We've found a way to offer a 2 minute talking head video for small businesses for only $500. We set up once or twice a month at a central location in town. Customers send us their video scripts a day or so in advance and we load them into our teleprompter for the day of the shoot.

Basically $500 buys a video with some animated text, including a lower third. You can have it in any format that you need it. You can use it on your website, your email, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Ask anyone who has been in a successful business for many years, and most will agree that relationships are what build empires. Chances are that the person whom you met at last night’s function will probably not do business with you; but if you take the time to get to know that person, do your best to help them with their needs, it will come back to you exponentially.

The old saying is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I have a better solution and it says: “do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” The manner in which you like to be talked to, dealt with, and behaved toward is probably very different than those that you may be working with. Get to know each person in your network and genuinely build that relationship.

Full service video production company, Episode XI Studios, LLC is chosen to produce a high-energy video production, which celebrates the launch of SynergyStreet online community for entrepreneurs and engages the audience participation.

SynergyStreet (http://www.synergystreet.com) is an online community, designed by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs. The purpose is to provide the small business owner a single source for networking, news and knowledge; a vehicle to help maximize time and resources. The focus will always be entrepreneurs. The quest will always be to help make the quality connections needed to qualify marketplace meetings and build the relationships needed to grow and prosper business.

Episode XI Studios, LLC is a video marketing company located in Charlotte, NC that specializes in video production, event planning and corporate photography. The company believes in going well beyond a camera and a tripod, by using camera cranes and dollies. The end result isn’t a video production, but a Hollywood-style production…and all for the small to mid-sized companies.

Full-service video production company, Episode XI Studios, LLC is chosen to promote the latest in business mentality to Charlotte and surrounding area business owners. The finished video is used through email and Internet marketing, and showcases some of the areas business leaders.

Jeff Harmon, owner of TFL Worldwide, LLC (www.tflworldwide.net), helps the entrepreneurial community by teaching financial leadership (TFL). The training series (Business Owner Mentality) teaches not only tax and financial planning, but also the model of human behavior, time management, and leadership.

Striving to create a positive reputation through outstanding customer service, efficient networking, and community involvement, Episode 11 Studios creates an alluring atmosphere for both internal and external customers. Founder and CEO, Randy Davis, states: “we endeavor to be known as a nationally recognized leader in the industry.”

Episode 11 Studios, LLC is located in Charlotte, NC, and believes in going well beyond a camera and a tripod, by using camera cranes and dollies-a shooting style that sets you apart from your competition. The end result isn’t a video production, but a Hollywood-style production…and all for the small to mid-sized companies.

Top 20 Most Admired Companies

We're pleased to see the first company on the list is Apple. Being a completely Mac company, we consider this a top-notch announcement.

Content is NOT King

If you want a truly viral video that will get millions of people to watch and share it, then yes, content is key. But good content is not necessary to get 100,000 views if you follow these strategies.

Don’t get me wrong: the content is what will drive visitors back to a site. So a video must have a decent concept, but one shouldn’t agonize over determining the best “viral” video possible. Generally, a concept should not be forced because it fits a brand. Rather, a brand should be fit into a great concept. Here are some guidelines we follow:

* Make it short: 15-30 seconds is ideal; break down long stories into bite-sized clips
* Design for remixing: create a video that is simple enough to be remixed over and over again by others. Ex: “Dramatic Hamster”
* Don’t make an outright ad: if a video feels like an ad, viewers won’t share it unless it’s really amazing. Ex: Sony Bravia
* Make it shocking: give a viewer no choice but to investigate further. Ex: “UFO Haiti”
* Use fake headlines: make the viewer say, “Holy shit, did that actually happen?!” Ex: “Stolen Nascar”
* Appeal to sex: if all else fails, hire the most attractive women available to be in the video. Ex: “Yoga 4 Dudes”

This year has taught us a great many lessons and we’re sure that there are many more down the road. We have learned (the hard way) that we cannot park our equipment trailer in most parking decks, you can never have too many heavy-duty extension cords, and that storyboards are our most useful tools when planning a video project.

Most importantly, we’ve learned that the value of a professionally produced video is really much more than it’s price. With the advent of TiVo and digital cable, consumers are skipping commercials with ease. It’s getting to be a waste of money to advertise of television, especially when you consider that your website can hold those same commercials, or better, longer versions with no additional cost to you. Companies are taking advantage of times that they have a captive audience by playing entertaining and informing videos on monitors in waiting rooms and lobbies, elevators, in public rest rooms, behind the counter at the local deli, and in their booths at tradeshows.

Over this past year we’ve heard many ideas about where our customers are planning to use their videos. Even more resoundingly, we have heard about how much our customers have benefited from having that video on their website, playing on monitors in model homes, or on a DVD that is also a business card. It seems that the video gets more attention than our clients ever anticipated. Our customers say that their clients now spend more time on their websites, and have a better understanding of their products or services.

The popularity of video advertising in the virtual and the real world- is skyrocketing. We plan to be ahead of the game every step of the way for our clients, making sure that style of our editing and the technology of our equipment is the best it can be.

by Chris Henry

A study by Sharpe Partners, an interactive marketing agency, revealed that 89% of adult Internet users in America share content with others via e-mail. This is excellent news for those companies who use self-propelling word-of-mouse" e-mail techniques to sell their products.

The study generated some interesting results regarding the type of content that is most often forwarded, as well. The most popular content is humorous material.

The second most popular category is news, followed by healthcare and medical information, religious and spiritual material, games, business and personal finance information and sports/hobbies... in that order. So it is easy to see that humor is the best content for your viral e-mail campaign.

Cartoons, jokes and funny video clips are among the things that can be added to an e-mail to insure that it will go viral. People will want to pass along something that makes them laugh.

They are a lot more likely to hit the forward button and send your email to their friends and relatives if it is an "advertainment" rather than an advertisement.

Not along ago, about 35 million people got an e-mail containing a picture taken in Disneyland. It took a minute to see it but there was Donald Duck lying prone in front of the famous Cinderella Castle. The title of the picture was "Bird Flu has hit Disneyland". It was a viral e-mail advertising Disneyland and used the edgy strategy of making light of what's serious... and it works.

I'd guess that most people who own a computer have seen that picture... and thus the advertisement for Disneyland. The bird flu epidemic is newsworthy and has the potential to attract an enormous amount of attention to any brand that might, for whatever reason, associate itself with it.

Remember that people are much more likely to share a joke or a funny picture than anything else so you would be well advised to include humor in your e-mail campaign.

1. How long should the finished product be?
2. Do you need actors or a voiceover talent?
3. Can all the footage be shot in one day?
4. Where will the shooting take place?
5. What is your budget?
6. Will you write the script, or will we?
7. What formats will the finished product be in?

Check out this great article I found on another blog. The 7 Deadly Sins of Advertising Via Viral Video.

When planning a meeting, the endless exhausting site visits are one of the worst parts of the process. One thing I’ve noticed is that if you contact a hotel to discuss having a meeting there, they will send you pictures of the meeting space looking it’s best, but very few photos of the rooms or the rest of the hotel. When you tour the hotel on your site visit you find that while the meeting space may be sufficient the rest of the hotel doesn’t measure up. If only there was a way to narrow down the list of possibilities even more before the site visit trip.

The best way to showcase a hotel is with video. It’s much harder to doctor up a video than a still picture and it also gives you a “feel” for the ambience in addition to a clearer visual of the space. Most videos are filmed with actual guests in the background. You can see if they are enjoying themselves!

Hoteliers should consider video marketing. How many times during the initial RFP phase have I heard a hotel sales rep say, “If you could just see this place, I know you choose our hotel!” Well, give me a professionally produced video tour, and you’ve already enticed me to see more, even if typically something else would have taken the hotel off my consideration list earlier.

On one occasion I received an RFP and decided that the room rates of a certain hotel were too expensive, but after seeing a video showing how beautifully well appointed the hotel was, the restaurant and all the extra amenities, I decided to add that hotel to my site visit list after all. I reconsidered spending the extra bucks and cut back elsewhere in the budget so that we could host the meeting at that location. In the end the video made the sale, and the hotel got my meeting bringing in a group of 400 people for 5 nights.

Everyone was happy! It’s a win/win situation.

Check out this industry trade show. We'd love to hear from anyone who has attended in the past. Let us know if it was beneficial for you.

* DO NOT Sit down, read newspapers or anything else, smoke, eat or drink in the booth (this includes coffee and bottled water).
* DO NOT Ignore prospects by forming a cozy cluster and chatting with colleagues.
* DO NOT use your mobile phone in the booth, if you must make a call, step out of the booth to do so. And NEVER interrupt a prospect to take a phone call.
* DON'T Leave the booth unattended or leave without informing colleagues.
* DON'T Be late for your scheduled booth duty.
* DON'T Stand with your back to the aisle, it makes you seem unapproachable, and you can't see prospects to greet them.
* DON'T Use inappropriate language, complain about the show or about being at the show.
* NEVER Badmouth your competitors.
* Keep the booth clean, throw out trash as soon as you see it, and don't leave prospect's business cards lying around as though they are unimportant.

Our latest video marketing project is for an amazing company called E-Z Cleaners. We're doing a video project for their hand cleaner. Stay tuned to see the video on their website, and on our sample page.

This product is fantastic! It will not only clean anything off your hands (or anywhere else for that matter) but it's completely biodegradable and environmentally safe.

We recommend you check it out and be amazed. You can purchase it at Lowe's.

After looking into my crystal ball, I have made a cluster of predictions about what will be hot, and what will be not so hot in technology for 2008.

1. Video

YouTube has not shown any signs of slowing down. With the increasing popularity of portability and the increase of video-viewing technology, the growth of video is unlikely to slow down.

2. Healthy

Healthy is in. It is not only fashionable, but now cool to be healthy. Maybe this will help counter the rise in obesity in the US. Even those who give in to their cravings and indulge agree that it is cool to be healthy. Organic foods are at an all time high with an increase of roughly 20% per year in the US! This may also be a top New Year Resolution.

3. Buy USA

Buying USA is in. The falling dollar has made US products more competitive in foreign markets. Moreover, the quality issues that came to light in 2007 (lead in various Chinese products) have made US consumers more conscious about buying US manufactured products.

4. Rich Internet / Interactive Web / Semantic Web / Web Services

The interactive web with user reviews, peer voting, and social bookmarking has never been more popular. The Internet has become more personal and interactive. Contextual content has given way to personal preferences.

5. Aggregate and Attention Data

Suggested purchases, related purchases, and recommended purchases are now an integral part of ecommerce. Aggregate data is becoming a critical component of upsells.

9. Biometrics and Big Brother

Digital data and tracking is at an all time high. Privacy concerns appear to be taking a backseat to cool new technology that is likely to label the 21st century.