Hey, this is Chris from VisibleGains. While sponsoring the Founder Dialogues event by supplying the technology to make it available online, I had a great opportunity to meet Eric Paley of Founder Collective and Keith Cline of Venture Fizz at this quarters Founder Dialogues with special guest Mick Mountz from Kiva Systems.

Mick spoke about how he became an entrepreneur and started Kiva Systems, a company based in Woburn MA, (don’t drink the water, yes I’ve seen A Civil Action and yes I have family in Woburn) starting with an idea and growing an impressive portfolio landing contracts with Staples, Zappos, Diapers.com, Crate & Barrel and many more. Mick also had some great stories about his experience working at Kiva, Motorola, Webvan, and Apple.

Below are a couple of clips I found very interesting from the event, if you would like to catch the rest of the clips or watch the full event click here to head on over to the VentureFizz Blog.

Hey, this is Chris from VisibleGains. When people think of video now they think of really expensive cameras and hiring really expensive people to create their videos.  That’s not the case anymore.  Cameras are getting smaller and easier to use all while capturing HD video. If you’re having trouble figuring out what you need and where you can shoot I’ve put this video together to show you what you need to do to get your shoots running quickly and easily.

If you need equiptment, you can purchase a Starter Bundle by clicking here.  This Starter Bundle includes, a camera, memory card, microphone, and tripod.  Here are two documents that cover everything in the video for you to use offline.  You can download:

Scouting For A Location – Download

Setting up Your Shoot – Download

Just Grab A Camera And Go!

At a recent event with Business Wire and MediaMobz, panelist Joe Chernov, Global Director of Communications & Social Media at Eloqua, spoke about recent trends deemphasizing viral video.

When online video was initially gaining popularity among businesses, companies spent a lot of time, money, and effort in hopes of making their video(s) viral. Although this success is great for spreading the company’s name, it doesn’t leave much of a measurable, long-term impact when you look past the thousands or millions of views. An earlier survey of the audience at the event indicated that companies today are using online video as a tool for many additional purposes, including sales, PR, and even support. This switch from a viral focus to more practical applications in the business world is refreshing to see. Online video can be adapted and manipulated for purposes far beyond a YouTube trend; the faster companies realize this and take advantage of its versatility, the better.

On Thursday, May 27, many of us from the VisibleGains team went to the Rattlesnake on Boyleston Street for “Lean Into Spring with MassChallenge and Lean Startup Circle Boston”.  It was a packed room with 250 entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, and other Lean Startup practitioners.  We’ve been practicing Lean Startup since the early days here at VisibleGains, so it was great to see such a vibrant culture of like-minded folks right in our backyard.

One thing I noticed was that there were a number of marketers from medium and large companies in attendance at the event.  The marketing department, across every company size, often has autonomy to try new ideas, interesting campaigns, new technologies, etc. like no other department in the company.  In selling to marketers, we’ve noticed that our product rarely has to go through the bureaucracy that other software products do.  Marketers are expected to innovate, and the ones that don’t will lose their job in 18-24 months.

The question is: How do you innovate while reducing the risk of failure?  I think one answer to that question can be found in the principles of Lean Startup.  Look at the graphic above.  Your job is to minimize time through the loop from an idea to a learning.  So, if you have a great idea for a new campaign where you’ll have to spend $30k to build the interactive microsite, develop a killer product demo, video some customer testimonials, etc., instead try to focus on the minimum that you can do which results in validated learning from your market.  What would happen if you bought some ads and nobody clicked through?  All of the work you did on the microsite would be a waste (and might get you fired).  In this case, you might be able to get away with a simple landing page that describes the offer, a few graphics that allow the visitor to visualize it, and lead capture form.  If you bought ads and nobody clicked through, you would have wasted about a day of effort and minimal company resources.

A nice side effect of adopting a lean, test before you invest, methodology is that you are expected to fail most of the time.  Most campaigns will be flops.  But when one of them works, you’ll have the resources and time to focus on them to get even greater returns.

Video is penetrating B2B at increasingly faster rates; annual video adoption statistics suggest a 20 percent increase each year. At a recent event with Business Wire and MediaMobz we asked audience members some quick questions on how many people use online video from casual viewing to PR, sales and support. Watch this video to see how they responded…

As you saw, we asked the 120 audience members about their experience watching video and 85% of them have recently watched a video as part of evaluating a product or service for purchase.  Following that, we heard about % of video usage by function including Marketing, PR, Sales, and Support.  Check out the %’s in the video…

If you thought the growth in video usage is a fluke, check out the following chart from Forrester:

As you can see, 49% of B2B Marketers expect to use more video within their digital marketing tactics in 2010.  Other statistics in the powerpoint available here support similar trends in increased budget spend on video spend as well.

What do you think about these findings? Agree/disagree? Have an experience to share?

Online video blogging expert Steve Garfield joined us recently for our live show.  Steve was a pioneer in video blogging before YouTube existed and he has been advising students and companies on his learnings ever since.  Steve has just published a new book called Get Seen, which is a practical guide for how online video can be used to drive business.

You can watch the entire episode below or navigate to topics you would like to watch including:

• A brief history of online video blogging
• Key Trends in Online Video
  • Casual Videos for Business
  • Personal Video Cameras
• Types of Video for Marketers
  • Press Releases
  • Customer Testimonials
  • Event promotion
• Frequently Asked Questions
  • Mixing Video Quality with your Brand
  • Finding a Place to Shoot in an Office
  • Flip vs. Professional Production

If you are interested in Steve’s highly informative book, you can learn more about where it can be purchased here.

In an earlier post, The Four Commandments of Shooting Effective Video, we discussed the importance of lighting, sound, background and traffic.  In this post, we’ll cover four more tips that will make you a better videographer and free you to do more (and more adventurous) videos for your business.  In this post we’ll cover basic elements of wardrobe, framing, recording and review.

Wardrobe – This is simple. The day before your shoot, tell your subject(s) to wear solid colors and avoid stripes and other designs that create harsh lines.  Lines, stripes and complex patterns can cause distortion when your video is being encoded and it can distract viewers.

Framing – Proper framing makes it much easier for a viewer to follow along with the video.  You should be aware of headroom, how much room is above the head of the subject and the edge of the video frame, and angle, which can be off-camera and direct-to-camera.  Below are some examples to help you understand the differences.

Here are some examples that illustrate the concepts described above:

Recording – When recording, you may have the option on your camera to record in full HD 1080P video.  For many videos this may be overkill.  If you’re using the Kodak Zi8 or similar camera, you can set the quality setting at 720P 30FPS (FPS= Frames Per Second). This still offers high-quality recording without requiring too much storage and increasing upload times (higher quality takes more storage space and can take longer to upload from the camera).  If you’re adventurous and are using a higher-end camera, it can’t hurt to shoot in higher quality, but be sure to monitor your on-camera storage so you don’t run out of space in mid shoot!

Review – Before your subject leaves and you pack up, take a few minutes to review some of the footage you just captured. Does the lighting look okay? Is the audio clear? Although spot reviewing your footage can’t discover all possible glitches, it can save you from discovering a complete wash-out later. A few minutes invested onsite can avoid an entire re-shoot later.

These tips are basic, for sure, but our objective is to get you started, not help you win film festivals. As you get more comfortable with shooting video you may experiment with higher-end equipment, remote lighting and more elaborate shooting techniques. Hopefully by then we’ll have posted some experts tips to help you on your journey to the next level.

Good luck!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/newsbiepix/ / CC BY 2.0

If you were not among the standing-room-only crowd in Waltham yesterday, you missed a great panel discussion with Tim Bradbury, American City Business Journals; Joe Chernov, Eloqua; Judy Gern, Constant Contact; David Meerman Scott, best-selling author; and Dave Toole of MEDIAmobz.  Our own Cliff Pollan moderated the session.

The event, sponsored by VisibleGains, Business Wire and MEDIAmobz, and graciously hosted by Constant Contact, generated many insights about the use of video. In fact, there was so much valuable content that we’ll likely explore topics in more detail in upcoming blog posts.  For now, however, we wanted to recap some of the important observations from the event in the hopes that it will spark ongoing dialogue.

Here are seven things you’ll want to know right away:

Video is no longer a novelty; it’s a necessity. 100% of those in attendance have watched a business-related video. If you’re trying to sell to any of the more than 100 attendees who were in the room (or companies like them), video would be a great tool.

Video is the new literacy.  According to Dave Toole from MEDIAmobz, “we’re just seeing the beginning” of video storytelling. Brands are using it for new product introductions, customer testimonials and to capture real people using their products.

Video has proven power down the marketing funnel. David Meerman Scott underscored the ability for video to drive higher conversion numbers. It’s not just an awareness-builder, it’s a lead generator and sales closer.

Prospects who consume video convert at higher rates. Judy Gern from Constant Contact shared her company’s experience with video, revealing that prospects who consume video become customers at a much higher rate.

A company of authors is a boon for SEO. Joe Chernov from Eloqua said companies should encourage more content contribution, especially optimized video. More authors, including video subjects, within your company means stronger search performance.

Soon everyone will be video “talent.” Cliff Pollan predicts that someday soon “we’ll all be talent.” At one point we all learned Powerpoint to communicate.  Soon we’ll all learn to communicate better through video.

Video is key to the future of news distribution. Tim Bradbury and his team at American City Business Journals encourage businesses to add video to news they distribute. Joe Chernov agreed, providing the staggering metric that companies that embed video into their press releases get a whopping 500% more views.

There you have it, seven nuggets to ponder right away. We knew this panel would be interesting, but we had no idea how eager marketers are to incorporate video into the mix and how successfully many are already doing so.

To see more of the commentary during and after the event, please check out this hashtag on Twitter: #bwvidevent.

Cecil B. DeMille was famous for flamboyant productions such as the Ten Commandments, with lavish sets that almost outshined the actors (which, in some cases, was actually his objective). How much of Cecil B. DeMille’s flamboyance should you bring into your productions? Let’s just say that in most cases less is more. In fact, if you’re just getting started, we suggest that you focus on the fundamentals of lighting, sound, background and traffic control. We’ll call these our “Four Commandments,” in honor of Mr. DeMille.

Lighting – Look for a location with good lighting that can be placed in front of the subject. If the subject is up against a wall, for example, be sure the room has more than one overhead light to avoid harsh shadows. Windows can bring in ambient light, but be sure the subject is facing the window to avoid the issue below (TIP: the brighter it is behind the subject the more light you’ll need in front).

Sound – New videographers ignore best practices for sound at their own peril. There’s nothing worse than getting home and discovering that your footage is marred by whirring, whooshing or extraneous voices you didn’t hear onsite. A little extra time in advance of shooting, however, goes a long way. If you’re in a quiet room without any echo, you may be able to get away with using the microphone built into the camera. Rather than take any chances, however, it’s better to have an external microphone on hand.  A lavalier microphone easily clips onto your subject and connects to your camera (be sure you have enough cord!). Ideally, the microphone should be 1-3 inches from the center of the chest.  Hide the cables by clipping them onto ties, button down shirts and jackets.

Backgrounds – Less is often more with your background. A cluttered background can distract the viewer and make your video seem amateurish. Removing the clutter, such as in the right-hand image below, immediately gives your video a more polished look. Note how the left-hand image has lines going through the subject’s head and reveals clutter behind. This is an easy fix by simply taking an extra minute to frame your subject through the viewfinder.

Traffic – Even seasoned videographers avoid high-traffic areas for video shoots. Your best bet is a conference room or office where you can shut the door.  It’s also a good idea to prepare signs saying “video shoot in progress” and, if possible, distribute an email to your company letting them know you’ll be filming.  And don’t forget about people and noises outside any windows. A bus going by or loud laughter in an office next door can ruin a “perfect take.” Be sure to anticipate all distractions and make plans to avoid them before you start.

Cecil B. DeMille was judged by his colorful sets and how well he could direct “a cast of thousands.” You’ll only be judged on how clearly your subject’s message is received by the viewer. By following these four commandments for lighting, sound, background and traffic, you may not win an Academy Award, but you will produce video that converts potential leads online.

Yes, this is a plug, but it’s an important one. Yesterday we announced an important partnership for our growing company. While we continue to preach how easily and cost-effectively you can produce video, we realize that some companies could still benefit from professional guidance and/or extra arms and legs, at least early on.

As of today, our clients in the U.S., Europe and Asia can outsource the production of their video-enabled marketing apps, including event promotion, customer testimonials and product/service demos, to MEDIAmobz, a marketplace for creative services, particularly video production. Once you contact us (or them) you’ll immediately be matched with a team from their global network of video producers and you’ll be off and running. Video in less than 24 hours has never been easier.

To learn more about our partnership with MEDIAmobz and discover why they are such a strong global partner, please see the press release we jointly issued yesterday

Also, please don’t’ forget our upcoming Business Wire event on April 27 in Boston where MEDIAmobz will provide examples of how video-enabled marketing apps can be beneficial to your business. You can learn more about that event here.