  Below is a vignette we produced of Neighboring Concepts, a standout architectural design firm.  In addition to producing this video for the YMCA’s annual Martin Luther King awards banquet, we added the video to a website we are constructing for Neighboring Concepts.

The next “Business of the Year” award your firm receives be sure to get a copy of the vignette video and think through a strategy for broadcasting your vignette to your prospects. Your strategy doesn’t have to be complicated to be successful.

Related Posts

1. The PR Refresh Video
2. 5 Sure-Fire Ways to Extend Your Press Coverage
3. It’s Not Ego, Its Survival…Start Marketing
4. For hundreds of ways to get customers to call you (subscribe to our newsletter) (browse archive)

What Should I Do Next?

Add to: | blinklist | del.cio.us | digg | yahoo! | furl | rawsugar | shadows | netvouz

Go DIY or Pro With Your Video

In my line of work I often come across people contemplating creating their own video vs. hiring a professional producer.  Which option is the best?  Well, either one  depending on your goal and your eagerness.

If brand and image are central to your project (commercial for Television or your website) then by all means employ a capable professional production company that understands marketing communications.  If your project demands less attention to your company’s professional image (blog commentary or a quick product training blurb) then if you have some underlying talent and the enthusiasm to labor through what can be a considerable learning curve, DIY could work.

The mistake most make is trying to replicate the example of someone they have seen create a great YouTube spot without realizing the skills and experience that person brought to the table.  Your example do-it-yourself producer might say that it’s simple; right, simple for them but perhaps not for you. What I have found is that most who do well with DIY video are enthusiasts.

For the enthusiast playing with cameras and editing software is fun, so much so that they are willing to learn what white balance is, how to compose a scene, how to set external microphones as well as the many buttons and doohickeys driving an editing console. If video enthusiast is not your calling, I suggest enlisting the assistance of a pro.  You might not want to pay but what is the cost of your time and frustration only to create a tool that is unlikely to yield the intended result.

Related Topics:

1. Your Own Media Juggernaut!
2. For hundreds of ways to get customers to call you (subscribe to our newsletter) (browse archive)