Archive for the ‘video’ tag
Let me take a moment to appreciate praise!
Being a self-employed person, one who works mostly alone, can be challenging. Especially when it comes to getting praise. It’s not going to come from your boss because you don’t have one! It’s not going to come from co-workers for the same reason! So, when a client praises you and your work…you can really take it to the bank.
Recently, I had the privilege of working with Jeff Blackman, a ‘Platinum” speaker from Chicago. He had several keynotes to deliver in the Houston area over the course of a month, and he hired me to tape them. I jumped at the chance! Jeff is the kind of speaker that us videographers are dying to work with: he’s nationally known, he works with top companies and organizations, and he’s charming and dynamic.
About a month after our work together, Jeff sent me this email:
“Mike came highly recommended. I now know why!Over the span of three weeks, he was my “videographer of choice”
three times. He’s creative. Flexible. And easy to work with.
Most important, he captures and delivers video that’s meaningful and
memorable. If you want a no-worries and results-producing
experience, make sure Mike is a key member of your production team.
Jeff Blackman, Hall of Fame Speaker and bestselling author – “Peak
Your Profits” and “Stop Whining! Start Selling!”
Creatively yours,
Jeff”
Life is good when you pay it forward. Thank you, Jeff!
Create your own philosophy
What if you decided to write your own philosophy and give it a visual rendering? This was the challenge put to me by Karen Davis of Karen Davis Design in Houston. Karen actually directed me to a video she liked on YouTube about one of her contemporaries, Eric Cohler. I watched his promotional video and became inspired. I could create something very similar. My mind started going into creative overdrive as soon as this idea became tangible. Watch the video I created for Karen, and then watch the video that inspired me.
What are your core values?
This past week, Tiger Woods made a public statement about how he compromised his core values. It made me think about my core values…I know I live by some, but I hadn’t defined them in quite a while. What are your core values, and do you live by them?
Who’s Your Target Audience? Find Your Sweet Spot.
Sometimes it’s good to talk about success: what works and what doesn’t. Because I work mostly with speakers, I have a certain affinity for them, for their struggle to forge their own path in a strange landscape that has no real road map. One of the most daunting challenges for a public speaker is to find their target sweet spot. What audience will respond the most? Who will continue to hire them? Where will they find the most gold? Only then can they truly begin to market themselves. Until a speaker has this puzzle figured out, the road is dark and uphill.
I work with a talented man by the name of Chris Loomis, and for a few years now, I have watched as he has struggled to find his target sweet spot. He is a large, imposing man with a booming voice and a likable and aggressive demeanor. I have worked with him over the years, capturing his talks on video, sitting with him in seminars on branding and watching him get in front of audiences to speak on Leadership, Success and Sales. As time goes on, and as the challenges become greater, a speaker can get discouraged. But not Chris. His determination was attractive. Chris was always willing to try another way.
There came a moment when Chris decided to reach back to his corporate past and focus his expertise on what he gained as the Marketing Manager for DuPont’s environmental and safety services division. Little did he know that this shift would be the key to his finding his target. The amazing part of this story is that it unfolded so quickly. Chris changed his speaking topic to Safety Education, put up a video on YouTube and on his website, and before he could take a breath, had Exxon Mobil knocking on his door. The Oil and Gas giant has hired Chris to speak to it’s teams all over the globe on Safety. Not only once or twice, but as an ongoing project to last three years.
My own part in this success story was on encouraging Chris to keep recording his presentations on video and getting them up on the web. The right key words and tags got the search engines to find Chris and bring him back to the audiences that really needed to hear his talk. Check out the video.
I never knew I needed the new iPhone until I tried it
iPhone Video
My own introduction
Using video to promote your event
My favorite bunch of babes, Houston’s very own Texas Women Speakers Who Rock, is putting on a breakfast on September 25th that focuses on how to manage money. The gals had such a success with their first event back in June that they got right to work on this second one. It should be a hoot, so sign up soon.
They approached me about creating a very simple marketing video that they could upload onto each of their blogs to promote the event. If you haven’t considered using video and YouTube to promote or market your goods or services, then you are missing out on an amazing (and free) tool that is always at your fingertips.
