How content is reused to create answer bits

Here is the process that is used to create content in various media.

First, we start with a question, or a set of questions. These questions should be tied to your search engine optimization plan.   It is also good to look at your frequently asked questions.

Here is an  an interview with an internet chief architect.   The overall questioning was centered around search engine optimization.  This example is focused on understanding if your website is effective.

We create a set of questions around the overall topic.  One of the questions is  “how do I know if my website is having problems”

Here is the 25 minute interview on BLIP.TV.

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The interview is then cut into segments that are posted on YouTube and can be embedded in websites, blogs etc..

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The content is also used to create a blog posting.

Ask Score: Could I get more from my Web site? Posted by Ann D. at 1/13/2010 10:11 AM CST

You’ve invested a lot of time and energy in creating a Web site to promote your small business and serve your customers. But how can you tell if you’re really getting the most out of it?

John Fairley, chief architect for Walker Sands Communications and a frequent presenter at Score Chicago workshops, has two suggestions:

First, put your business name into your browser and see what happens. Does your business name come up in one of the top three positions? If not, you have some work to do.

Second, try some key words that describe your business. If your business name doesn’t come up, that’s useful data: Potential customers aren’t finding you online.

Mr. Fairley once worked with a local moving company and found that the company’s name did well on search engines. But potential customers who searched for terms like “movers,” “moving company” or “moving and storage” weren’t likely to find this company. It didn’t rank well on searches.

Mr. Fairley went to work, revising the company’s site to highlight these descriptive words. After a couple of months, the site was ranking better.

He offers some other suggestions to make your Web site more search-engine friendly. First, make sure you have your local address on every page. Also, if you have a local phone number and an 800 number, feature your local number. The local number reinforces your company’s location, and that’s a key metric for search engines.

Finally, Mr. Fairley suggests that you list your company in the major search engines. Google, Yahoo, and Bing all offer free listing services. Check out GetListed.org, a free online resource, for details.

You can learn move about search-engine optimization from this Score Chicago CAN-TV 21 Hotline interview on Blip TV.

Score Chicago also offers workshops on Web sites and the Internet. You can find workshop information here.

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The content is then reused to create a radio spot.  Listen to the spot here.

All versions of this content can be embedded in web sites.  Selected versions can also be used in e-mails, newsletters etc.

Advertisement

You CAN use a Flip Cam

I was having a discussion with some people interested in social media.  In that discussion,  I suggested that Flip Cams were not capable of being used in building social media in a business situation.  I stand corrected.    I would suggest two approaches

First, a flip cam can give you a uniquely personal look at an experience.   If you want to give a person a roller coaster experience.  Check this out.

A personal view into the life of the food pornographer.

Second, creating the “documentary” on location video.  While these are shot with a flip cam… the editing is quite professional.    So, a flip cam in the hands of a highly skilled creator works.    It allows you to capture your subject without the intrusion of lights etc.  cinéma vérité

Travel videos also work well with the flip cam

3 Content Strategies for Social Media – Bulletin Board, Informational, & Emotional

When a user interacts with you using YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc, there is an understanding between you and the user as to what you will deliver.

There are three general content creation categories, (1) Bulletin Board,  (2) Informational (3) Emotional.  You should focus on one category for each effort.  Sometimes, you can mix 1 & 2  or 2 & 3,  but don’t try to do them all in one effort.

Bulletin Board – current news and events. These can be as simple as “new address 200 W. Main”.  A Bulletin Board could also highlight an upcoming event.  For the most part, this content is specific to a time and a place.  Here is an example of a workshop video that was done for SCORE Chicago

Informational – “Our new facility is 3000 sq. ft. it includes ..”   Product descriptions are also information videos.  Training tips, insights into operations etc.  Pointed answers to questions.  Below you will find a product video and an answer to a question.

Emotional “ we are creating an environment that will …”  A good video tour of a house would be emotional., connecting with you so that you want to live there.  Emotional, does not have to be complex.  Here is a short video done by Google about a person moving to Paris.

Restaurant postings are often emotional.   Note the comments on this restaurant video.

A good news story combines, information and emotional.  See this news report that I did with First Business News on web development.

Understand what is the goal of your content.  Then, create a place that is consistent with that goal.  You can have more than one channel or Twitter effort.  One person in Chicago has 5 different Twitter accounts, each one targeted toward a different effort.

Jess Constable, a recent guest on my TV show,  has a business that sells jewelry.  To that end, she has a website that showcases her jewelry (bulletin board + information).  www.jesslc.com .  Separately, she maintains a blog that connects with a community providing insights into simplifying your live  makeundermylife.com .  While the efforts are complementary,  she doesn’t sell on her blog.

3 Tips on how you use Social Media to become the “Trusted Source”

I was talking yesterday with a person who had been a reporter for a major newspaper. We discussed the fact that print in general and newspapers in particular were losing readers to the internet.  He expressed a concern that no one wanted to pay for what he called a “trusted source”.   While on the other hand, information on the internet was being accessed, but often was untrustworthy.

As we talked more, it became clear that there is an opportunity to become a trusted source in your business area.  While viewers are not going to pay for your content, they will reward your company by purchasing your products or services.  Prospects are searching for answers.  If you provide the trusted answers, people are more likely to purchase.  Video allows for greater trust because they can see and hear you.

Here are 3 Tips that will help you become a trusted source.

1. Understand what benefits your products/services provides.  Be very clear how your company fits into your overall business ecosystem.  If you have not done a vision/mission, it can be a good exercise to help.  Also, helpful is a competitive analysis. Knowing who you are not is as important as what you do.   You can only be a trusted source in the areas where you are competent.
2. Reach out to experts in your business area.  Here you can tap your internal resources.  Additionally, consider your suppliers, partners and even your customers.  Being a trusted source does not mean that you need to have all the knowledge, just that you can help point the viewer in the right direction.  A video interview with is an expert, that is facilitated by your company is very powerful.
3. Find a “host” to provide continuity.  A “Walter Cronkite” does not have to know everything, but your repeat viewer is counting on someone to insure that the subject matter expert stays on track.  That host can also provide continuity.  Reminding your viewers that this interview is consistent with ones done in the past.   Your host also needs a bit of personality.  While viewers won’t tune in just to see a host, the host does provide familiarity.. putting your viewer at ease.

Think about how you can promote your experts in email marketing, trade shows and other events.   For example, when you do a new video posting, let your customers know.  Provide that content to other members of your ecosystem.  If you are doing an interview with one of your suppliers, ask them to also reach out to their customer base.  You can also give them the video that they can embed in their website.

Customer interviews are very powerful.   While these clips enhance your website or blog, you would be surprised how many times customers will want to add it to their website.  Experts often use a good video interview to enhance their personal reputation.  All of those postings will reinforce your company’s position as a trusted source.

Establishing your company as a trusted source takes time, money, and effort.  However, the payoff can be significant.  Mindshare can be translated into market share.  The value of knowledge cannot be discounted.

Try to say yes

I worked once with a boss who loved his job, loved his company, and worked very hard.  As he had progressed up the corporate ladder, he took on tough jobs and accomplished most of them.

As he moved up, he picked up a bad habit.  From his perspective, responsibility was saying “no”.  The tough decisions forced him to say “no”.  Over time, he became known as “No Joe”.

As I have worked over the years, it has become increasingly clear that saying “no” kills more innovation, creativity, drive, and discussion, than any other word.  It’s almost equal to just saying “go away”.

My suggestion to all business leaders is find a way to say yes.  While no is unconditional, yes can be conditioned.

Yes, let’s try it.

Yes, with limited resources.

Yes, with clear goals and trigger points.

Yes, but a little bit slower.

Yes, please flesh it out a bit better.

But, “yes” is hard because you have to listen and help construct a plan.  “yes” takes time.

However, “yes” continues and “no” ends.  Only with a string of “yeses” can a company thrive.

How Social Media can increase the value of your company

MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009 – published in http://www.bizbrokerjournal.com

Interview with Mark Goodman of e-Conversation

We are continually asked by owners how they can enhance their businesses prior to pursuing a third party sale. This is a complex question and requires a indepth understanding of the business and its operations. However, ensuring that your top line sales are growing and that you have solid brand awareness are critical to attracting potential buyers to your business.

We recently had the opportunity to interview Mark Goodman who has created a platform to help companies leverage the internet in a unique way to enhance their online presence.

Mark is the CEO of e-Conversation a consulting based business focused around using video and social media to create client awareness and loyalty. Mark has a varied work experience. He was an educational television producer/director and a film buyer for a national theatre chain. Following that experience, Mark spent many years working for Motorola. He was one of the first business people in the cell phone group, rising to positions in distribution, marketing, and business management. Mark also developed and implemented internet strategies. Then he went on to manage service, parts and major account business opportunities. Subsequent to his experience at Motorola, Mark worked in sales management for a Silicon Valley company.

Mark has an MBA and an MA in Radio/TV/Film.

Mark, you are an expert in attracting and maintaining customers using new Web 2.0 internet tools, before we talk about how to use the tools, tell me how this creates value for a business.
There is a traditional value and a non traditional value to taking advantage of the new tools. First, let’s talk about the traditional one. Using the tools and the processes below, you can dramatically lower your costs of selling and customer support. Customers and users are looking to get answers on line. Below, you will find a process that allows for the creation of answer bits in multiple media. Lower sales and support costs translate into greater profits.

Now, let’s look at the non traditional value. The size of your social media audience can increase the value of your company. If you were supporting hundreds of users through Twitter or YouTube, that would be part of your valuation. Recently, companies have been hiring individuals based on their internet following. Companies like Twitter are totally valued on number of participants. Being a “recognized” expert for Google or YouTube, creates value beyond the ordinary.

How does a company need to change how they are creating content to attract Web 2.0 customers and users?
The content creation plan for a small business used to be pretty simple. When you rolled out a new product, you did a brochure and maybe a press release. Perhaps you ran a small ad. You trained your sales force, then got going. When it came to customer support, your technical people trained phone support.

What has changed in the last 10 years. First, your brochure went on line. Then, you decided rather than running ads, you would have buyers come to you using pay per click and search engine optimization. More and more, your buyers and customers did not want to see a sales person, but wanted to find the answers to their questions on line.

How has that changed how you create content?
When searching on line, your users want to find the answer to their individual question(s). The typical searcher is typing in four or five words. In a “decision engine” perhaps even asking a question. So rather than a brochure, white paper or FAQ list, you need to create an “answer bit”.

Also, realize that your buyers or users looking for service want to find the content in the media that they are comfortable with. Some buyers want to find it in a blog. Others, are YouTube viewers, some are searchers of Google or Bing. You can maximize the reach of your content by representing it in various media, if you plan for it in advance.

Our content creation process is based on the “interview” model. The content creation starts with a TV show. This is a 25 minute show that runs once a week. We have found that with the interview process, subject matter experts are more engaging, and answer length is more manageable.

The show is posted in its entirety on BLIP.TV. The show is then edited into clips and put on YouTube. The clips are also turned into blog postings. You can also reference the content in an email campaign. Content is then embedded on your website in the appropriate portions of the website.

Isn’t that a pretty complex and expensive process?
The key to keeping the costs down is designing the interview up front. The interview questions are created so that they can easily be cut into segments. Additionally, the dialogue during the interview focuses on topical issues that can be reconfigured into a blog posting. Lastly, we watch the length and complexity of the answers to insure that the clip will play well in the YouTube environment. Each question is its own answer bit. An answer has to be complete enough to answer a question, but not so complex as to lose the viewer.

The weekly show allows for the creation of continual content. Both users and search engines like the creation of continual content. The more users and viewers that you have in you channel or blog, the more Web 2.0 referrers will route people to you. When you reach a volume on a YouTube channel, you start to get more people finding you. It is not a linear increase, more of a quantum leap.

Mark, can you cite an example of a company you have worked with that deployed these services and experienced an increase in sales?
Absolutely. One local organization that we worked with recently has seen an increase in two of their offerings. Sales of one product line were up over 50% for the last 6 months, as compared to the 6 months prior. In addition, the volume through their local facility was up 30% in September as compared to September 2008.

This client understood the value of our services and the fact that they are most effective when used as part of a total marketing plan. We worked with the client to develop web content and that became the perfect complement to optimized search and pay per click.

How does someone get started?
The first step is making an inventory of what questions prospects, customers, and users are asking. If you are doing search engine optimization, that’s a good place to start.

You can do a couple of segments to try it out, but, just doing one or two segments, won’t help draw traffic. On the other hand, a regular program can have significant value on your sales, costs and valuation.

Chances are your customers are looking for products and services online and your ability to deliver relevant content can easily separate you from the competition. You can reach Mark at www.e-conversation.com to learn more about the above services.

POSTED BY DOMENIC RINALDI AT 3:59 PM

Tips on how to create content for social media

Below is a blog posting that I did in conjuction with Crain’s Chicago Business.

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Ask Score: Harnessing social media Posted by Ann D. at 10/28/2009 10:30 AM CDT With all the buzz surrounding Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools, it’s only natural that small-business owners want to know how to get onboard. It’s a topic that has come up often lately in Score Chicago’s workshops and counseling sessions.

Score Chicago’s workshop chairman, Mark Goodman, creates content for the Score Chicago blog, for the organization’s Twitter followers, and for a number of video outlets. He shares a few thoughts on using social media to your advantage:

The content creation plan for a small business used to be pretty simple. When you rolled out a new product, you did a brochure and maybe a press release. If you did some advertising, perhaps you ran a small ad. You trained your salesforce, then got going.

What has changed in the last 10 years? More and more, buyers do not want to see a salesperson, but want to find the answers to their questions online in places such as blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.

How do you get started? First, participate as an observer. Make a list of blogs in your industry and view them regularly. Sign up for Twitter. (You don’t have to write, you can simply follow for now.) Subscribe to some videos on YouTube. Become a participant, respond or comment on what others present.

Then make an inventory of the kinds of questions that prospects, customers and users are asking. If you are watching search terms, that’s a good place to start. One of the most common search terms on our blog has been “how to be a good salesperson.” We’ve done a number of entries about that.

Next, determine what experts are available to you. Think beyond just your company. Are there suppliers, partners or even customers who could be tapped for ideas or contributions? Look at what resources you have available. Are you comfortable writing, doing videos, creating conversations?

At Score Chicago, we had a client who was a painting contractor who specialized in restoring older homes. He was not much of a writer, so he hired a ghost writer to do his blog. Focusing on the key questions and aligning them to the search terms, he found his blog being read by key customers in his area.

Customer interviews are very powerful. While these enhance your Web site or blog, you would be surprised how many times customers will want to add your interview to their Web site. Experts often use a good interview to enhance their personal reputation.

Lastly, pick one medium and make a commitment to create regular content. Readers, viewers (and search engines) will better recognize your expertise if your content is continual as opposed to occasional.

Establishing your company as a trusted information source takes time, money and effort. However, the payoff can be significant. Mindshare can be translated into marketshare. The value of knowledge cannot be discounted.

12 Steps to Creating Impact Video on the Internet

It is increasingly easy to put video on the internet. The casual user picks up a camera, shoots, and then puts up the equivalent of a home movie. Afterwards, wonders why no one is viewing.

Internet video can be effective in positioning your business as a trusted source, increasing traffic, and enhancing revenue.   To get the biggest impact, you should go through the process below.   Note that 8 of these 12 steps take place before you pick up a camera.

Steps to creating Internet Video

1. Define your objective

a. Who are you trying to reach

b. What outcome are you expecting

c. How is video part of your overall marketing/customer touch strategy

d. What is your call to action

e. How will that objective/call to action to linked to your website

2. Understand how you are serving your viewers/community

a. What viewer questions are you answering

b. Who are the subject matter experts

c. How are those subject matter experts going to be queried

d. How will the questions and answered be displayed

3. Decide how you want to use your video content in the internet

a. Video Service (youtube, vimeo, blip.tv etc)

b. Your website

c. Conventions

d. Deconstruct content on blog

e. Deconstruct content as FAQ

f. Tag on to email

g. Share with Partners

h. Other

4. Determine what metrics do you want to use to track your viewership

a. YouTube or similar internet service

b. Website analytics

c. E-mail marketing

d. Blog Views

e. Comments and inquiries

5. Create a budget & distribution strategy

a. How does video fit into your marketing budget

b. What partners might be available in your network to help in the funding

c. How might internet advertising fit into your strategy

6. Understand the logistics of content creation

a. What is the availability of your subject matter experts

b. What kind of facility is available for creating the content

c. How comfortable are your subject matter experts in doing TV

d. Who is going to serve as your host

7. Finalize a list of questions for Subject Matter experts

a. List of questions you think need to be answered

b. Cross check those questions with key search terms (both from your website and Google Keyword)

c. Confirm the questions with subject matter experts

d. Determine any cut away material you will need

e. Review questions with subject matter experts

f. Finalize interview style (two shot, two camera, monologue, vignette)

8. Finalize Requirements document that address the above questions

a. Actual production process

b. Schedule

c. Budget

d. Deliverables

9. Shoot the raw content

a. Interview

b. Cutaways

10. Edit Content

a. Rough Pass for Preliminary Client Approval

b. Final content based upon Requirements

c. Upload to Video Service

d. Annotate as appropriate

11. Create Other Internet Deliverables

a. Blog posting

b. FAQ

c. Embedded Website

d. Others

12 Measure Impact

a. Web Analytics

b. Customer Response

c. Advertising and Derivative Revenue

d. Revise annotations and key words based upon analytics

e. Implement “repeat” strategy

3 Tips for Video Interviews on the Internet

Informational videos on YouTube and other internet video services have become widespread.  If you are doing a video, consider these tips.

1. Before you go on the air, review your questions with your guest.  A review will insure :
   1. Your guest answers the question that you ask
   2. When on camera, your guest responds quickly with a well thought out answer
   3. You avoid a question that your guest does not want to answer
2. At the beginning of the interview ask the guest to establish their expertise on the topic.  (“I am Director of Internet Services for BigCo.  In that job I am responsible for the management of our Twitter, YouTube, etc…)
3. If you think a guest comment is unclear, restate it for the audience and make sure that the guest is in agreement.  It’s OK, if it needs to be clarified.

Lastly, if you are editing, consider more than one posting.  Suppose your guest talked about social media for customer prospecting, and then discussed social media for customer services.  It could be one posting, but it could be two.

Adventures in iPhone land

In the post below, you will see that I purchased my first phone that was not Motorola.  I bought an iPhone.  Primarily because of the video and internet features, but also because my wife wanted one.  I figured if I bought one too, it would minimize what I would need to learn to provide tech support.

So, today I am at a client visit.  I want to show some of the video, so I figure I will connect to the internet.  No such luck at the client location.  I thought I was having a problem with the data plan.  Then in the car on the way home, I tried to place a call.  I was unable to place a call.

What was going on?  As luck would have it, I was on my way past the ATT store.  I stopped by the store.   The sales person affirmed that it was not making a call.  He waited a few minutes, then made a call.

I asked what he did.  He said that the iPhone is like a little computer.  Sometimes, maybe once a week, you need to reboot it.  Press the bottom button and the power button together  for about 15 seconds.

Nice to know that even the iPhone has its quirks.  Not just a Motorola issue.

More to come as I explore the features and benefits.