Can you do an internet video on your own, or should you hire a professional? Over the last month, we’ve been involved in a couple of discussions on this topic.
During a presentation in December, I asked the question; “Have any of you (the attendees) ever taken a great picture while on vacation?”. Almost everyone raised their hand. Then I asked, “How many of you would hire yourself to photograph your wedding?” No one responded positively on that question.
What does this have to do with internet video? Yes, you can put together a video that works. Can you do it time after time? Are you willing to risk your business reputation on what you produce? Are you really going to create videos on your own on a regular basis?
In a recent article, a business consultant noted a concern that she did a few videos but did not like the way she looked. Another firm noted that they were going to do it themselves, but when asked how many they had done… the response was “well, we really have not gotten started yet.”
Working with another client, we noticed how people generally answer questions. In normal in person conversations, we are not under a time constraint to answer a question. If it takes us 5 minutes to answer the question, so be it. It is unlikely the listener is going to get up and leave, if we take a bit of time getting to the point. Next time you answer a question, think about how you preface it. Do you say “that’s a good question” – do you preface the answer with an explanation of how you have determined the answer? Do you start with a minor point and build to a major one.
While these answer constructs work in person, for an internet viewer it can be problematic. You have about 15 seconds to convince the internet viewer that you are going to provide a quality answer to their question. If you can’t get to it quickly, that viewer is gone.
For most clients, one of the questions that we create is “Tell us about how YOUR COMPANY provides the solution to the problem” In the initial video interview, one client started out noting that the company was based in Illinois, then, it sells products, lastly, here is the solution it provides. Good content, but did not answer the question promptly. Not to worry, we modified the order in the final video segments so that the most important point was the first one. That was the point that really answered the question. .
Lastly, you can really write a script, this would insure that your clip is exactly what you want. Then you can rehearse it, and do several takes.. After a while, you might get there. But remember, the internet is all about being authentic. Too rehearsed can be a problem. Plus, what is it going to cost for you to spend hours on the rehearsal of your subject matter expert.
