Your presence speaks volumes when you show up. Is your video presence at the same level of value as ... [+]
Those who want to attract high-paying clients need to step up their video game.
“Amateur hour is over.” That’s the warning of Patrick McGowan, founder of Punch’n, a video presence company based in South Dakota. Here are McGowan’s ten realities for video in the 21st century:
1. We are all broadcasters now. “Seth Godin said it in the early 2000s: ‘We’re all publishers now.’ With mass adoption of video, our means of communication have radically changed.
2. Video is an intimate medium; the camera doesn’t lie. “Because the camera is on your face, and the face is the epicenter of emotion, it captures more than you know… sometimes in high-definition.”
3. Use vanity as a force for good. “It’s a simple formula: When you know that you look better, you feel better. And when you feel better, you do better.”
4. Command the screen. “Public speakers are taught to ‘command the room.’ This is a learned skill. Now we have to learn how to do it across the lens.”
5. Zoom is not a phone call with video. “Zoom is your point-of-sale and it’s your job to leverage video for what its designed to do. It’s time to tap into the possibilities.”
6. The opposite of good is off. “Film director Steve Stockman said it. It’s true for your Zoom video as well. Is your audience just waiting to click the ‘leave meeting’ button?”
7. What are you saying before you say a word? “Your presence speaks volumes when you show up. Is your video presence at the same level of value as your product/services? Why not?”
8. Aim for spontaneity and serendipity. “Our humanity is naturally and beautifully revealed in the happy accidents, the unplanned but powerful moments. Hope for the unexpected. Let your face show it.”
9. Connection starts with who you bring, not just what you bring. “People do business with people. Investors invest in the person, not the idea. Video gives you a chance to be seen.”
10. Better video is an act of kindness. “Better video makes it 100 times easier for people to engage and connect with you. Let people know how much you care before you tell them how much you know.”
Another way to step up your game is personalized video marketing. These videos are especially effective in fields like technology, software, healthcare, biological science, the education e-learning space, and other disciplines requiring the ability to talk about complicated things in an easy and visual way, such as high-end consulting, according to Maury Rogow, founder of Rip Media Group, a video marketing company based in Los Angeles. He reports his customers using a video bot product have seen a 73% reply rate, 94% open rate, and over a 500% increase in conversion rates.
Real estate broker Lettiann Southerland has seen great results with video, too.
“Video is king on social media,” says Southerland, owner of her own real estate services company in the Kansas City metro area. “Nowadays people are less likely to stop scrolling to read a post, but people love video and are far more likely to stop and watch.”
Here are tips from Southerland on how to make video a core part of your business:
Be the star of your videos! “Psychology teaches us that our brains are hardwired to give our attention to faces. Our brains create the pathway for us to know, like and trust someone and their services or products when we can see their face. Videos with your face in them, with you as the star, will do far better than videos without.”
Don’t wait until everything is perfect to shoot a video. “If you wait until your hair and makeup are perfect or wait until the time and setting is perfect, you will probably never create a video or shoot very few. Do not wait, always shoot your videos in the present. Done is better than perfect.”
You don’t need thousands of dollars of video equipment. “While high-end video equipment and editing software will help you make high-end videos, all you really need is a smartphone. If you have a smartphone you have all you need to make amazing videos.”
