Blog Consulting, LLC.

Video Blogging - My first video mix production

Blog Consulting, LLC - Friday fare, in the blog world, is generally pretty light.  As such, I thought I would share with you my first production using my new Canon Vixia HF S10, with the aid of Apple's iMovie software.

I hope you enjoy, but most of all, I hope you begin to dream of how you might better communicate your story with your community, through the tools of social media, and specifically, video blogging.

Note:  this video was produced as the result of my social media consulting relationship with Scottsdale Bible Church, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Video Blogging with the Canon Vixia HF S10

Blog Consulting, LLC - yesterday I wrote a piece about my love for the Flip Video.

However, as noted, the Flip Video has a number of shortcomings that users will soon discover, if they plan to do a fair amount of video blogging, in their social media channels.

Quickly realizing the shortcomings of the Flip Video, I recently added the Canon Vixia HF S10 to my blogging tool chest.

I was first introduce to the Canon Vixia HF S10 by Dave Kaminski, at Web Video University.  You can find his video posts here, and here.

Here are the reasons I decided to make an investment in this "prosumer" level camera:

• far bigger, brighter lens.
• the ability to control how the uses the light.
• the ability to control the shutter speed.
• the ability to control the aperture.
• input for microphone.
• rather amazing footage shoot in the easy to use "automatic" mode.

This camera also comes with a whole host of cool features that will likely take me many months to use, understand, and take advantage of.  At the end of the day, however, this camera will give me far greater flexibility to accommodate various light, and audio situations I find myself in, and give me the tools to adapt to them.

Here is my very first video interview (shot for Scottsdale Bible Church) taken with my Canon Vixia HF S10.  Even though I used the on-board microphones, the audio is significantly better than the Flip Video.  Also, immediately noticeable was the significantly better exposure to the contrasting light in our little studio.  I also now see why television studios use cake on their subjects faces!  White skin is very reflective in high contrast light situations.

I still have a lot to learn as I translate my amateur digital still photography skills to digital video, but the journey will be fun, and I feel like I have a good, intermediate tool with the Canon Vixia HF S10.

As I continue to learn, I will share with you from time to time.

What experiences do you have to share about the digital video equipment used in your social media channel?

Is the Flip Video the right tool for your Social Media Channel?

Blog Consulting, LLC - before I launch into my article, please understand one thing:  I am a screaming raving fan of the Flip Video.

There, I said it.  I hope I don't need a 12 step program.

In spite of my enthusiasm, I have also learned (from shooting around 30 video interviews for a client) that the Flip Video has its limits. 

Therefore, I thought a blog post with the pros/cons of the Flip Video might be helpful.

Pros

• incredibly easy to carry around
• point and shoot video capability
• very easy to upload to YouTube
• HD is quite remarkable

Cons

• the averaging light meter really struggles with high light contrast situations. 
• no microphone input
• because of the lack of a microphone input, ambient noise really becomes a problem.  If you are shooting an interview, in a noisy conference room, you are going to struggle to hear your subject.

In my blog consulting business, I have always encouraged people to think of their social media channels as a potential TV station.  The Flip Video, at under $200, makes it very affordable for you to produce your own video stories, and easily get them published to your blog.

However, if you intend video to become a large part of your social media strategy, and you are a stickler for quality, like I am, you will find that you will quickly need to advance beyond the capabilities of the Flip Video.

For me, I intend to always have my Flip Video with me, because of its incredible portability, but from now on, when I can plan ahead for my video stories, which is nearly all the time, I will be turning to my new Canon Vixia HF S10.

Here is an example of a video interview that I did for my client, Scottsdale Bible Church, using the Flip Video.  As you can see, the video is pretty nice in this example, but the on-board microphone is struggling to get the audio.  I have also found that keeping this nice light was very difficult depending on what the subject wore.  If the subject wore dark clothing, the meter, coupled with the dark background "flipped" out.  A little pun on words!

Nonetheless, I hope this post shows you what you can accomplish with the Flip Video.  Now get out there and start sharing your stories in video!

Video: How to use Google Reader to subscribe to RSS Feeds

Blog Consulting, LLC - I get a lot of questions from folks wondering what RSS Feeds are, and how might they use them in their day to day lives.

To help address this question, I produced the following video:

Groupon Phoenix - $15 for $30 worth of food and drink at Crust Pizza and Wine Cafe in Scottsdale, Arizona

This is brilliant on so many levels, I just had to tell you about it!

I am going to bullet point my thoughts here, but as I go along, be thinking about your business/organization, and how you might re-think your communication/community building strategies:

• I first learned about Groupon (Group + Coupon) reading an on-line newspaper, with a link to this site.  (Mental note #1 - go to large on-line communities such as newspapers, facebook, etc., to draw traffic to my social media channels)
• Groupon takes a proven societal desire (a good deal), and seeks to build a community of regional people who are after said desire.
• Then, I would guess, they approach the community of organizations looking for new patrons, and speak to them about this large community of "deal getters" that Groupon has built.
• The organization cuts a special deal with Groupon, those desiring the good deal put their money where their mouth is, pay up for the coupon up front, and receive said good deal. 
• The "good deal" is only available if enough people desire to receive the good deal.  In the example above, you can see that 196 people have bought into the good deal.  Therefore, "the deal is on!"
• Urgency is created because the good deal is only available for a very limited period of time.
• The buyer, after the deal is on, immediately receives a return on their investment.  Here, as you can see, you have doubled your buying power, up to a maximum of $30.
• The organization, as you can see, in this case, so far has 196 new customers walking in their doors.  The organization's job will be to convert these deal seekers into real, full paying customers.
• If you look at the top right corner, you can see social media brought to this brilliant idea.  First, you can log in with your Facebook credentials, and therefore easily refer this potential deal to your friends, thereby making it a live deal.  Furthermore, if you like, you can make a comment on the deal, and share about your experience getting $30 of fabulous pizza, for $15.
• You can't see it in my screen shot above, but on the real Groupon page, there is a link to the Crust Pizza website.  I was unfamiliar with Crust Pizza, so I clicked, and what to my wandering eyes did appear?  Three beautifully done, on-line YouTube videos, with the owners explaining to me why I would want to come experience their version of pizza.

Moral to the story?  I bought a coupon!

There is much for us to consider here, but I will restrain myself and keep it very brief:

1. If you are a local Phoenix organization/business, perhaps you should get your Groupon, and bring in a crowd of "deal getters" to convert to patrons.
2. Are you stuck in the mud of communication complacency?  This is a brilliant idea!  How can you completely re-think how you communicate with your patrons?  How can you re-think how you are going to attract new patrons?

The social media world is here.  Hundreds of millions of people are waiting.  Are you going to learn to attract your fair share?

Click here to learn how Blog Consulting, LLC can help your organization build, and manage your own social media site.

Scottsdale House & Pool Watch finds deadly Black Widow spider in home!

Scottsdale House and Pool Watch - my step-son, Jerome Brunnemer, has just started a new business watching second homes for part-time residents, and pool cleaning.

Here, in North Scottsdale, the area is replete with potential clients.  The other thing that the market will soon learn is that here is a young man who will serve them with integrity.  Of course, I am biased.

Jerry was recently telling me of a client who was spending significant dollars in chemicals each month, and when Jerry tested the pool, there were no chemical in it! 

One of the tools that Jerry will be using, to build relationships with his clients, and help him find new clients, will be a new blog he is building.

Here is one of his recent posts:

"Terravita homes are surrounded by beautiful wildlife. But often the animals and insects that were there long before us end up in our homes.

I was doing a standard walk around a home the other day when I stumbled across this little guy. At first glance it looked like a harmless spider protecting it's egg sack. But after taking a closer look I noticed it was a deadly Black Widow spider. She was protecting her egg sack which was over three times larger than the spider it's self. If left alone these spiders will lay 400 to 1,200 eggs in a summer. Could you imagine several hundred deadly spiders crawling around your home while your gone for the summer?

If you are ever in this situation, it is important to get rid of the spider the proper way. Unless you destroy every trace there is a chance of future problems. The simplest way is to first spray the spider and egg sack with bug spray. Once it is dead move it to a safe place and light it on fire to make sure everything is destroyed.

Having a House Checking service look in on your home while your away has many benefits. Not only will a good House Checking service make sure there are no major problems with your home, but we can stop potentially small problems before the become much larger problems."

Not bad!  Informative.  Built Trust.  I would give him a call, wouldn't you?

If you are in North Scottsdale, why not give him a call?

Phantom Sightings Fiesta featuring Low & Slow: The Art of The Lowrider at the Phoenix Art Museum

Phoenix Art Museum - looking for something fun to do in Phoenix tomorrow? 

Check this out:

August 22, 2009, Noon to Midnight
Throughout Museum Grounds

In conjunction with Phantom Sightings: Art After The Chicano Movement, this very unique event will feature the works of Lowrider artists from the Southwest. It also includes a special dedication of the Official Lowrider Hall Of Fame pictorial and some of the hottest Lowrider cars and bikes to hit the show floor.

From noon to 4pm, activities will be focused inside where families can explore galleries filled with Latino and Chicano inspired art or maybe roll up their sleeves and try their hand at a printmaking workshop. Masks and music are provided by Zarco Guerrero.

As evening approaches almost 100 Lowrider cars and bikes will be on display throughout the Museum grounds. The fiesta style atmosphere will be family-friendly featuring live music from five Latino bands and DJs including Caribe and Herencia de Sinaloa. Inside there's late access to the galleries to see Locals Only and Phantom Sightings. Outside in the garden check out the work of artists including a group from spraygraphic.com. And of course, remember to grab a plate of food from our friends at Mi Patio.

Admission FREE for the car show. Other activities available at General Admission rates.

Brought to you by Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix New Times, La Campesina, Prensa Hispana, Honest Ade Tea, Ear Candy, Lowrider Magazine.

Maybe will we see you there!

Time Management 101 for Blog and Social Media Success

Blog Consulting, LLC - in all the years of my business consulting, I have seen one thing throw the best laid plains of eager people off the tracks:  Time Management.

Here are two simple facts of a successful social media/blog strategy:

• You must set time in your weekly calendar to actually write the posts.
• You must set time in your weekly/monthly calendar to contemplate the themes/topics of your posts.

I am a bit of a fanatic in this regard, and I hold this as one of the things that allowed us to dance around our competitors in the financial services industry.  We accomplished significantly more, in our 40 hour weeks, then most did in two weeks!

In your blog strategy, you must determine how often you plan to post new material to your blog, and then create a system to make that happen.

The calendar you see above is probably the 20th remake of my weekly calendar, as I continue to tweak my schedule to conform to my wishes, and guide me in the things I wish to accomplish.

Time management is a never ending journey.  However, if you desire to be successful, and build a blog that will create a loyal audience, then you simply must be consistent in your posts.

Set aside a few hours, next Friday, and develop a time management system for your social media efforts.

The Phoenix Symphony is producing world class video on their YouTube social media channel

Blog Consulting, LLC - a short while ago, I did a case study on The Phoenix Symphony's social media strategy, and was quite impressed.  However, I am a raving fan of the video they are producing for YouTube. 

Marketing take-away - although The Phoenix Symphony has the bar set very high, how could your organization use this type of approach to tell your story?  Trust me, your video does not need to be of this caliber to tell your story in powerful ways.

United Airlines breaks Dave Carroll's guitar and he responds with a YouTube Video with 5,000,000 views!

United Airlines Breaks Guitars - If you don't believe that social media is powerful, look at what happened when United Airlines broke Dave Carroll's guitar, and refused to pay for it. 

Dave Carroll has vowed to produce three videos bemoaning his mistreatment by United Airlines.

Marketing take-away - not only must you be producing your own social media channel, but must also be about the business of building "ears" on the Internet to prevent, or at least temper,  this type of viral walloping.  Dave Carroll's first video has received over 5,000,000 views so far!

If Dave Carroll hasn't been on all the talk shows yet, he certainly will be.  Yikes!