The Business Blog at Intuitive.com

Dave Taylor has been involved with the Internet since 1980 and is widely recognized as an expert on both technical and business issues. He has been published over a thousand times, launched four Internet-related startup companies, has written twenty business and technical books and holds both an MBA and MS Ed. Dave maintains three weblogs, The Business Blog at Intuitive.com, focused on business and industry analysis, the eponymous Ask Dave Taylor devoted to tech and business Q&A and The Attachment Parenting Blog, discussing topics of interest to parents. Dave is an award-winning speaker, sought after conference and workshop participant and frequent guest on radio and podcast programs.

How to use video to promote your business!

If you're like me, you know that you should be producing some sort of videos, whether they're a few minute screen captures or talking-head videos of you sitting at a desk ~~pontificating~~ sharing your expertise with your audience. Certainly for people who don't have the attention span to read paragraph after paragraph of textual content, video can be fun and quite informative.

But how do you use it effectively to promote your business or to highlight a particular facet of your business? It's not always easy, and so when my friends Andy Jenkins and Brad Fallon decided to produce a short video introducing the second year of the Stompernet internet marketing program, I was enthused -- and a bit nervous -- to see the result. Well, here it is:

Watch it all. Then read my commentary...

[If you want to learn more about Stompernet, go here: Stompernet 2.0]

Isn't Andy just sooo darn cute? :-)

Seriously, this video demonstrates that even something as non-visual as the launch of a new online education program can be effectively promoted in a way that catches your attention and, yes, amuses.

What's even more interesting about this is that the actual details of what changes with Stompernet 2.0, what's new for members who enter their second year of participation, hadn't been fully nailed down, and that's why they aren't specifically mentioned. No Powerpoint, no bullet lists, just goofy fun.

Further, as hinted on the video, Andy and Brad really are business owners in the Neil Simon Odd Couple vein, with Andy as Oscar and Brad as Felix. That's why Brad standing behind the podium introducing Stompernet 2.0 in his own way serves so effectively as a contrast to the goofy dancing Andy offers up.

One more point, for those of you who think that business executives can't have fun: Andy is the CEO of Stompernet, a corporation with twenty-odd employees and a multimillion-dollar revenue stream. Of course, if you don't have a wacky extrovert as head of your firm, anyone in the company can star in a potentially viral video, but don't think you need to "hire talent" to do something fun and engaging to promote your business!

Anyway, you've see the video. What do you think? Is it the kind of thing that can go viral and serve as an effective marketing tactic for Stompernet, or does its lack of a call to action or other traditional marketing elements prove too much of an obstacle?

Disclaimer: I am a faculty member of Stompernet and have a vested interest in the company. Not only are some of my best friends involved, but it helps pay the mortgage. Nonetheless, knowing Andy, I think the video's hilarious anyway!!

Posted by Dave Taylor at September 25, 2007 2:56 PM

Comments

This was hilarious but the only reason I watched it all the way through was so I could read/comment halfway intelligently. I would have stopped watching it after 2 minutes, max otherwise. It didn't tell me anything about StomperNet or why I would want to sign up so to me it wasn't effective. Maybe it was aimed towards current StomperNet members and they would have a clue what it was all about. It lost me early on. But Andy works great with pink!

Posted by: Judi Wellnitz on September 25, 2007 6:58 PM

I don't know Andy or the company. I found the first 30-40 seconds hilarious, but I could not watch beyond 2 minutes. Call me old-school, but if I don't know by then what Stompernet IS, why would I watch? As Judi comments above, this is obviously geared toward those who already know the company and its product(s).

I can't think of one client of mine who would choose this promotional route! ;-)

Thanks for blogging about it.

Posted by: Donna Papacosta on September 26, 2007 5:58 AM

I watched the video at StomperLive and at first I did find it funny, but like Donna said, it goes on way too long. From a marketing standpoint, I do like it, though, because it creates a lot of questions in your mind to want to go and find out more about it (you know, things like SNOTS). I think it was a great tactic, but from a patience standpoint, I do not know if a average person will make it to the end (where I think it is even more funny to watch Brad). Video and Web 2.0 is very alive, but the attention span of the general public, this may be a bit too much.

Posted by: Matt Bredel on September 26, 2007 8:08 AM

Much too long for me also, but I know how to drag the control across the bottom to speed it up to see what was being saved for the end... if anything.
Years ago I asked Dr, Hayden how to read a boring book about political "science". He said, read the first page, make up your mind what the book is about, then read the last page to see if you were right. I applied that method to this video. I was right.
What I really wanted to know was how the player was installed in the page. I'm messing around with this sort of thing on the belt pages of my website www.leathergoodsconnection.com I going to check this page source code to see what I can learn.

Posted by: Henry on September 29, 2007 1:59 PM

Hey Dave, sorry I'm late to the party ;-) Good comments from folks, and as a fellow faculty member at SN, being on the inside, I could vibe and roll with it.

At the same time, I could see how someone looking outside-in would get impatient.

Good takeaway points (and note to self):
- Promo or Viral video concepts - keep to approx. 1 minute +/-
- Training or educational videos - keep between 3-7 minutes max.

At ShermanLive.com where I coined webinar-webcasts as "Half Hour Huddles", the videos are longer for a specific purpose, to engage and add value to my members at WordpressTutorials.com - so its a weekly 30 min. 'live' engagement. I've had good reveiws of the format so far, and I think in large part to combining:
a. desktop-sharing +
b. live talking haed +
c. drilling deeper in teaching a hot topic like blogging, podcasting, video, or social media.

Dave, thanks for posting this - and your previous commenters drilled home the point of K.I.S.S. (keeping it short, silly) - Cheers!

Posted by: Sherman Hu on October 26, 2007 10:50 AM

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