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Mark Stamas

I can Only Deal with it Now

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Marketing Philisophy

I put this post in marketing philosophy. The reason for this is obvious.

It’s philosophical. Putting off stuff is easy. Dealing with stuff isn’t.

That’s an idea. Ideas are philosophical. Boom! Done!

So this post is in Marketing Philosophy. In fact, I created the category just now because of this post.

Dillin’ with It as It Happens

So I had a thought along the lines of one of my quotes about immediacy “Dill with It as It Happens”, using a Chris Tucker Rush Hour “I want to know who’s he been dillin’ with who’s he been talkin’ to” voice.

And I did my usual thought process. Thought “Deal with it Now”. Wrote it on my list. Only that’s preachy. We are overloaded with quotes that are essentially orders be here now don’t let go blah blah blah.

Amazingly then I thought, why not do a post telling this story?

Even more amazingly, then I practiced the thought and started on this post now.

Key word. Started.

It’s July 26th, 2018. Will I finish this? Doubtful.

And I only mean finish as in good enough for rock and roll. Or put another way, a complete post, posted.

So it’s August 2nd right now, and I actually did post this the day I started it. Since then, Devin brought up a good point. I didn’t really talk about how to deal with stuff as it happens.

There is No Better Time than Now

There is no better time than now is a cliche I don’t think about much.

The other day Judy and I were visiting Lloyd Carter and his buddy Walt. At one point, Lloyd asked when I was going to jam with him and Scotty. This was after he asked something along the lines of “are you learning guitar” or can you actually play guitar. As usual I declined.

I suggested maybe I could drum since that doesn’t take knowing any songs really. He said sure. Then he said “we can jam right now”. To which I said “nah”.

Lloyd then said “never now”.

And that triggered the philosophical thought process that led to this post.

That was July 21 I think. Sunday. We helped Lloyd cover his boat. He’d been at Bass Lake Saturday.

There is ONLY Now

One thing I recognize, is there is only now. The past is an illusion. The future is an illusion. Arguably, even now is an illusion.

I always loved the saying “yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery” that implies living in the moment is not only mandatory, but should be actualized, which is to say one should really pay attention to the moment rather than anything else because that is all there is.

So, we exist only in this moment as a matter of fact. The cliche about never a better time than now is, in fact, true, because a better now cannot exist if there is only one now.

The implication that doing something now rather than later is better is somewhat misleading as later becomes the now of later.

Get with the Program

All of which is to encourage we all get with the program as Marcel Steinke used to say on the job site.

So I am now calling this post finished and will get with the program.

I’m adding what get with program looks like for Devin as mentioned above.

So getting with the program is basically just doing what needs to be done as it crops up.

So like say a receipt from a meal that might be deductible, take the photo put it in your QuickBooks self-employed app right then rather than keeping the receipt putting it in a pile that grows and grows and never gets dealt with.

If you have a choice, you can deal with it now, or the now of later.

Which one is better?

That’s a philosophical question, though the latter tends to make us feel overwhelmed later.

Later,

Mark

Happy Thanksgiving!

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food-collection

Happy Thanksgiving to Your and Yours!

These are exciting times on the internet, in the United States, and here on planet earth. The untapped human potential remains massive and we have much to be thankful for.

So Happy Thanksgiving!

With apologies to the Arawaks and all indigenous peoples.

All the best to you and yours!

Mark

Video Marketing Made Easy

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Video Hardware

Video Marketing Made Easy was inspired by video company extraordinaire Blare Media of Fresno, California. Blare Media’s Blake Barnett, Justin McAleece and I had some discussions regarding a potential project involving a lakefront real estate listing showcase video. Those conversations inspired me to do this article. What follows is a discussion of video marketing drawn from this inspiration.

Youtube Rocks! (and Vimeo Too)

Yes, it does. Youtube is all the rage nowadays for a reason. Why? Because video works. Video speaks. Video entertains. And with Youtube, video is free, easy, and everywhere.

Youtube

Video Works?

What does video works mean? Well, video is the next best thing to being there, in the room, actually having a conversation with your audience. For this reason video manages to communicate better than the written word in an ADHD world. Nothing will ever replace the written word, but video takes it to the next level.

Video Is ‘Real’

Because video can communicate better, video is alive, video is “real”. Video is highly visual and auditory, and as such manages to create a more authentic experience, and the emotional responses that go with the real world.

Effective communication is always the goal. As an extremely effective communication medium when done correctly, Video will be a very effective arrow in your quiver of marketing tools.

Better Shoot Straight (Pardon the Pun)

Blare Media Studio

But how do you do it right?

Camcorders are cheap right? Smartphones shoot decent video right? Youtube editing tools are awesome. So just shoot some video, edit and go, right? Well, yes and no.

The answer is, and this is the most common answer in the human experience for sure, that it depends. It depends on what you intend to achieve with your video. In a word, hire a pro for video.

Hire a Pro for Video

Blare Media FS700 HD Camera

You know you want video. How you shoot and create your video all depends on the response you want to evoke in the viewer. Your intent dictates your approach.

If you intend to put forward a polished, high-end look and feel, you absolutely must go pro. Save yourself the grief and just do it right.

But Fireside Chats Are Cool Too

On the other hand, if you just want to sit down and talk with your viewer you can shoot your own. You can edit in Youtube. You can put together a video that will appear to be what exactly what it is, a video you put together. And that just might evoke the response you desire in some cases.

But I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that isn’t really what you are after. And nine times out of ten you won’t have the time for post production anyway. And seriously, same as with web sites, your nephew’s uncle’s neighbor’s brother’s lawn guy who “does video” isn’t gonna cut it either.

Time is Money

And therein lies why I do what I do, and why you do what you do. Stick to doing what you do best and hire the pros for videos, just like you do with your web and internet marketing.

For the same reason you don’t want to mess with writing copy, optimizing web sites, working social media, managing paid search, email marketing and all the rest, you also don’t want to get into the video production business. Hire a pro.

Onward to what you want in a great video, and how to choose the right video production company!

How To Evoke the Right Response with Video

How you go about evoking the desired response with your video will again bring up “it depends”, but in the end, it’s all about marketing. That means telling what you are offering, why the viewer should choose you and how to take the next step to do that.

So your topic, arena, or product, will establish the framework within which your video will be created. So let’s use the example that inspired this article, lakefront real estate.

Just Say No to Photos

Before we jump in, a quick note about photos in video. If you want to do a slideshow, then do a slideshow. Video is not the recommended medium for photos, and a slideshow converted to video isn’t really a video.

Yes they are all over Youtube, especially in real estate, but they sure aren’t video. I don’t know about you, but I find them irritating.

In this article we’re talking about live action video that will establish the three dimensions of reality and put you in the space much more effectively than photos ever could.

What’s So Special About a Lakefront?

So for a lakefront property showcase, first you’d need to clearly show what the property is, a lakefront. That’s easy right? The property is a lakefront so you make that very clear by shooting the lake, the dock and the home’s relationship to them. Then shoot the home itself, the layout, the rooms and so on.

Showcasing real estate will rely heavily on wide angles that can establish these relationships and emphasize scope. What used to be called the “fish eye” effect is a very powerful tool in covering a lot of ground, literally. In fact, the old school 50 mm lenses of lore are now referred to as “telephoto”. But that’s another story.

For a lakefront, extremely wide angle lenses can make all the difference in establishing spatial relationships. You know what those are right? And you own several extremely wide angle lenses right? Oh, wait, you don’t need to. You hired a pro and they’ve got you covered.

So once you’ve established what you are offering, visually, with depth, accuracy and appeal you then move on to explaining why anyone would want the offer.

Why This Lakefront?

So what makes this lakefront different? Not just the same old benefits, but what the buyer is going to get from this particular property that they won’t necessarily get from another lakefront. They all have a dock, a lake, front the lake and so on, but what makes this one different?

Video really excels in this arena. Again, it’s the next best thing to being there. With video, you have the opportunity to really put your prospect into the space, to see the item up close and personal, to feel the joy, to just plain get it. Show the thing or things that makes the property or offer different.

So make your “differentiation” impossible to miss. In some cases that’s going to be you and your personality. Get in front of the camera and just be you. Let your passion and emotion show.

In our lakefront example, that’s going to be the huge fountain in the backyard, or the massive patio with outdoor kitchen, the giant home theater, and so on. Give them something to hold on to and share with others.

Onward to what you want the viewer to do next..

How They Get All Those Benefits

The “how” is sometimes considered the “no-brainer” of marketing that unbelievably get’s overlooked time and again. This is the howto of the “call to action”. Old school terminology refers to asking for action as the CTA or “call to action”.

But don’t just ask for the action, explain exactly how to take that action. Call 555-555-5555 now! That simple.

Spell It Out

You’ve shown your offer with a top notch professionally shot and produced video. You’ve differentiated your product or service using all the power of pro gear and production. The viewer is thrilled. They want those benefits! Now, tell them exactly what to do next.

So the how is simply making sure you direct the viewer or prospect as to what their next step is going to be, precisely. What you are offering will guide the call to action steps. In our lakefront showcase video example it’s going to simply be “give me a call, email or text” by the agent. Or maybe a title to the same effect.

What, Why and How

Never forget the simplicity of what, why and how as your guide in video marketing and you can’t go wrong. One of the most powerful aspects of video and Youtube, Vimeo and all the rest is the power of sharing.

Once you’ve produced your tour de force videos, people will want to share them, and will.

How To Choose Your Video Production Company

To achieve all of the above you need a company that not only has all the modern tools of the trade, the technical aspects of video production handled, but the emotional aspect as well.

What? Emotional? Seriously?

Emotion is what moves us all. Drive. Passion. Feeling. Memories. If you successfully evoke emotion, then you will create an immersive and memorable video experience, and that memory will last, and be shared.

Evocative Isn’t Trivial

Making an evocative video isn’t trivial. You need a company that uses a variety of angles and movement techniques critical to evoking the desired emotional response. That’s why you are hiring a pro video production company.

The composition and angle of the shot, movement, visual effects, time lapse and music, all conspire to produce a unique emotional experience. Yeah, that’s right, emotional. So if your video company doesn’t understand the emotional aspect of video production, pass, like right now.

Post Production & Music

Most of the work in music and video is in what’s called “post production”. Post is the part where all the pieces are assembled, edited, polished, combined and packaged into a finished product. This is where creating the sequence and flow of your video, and creating and mixing in the right music takes place.

The Tools of the Trade

Red EpicNone of us outside of the video production arena is going to know what gear is at the thin end of the wedge in video. But you do want to make sure your chosen company has the equipment to do the job.

So ask any prospective video production company about their camera, lenses, equipment, lighting, software and so on. You’ll either get an impassioned response going into fine technical detail of all the great cameras and lenses they have, or you’ll rapidly find out they don’t have the passion, or the gear, to meet your needs.

Emotional Professionals

So what you need is a company that can translate your passion for your product or service into the video medium and evoke the desired emotional response from your viewer.

How they do that is where the gear and know how comes into play.

As I said at the beginning, I was inspired to do this piece by Blare Media of Fresno. They meet and exceed everything I’ve discussed here, and it shows. You might consider them in your quest for Video Marketing Made Easy.

Click for Blare Media 

About Blare Media

Blare MediaBlare Media specializes in being the most accomplished video production company in the Central Valley by utilizing many complementary technologies and techniques, to produce the most evocative, effective and memorable videos you will find.

  • Blare uses an ultra high definition cinema camera called the Red EPIC. This is the exact same camera used on films like Spiderman, The Hobbit, Prometheus and Pirates of the Caribbean.
  • Blare Media has a huge variety of lenses and can get extremely wide angle shots when the subject calls for it. This can help to accentuate the size and scope of virtually anything.
  • Blare Media employs a variety of camera movement techniques, including slider and dolly shots that show the depth and reality of any given space.
  • Blare Media uses time lapse when applicable, enhancing the goal of the video. They use High Dynamic Range technology that lends polish to imagery that cannot be otherwise achieved.
  • Blare Media edits and processes color for your video using the absolute latest in technology. They have tools at their disposal that rival those of the Hollywood studios.
  • Blare Media uses an approach that showcases the extraordinary, the finer points, and the most remarkable aspects of the subject matter, so the viewer is left with a memorable experience to hold on to, to recall, and share, over and over.
  • The Blare Media goal is to provide a visual representation of all the best that there is to show in a short but meaningful way, so that the viewer can feel like she has been there in person and experienced everything, while at the same time left wanting more.
  • Blare Media creates videos that are important to show to other people in the viewer’s lives, the so called “viral” sharing on Youtube and Vimeo. In this way the viewer can share in the process, and get excited about something that is much more immersive than just a few pictures or text.
  • Blare Media utilizes emotion through music, editing, and processing in your videos to yield an experience, a way of life, a way of being.

Welcome to multimedia at its best. I hope this article proves to be of some use to you, and that you use video to its fullest extent!

Thanks,

Mark

Web Marketing Made Easy

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I’m going to let you in on a not so secret secret.

shopping-cart

Please Don’t Tell Anyone

Marketing is communication. Communication is easy. Marketing is easy.

Communication is easy? Yes. Although communication can be a challenge, especially if your audience isn’t listening, if you say what you mean, and mean what you say, communication actually is very easy. (Those are two different things according to the Mad Hatter! ‘Why you might just as soon say you see what you eat as you eat what you see!’ Food for thought, that.)

Now, what you communicate is next. This is the not so secret secret . Communicating three simple things well, will make your web marketing easy. You need to effectively communicate:

  1. What You Offer
  2. Why Your Prospect Wants Your Offer
  3. How Your Prospect Gets Your Offer

How you do that is where all the tools at your disposal come into play, from web sites, to business cards, from print media to social media. And there are very specific ways to make this all easy.

You Just Got Your Marketing Degree

Easy. Right? Yes indeed. But here’s the funny part. Most of us fail miserably. We either omit this altogether, or fail to keep these things in mind while writing copy or creating other media. These three basic elements of marketing are often overlooked and not shared.

Simply state what they get, why they want it, and then how to get it. Make it easy. What do we bring to the party? Why would anyone want to party with us? How to party, what’s next? This is the essence of marketing. (The party metaphor is a recurring favorite of mine. Party! Have fun!)

But Wait, There’s More

Of course there must be more to marketing than that. Well, no, not really. But John Carlton describes the final challenge well, triggering the take action impetus in the last “how” step. He says something to the effect that “we then have to get them up off the couch to buy”. The couch is of course symbolic. and not everyone is on the couch, everyone is different. But the concept is sound. How do we move folks to move? How do we convince them it’s OK to take action? That they can give themselves permission to act and try your offering?

That’s the part of the “how” step, the call to action, that takes that little extra connection. Carlton also points out what we’ve all observed time and again, from elections to selections, that humans constantly act against their own best interests. From what I can see, this is usually either due to laziness (the couch metaphor) or fear. Fear of taking risks.

And so it goes in marketing, even when you have an absolute perfect fit. Folks are lazy, or afraid, and just want to kick back and not take risks in general. Buy that perfect solution to my problem? I’ll think about it. So you have to overcome those barriers to risk-taking and get your prospects excited about you. You have to connect. You have to build their trust. You have to remove risk.

Get Them Off The Couch!

So what motivates that last step? Causes pulling the pin on that purchase that will solve that problem? Helping them fill that need and desire? Excitement!! (Ah the pesky exclamation point. Don’t overdo lest you appear phony.) Believing. Don’t go for the fake scarcity rap, “act now or forever hold your peace!”. We all know it’s bogus. And many times, very off-putting. Be genuine. Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Be yourself.

I Just Believe In Me, You And Me

Enthusiasm. Joy. Lust for life. Yours and theirs.  Enthusiastically and genuinely share your enthusiasm about your offering and they’ll get enthusiastic and want a piece of the action, your action. This isn’t manipulation. This is sharing. This is helping. This is connecting. Making that connection with another human being with a need for your help. If you believe, they will believe. This is the differentiation of your offer. You truly believe in your offering. You truly care about your customer or client. You truly want to help them. And they can feel you.

Having Fun Yet?

So this is the most fun of the “how” part, motivating your customers, existing and future, to get up off the couch and take the next step in experiencing the value of your product. Falling in love with your customers, and your customers falling in love with you. Getting them off the couch is easy by having fun, generating excitement, and sharing your absolute enthusiasm for your product or service. Show your prospects how much you love your offer, you love them, and you want to help them, and they’ll love you and your product too. Fun and excitement is infectious.

So Make It Easy

If you do these three things really, really, ridiculously well (damn you Zoolander!), communicating with the right people, marketing is easy. Web marketing is easy.

Marketing is fun. The whole stigma of marketing comes from a long history of con jobs. But marketing isn’t a con. Au contraire. Knowing your audience, finding that audience, keeping customers, reaching out to new customers, bringing back customers,  making irresistible offers, all comes down to human beings communicating. And having fun doing it.

As easy as one, two, three. No joke. HAVE FUN! (Thanks Max. I miss you.)

Fresno Web Design

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Fresno, Clovis, Bass Lake, Yosemite, Oakhurst

Is your web site converting visitors to sales?

How do you know? If not, what is that costing you in economic opportunity losses?

Do you need a web site? Ready to market on the internet? Want your site to work from day one?

What is a web site that works?

This is the often overlooked question that leaves myriad, in fact the vast majority, of web sites essentially useless. Maybe that is the intent for 99% of the sites out there, but not yours.

So what is a web site that works?

The answer you already know: a web site that works is a web site that increases your sales and profits.

So you know what you want, and need help on how to get there.

This is where Off Media can help you reach that goal, the “how” of designing web sites and other online marketing media that convert to sales is our expertise.

Converting visitors to customers requires web content that reaches the right prospects and speaks to their needs. When your prospects find you have the answer they seek, along with the confidence to choose you out of your competitors, your web site will convert to sales.

Reaching the right visitors is critical.

For the most part there isn’t any “traffic” that just happens by and happens to convert. This is one of the first mistakes made, assuming that a web site in and of itself will increase your visibility and profits.