Trend Watch: Unleash Your Inner Video Producer

Still wondering if online promotional videos for your products or services are worth the effort? Consider this: Blendtec, a manufacturer and e-tailer of high-end blenders, has seen sales jump 500 percent since the company began its quirky "Will It Blend?" series of Web videos, according to The Wall Street Journal

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Success stories like Blendtec's are possible partly because of the growing popularity and ubiquity of Internet video. Seventy-five percent of all U.S. Internet users watch video online during a typical month, according to comScore data. Also, YouTube recently began making its videos available to smart phones over broadband cellular networks — further expanding the potential audience for online video.

Given these trends, the motivations for producing promotional Web video are clear. But what about the methods? How can a small e-business produce videos that will resonate with their customers?

To find out, we asked Larry Jordan, president of Larry Jordan & Associates Inc. , a training firm in the Los Angeles area specializing in post-production. Jordan offered tips for avoiding common mistakes and producing effective videos for designed to boost your sales.

Q: What's the most common mistake inexperienced video producers make when shooting promotional videos?

Jordan: The biggest mistake I see is people shooting their videos in a hurry and on the cheap. Keep in mind that customers will compare your online promotional video to TV commercials. Over the past 50 years, TV ads have become embedded in our national psyche. They have rich colors and high production values (except for low-budget local promo spots). So the worst thing you can do is create something fast and cheap that demeans your business or what you sell. You don't have to spend a lot of money to produce a quality video. But you need to take your time and make it look good.

Q: How do you make your video look good?

Jordan: Three things apply to any type of promotional video you're shooting:

1. Put your camera on a tripod. This gives your video a polished professional look, as opposed to a jerky amateur appearance.
2. Light your subject properly. Too many videos suffer from poor lighting.
3. Use a quality microphone. I recommend never using your camcorder's built-in microphone. An external microphone will give you better audio.

Q: What's the key to using humor in a promotional video?

Jordan: Coming up with something a large group will think is funny is extremely difficult. What's funny to one person is rarely funny to an entire group. Humor can work if your video is aimed at a particular type of customer, but it's risky when you're trying to reach a large audience. Test it out on a few impartial people first to make sure your concept is truly funny and not offensive.

Q: What advice do you have for shooting a promotional video for a service-oriented e-business?

Jordan: Before shooting any promotional video, regardless of what type of business you own, consider the audience you're trying to reach. Put yourself in their shoes. Who is the audience for the video? Is it an 18-year-old biker or a 65-year-old retiree? An urbanite or a suburbanite? What should your video say to them about your company and its products? What benefit will watching the video provide your customers? Be really clear who your audience is and what the benefits of watching your video will be for them. The answers to these questions should dictate how you shoot your video, right down to the camera angles and music.

(Continue to Page 2 for tips for how-to and collectibles videos, plus gear recommendations.)

Q: What's the key to shooting a how-to/instructional video?

Jordan: Never assume your audience knows anything about the product or service. Start at the beginning and walk them through the process in a clear, step-by-step manner. If you're selling software, for instance, don't just show all the whiz-bang features. Clearly explain the basics of what the software does first, then go into the new features. If you don't, you risk frustrating your customer. And if they can't get your product to work, they're not going to feel too warm and fuzzy toward you.

Q: What's your video production advice for art/collectibles?

Jordan: Make what you're showing look good with proper lighting. If you don't feel you can show off your product or service well in video, don't do it. Create a slideshow of still images instead. Never do a video just to do it. Think of ways to engage the viewer. Maybe you could have the artist on camera, talking about how he or she created the art or collectible object. Whatever you do, make sure the video offers value for the viewer.

Q: What tools do you recommend for small e-tailers who want to shoot their own promotional videos?

Jordan: Get a decent camcorder, which will cost you $800-$1,500. You don't need a high-def camcorder. Look for a camcorder with 3 Charged-Coupled Devices (CCDs), sensors that provide noticeably better image quality than standard 1 CCD camcorders. Sony, Panasonic, Canon and JVC all make good camcorders.

Invest in balloon-like soft lights from companies such as Lowel and Kino Flo. They give a nice, gentle light that makes products and people look wonderful.

As I mentioned earlier, a camcorder's built-in microphone doesn't give you good quality audio. Get your mic as close to the person talking as possible. To do this, you might pin a lavalier microphone on your subject. If you don't want the mic to appear on camera, use a short shotgun microphone instead. Good microphone sources include Azden and Sennheiser

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Keep in mind many low-cost consumer camcorders don't have microphone input jacks. They only have built-in mics. Also, XLR audio microphones always deliver better audio quality than 1/8-inch mini-plug mics. Most consumer camcorders, if they have a mic input, offer only a mini-plug jack. Professional-level camcorders (costing several thousand dollars) usually have XLR audio input.

Finally, when it comes to tripods, be ready for a shock. Good ones are surprisingly expensive-up to $1,000 or more. A friend of mine paid $8,000 for his tripod. For best results, look for one that's stable yet light and has a fluid head-which makes it easier to move the camera, such as panning from side to side. Sachtler and Bogen make good tripods in the lower cost as well as higher-end ranges.

As an alternative, you might consider renting the equipment you need from a professional camera or video shop. Rentals are often available per day, week, or for longer periods.

Q: What should e-tailers who want to hire pros to produce their videos ask in advance?

Jordan: Find out which video format the pro plans to shoot in (such as Betacam vs. digital video tape). The format can have an effect on the fee. So if the quote is too high, ask them if shooting in a different format might lower your costs.

You'll most likely be quoted a fee based on the amount of gear required for the shoot, as well as for the professional's time. It costs more to light a church for a video shoot than to light a small office, for instance.

Also, many pros charge you a full day's rate even if your shoot only lasts two hours. So you might want to plan to have them shoot more than one video in a day, to maximize the time you're paying for.

San Francisco-based James A. Martin has years of experience covering technology and is a frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com