Market Yourself as a Speaker » Video demos

GROW YOUR BUSINESS OR PROMOTE YOUR BOOK THROUGH SPEAKING

speakerservices — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:41:34 +0000

Wendy Scharfman a social media friend and communication coach interviewed me for her blog News from Coaching For Effective Communication . I thought you might be interested in reading the interview and the post from her blog.

GROW YOUR BUSINESS OR PROMOTE YOUR BOOK THROUGH SPEAKING

Wendy Scharfman
Coaching For Effective Communication
www.wendyscharfman.com
Take it away Wendy,

This week I want to focus on the ever-increasing necessity for professionals and authors to grow their business through speaking in public.

I had a radio interview with Bill Frank last week for KKZZ talk radio in Ventura, CA http://dld.bz/rq2K and one of the things we discussed was the importance of honing your speaking skills for whatever message or product you are providing. If you are not the BEST representative of what you do, the world will not embrace and engage with what you have to offer. It’s seemingly obvious, but often not the case. Taking the time to work with a coach, trainer or even a partner on refining your message for any speech or material you put out there will come back to you tenfold. And then, get some help getting out on the trail.

Susan Levin, owner and founder of Speaker Services (http://www.speakerservices.com/) put this notion to work. I came across Susan several times as I was building my business and I believe “Attention must be paid” to the seeming coincidence of someone repeatedly appearing in your life. She offers great services, training and a wealth of information for people who want to market themselves as speakers.

INTERVIEW:

Wendy’s Question:

Susan, can you briefly tell me what led you to start your business and how has it changed since its inception?

Susan’s Answer:
In 1992 I was inspired to work with business folks and give them the opportunity to market themselves as speakers. We began with a print directory in Los Angeles, which was mailed to event producers, meeting planners and was distributed on newsstands around town. In 1994 the Internet came to life and I was one of the first 1500 people to have a url and a website. We continued with the print till 1998 and then went full boar on the web as many more people were using it as a resource.

The web took Speaker Services from being a local business to worldwide – we have clients all over the country and in Europe as well. With the influx of social media, it has become very easy to connect with more people and grow my business. Connection is the key. It spans from a 30 second introduction, 10 minute talk to a keynote presentation, to blogging, lead generation, social media, creating videos, job interviews and workshops. The whole enchilada. I love connectivity!

Wendy’s Question:

What do you think are the most important factors in becoming a better speaker?

Susan’s Answers:
• Don’t be a speaker, be an expert who speaks.
• Be passionate about your subject matter. When you are on fire, others catch on fire.
• Know your target audience.
• Get a presentation, media and branding coach.
• Make sure you have The 3 C’s or the Holy Triad in your presentation Connection, Content and Comfort
• Be a great storyteller and get the audience involved.
• Create videos so that event planners can see you in action.

Wendy’s Question:

How does social media come into play in terms of the services you provide and promoting your own business?

Susan’s Answer:
Social Media is awesome. I promote my services and speakers via social media and teach them too how to join groups so that they can begin to create joint ventures, visibility and credibility. I prefer social media to networking meetings in person. Once you find your tribe it is totally acceptable to arrange a meeting to learn more about how you can support one another. Wendy, you and I met via social media and started a conversation and here I am writing a post for your blog!

Wendy’s Question:

Talk a bit about the various classes and teleseminars Speaker Services offers.

Susan’s Answer:
• I teach a workshop in Los Angeles called Market Yourself as a Speaker, which is about the business of speaking. I also work with folks privately. http://www.speakerservices.com/services/marketyourself.html

• Barbara Niven and I teach Web Video & Marketing Workshop, YOU ON CAMERA http://www.speakerservices.com/web-video-workshop.html

• Once a year we offer a Video Demo Showcase & Authors Video http://www.speakerservices.com/videoprod.html

• I have been offering teleclasses way before they were even popular.

• We have a membership club The Speakers’ Community where I interview experts twice a month on speaking, marketing, books, social media and more. http://www.speakerscommunity.com . It is an online library and it is 60 days complimentary.

Wendy’s Question:

If you were starting out as a professional speaker, what would be the most important sequence of actions that you would take to succeed?

Susan’s Answers:
• Get a coach
• Get focused
• Speak for Free
• Attend events, listen to teleclasses, join speaker groups or start your own on Facebook, LinkedIn
• Learn the business of speaking and get all your marketing materials together including video
• Build a following; stay out in front of your peeps via regular e-mails and social media

Wendy’s Question:

What transformation do you see in your class participants after they have completed the training for their speaking videos?

Susan’s Answer:
They jump to the next level of professionalism, begin to get paid for speaking and they are more visible.

Los Angeles friends join Speaker Services on 9/26/10 complimentary YOU the Star, Speak, Write, Market event. http://t.co/GPunWDY

If you would like to sign up for Wendy’s blog please visit: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=001Vjt3cCjZco_UHnxe90vk-g%3D%3D

YOU the STAR! SPEAK-WRITE-MARKET Event 9/26/10

speakerservices — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:26:50 +0000

Invite from Susan Levin

COMPLIMENTARY

YOU…THE STAR!!! SPEAK-WRITE-MARKET MINI SUMMIT & VIDEO DEMO SHOWCASE In Los Angeles

Sunday, Sept.26, 9:30am-5pm $FREE Register Now

In this day and age, to truly make a lasting impact, you need to be a media conglomerate: a compelling speaker…a credible author…a believable video performer…a master marketer.

In “YOU…THE STAR!!!” you will learn — from acknowledged experts in their respective fields — the ins and outs, the secrets and strategies for being a multi-faceted media personality.

Regardless of profession, everyone is an expert in their field and this event is a perfect opportunity to turn your expertise into a successful business; to master the game of speaking, to navigate the latest technology, and learn exciting new strategies for producing active and passive income.

THE PROMISE OF “YOU…THE STAR!!!”

- EARN why the magic of speaking is invisible

- POLISH your performance, presentation and communication skills, no matter what field you are in

- TRICKS to sharing your passion & excitement that translate into action and sales

- WITNESS a live video demo shoot

- DISCOVER why a speaker video demo is the ultimate calling card

- GET the #1 secret so you can “play” on camera – it’s the magic secret sauce that brings you $$S!

- LEVERAGE videos into your marketing campaign and convert visitors into customers

- EXPLORE self-publishing vs mainstream publishing

- CREATE time to write your book

- TURN your content into cash

- FIND out how event producers decide who gets booked

- UNCOVER what’s uniquely marketable about you and your mission

- MASTER Social Media, Blogs, Article Writing, Teleseminars, UTube

PRESENTERS:
Jack Barnard is a master presentation & branding coach, a media trainer & writer: a true maverick in the business. He works with speakers, authors & entrepreneurs, both one-on-one and in groups. His original method emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual, focusing on the permission to bring forth one’s distinctive style.

Susan Levin is owner & founder of Speaker Services. Susan is an International Marketing Consultant for speakers & authors. Her company offers marketing & training services & video production service.

Jean-Noel Bassior is a book coach & journalist who specializes in celebrity interviews. She is the author of Space Patrol: Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television published by McFarland.

Barbara Niven is an Actress, Speaker and Performance Coach. Barbara is in demand as a Performance Coach for actors, hosts, speakers & executives. In her studio she videotapes sessions for instant replay & feedback.

Location: Marina del Rey, 9:30am-5pm

When you register you will receive the address and location.

REGISTER NOW

7 BEST TIPS FOR SPEAKING IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA

speakerservices — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:12:21 +0000

Post from Wendy Scharfman
Coaching For Effective Communication
www.wendyscharfman.com

Video is everywhere. YouTube, websites, training and product videos, corporate and marketing videos, media interviews… the list goes on. How do we get ready for our close-up?

Video now gives us the ability to reach vast numbers of people in unprecedented ways. As in any public speaking event, you want to capitalize on the opportunity to communicate your thoughts and ideas with “savoir-faire” – to say it like you mean it all in a sound bite, with confidence, grace, a little panache and some universal humor thrown in for good measure – ALL THIS, without tripping over your tongue, losing your train of thought, or looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

Piece of cake? Not exactly. When done well, we make it look so facile and relaxed. But haven’t we all seen those stiff, wincingly uncomfortable, monotone excuses for a video product? Here are some necessary tips for making your video stand out that will place you rightfully in the spotlight.

• Focus. Literally. As in where you look. Remember THE CAMERA IS ALWAYS THE AUDIENCE. So, if you’re talking directly to the audience, tilt your head up slightly (trick of the trade – this will hide a double chin!) and position the camera a little above your eye level. That’s your focus. In an interview, always focus on the person interviewing you, not the camera – make it a conversation.

• Relax and smile. Nerves are nasty little critters. But an inhale and exhale followed with a soft smile (NOT one that’s ear to ear) can really help you fake it ’til you make it. Be sure you’re breathing regularly in the course of taping. Do not hold your breath. Trust me, it will wreak havoc on your ability to speak and add a whole lot of stiffness to your demeanor. Also, blink on occasion. It’s a natural lubricant for your eyes and will help you stay “bright eyed” – you’ll look less “robotic”. Think of it as a smile in your eyes with a little mischief behind them. It will give you confidence.

• Body language. A little movement is fine; too much movement makes you appear nervous. By all means use your hands! But try and keep them below chest level, no wider than your shoulders and don’t flail. Hands can enhance decisive statements and support nuance in your speaking dynamics, but don’t overuse them. And don’t even think about running your hands through your hair. If you’re standing during your taping, watch the rocking back and forth. Try and stand comfortably with your feet about six inches apart, your weight equally distributed and your shoulders relaxed. And don’t stand on the balls of your feet, you run the risk of losing your balance. When sitting, lean just slightly forward, shoulders down and then sit as tall as you can but without stiffness. Breathe…

• Appearance. No stripes, checks, neon colors or optical illusions in your clothing. No white, red (on camera it bleeds, really) or too much black. Solid colors but not uniformed and get out the iron (wrinkles show!). Dress appropriately for the occasion and make sure it fits! As for make-up, ladies, use it sparingly. Avoid a lot UNDER the eyes (none is best) and choose a shade of powder slightly lighter than your skin tone. Gents, a little powder takes away the shininess, which includes any baldpates! And if you button your suit, it will keep your tie in place (Helpful Heloise…).

• Delivery. This is when you get to play with your voice and your style of speaking. Add some energy, dynamic and nuance. No monotones allowed. Remember, it’s also a conversation with some great storytelling – you and the audience or you and the interviewer. Add some universal humor (not a joke) – if you make us laugh, we’ll listen better. Also try out a few analogies, quotes and action words. And make sure you have a positive perspective. After all, you want to be seen as the expert at what you do by effectuating positive change. Be sure to hydrate but do your lip licking before the camera is turned on. It’s very distracting.

• Hire a media trainer. The rehearsing, practice and ultimate camera performance can be greatly enhanced with a coach. A coach or trainer will have the skill and expertise to lead you in the right direction, provide you with content suggestions and delivery techniques, and help with the tough questions you may not ask yourself. The video is out there for all to see – invest in making it a great one.

If you would like to sign up for Wendy’s blog please visit: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=001Vjt3cCjZco_UHnxe90vk-g%3D%3D
E-mail: wendy@wendyscharfman.com

Susan’s note: In Los Angeles? Web Video and Marketing Workshops, You On Camera http://www.speakerservices.com/web-video-workshop.html

Secrets to Paid Public Speaking Success #7 CREATE A PROFESSIONAL WEB PRESENCE

speakerservices — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:13:56 +0000

Post from E.G. Sebastian

If you want to be taken seriously, you need to strive to project a professional image with all your marketing materials…

In the 21st Century, you won’t be taken seriously if you do not have a website; but if your website is of poor quality (and God knows I could list you a few bad examples) then you are worse of than not having a site at all… Well, maybe I’m wrong with this one; I believe no matter how bad your site is, if you have a great offering, you’ll get at least a few local engagements…

I see several mistakes that ineffective speakers do on their websites:

1. They pay an inexpensive designer to build the site and it looks “home made”… and the sad part is, the website owner cannot add content to the site at will – s/he has to pay the web designer to modify the site each time.
! – now…., if you are not on low budget, this is the way to go – except do not chose the inexpensive web designer, as you usually get what you pay for (unless this web designer is oversees and a complete professional – you can find one at http://www.eLance.com .

I built most of my sites with web-based site builders, or with Dreamweaver… and recently with Microsoft Expression Web. My sites built with the online site builders were the easiest to builld, have a professional look, and one of them comes up on the top of the search engines for several key keywords http://www.egSebastian.com , build with http://www.QuickBizSites.com — see another site that I built with http://www.HomeStead.com site builder at http://www.YouthPresentations.com

2. They make the site more about themselves, describing qualifications, certifications, etc.; instead of focusing on the client’s benefits. If you can help your audience members improve their time management, start out with a strong headline on “Get Proven and Effective Strategies for Time Management!” Then support that headline with some great bullet points… Each bullet point should address an area that you know the pottential client would really want.

3. Putting large blocks of text with multiple paragraphs on the home page (or any page). Use instead bold, large headlines, subheadlines, and bullet points to describe your offerings.

4. Not having an opt-in box with an irresistable offer to collect visitors’ contact info. Many people get to your site by total accident… or maybe you sent them there throgh hard work: twittering, FaceBook, or other online or offline strategies. HOWEVER, if they go to your site once, even if they mean to visit again, they’ll most likely never come back. That’s why it is CRUCIAL to collect their contact info, then you are able to send them valuable tips on your niche topic, as well as shamelessly – or subtly – promote your speaking, coaching, or other services/products.
Use www.aWebber.com or www.ConstantContact.com to create low-cost professional looking eZines or newsletters. Both of these services will provide you with the code to create the opt-in box on your site. I use OneShoppingCart, which is a bit more pricey, but it provides a complete set of solutions for me, such as shopping cart, split testing for my promotions, autoresponder, upsell pages, and a ton more great features…

5. Not having your contact information easily accessible. Make sure you have a tab on your navigation that’s clearly marked “Contact Us,” as well as you should have your contact info on the bottom of each page – I think that’s the law, but I could be wrong . Either way, it’s for your benefit; you do want to be reached by potential clients. Just be careful not to put your email address anywhere on your sites, but rather use this format: eg[at]egSebastian[dot]com (so the nasty email collection spamming robots can’t collect it from your site. Or use a “Contact Us” form that prospects fill out online and your web system will email it to your personal email inbox. Just again, make sure you require your visitor to fill in a security code at the bottom of the form to verify that they are a human being, not a robot; or else you’ll get dozens of viagra and penis enlargement promotions day in and day out submitted by spamming robots…

6. Not having a video of your speaking on your site – one that’s easily accessible. It should be either on the home page, right at the top where everyone can see it right away… or have a clear link close to the top of your main page, stating Click Here to View a Demo Video of Me (replace “me” with your name”). If you do not have yet a video, make sure to have at least a good picture of you and if possible several pictures with you in action (speaking to different audiences)

7. Too large pictures or slow loading videos. Any of these will result in people leaving your site. There are tons of speakers out there – don’t do anything to make your visitor click away from your site.

E G Sebastian
E.G. is available to speak internationally. He speaks six languages and presents in four: English, Spanish, Hungarian, and Romanian. http://paidspeaker101.com/

March 2010 E-Zine Do You Have a Marketing Strategy?

speakerservices — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:03:41 +0000

Speaker Services www.speakerservices.com

Marketing and Training Services for Speakers & Authors

3/1/10 – E-Zine

Content:
- Note from Susan Levin
- Tips, Advice/Requests for Info
- Article 42 Ways to Use Video
_____________

Greetings,

Today I want to call your attention to the value and benefits of video marketing for your business. You have heard the expression a picture is worth a thousand words, video is worth a million. People respond to videos and appreciate that they can actually hear and see, instead of what they can only read. Online video branding specialist Lou Bartone says, online video can be your “secret weapon” in the battle to buck the recession?”

Chris Crum content coordinator and staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz reported that online video has become a much more widely discussed topic for businesses and marketers, not to mention entertainment. There have been many strides made on a variety of different levels.

Have you had a chance to see our new home page redesign yet? Click here and you can see a video welcome message from me. This video is one out of nine that I created with a professional video company. For the past three weeks I have been spreading the videos around on the interne and I have been getting more calls then usual and I attribute it to the videos.

There’s no reason why your business can’t capitalize on video marketing especially since it is viral and viral marketing is one of the best and quickest ways to get your message out to the public.

The article for this month is 42 Ways to se Video. I am sure you will get some ideas of how you can do video marketing with all the tips that Jimm Fox suggests.

Do you have a video marketing strategy?

Speaker Services has been offering Video Production Services for the past 13 years. We can do one or three camera videos for you. If you are speaking and want to get noticed and get paid the big bucks you must have a three camera video demo in front of a live audience. Check out The Video Demo Showcase offered only once a year in LA on September 26. This is not a workshop but a real live showcase. We can customize and coach you as well on any kind of video that you need. Please call me to discuss your video needs and concerns. Video marketing rocks!

To your video marketing success,

Susan Levin
Speaker Services
310-822-4922 PT
susan@speakerservices.com
_________________

Featured Speaker for March 2010

Kim Mitchell, Video and Author, S. California
Creativity coach reveals how to activate and utilize both sides of your brain.
Creativity, Stress Management, Team Building

See all Speakers/Authors
_________________

Tips/Advice and Requests

Get Weekly Speaking Leads in your e-mail box
Mark Mikelat, Mark@BuildingAspirations.com sends out weekly updates for organizations who are looking for speakers and it is FREE
Sign up at www.SpeakerLounge.com

_______________

Request for Guests for Radio Show

The subject on my radio show in March is CONTROVERSARY.

In March I am looking for controversial subjects for my radio show ‘The Dr. Bunny Show – Here’s The Thing’
on KKZZ AM 1400 (also heard on on KKZZAM1400.com)

The show is heard 3-4 PM, daily (M-F) right after Dr. Laura.

Speakers in Los Angeles may come to the studio or call in with their controversial story/

E mail Bunny Vreeland at Bunny@BunnyVreeland.com. Go to BunnyVreeland.com to hear all of archived shows.

_______________

Tip #1

Trends of Corporate America
- Vickie Sullivan Marketing Strategist, www.sullivanspeaker.com

Interesting findings from CareerBuilder’s 2010 Job Forecast survey. Social media experts will have plenty of work this year, as organizations plan to restore their brands through these campaigns. Other big opportunities loom for hiring experts, as organizations invest in efforts ranging from recruiting a diverse workforce to finding top performers.

Bad news for meetings, especially in the association market: Corporate America will continue to cut travel expenses this year. Why do we care? Because convention attendees won’t go unless their employers pay for their travel. Which means attendance challenges will continue to dog these groups, which means less money for speakers. Their antidote: virtual meeting attendees for association conventions.

Meeting trends speakers care about:
Theme for experts who speak: be a bargain. That’s what buyers are looking for now according to Meeting Professional International’s FutureWatch 2010. Top three concerns: budget cuts, doing more with less, and not having enough staff. Basically saying the same thing in three different ways: no money or time for frills. Get ready for intense negotiations on speaker fees. Your antidote: have no less than five things you are giving away — for free — for every paid speech.

Yes, there is good news: overall, respondents expect a 2.8 percent increase in meetings this year — especially the corporate market, where planners project a 3.6 percent increase. Click here for a free summary of FutureWatch 2010.
_______________

Tip #2
Smaller sponsorships on the rise — Vickie Sullivan

Another trend in associations: going after smaller sponsorship deals. The “less is more” approach of reaching out to fewer but bigger sponsors has hit a snag due to smaller budgets. So now the mantra according to IEG is “no stone unturned.” The gist: look at all reasonable offers. The problem: exclusivity is a big issue with sponsors and smaller budgets don’t negate that need. Associations will have to tread lightly on that one.

Why do you care? It opens the door for you to bring in your own sponsor. Sponsored speaking tours are easier now that you don’t have that big sponsor brick wall anymore. Go forth and conquer…

_______________

42 Ways to Use Video Marketing, Jimm Fox

1. Video Customer Testimonials (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: High)
Nothing is more compelling than seeing and hearing your customer (ideally in their own environment) extol the virtues of your products and services or explaining how you helped them achieve their business goals. These videos usually run from fifteen second snippets to a minute and are typically combined with or used to support other marketing material.

2. Video Success Stories (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: High)
Similar to a customer testimonial these videos run between one and two minutes and follow an interview format where the person on screen answers questions posed by an interviewer just off-camera. These videos are usually delivered as stand-alone marketing support materials and are often grouped with other customer success stories.

3. Video Case Study (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
A video case study combines customer testimonials with more a more in-depth explanation of how your company’s products and services helped your customer be successful. These case studies usually incorporate two voices – a narrator and the voice of your customer and can run anywhere from two to five minutes. The video structure follows the same “Problem, Solution, Benefit” format found in a printed case study.

4. Man-in-the-street Interviews (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: High)
These videos are typically done to promote events and to build buzz around coming events but can also be employed to capture ’spontaneous’ responses to targeted questions that help promote your product or service or to help differentiate the benefits of your brand compared to the real or imagined problems associated with your competitors. Soft drink companies, phone companies, fast food companies often use this format in advertising. Sometimes they are genuine. Sometimes they are completely staged. ‘Authenticity’ is becoming a style…

5. Customer Presentations. (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Low)
If one of your customers is presenting at a conference, trade show or event or even in your offices and is talking about your products or services either directly with you or indirectly as part of a larger discussion this may be a perfect opportunity to capture the presentation of video (with permission, of course) to re-purpose on your website and intranet.

Product and Service Promotion

6. Product Presentations (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: High)
Product (or service) presentation videos are typically employed early in the buying cycle. Product or service presentations focus on benefits and talk from more from your customer’s perspective. They should speak clearly to how your product solves a specific business, personal or economic problem that your prospect is experiencing. They are used to help your customers and prospects differentiate between the benefits of your products and services to those of your competitors.

7. Product Demonstrations (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: High)
Product demos show how your product works and highlight the features that differentiate it from that of your competitors. Software screen captures, a 3D cut-away, or a high impact demo by a presenter are all excellent ways of showing how your product or service works. These videos are typically used to influence a prospect who is relatively far along in the sales cycle. In technology marketing these videos would be targeted at the technical approvers who need to understand how something works. In consumer marketing these would be targeted at buyers of larger ticket items who are further along the sales cycle.

8. Product Reviews (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: High)
The best product reviews are trusted third party reviews. Video reviews can be found anywhere from YouTube to various business portals. To the extent they help you, they should be referenced. You can also partner with trusted third parties to create product reviews for your own products.

9. Visual Stories (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: High)
Quickly rising in popularity, visual stories employ illustrations, animations and motion graphics with a voice-over to explain complex products or services in a simple and compelling manner.

Corporate Video

10. Corporate Overview (Popularity: High | Growth Potential: moderate)
These videos are the video equivalent of the ‘company brochure’ for small companies – intended to give new visitors to a website a better idea of the company. Corporate overview videos typically company history, key products, executives/owners and other top level business info. As the cost of video production continues to decrease and the popularity of video increases you will start to see these videos being replaced by multiple, more targeted video.

11. Executive Presentations (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
Whether you are preparing for a quarterly update, responding to a major event in your industry or making a regularly scheduled presentation there is great value in presenting the “face” and “voice” of your leadership team to all of your constituents.

12. Staff Presentations (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
Social media and other Web 2.0 trends have caused companies to reconsider how they communicate with external audiences. Your senior leadership team should not be the first and only consideration to represent your company. It is becoming more imperative to consider showcasing the people that drive the day-to-day operations of your company. Customer service representatives, technical experts and legacy workers are all valuable considerations for this new category of corporate video. Surveys show that there is more trust associated with these employees than with senior management. When you are selling to influencers in organizations (versus economic buyers or decision makers) it is especially important you represent your company with people that your customers and prospects can relate to.

13. Corporate facilities or equipment tour (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Low)
Ten years ago corporate facility videos and equipment tours were popular. Down-sizing, off-shoring, outsourcing, a couple of recessions and a hollowing out of North America’s manufacturing base has change the priorities placed on these videos. Uniqueness is key to success here. That said, it’s really not about you any more.

Training and support video

14. Training (Popularity: High | Growth Potential: High)
Corporate video first gained prominence with training (service, support, sales, personal development etc.) and continues to be one of the best uses of video. Online Video is a cost effective substitute for in-class training. You can also easily integrate video into online training management tools.

15. Overnight expert videos (Sales Support) (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
If you serve a large geographic area or sell through channels then it is well worth the effort to put together short ‘overnight expert’ sales support videos that highlight the key selling points, features, benefits, objection handling and follow-up issues to consider by your direct or channel sales force.

16. Just-in-time learning (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
Contextual training videos are becoming very popular on the web. ‘How-to’ videos, video manuals, on-site video reference, quick assembly demos, and other types of video are being used to supplement or replace traditional training. Mobile video will increase the popularity of this type of video.

17. Post sale support and maintenance videos (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
No one reads manuals. You can save thousands of dollars of post sale support by creating informative assembly, installation and maintenance videos for your products and services.

Internal Communications

18. Internal Communications (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
In larger companies few people have the time or interest to understand what other groups or functions within the company do or even why they exist. Internal videos that highlight business plans, new business activities and achievements can improve knowledge transfer and lead to more effective communications. They are also a great way to show off your local hero’s.

19. Event/Conference and Trade Show Communications. (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
Most companies spend a disproportionate amount of their marketing budget on attending and participating in a variety of industry events and yet only a very small percentage of employees ever benefit from these activities. Share the knowledge gained at these events by capturing the presentation, demos, interviews, commentaries etc. on video.

20. Employee orientation (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
Once your new recruits are on board employee orientation videos are a great way to get new staff up to speed. Company history, structure, procedures, policies and codes of behavior can all be communicated effectively with video.

21. Health, Legal & Safety (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
The cost of dealing with health and safety related issues within organizations continues to grow. Video is one of the most effective means of minimizing these costs.

Advertising , marketing and promotion

22. Commercials (Popularity: High | Growth Potential: High)
While advertisers are becoming more selective in how they chose to spend their promotional dollars with broadcast television, other venues for commercials such as online video pre-roll, online sponsorships, in-game advertising, event sponsorships and in-theatre advertising are starting to take the place of broadcast / cable commercials. A proliferation of video screens cropping up on every building, device and structure will create an even more diverse set of advertising opportunities. The challenge will be to create specialized content targeted to an ever shrinking niche audience.

23. Viral Video (Popularity: High | Growth Potential: High)
A video is viral if it is so compelling that people want to share it. (Calling a video ‘Viral’ doesn’t make it so). Viral videos have to be extremely engaging, entertaining, shocking or meaningful to be successful. Unfortunately some of the most successful viral videos have little connection (and therefore value) to any brand. (Everyone references ‘Will it Blend’ but very few viral videos are remotely this successful in actually driving sales.)

24. Email Video (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: High)
Testing has shown that open rates can double if you include video in your email marketing activities. To be effective the video should be purpose-built to elicit a specific conversion activity such as requesting a demo, more info etc.

25. Infomercials (Popularity: High | Growth Potential: Moderate)
Infomercials have been around forever. While they continue to be the primary focus of web-based parody videos they have remained remarkably resilient over time. The shopping channel is, in effect, a 24 hour infomercial. If done well, Infomercials can be very effective at selling certain consumer products.

26. Content Marketing (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Huge)
This is a broad category that will become very important over the next months and years. Much of the content (video or otherwise) being creating today by companies is focused on selling. Focusing on solving your customers problems first and then associating your brand with those solutions will be increasingly more important and effective. (i.e. Home Depot could create a branded ‘how-to’ series that sits on their website and shows their customers how-to fix anything. They would, or course, reference tools and supplies available in their store but more importantly, they would generate tremendous value for their customers and prospects – value that would accrue to them over time.)

27. Landing pages and micro sites (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: High)
Video is beginning to replace or supplement text and graphics as a content element on many corporate websites. Landing pages can offer a more compelling call to action with video. Some micro sites on larger web properties are self contained, purpose-built conversion machines that have the singular purpose of generating a conversion activity (sign-up for more info, attend event, order something etc.). Video is becoming an important part of the conversion process.

PR Support and Community Relations

28. Video Press Releases (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
The standard four paragraph press release is now being supplemented with video and rich media to tell a more engaging story. Video is now being purpose-built to directly support the important company announcements. The new challenge for press releases is to change the focus from the company to the customer.

29. PR Support Materials (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)

Make it easy for networks, bloggers, news gathers and others to promote your business and also to talk about your industry. Smart companies are developing video support catalogues of company and industry related materials (b-roll, industry footage, sound bites etc) and offering them to news and business portals. The demand for video is everywhere. If a news agency (online or broadcast) is looking for stock footage to use in a story it might as well be yours. (assuming the story is positive, of course)

30. Community Relations Video (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
If your company is out working in the community, being good corporate citizens, helping the environment or contributing to important causes you should be capturing those efforts on video. Show the world what you are doing, don’t just talk about it.

Event Video

31. Event Presentation video (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
Events represent a unique confluence of expertise and opportunity – often under-leveraged. Trade Shows, meeting and conferences are usually attended by your top sales people, your corporate executives, industry experts and other influential business people. If you are speaking at an event or someone is referencing your company you should be capturing this valuable content on video.

32. Round table Sessions (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
Take the opportunity at an event to corral four to six of your best customers and other industry experts, put them in room and video tape them talking about industry trends, business issues and the future of your industry. This content will be the most valuable content you could ever capture.

33. Q&A Expert sessions. (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
There are many opportunities to take specific event participants to the side and take them through informal Q&A sessions on various topics that matter to your customers. This content is valuable lead generation content.

Other Uses of Video

34. Recruitment Videos (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
Finding the best employees is the single most important function of any company and yet comparatively small amounts of time and money are allocated to this critical task. Recruitment videos that feature company employees, highlight corporate culture and promote the direction of the company can be very influential.

35. VLOG (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential:Moderate)
There are many levels and types of Vloggers today but for the sake of brevity I will identify two: 1. Pro Vloggers who have engaging styles, rich content and a growing list of followers who promote their vlog on their site and through various syndicated channels and 2. Regular Vloggers who have chosen, for whatever reason, to speak into a camera instead of typing on a keyboard. The problem today is that, unlike onscreen text, you can’t scan a vlog – you sort have to watch the whole thing to see whether it is worth your time. The other problem is that most people just aren’t that compelling on camera so there is little, to no value of a talking head – and often it’s a distraction. Of course everyone references Gary Vaynerchuck (from Wine Library TV ) as the rule (rather than the exception) for video blogging in the same way that everyone references the success of Will It Blend as being what to expect when you launch your first viral video project. For individuals looking to gain notoriety from their passions vlogging can be a good option if you have a good on-camera presence and great content.

36. In Store Video (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
Wal-Mart has its own profitable in-store TV network that makes shoppers aware of new promotions. LCD screens are ubiquitous. In store LCD’s will be networked and customizable offering you the ability to promote your own goods and services or make money by promoting other complimentary services.

37. Company Lobby / Waiting Room Video (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
HD video screens are popping up everywhere – why not in your lobby or reception where you can get a jump start on first impressions and also take advantage of a captive audience.

38. Mobile Video (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Huge)
Yep, ‘there’s and Ap for that’. Mobile video will soon be the largest video category outside of broadcast. In the short-run, mobile video will consist of hastily re-purposed video made to fit on a mobile device. It will quickly evolve into a much more specific format – five to fifteen second hyper targeted messages that are part of geo-located and micro-niched promotions.

39. Market research, focus groups and polling (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
Market research firms are now capturing the anecdotal feedback along with the raw statistics of their research. If a picture is worth a thousand words then a video of your customer describing her likes and dislikes of your new product is priceless. Go to YouTube to see how people are describing your products and services.

40. Website FAQ Video (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
In certain formats video can be a suitable replacement for text where an authoritative voice, support materials or other visual references are required. A list of FAQ’s answered by a company expert is an example.

41. Video White paper (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Low)
Video white papers have evolved over the last years from basically a person reading a white paper on camera (what’s the point) to a professional delivery that is accompanied by charts, graphs and other visual references to make the presentation more valuable.

42. Video Magazine (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Low)
Some video production companies specialize in helping companies deliver serialized video content to their customers. Like the name implies video content is created on a regular basis (usually monthly) that customers and prospects can view through a subscription service.

Jimm Fox is President of One Market Media – a video marketing and video production firm in Ottawa, Canada. Jimm has worked in marketing, media and Internet related businesses for the last 25 years.

_______________

@speakerservices Tweets of Interest

- RT soundbitesiren Video can make or break a sale. If YRs is unprof. U’ll LOSE sales so take care to insure U represent URself well

- Tip: Ask 4 referrals fr existing clients who have hired u 2 speak. Blog Post 14 Ways to Get Paid Speaking Engagements http://bit.ly/cG7QEA

- Meet the Speaker Services team-the wind beneath my wings! http://bit.ly/9g8VPF

- RT karenfrank43 My #ff vote is 4 @speakerservices . I emailed her today about a concern and she actually picked up the phone & called me! Now THAT”s amazing!

- Check out 3 biggest mistakes that speakers make? View video marketing tip http://tinyurl.com/yj4kc8l Are you guilty?

- Speaker Margaret Futerer keynote talk Breaking Free: From Polygamy to Me. See more info, one sheet & video http://tinyurl.com/yc2efqf

Video Marketing- 42 Ways to Use Video

speakerservices — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:28:17 +0000

Note: Web Video & Marketing Workshop, You On Camera facilitated by Barbara Niven and Susan Levin Saturday 9/19/10 or 10/30/10 http://bit.ly/9vGvKX

Stop wasting time trading links with other websites, posting the same how-to article to a gazillion article directory sites, and doing sneaky little things at your own website to try to trick the search engines.

Spend your time instead creating video, one of the most powerful ways to pull traffic to your website or blog. It will boost your position in the search engine rankings and, in some cases, take tons of business away from your competitors. Do it right, and they’ll be so shell-shocked they’ll pack up and go home.

1. Video Customer Testimonials (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: High)
Nothing is more compelling than seeing and hearing your customer (ideally in their own environment) extol the virtues of your products and services or explaining how you helped them achieve their business goals. These videos usually run from fifteen second snippets to a minute and are typically combined with or used to support other marketing material.

6. Product Presentations (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: High)
Product (or service) presentation videos are typically employed early in the buying cycle. Product or service presentations focus on benefits and talk from more from your customer’s perspective. They should speak clearly to how your product solves a specific business, personal or economic problem that your prospect is experiencing. They are used to help your customers and prospects differentiate between the benefits of your products and services to those of your competitors.

Corporate Video

12. Staff Presentations (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
Social media and other Web 2.0 trends have caused companies to reconsider how they communicate with external audiences. Your senior leadership team should not be the first and only consideration to represent your company. It is becoming more imperative to consider showcasing the people that drive the day-to-day operations of your company. Customer service representatives, technical experts and legacy workers are all valuable considerations for this new category of corporate video. Surveys show that there is more trust associated with these employees than with senior management. When you are selling to influencers in organizations (versus economic buyers or decision makers) it is especially important you represent your company with people that your customers and prospects can relate to.

Training and support video

16. Just-in-time learning (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
Contextual training videos are becoming very popular on the web. ‘How-to’ videos, video manuals, on-site video reference, quick assembly demos, and other types of video are being used to supplement or replace traditional training. Mobile video will increase the popularity of this type of video.

Internal Communications

18. Internal Communications (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
In larger companies few people have the time or interest to understand what other groups or functions within the company do or even why they exist. Internal videos that highlight business plans, new business activities and achievements can improve knowledge transfer and lead to more effective communications. They are also a great way to show off your local hero’s.

Advertising , marketing and promotion

23. Viral Video (Popularity: High | Growth Potential: High)
A video is viral if it is so compelling that people want to share it. (Calling a video ‘Viral’ doesn’t make it so). Viral videos have to be extremely engaging, entertaining, shocking or meaningful to be successful. Unfortunately some of the most successful viral videos have little connection (and therefore value) to any brand. (Everyone references ‘Will it Blend’ but very few viral videos are remotely this successful in actually driving sales.)

PR Support and Community Relations

28. Video Press Releases (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
The standard four paragraph press release is now being supplemented with video and rich media to tell a more engaging story. Video is now being purpose-built to directly support the important company announcements. The new challenge for press releases is to change the focus from the company to the customer.

29. PR Support Materials (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)

Make it easy for networks, bloggers, news gathers and others to promote your business and also to talk about your industry. Smart companies are developing video support catalogues of company and industry related materials (b-roll, industry footage, sound bites etc) and offering them to news and business portals. The demand for video is everywhere. If a news agency (online or broadcast) is looking for stock footage to use in a story it might as well be yours. (assuming the story is positive, of course)

Event Video

31. Event Presentation video (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
Events represent a unique confluence of expertise and opportunity – often under-leveraged. Trade Shows, meeting and conferences are usually attended by your top sales people, your corporate executives, industry experts and other influential business people. If you are speaking at an event or someone is referencing your company you should be capturing this valuable content on video.

32. Round table Sessions (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
Take the opportunity at an event to corral four to six of your best customers and other industry experts, put them in room and video tape them talking about industry trends, business issues and the future of your industry. This content will be the most valuable content you could ever capture.

Other Uses of Video

34. Recruitment Videos (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
Finding the best employees is the single most important function of any company and yet comparatively small amounts of time and money are allocated to this critical task. Recruitment videos that feature company employees, highlight corporate culture and promote the direction of the company can be very influential.

35. VLOG (Popularity: Moderate | Growth Potential: Moderate)
There are many levels and types of Vloggers today but for the sake of brevity I will identify two: 1. Pro Vloggers who have engaging styles, rich content and a growing list of followers who promote their vlog on their site and through various syndicated channels and 2. Regular Vloggers who have chosen, for whatever reason, to speak into a camera instead of typing on a keyboard. The problem today is that, unlike onscreen text, you can’t scan a vlog – you sort have to watch the whole thing to see whether it is worth your time. The other problem is that most people just aren’t that compelling on camera so there is little, to no value of a talking head – and often it’s a distraction. Of course everyone references Gary Vaynerchuck (from Wine Library TV ) as the rule (rather than the exception) for video blogging in the same way that everyone references the success of Will It Blend as being what to expect when you launch your first viral video project. For individuals looking to gain notoriety from their passions vlogging can be a good option if you have a good on-camera presence and great content.

36. In Store Video (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: High)
Wal-Mart has its own profitable in-store TV network that makes shoppers aware of new promotions. LCD screens are ubiquitous. In store LCD’s will be networked and customizable offering you the ability to promote your own goods and services or make money by promoting other complimentary services.

37. Company Lobby / Waiting Room Video (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
HD video screens are popping up everywhere – why not in your lobby or reception where you can get a jump start on first impressions and also take advantage of a captive audience.

38. Mobile Video (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Huge)
Yep, ‘there’s and Ap for that’. Mobile video will soon be the largest video category outside of broadcast. In the short-run, mobile video will consist of hastily re-purposed video made to fit on a mobile device. It will quickly evolve into a much more specific format – five to fifteen second hyper targeted messages that are part of geo-located and micro-niched promotions.

39. Market research, focus groups and polling (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
Market research firms are now capturing the anecdotal feedback along with the raw statistics of their research. If a picture is worth a thousand words then a video of your customer describing her likes and dislikes of your new product is priceless. Go to YouTube to see how people are describing your products and services.

40. Website FAQ Video (Popularity: Low | Growth Potential: Moderate)
In certain formats video can be a suitable replacement for text where an authoritative voice, support materials or other visual references are required. A list of FAQ’s answered by a company expert is an example.

http://www.onemarketmedia.com/blog/2009/12/42-ways-to-use-video-to-grow-your-business/

14 Ways to Get Paid Speaking Engagements

speakerservices — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:23:30 +0000

by Kristie Tamsevicius

Sometimes finding good leads for speaking gigs can feel a bit like hunting for a tropical spa with umbrella drinks in the dessert. It’s easy to get discouraged. But yet when you see superstars that are booked solid, you know that it can be done. So how do you find leads for paid speaking engagements? Below are 14 techniques you can use to find good contacts and get yourself booked!

1) Define a niche. According to Networking expert, Lillian D. Bjorseth (www.Duoforce.com), a niche can be defined as types of organizations you want to speak for, an industry you want to specialize in, or a subject matter. By defining a clear niche, you instantly set yourself apart. The next challenge of course is to become known in your niche.

When you become the leading authority in your field, people seek you out. Speaking trainer Burt Dubin (www.burtdubin.com) says, “There’s no point in being a fine marketer until you have expertise to offer. And your expertise has gotta be in a specific niche. A niche where folks with cash in their jeans recognize your value and are willing to invest in what you alone know. Here’s how to select your niche: identify the topic or issue in which you’re willing to do endless and ongoing research for a market with the means to pay you.”

2. Free to Fee. Speak for free in places likely to have people who could hire you for fee. Often there are people in these audiences who could hire you. Check your local Kiwanis, Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, and Rotary
clubs.

After speaking recently in the Women’s Economic Development Outreach event, someone in the audience hired me for a speaking engagement for their group. If they hadn’t seen me speak in person, it’s very unlikely that this person would have contacted me.

3. Attend Events - Go to the events that your ideal clients attend and mingle with the decision makers who could hire you. “The Transition Man” Johnny Campbell (www.TransitionMan.com) says, “Research the event ahead of time. Know who will be in attendance. Have a hit list of people you want to connect with. Ask first what THEY do so you can tailor your 30 second pitch to address how you can help with their specific needs.”

Johnny likes to go to chamber meetings and sit at the far end so he goes last introducing himself. That way he can listen first to who is in his audience and tailor his 30 second introduction. Once he did this and a gentleman was so impressed that he immediately handed him a business card and said, “Call me.”

4. Speaker Directories. There are websites that list speakers for a fee. Meeting planners sometimes go to these directories looking for a speaker on a certain topic.

Here are two that you can check out:

Speaker Services – speakerservices.com
Speaker Zone – www.speakerzone.com

5. Smile and Dial. Flipping the pages of a meeting planner directory and cold calling can drum up business. Most speakers who use this approach successfully make 40- 50 calls everyday. If you are smart about finding the
“right” targeted leads to call, this is especially effective.

Here are three sources for this information:

A) Douglas Publications – www.douglaspublications.com
They make 2 publications: The Directory of Association Meeting Planners and Directory of Corporate Meeting Planners.

B) NTPA Directory (National & Professional Associations) It lists national conventions, meetings, and trade show dates for over 7,700 trade and professional associations with an annual report published each February.

C) Columbia Books, Inc. – www.columbiabooks.com
6. Google your way to leads. Google makes it so easy to find leads. You can search for events in your industry or to find who your competitors have spoken for.

7. Ask for referrals right from the platform. Keynote speaker and master certified coach, Rich Fettke (www.Fettke.com) says this when he speaks to groups “As you can tell, I am really passionate about what I do. If you know of a group who could benefit from this message, please hand me a business card afterwards.”

8. Referrals. Ask for referrals from existing clients who have hired you to speak. If you ever have to lower your fee, you ask for letters of recommendation and referrals as part of the deal in exchange for the discount.

Burt Dubin (www.BurtDubin.com) offers this tip to reward those who refer you.

“Let your clients or customers know they are rewarded for referring folks who invest in what you offer. Give appropriate gifts, depending on the size of the ticket. I give a choice of gifts. A dollar amount in cash or a higher dollar amount given to their favorite charity in their name, or a certain dollar amount in free product. Reward referrals generously.”

My personal thought is that a heartfelt note, a Starbucks gift card, a phone call, or even flowers is a wonderful way to say “thank you – I appreciate your referral!”

9. Get on Your Prospect’s Radar Screen. Top of mind status comes from word of mouth of your clients, being “seen” in the pages of print media, and from testimonials of audience members.

Know where your audience goes and be there. This includes your prospect’s ezines, clubs, organizations, bulletin boards, and magazines.

10. Speaker Website. An effective speaker website gives a meeting planner everything they need to decide that you are the perfect speaker for their event. You’ll want to include downloadable one sheet (brochure), testimonials, program descriptions, media coverage, results gained for other clients, and your speaker video.

Lillian D. Bjorseth, the Networking Expert, (www.Duoforce.com) shared how she got a lead from a major company who wanted to hire her and found her on the website. The person came back to their planning committee who said, “You found her where?” “Have you even seen her speak? My reputation is on the line here.” Then after reading testimonials from clients who hired Lillian to speak, they were happy to hire her.

In the past 2 weeks, having a speaking video on my website has gotten me the job. A client was hemming and hawing and said, “Can we see you speak somewhere locally first?” I told them where they could view my speaker video on my website and in 5 minutes they called back to book me.

11. Join organizations where people can hire you or might be able to refer you to people. Review your organization memberships at the end of the year before you renew to make sure that the fees was worth it.

12. Publicity rules! Red Zone Marketing speaker, Maribeth Kuzmeski (www.RedZoneMarketing.com) says that hiring a full time publicist has made all the difference in her speaking career. She says that when people have seen your face enough times in publications they get to feel like they know you.

13. Invite prospects as your guest when you speak to groups. That way they can experience you firsthand. After they experience the power of your speaking, they are likely to hire you or even refer you to others.

14. Building relationships. Communication expert, Cyndi Maxey (www.CyndiMaxey.com), says her secret is to keep in touch with her clients and prospects. She sends articles to them to let them know she is thinking of them. She also likes to send cards and call them from time to time. As Cyndi says, “Never let them forget your name. You want to be top of mind when they are ready to hire.”

Article by Kristie Tamsevicius – Dubbed as the “Marketing Maven & Brander Extraordinaire” Kristie Tamsevicius turns entrepreneurs into the lavishly paid in-demand experts in their field. Learn how branding helps you to attract customers, build income, & gain visibility while successfully promoting your business online with our FREE report “Web Branding Secrets” by visiting www.brandingonthenet.com

Ten Ways to Drive Consumer Action With Online Video

speakerservices — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:01:35 +0000

by Bud Rosenthal

Marketing Profs

There’s no question that online video is fast becoming a favorite of Internet users around the world. In fact, online video views have surpassed core search queries, and YouTube has become a top search engine.

But this shift in consumption has left marketers searching for the best ways to incorporate online video in their campaigns. The hit-or-miss nature of viral video, the brand quality considerations of user-generated content, and the general disdain for television commercials online have left marketers wondering, “How do I make video work for me?”

Video advertising is known for its powerful branding ability, but it can also be a great direct-response vehicle that drives measurable actions that result in sales when used properly on the Web. And with new production methods, quality online video can be produced for as little as $1,000 to $5,000 per piece, making video a marketing tool that can be used in multiples across Web campaigns while driving high return on investment.

In this article I highlight 10 ways that marketers can drive consumer action with online video.

1. Tell a compelling story

With users in control and limitless options available to them at the click of their mouse, your video must be compelling. Once users click play, you have 5-10 seconds to engage them and keep them watching.

Use a compelling narrative to captivate them for the duration of the video. The narrative storytelling format presents the information in a compelling and useful manner and ensures that the viewer remains engaged and absorbs the key messages in the video.

2. Be authentic

Online users are skeptical of the high-pressure sales pitch. And with so many choices online, they’re looking for reasons to eliminate you from consideration in their search for the product or service that meets their needs. The fastest way to turn off online viewers is to bombard them with inauthentic sales pitches and weak emotional brand appeals.

Online viewers are looking for content that accurately and honestly provides information about a product or service to aid them in their decision-making process. A successful video will demonstrate value and relevance in an authentic manner that doesn’t alienate the viewer with an over-the-top sales pitch.

3. Provide useful information

When users are in decision-making mode online, the last thing they want is an irrelevant branding commercial that mimics a traditional television advertising spot. At that point, they want to get beyond the sales pitch to features and benefits to determine whether your product or service will meet their needs.

If you fail to meet that deeper information need, you will lose the viewers’ interest and the opportunity to turn them into customers. Your video should demonstrate products, features, and expertise in a manner that compels viewers to learn more by taking an action such as clicking a link for more information, filling out an inquiry form, or picking up the phone to talk to one of your representatives.

4. Use a call to action

Without a strong call to action, your viewers won’t know what you want them to do once they’ve watched your video. Your video should create a clear action path, and the surrounding Web content should make executing that action easy.

Decide what action you want your viewers to take before shooting the video. Do you want them to fill out an inquiry form, forward the video to a friend, mention a coupon code, or click a link to learn more about a particular product or service? Whatever the action, make it clear in the video and easy to find, and execute on the surrounding Web page.

5. Don’t over-produce

With the small player size of online video, user bandwidth considerations, and the audience’s demand for authenticity, over-producing a video is simply throwing away good money. Professional production is important for maintaining brand standards, but fancy graphics, expensive effects, and other high-end production efforts will be mostly lost online. Worse, some of these effects may muddle the video, making the content and information difficult to comprehend, which can lead the viewer to abandon the video.

Maximize your ROI by finding the right balance between production value and delivering a clear, meaningful message considering the current limitations of online video.

6. Don’t oversell

The user is firmly in control of the online video viewing experience. Users decide whether your message and content is worth watching or whether they’ll click away to more relevant information. Respect that dynamic by using your video to inform, educate, and build preference rather than going for the hard sell.

You’re not recreating late-night infomercials with Web video, you’re looking to assist and aid in the decision-making process by providing authentic, relevant information and a clear call to action.

7. Measure and test

Affordable online video means that marketers can test messages, formats, and the call to action to see which mix resonates best with their audience. Try testing different offers, highlighting different product benefits and features, and using your video at different points in the decision-making process to determine the optimal use of your video in creating your desired consumer action. Provide a unique coupon code or URL, or other identifier, to let you track the impact of video on your online marketing initiatives.

8. Make it shareable

YouTube taught us all that video is a portable medium on the Web that starts conversations and spreads among friends and their social networks. Make sure your video facilitates tha natural phenomenon. Provide links and functionality to make it easy for people to email your video to friends, embed on Web pages and blogs, and post to their various social networking profiles.

By making your video portable, you increase its reach while gaining a tacit recommendation of your product or service with each person who forwards your video.

9. Place it at key decision points

According to a recent eMarketer report, video can often be the final push customers need to complete a purchase online. Video has also been shown to improve customer satisfaction and reduce product returns and abandoned shopping carts. No wonder, then, that e-commerce sites have increased their use of video.

By placing video at key decision points in your purchase funnel, you can create greater confidence and retain customers who might otherwise abandon their purchase.

10. Make it search-engine friendly

The advent of Google’s Universal Search has made video an important part of the results returned in a user’s search query. Companies can now gain visibility in the search engines quickly by providing video content that is search-engine friendly.

Do so by properly naming your video files, using proper keywords and titles, and surrounding them with keyword-rich Web content. Other best practices include keeping your videos in one video directory on your Web site, providing an MRSS (Media RSS) feed for all of your published videos, and publishing your videos to third-party sites such as YouTube.

Video is a Powerful Online Marketing Tool

By combining the above 10 best practices, marketers can drive consumer action using online video.

Keeping production costs inline with the realities of the online channel will ensure that the return on investment remains high, while creating a compelling story to help drive conversions and reduce abandonment in the purchase cycle.

As bandwidth continues to improve and more of the online audience makes video an important part of their online experience, successful marketers will understand how to incorporate video marketing in their online campaigns to drive favorable consumer action.

Bud Rosenthal is the CEO of TurnHere (www.turnhere.com), which provides broadcast-quality online video advertising and Web distribution for companies in a wide range of industries.

Video Demo Showcase Photos 11/09

speakerservices — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:22:46 +0000

Susan (me) at our lovely location

The crew

Dr. Bunny Vreeland

Mollie Gross

Jen Kwon puts the finishing touches on Gloria Wadsworth

Wade Hatch

Dr. Howard Elkin gets miked

Reasons to Consider Online Video Strategies

speakerservices — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 19:36:04 +0000

By Chris Crum

Chris is a content coordinator and staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz and the iEntry Network.

Over the past year or two, online video has become a much more widely discussed topic for businesses and marketers, not to mention entertainment. There have been many strides made on a variety of different levels. Do you have an online video strategy?

Here are some stats to chew on from a comScore report for July:

- 81% of the total US Internet audience viewed online video

- The average online video viewer watched 500 minutes of video, or 8.3 hours.

- 120.3 million viewers watched 8.9 billion videos on YouTube.com (74.1 videos per viewer).

- 48.2 million viewers watched 518.6 million videos on MySpace.com (10.8 videos per viewer).

- The duration of the average online video was 3.7 minutes.

If those stats weren’t enough, allow me to briefly discuss ten more reasons why you may want to consider implementing some kind of online video strategy.

1. YouTube has its own AdSense now.

Earlier this month, YouTube announced it would begin implementing an AdSense-like program, which would allow promoted videos to appear on watch pages throughout the site.

2. People are watching videos on Facebook.

Facebook is rivaling Google these days for where people are spending their time online. People are also frequently sharing videos on the popular social network, not to mention broadcasting them directly from it.

Earlier this month, YouTube announced it would begin implementing an AdSense-like program, which would allow promoted videos to appear on watch pages throughout the site.

3. People are watching videos on Twitter.

Twitter doesn’t exactly have the reach that Facebook does, but as you’re probably well aware, Twitter awareness is growing rapidly, and there are ways to broadcast videos via Twitter.

4. People are watching videos on their phones

No matter what site they’re coming from, people are watching more videos on their smartphones. This is a device that users have with them all day long. It is also a likely killer of time when users have said time to kill.

5. Online video drives user engagement

Studies show that online video is driving user engagement. This article discusses one in particular from Yahoo, Interpret, Havas Digital, Warner Bros., and PHD.

6. Rank in Google’s Universal Search

Videos frequently appear in regular Google web search results, via Google’s Universal Search. Google’s Matt Cutts recently discussed factors to take into consideration with regards to this.

Read the full article

Speaker Services has been offering one-three camera professional videos for our clients for the past 14 years. Can we help you out? You can see some of the videos we produced for authors, experts and speakers at http://www.speakerservices.com/videoprod.html . September 26 have a day of video planned.

An Economically Appealing Marketing Strategy

speakerservices — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:56:32 +0000

It’s no secret that online video is truly coming into its own in terms of viewership. There’s no reason why your business can’t capitalize on this. Video is one of the top forms of viral marketing on the web, and viral marketing is one of the most effective forms of marketing period.

When people share a video with other people, it is because they find it interesting and think others will too. If that video is promoting your business, what better form of advertising could you ask for?

The big ad agencies recognize this. In fact, a new report released today from Feed Company shows that 70% of ad agency and media buying executives plan to increase budgets for viral video marketing next year. “In the past, fear of ceding control to consumers during the marketing process made advertisers hesitant to create and release brand-themed video online,” said Miguel Gonzalez, VP, creative director of Draftfcb Chicago. “But the parade of content that has ‘gone viral’ shows that the results are worth the effort, even when the outcome is hard to predict.” Most agencies see the potential for achieving “exponential views” as the biggest motivator for creating viral videos.

Planet Alpha Dedicated Servers
As Feed Company points out, it is hard to place a benchmark on the success of a viral video. Respondents to their survey cited varied responses including 100,000 views, 250,000 views, or 500,000 views. To a small business, I think 100,000 views could be considered a successful run, with more than that being icing on the cake. If you can get your video viewed by that many people, it is just that many more people who have been exposed to your brand, which is one of the primary goals in the first place. You’re not always going to be looking for an instant sale from these things.

Agencies are still seeking improvements on how viral video campaigns are tracked and executed, and these areas will likely see improvement in the future as this type of marketing strategy becomes more common place, which will likely happen as online video viewing continues to trend upward. “The survey shows that agencies recognize the value of viral video for their clients even as they call for improvements,” said Josh Warner, president of Feed Company. “We’re definitely seeing more of these campaigns because it costs less to produce and market viral video than many other types of traditional media – and that’s attractive to marketers during an economic downturn.”

Inspiring curiosity like I talked about here is a great way to get a viral video off the ground (the Cloverfield method). Jennifer Laycock shared some more useful information about viral marketing at Small Business Marketing Unleashed earlier this year as well.

Post from smallbusinessnewz.com written by Chris Crum

Need a speaker/author video? Join us November 2, 2008 or June 7, 2009 at the Video Demo Showcase

Video Demos for your viewing pleasure

speakerservices — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:09:45 +0000

We are getting ready to shoot 15 people on November 8th, 2009 in LA. If you are in LA and curious as to our methods come on down and be in the audience to see how a 3 camera video demo is created. We are at the Marina del Rey Hotel, MDR, on Bali Way in the Regatta Room. Come between 9am and 4pm. Stay as long as you like.

I am so pleased and proud with the 3 camera video demos we produced at the last video demo showcase in June.

I thought it would be fun to share some of them with you for your viewing pleasure.

BTW: Cid Hunter our video man and editor sent them to me as mp4′s which allowed me to upload them to various distribution centers for wider coverage.

They can be found on Speaker Services channel on youtube along with many other videos I posted as well as on my FaceBook profile on the Video Demo Showcase page on Speaker Services and now on the Blog.

See Jodi Cooley

See Jon Chandonet & Denedria Banks are very touching.

Check out Dr Richard Petty and many others that we shot at different venues on youtube and you will even see some of yours truly.

Take a look at

If you need video one or three cameras call me or e mail me at susan@speakerservices.com and we can determine what is the best fit for you.

Related Posts:

Don’t Let Video Pass You By

USA Todays Says Web Video is a Marketing Go

Use Video to Market Your Services Online

Don’t Let Video Pass You By

speakerservices — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:20:37 +0000

Today’s post is from The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week- Joan Stewart
http://www.PublicityHound.com

http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

I totally agree with Joan and we have been encouraging our speakers and authors to create video.

At the end of this post you can see a few videos I shoot today at the Women’s Small Business Expo with my new baby – the ultra flip video camera.

Those strategies can actually hurt you.

During my 70-minute teleseminar with video expert Mike Stewart earlier this month, the 400 people who were on the line listened as Mike outlined lots of creative, powerful ways to use video in your publicity campaign, or to sell products or services.

We’re not talking about full-length productions here. Just short clips of about two and a half minutes or less.

Here are our ideas on how to use video in a publicity or marketing campaign:

–Create short videos about your products and services, upload them to your website, and include video links in your press releases.

–Speakers, create short video snippets of your presentations and post them at your site.

–Use videos to demonstrate how to use your product.

–Authors, create short little videos that discuss portions of your books.

–Take visitors on a tour of your website using a screen-capture software program like Camtasia.

–Shoot your own video of events the media won’t cover, and submit the video to local newspapers and TV stations, many of which offer consumer-generated video at their websites.

–Use video on a one-page sales letter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, video can close the sale.

–Generate leads and pull traffic by creating videos and posting them to YouTube and other video-sharing sites.

–Use video at your blog, or create a video blog on a free WordPress platform like I’m doing. (I should be ready to introduce it to you next week.)

If you missed last week’s call, you can hear the replay and see the nifty video I shot myself at http://www.JoanandMikeStewart.com

Mike will show you the absolute easiest-to-use equipment you’ll need to start producing video that will turn you into the type of marketing warrior that will send your competitors running home to their mommies.

Susan’s Note:

If you find that you need professional help in creating your videos check out Speaker Services one and three camera video events. June 8- 3 camera video demo showcase, July 12 & 13, Biz Speak & Video Workshop (one camera shoot) . Authors’ SpeakEasy is in Sept 19-21.

These are the videos I did today and I will recycle them and use them in other formats too. I guess you could call this video blogging .

Linda Hollander – The Wealthy Bag Lady- owner of Women’s Small Business Expo

Heidi Parr Kerner, Speaker, Networking Queen

Desiree Doubrox – owner and founder of An Empowered Women’s Network

USA Today Says Web Video is Marketing Go

speakerservices — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:35:49 +0000

The story was on the front page of the Business section in USA Today on April 4.

By David Lieberman

I was thrilled to see it as Speaker Services has been offering one-three camera shoots for the past ten years. I have been encouraging business folks to get video on their websites. Now with video blogging, youtube and social networking there is not limit to creating a buzz about your services or books.

“You don’t need a pan and a stream in California to join the next video gold rush. A video camera, computer and high-speed Internet connection will do.”

NEW YORK — You don’t need a pan and a stream in California to join the next gold rush. A video camera, computer and high-speed Internet connection will do.
A vast array of professional and semiprofessional producers are starting to use those tools to create ad-friendly entertainment and news videos expressly for the Web. The goal is to dramatically change people’s video-viewing habits — and cash in on a potentially enormous business opportunity.

“It’s like the early days of cable,” says former Viacom executive Herb Scannell, now CEO of Internet video investment and support firm Next New Networks. “We’re inventing new business models, new talent and new programming models.”

Internet users already can find countless fresh choices in the middle ground between reruns of slick network TV programming, such as the shows on Hulu.com, and amateur clips such as the kind popularized by YouTube.

Popular genres for original Web productions include dramatic series (Lonelygirl15and Prom Queen), topical comedy (BarelyPolitical.com, 236.com and comic Will Ferrell’s Funny Or Die), news analysis (TalkingPointsMemo) and specialized interests (for example, ThreadBanger offers the latest about sewing and knitting).

Producers have powerful incentive to test the market: Ad spending for Internet videos will rise 455% by 2011 to $4.3 billion, says research firm eMarketer.

“It’s growing faster than any other advertising category,” says George Kliavkoff, NBC Universal’s chief digital officer. “There’s just a sea change.” That’s one reason his company and other major TV network owners are starting to dip their toes into original Web production. Over the past few weeks:

•Disney (DIS) formed its first Web-only production house, Stage 9, which forged a deal with Toyota to sponsor its first made-for-Web series, the sitcom Squeegees.

Disney’s ESPN also said it will dramatically step up its Internet-only sports programming.

•NBC (GE) created its first network for original online video. Visitors can get an in-depth look at new cars from clips produced by DriverTV; NBC paid $6 million for a 35% stake in the firm.

•And CBS, (CBS) which defined mainstream news in the radio and TV eras, launched MobLogic.tv, a website with daily clips that it says provides “a reality check on mainstream news, (Internet) 2.0 style.”

The modest size of these investments reflects the companies’ uncertainty about where they fit in.

“The challenge we have with this space is: How do you market these original Web shows so that they become something people want to see and not something that they just come across?” says Albert Cheng, executive vice president for digital media at the Disney-ABC Television Group. “We are experimenting.”

Independent entrepreneurs

While the giants dabble, independent entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the freedom the Internet offers to reach millions of people without having to go through gatekeepers such as TV networks and cable operators. They don’t even need powerful allies to help raise cash, sell ads, get online and market. New-generation studios including Worldwide Biggies, Black20 and 60Frames are eagerly seeking deals to support promising talent.

Most salivate at the prospect of creating a hit entertainment series — a string of episodes that typically run 10 minutes apiece or less — similar to Lonelygirl15, KateModern and Prom Queen.

It’s relatively easy to make a profit: They employ little-known actors, simple camera shots and few, if any, special effects. “The cost is just hundreds of dollars a minute,” Scannell says. “If you’re getting $10 (for every 1,000 viewers that see an ad), and you have 1 million views, then you’re break-even. If you get $20, then you’re in the black.”

Those that work closely with sponsors can do much better than that. For example, LG15 Studios cut a deal with Neutrogena that made the cosmetics and cleanser company and its products key elements in the story line for Lonelygirl15

“We were thrilled that there’s this medium that’s interactive, and if you can get creative and good writers and good brands and put all these pieces together, then you can do something that engages the audience and allows us to do this as our day job, which is insane right now,” says Greg Goodfried, co-creator and executive producer.

Their most recent production, KateModern, showed that the concept was no fluke.

“It just finished with 26 million views, and it was sold in sponsorship ahead of time,” says Quincy Smith, president of CBS Interactive. “Do it once, and it’s interesting. Do it twice, and now you’re starting to see something evolve.”

There’s a lot of activity as well in non-fiction Web video, especially from newspaper and magazine companies grappling with slowing ad sales. “Video is a central component to the future of these industries because they have to grow their business somewhere, and right now, online video is the most valuable real estate in the media industry,” says Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Brightcove, an Internet video services firm.

National newspapers including USA TODAY, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, as well as regional publications such as The Houston Chronicle and The Gainesville Sun tap journalists for video reports, interviews and analysis. So do magazines, including Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, Better Homes and Gardens and Rolling Stone.

Beginning with the recent Super Tuesday presidential primaries, Newsweek — in partnership with corporate siblings The Washington Post and Slate.com — stepped up the competition by enlisting editors and analysts for live, CNN-like, Web-exclusive campaign coverage and commentary.

‘There’s a business there’

“It was sold to Dodge in three days,” says TV news veteran Tammy Haddad, executive producer of the coverage. “There’s a business there, and a very minor amount of money was spent. All of the reporters were already in place.”

Although many Web productions are profitable, producers say the big payoff will come in a few years as audiences and advertisers become more comfortable watching video online.

People collectively spent 959 million minutes a day watching Internet shows and clips in January, research firm ComScore says.

While that sounds impressive, Leichtman Research Group President Bruce Leichtman notes, “People still spend more time watching Extreme Makeover and Moment of Truth combined (on days when the shows air) than they do with all online video.”

That’s changing, though, especially among the young adult viewers craved by advertisers. About 42% of 18- to 34-year-olds watch Web videos at least weekly, up from 28% in 2007, Leichtman found in a recent survey.

The vast majority of the viewing time goes to user-generated videos and network TV fare, including clips people lift from news and comedy shows.

But those markets present challenges for advertisers.

They can’t effectively buy spots in advance on user-generated material, because “You can’t really tell what clips are going to be hot next,” says PodShow CEO Ron Bloom, whose firm aggregates Web videos to facilitate ad sales. “And it’s typically pornographic, stolen or stupid.”

Meanwhile, the major broadcast and cable networks may not have enough openings for ads on their rerun TV shows. “If you’re trying to spend $1 million on an online buy, you have to reach tens of millions of people,” says Jayant Kadambi, CEO of YuMe, a broadband video ad sales firm. “You just can’t do that on NBC.com.”

To keep ad dollars from flowing elsewhere, the major networks are busily creating Web attractions, including original videos.

For the most part, though, their productions have been designed to enhance viewer interest in popular TV shows. For example ABC’s Lost: Missing Pieces, CBS’ Big Brother House Calls, Fox’s Prison Break Visitation and NBC’s Heroes 360.

“It’s a good way to continue to have a relationship with these fans” and advertisers, Cheng says.

That also was a safe thing to do before the recent strike by Hollywood screenwriters was resolved. A key issue in the dispute was how much writers would be paid for work that appears online.

Now that there’s a contract, conversations about digital initiatives “have exploded,” says Vivi Zigler, executive vice president at NBC Digital Entertainment and New Media. “It’s a matter of ‘should we,’ not ‘could we.’ That’s important.”

Disney took the boldest step in late February by creating Stage 9 Digital Media. But the new media studio still dreams about seeing one of its series on TV.

“We call that the holy grail,” says Barry Jossen, general manager of Stage 9. “The new media business, from the sponsors’ point of view, is definitely experimental. So the kinds of commitments they are making are modest. It’s a break-even business.”

He’s undaunted by NBC’s experience in February — during the writers’ strike — when it became the first major TV network to air an entertainment show originally made for the Web. Although the series Quarterlife was a hit on the Internet, NBC moved it to cable channel Bravo after the first episode attracted a mere 3.1 million viewers.

“Just because their one and only shot didn’t work out as pristinely as they would have hoped or dreamed doesn’t mean that’s the only opportunity like that,” Jossen says. “We have to keep trying.”

Cutting deals

While Disney focuses on producing its own Web videos, CBS and NBC are buying and investing in independent producers.

CBS has led the way here cutting deals with firms including high school sports site MaxPreps, business-satire-oriented Wallstrip, celebrity news provider Dotspotter and Joost, which offers a hodgepodge of new and old videos.

That’s one reason the smart money is betting that the networks eventually will control the biggest mines when gold rush fever finally subsides.

“The theory of the Internet is that you can get anything you want,” says investor Richard Wolpert. “But you still have to be exposed to the fact that it exists. That is still a very valuable asset. It feels like this is the year when everything is happening. But on a historic perspective, it’s a 20-year process, and we’re in the middle of it now.”

Publicity Plan should Target Blogs and Ezines

speakerservices — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:01:01 +0000

Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound wrote this post in her blog and there is a ton of information here not to be missed.

Don’t miss this critical step when creating your publicity plan.

Start adding bloggers and editors of electronic newsletters (ezines) to the list of people who you will contact if you want publicity.

If you’re a publicist, and your PR client is adamant about getting coverage in top-tier media like USA Today, The New York Times, O magazine and on big shows like “Today” and “Fox & Friends,” take the time to explain that your client must also get in front of the thousands of people who don’t read those newspapers or watch those shows and prefer, instead, to receive their information online.

One of the big advantages of pitching bloggers and ezine editors is that unlike traditional media, the information you provide has a way of spreading online rather quickly. If it shows up in an ezine, and that ezine is archived, people will be able to find it months and even years later.

—Most bloggers and ezine editors write about specific topics. A stay-at-home mom who has her own home-based business, for instance, can offer information to bloggers and ezine publishers who write about stay-at-home moms or home-based businesses, or both.

—The best bloggers blog several times a week. Because they present a constant stream of new information, the search engines give good ranking to blog posts. That means that when somebody searches Google for “dog obedience tips,” the list that Google returns on the left side of the screen will include blog posts, not just websites.

—When journalists are doing research for their articles, most of them use a search engine to find background, commentary, statistics, experts and other sources. If they end up at your blog, at a blog where you are mentioned, or at an ezine archives where there’s an article about you, they might call you for their story. Many journalists also subscribe to electronic newsletters devoted to the topics on their beats.

—Bloggers love to link to each other’s posts. If an influential blogger mentions you, or your product or service, other bloggers who link to that post may help you get in front of an entirely different audience. The publicity builds and builds, like a snowball rolling downhill.

—I publish an ezine on publicity. Another ezine publisher who writes about publicity might ask if she can use one of my articles in her ezine in exchange for me using one of her articles in my publication. Some of the people on her ezine list, who want information about publicity, might not know about me. When they read about me, they might visit my website, sign up for my ezine and perhaps even buy my products. It’s a win-win.

How to research blogs

I’ll bet many of you already know about bloggers you’d love to target.

If you’re looking for others, go to Technorati.com. Type in a topic such as “engineering” and you’ll get a list of either engineering blogs, or blogs that mention the word engineering. From there, you can research each blog and see if it’s likely to reach your target audience.

Once you’ve found a blog that’s a good candidate for your pitch, spend some time reading it so you’re familiar with what the blogger writes about.

One of the very best ways to get a blogger’s attention before you pitch is to post a comment about a topic they discuss at their blog. I’ll sometimes post two or three comments within a week or two at a particular blog before pitching that blogger with my idea.

Why? Because I want the blogger to recognize me when I pitch. It shows I’m willing to become involved in the conversation, not just contact them when they want something.

It’s best not to be too promotional within your comment. Instead, add to the conversation, then email the blogger privately to let them know about other information you have about your product, service, cause or issue.

How to find ezines

I like to use New-List.com where about 9,000 ezines are listed. You can also do a Google search for “health care ezines” or “construction ezines” or whatever the topic happens to be.

EzineSearch.com lists more than 10,000 ezines, with thorough instructions on how to search for what you need.

BestEzines.com includes includes information on more than 2,200 ezines representing more than 15 million permission-based email members.

NetTop20.com website includes the top 20 ezine directories.e most popular and highest-rating ezine directories on the Net today.

What ezine editors want

Ezine editors want content-rich material for their publications. So don’t be shy about pitching them. This is the type of content they love:

Free advice
Press releases about news their readers want
Links to short videos that are entertaining or instructional
Top 10 lists
Commentary on controversial topics
Other resources their readers will find helpful
Success stories
How to” information
Frequently asked questions and answers on a particular topic
Jokes and quotes (I include a dog joke in each issue of my ezine and readers love them!)
Polls and surveys
Quizzes and other briefs (See “Briefs, Fillers & Quizzes)

Another way to research is to ask the kinds of people you’re trying to get in front of which ezines they read. Ezine editors just like me are always looking for content like success stories, comments on controversial topics, innovative business practices, anything that will save people time and money, the rising stars in a particular industry, and the story and personalities behind a particular award a company has received. Email the editor and offer your information.

Now, you’re ready to start contacting bloggers and ezine editors. If you’re successful, email me and tell me all about it. I might write about you in my own ezine or this blog.

To learn more about the Publicity Hounds website and offering click here.

Creating a Powerful Video

speakerservices — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:28:08 +0000

Creating a Powerful Video an Article for Professional Speakers

by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE

http://www.fripp.com

When you’re a professional speaker your video is your most important selling tool. It’s hard to imagine any speaker who wouldn’t be even more successful with a “best-selling” video. I talked to Mark French, President of Leading Authorities, Inc., for his inside insights into what makes a great video.

Here’s what he told me. What You Want to Do

1. Grab attention quickly. Meeting planners have very little time. They view tapes so they can quickly qualify or disqualify a potential speaker. If your tape doesn’t engage viewers in the first minute, their fingers will hit the eject button.

2. Make yourself the obvious choice over the competition. Your tape must answer the question, “Why should I book this speaker instead of someone else?” The tape must establish your credentials and provide a compelling case for why you are the best-qualified person to speak on your topic.

3. Demonstrate your content. The tape must show you speaking on your topics effectively and knowledgeably. Tapes that consist of stories without examples of context are ineffective at best.

4. Show yourself interacting with an audience and commanding their attention. Humor and stories are also valuable if they advance your presentation, rather than substitute for it.

How You Do It

1. Accumulate good footage of your speaking, preferably from two or more venues.

2. Maximize the visual impact. The nicer the stage and backdrop, the more visual appeal your tape will have. The larger the audience, the better. A formal setting is usually more impressive than an informal one, but a mixture is also good.

3. Maximize tape quality. Offer your clients the opportunity to archive or distribute your tape to attendees in exchange for facilitating a quality taping. Be certain there is a direct feed to eliminate background noise. Ensure that the cameras have a clear view of you. Use two cameras if possible, one on you and one on the audience. Have the audience microphoned so that when there is a reaction to your presentation you can capture it on tape.

4. Choose the company that will help you produce the tape with care. (In the interest of full disclosure, I admit a bias to our company, Leading Authorities Creative Media. We have produced tapes for top speakers such as John Alston, Gary Bradt, Marcus Buckingham, Jim Cathcart, and George Walther, to name a few.) Whatever your choice, here are some key considerations:

Does the vendor KNOW the speaking industry? Any editor or producer can turn out a videotape. In-depth knowledge of the speaking industry and how clients make their speaker choices is a big plus.

Does the vendor have experienced editors and producers who have received recognition for their work and have extensive experience in broadcast media? Top talent working on your project will increase the odds of an effective tape. Does the vendor take a creative approach to producing a tape that is tailored to you? Or is it a cookie-cutter approach that will get you a video that looks like everyone else’s?

A tape that is original and creative will help you stand out from the pack. Does the vendor have the ability and resources to archive your work digitally so that it is easy to update? Archiving can save time and money down the road.

“These are challenging times,” says Mark, “but also times of great opportunity. The speakers who are going to succeed are those who invest in strong marketing materials to support the selling process.”

Speaker Services offers a 3 camera Video Demo Showcase twice a year. 2008 dates: June 8 or November 2. Check out my web page with video samples that we have produced for our clients http://www.speakerservices.com/videoprod.html

Use video to market your services online

speakerservices — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 04:06:22 +0000

I have been exploring the various ways that business folk use video as a marketing tool. Today I am going to share several creative ways that I discovered and also you can see my first attempt at creating a video montage using my mac laptop and photos to share info about my services. I know the video is not great and I will get better at it and I love the possibilities.

Many of our speakers and authors have created one-three camera videos. For speakers it is important to do a three camera shoot in front of a live audience. Meeting planners want to see you in action.

But first let’s hear what Paul Kleinmeulman thinks about video..

If you are marketing just about anything online then I guarantee that you can make it better with video. You have heard that pictures tell a thousand words well video says a million. There isn’t a better way for you to describe, show and teach people then with video.

But Before We Go Any Further Lets Answer This… But Why Videos?

Let’s take a look at the reasons why you should seriously consider videos for your online marketing endeavors.

* People respond more to videos. They are more appreciative of what they can actually hear and see, after all, instead of what they can only read.

* Videos instantly give your brand a lot of credibility. Videos carry with them a sense of professionalism that’s quite difficult to match in the digital world.

* Videos can easily be delivered to a wide market. They’re not like eZines that require the contact details of your leads beforehand. Videos can actually become viral ever so easily. Just launch one compelling and engaging video and you’ll be surprised by the sheer amount of traffic it will generate for your website.

* Videos are more efficient sales tools than any other digital mediums. You can clearly and efficiently convey whatever you want to share. Videos provide visual and auditory mediums that you can manipulate to present your ideas in the most efficient way possible.

* Videos are known to be highly effective for casual online users who are quite hesitant when it comes to offers on the Internet. Since videos pack more credibility when compared to other mediums, they are more capable of winning the segment of a market that is generally considered hard-to-get.

* Videos allow a lot of liberty for creative expression. You are not limited to certain styles, manners, or rules. Your imagination can run free and create the most memorable and exciting package your viewers are sure to appreciate and enjoy.

* Despite the high demand for videos these days, they are still considered unique and special presentation formats that are sure to entice people to “tune in” to whatever you want to share through such a medium. You will have fewer problems attracting their attention as videos, by themselves, have the power to draw an audience.

See the video montage that I created. Mind you it is my first attempt

Speakers Services

Attorney Judd Matsunaga and Judd Mcllvain, Radio & TV News Reporter
http://www.audioacrobat.com/playv/WlKHhfHx

Publicizing Your Blog
http://videos.webpronews.com/2008/01/22/how-to-publicize-your-blog?click=1

Al Lautenslager, Speaker and author sends a follow up video message to a meeting planner.

He says… Hello Becky.

Just a quick note to follow up our conversation regarding speaking on your webinar series. I love your concept and know that the information on Guerrilla Marketing, marketing with low and no cost marketing tactics will work well with your audience. When can we establish a date for this? Thanks, Al.

For more information about having Al speak to your conference, seminar, meeting, convention, etc. click on this video postcard directly from him:
http://www.youonyourwebsite.com/Al/Postcard.html

See Charles Haywood, owner of a salon and reflexologist
http://perfectskinla.com/massage_reflexology.php

Post your videos on youtube see 11 videos I posted
http://www.youtube.com/user/speakerservices

Selling product
http://www.videoese.com

Julie Thong, Speaker and Author
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/270

Tony Alessandra, Speaker
http://www.alessandra.com click on video

See authors video segements
http://www.bookwrapcentral.com

That’s it for the moment.

Send me your comments or your videos so we can share it with others.

Need professional video? Call me we can help you. 310-822-4922 PST

Crafting a Professional Speaker’s Kit that Leads to More Engagements and Higher Fees

speakerservices — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:18:10 +0000

I’ve been learning how to create video from my mac laptop and here is a very short video message that I created. I want to reach out to my e-audience in a more personal way rather then always via text. Have a look please and let me know what you think. Does it inspire trust-do you get a sense of who I am?

speak-your-way-to-more-biz.mov

Today’s post is by Scott Jeffrey

A speaker’s kit is a brochure to promote your various speaking services (keynotes, workshops, etc). Event planners (sometimes via speaker bureaus), business executives, and small business owners are your most likely recipients. The size of your speaker’s kit will depend on how actively you speak publicly and in what venues. The design of your speaker’s kit should be similar to your media kit, which should be consistent with your website and your overall brand or professional identity.

Here are the various pages and information that you’ll probably want to include:
Keynote Presentation: This is your “flagship” presentation that probably parallels the main topic of your latest book. What’s the title of this talk? Who is the target audience? How will they benefit from hearing you speak?
Seminars: Do you conduct seminars or workshops? What are they called? Do you offer them to businesses and conduct your own venues as well? Who is the target audience? What will they get out of it?
Testimonials: This section is often called “What Others Are Saying.” Although you can create a separate sheet of testimonials from past clients, it may be more effective to sprinkle your testimonials throughout your speaker’s kit.
Past Clients: Where have you spoken before? Having a few high-profile companies under your belt lends credibility to your platform and builds certainty in the mind of a potential client. If you speak frequently, list your top (most recognizable) clients. If not, list your past engagements. This information can be presented with your testimonials or your seminars, or can be listed in the margin of another page.
Biography: The bio included in this kit can be longer and more detailed than the media kit. There’s a good chance that a person looking to spend thousands of dollars to bring you in to speak to his company will want to know more about you. Be sure an appropriate headshot is included on the bio page.
In addition to having your speaker’s kit available for download on your “Speaking” or “Events” web page, you’ll want to have one or two short downloadable videos (two to three minutes) available on the same page. Show prospective event planners what you’re like live.

For an excellent speaker’s kit examples:

Patricia Fripp’s www.fripp.com (click on “For Meeting Planners”).

Tony Alessandra’s Meeting Planners page: www.alessandra.com (click on “For Meeting Planner”)

Marjorie Brody’s www.brodycommunications.com.

Scott Jeffrey is an author coach and the author the 10-CD audio program, Everything You Need to Know to Become a Best-Selling Author. For more information, please visit www.BestSellingAuthor.com.

Online Videos Build Trust & Keeps Customers Engaged

speakerservices — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:54:50 +0000

Do you realize that most website users spend less than a minute browsing each website they visit? Therefore it is vitally important to find a way to capture their interest immediately. One of the best ways I know to reach out to potential clients in an innovative, interesting and personal way is by having video on my website.

Whether you are a speaker, author or entrepreneur or any kind of professional it really makes a difference in getting hired. Gone are the days when we searched the yellow pages for an attorney, accountant or a doctor. We want recommendations from our friends or colleagues and what if we could get a look at these folks before ever calling? I personally want to see if we are on the same page and feel who they are. If I am inspired I will take the next step and call them. This is the same truth for an author whether you want to read their book or for hiring a speaker.

Well for some of us it can be quite a challenge to produce the video and then to have it look professional. Speaker Services offers one and three camera professional videos.Take a look at some of the videos we produced for our clients.

The first was for Judd Matsunaga, Elder Law Attorney and he invited TV News Reporter Judd Mcllvain to join him in the following piece. This is a one camera shoot and was created at the BizSpeak and Video Workshop.

Here’s Marlin Keeser, Speaker & Author talking about his book Our Life on the Run created at the Authors’ SpeakEasy and Video Workshop. One camera shoot.

Here’s Libby Higgins, Website Designer sharing her expertise on her website. One camera shoot created at the BizSpeak and Video Workshop.

Here’s a 3 camera shoot done at the Video Demo Showcase. This is Loree Taylor Jordan. It’s about 7 minutes long.

Once you have video you can post it on YouTube, Google or the Speaking Channel
plus several other distributions sites.

If the idea of video appeals to you. Give me a call to discuss which venue is best for you needs. 310-822-4922 PST .

How to Prepare for A Major Speech You Must give In the Next 24 Hours

speakerservices — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:59:37 +0000

This last week has been a whirlwind for us as we spent 4 days at the International Coaches Federation Conference as exhibitors. There were 1,600 coaches attending from 30 or more countries. We talked to lots of coaches who were interested in learning how to grow their business and income though speaking.

Here I am in front of our new banner. And it really worked. People actually stopped and read it and asked for more information.

Here are a few friends and clients that stopped by to say hello.

This is Otto Siegel

This is Lorenda Phillips

We left the ICF Conference and shot 15 speakers on Sunday at the Video Demo Showcase. Here’s a photo of Angie Milhous (not a very good photo) and you see her in front of the audience.

This weekend we are doing the Authors’ SpeakEasy Workshop and then it is my birthday. I am going to the Oaks in Ojai, CA for a well deserved rest.

Oh, I forgot to mention the Speakers’ Community membership site is up and running and our first teleclass in November 12, with 2 time author and speaker Chellie Campbell who will be talking about how to create a 6 figure income by sitting at home.

You can join us for the teleclass if you join the Speakers’ Community. It’s free for 60 days until the end of the year. Not only that you can post your listing in the Community Directory.

Here’s TJ Walker weighing in on How to Prepare for A Major Speech You Must give In the Next 24 Hours

On no! You have to give a big speech on major trends facing your business and industry to a large group of important people tomorrow! In less than 24 hours! And you haven’t started preparing yet.

What do you do?

Step one. Spend one hour with a colleague or two brainstorming major themes and ideas you’d like to discuss. Try to write down as many themes as you can in one sentence or less. Don’t debate these themes and don’t flesh them out. Don’t analyze or criticize. Just blurt out and write down as many interesting ideas you can think of that relate to your area of expertise and that would also be of interest to your audience.

Step two. After the first hour, stop brainstorming and start analyzing your themes. Scratch off ideas that are boring. Remove topics that have already received lots of news coverage. Eliminate glaringly obvious points. Strike off messages you have mixed feelings about. You may have started with 20 or even 30 message points. But don’t stop this process until you’ve narrowed your messages down to five. Limit yourself to 45 minutes here.

Step three. Write your five messages down in bullet points on a single sheet of paper. Next, say your messages out loud. How does it feel? Don’t worry about wording yet; you’re just looking for a broad architecture for you speech at this point.

Step four. Write down one concrete example for each message point and create a new outline with these examples.

Step five. Stand up and give your speech (preferably while being videotaped). At this point, your speech might be short (5 to 10 minutes), that’s OK. Don’t worry about length yet.

Step six. Either review the tape or get feedback from colleagues. Focus only on what you like at this point. What examples stood out that were interesting and memorable?

Step seven. Now, and only now, begin to think about time/length of your speech. Is your speech going to be 10 minutes long or 60 minutes long? Simply insert more and more examples for each message point until you have the right amount for your total time. (FYI, you can never have too many examples if they are interesting and relevant to your audience.)

Step eight. Make sure you have a simple, clean and easy-to-read outline that is entirely on one page of paper. Make the font so large that you can read it without having to pick up the paper and hold it close to your eyes.

Step nine. Rehearse the speech one more time. You are now ready for the speech.

Step ten. Get a good night’s sleep.

This entire process (minus sleep) should only take about 4-5 hours.

Additional Tips:

- Resist the urge to add more message points.
- Resist the urge to add more numbers and facts.
- Resist the urge to revise, add, and edit PowerPoint slides.
- Resist the urge to write out your speech word-for word.

Authors’, Speakers, Entrepreneurs, Coaches, Consultants Training

speakerservices — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 19:59:10 +0000

Those of you who know me know that I am passionate about my service and completely committed to assisting business folks and authors in growing their business and income through speaking.

However, if you do not know about our services and training take a look at the following video and see what others are saying about us.

Click here to view : http://www.audioacrobat.com/playv/WHL0WfCx
Third party referrals are always the best.

I have been promoting and talking about the MediaSpeak Symposium for months. If you are a business person, author, speaker or a coach etc. the Symposium is a great opportunity for you supercharge your business, attract media attention and to paticipate in the Pitch Fest. I invite and encourage you to attend the 3rd MediaSpeak Symposium . Here’s the info.

MediaSpeak Symposium, Master the Message, Master the Media, October 11-13 in Los Angeles. The theme for the three days is Ready, Set, Pitch. PR and media exposure is critical to your success.

Supercharge your book, screenplay, product, business, service or cause when you talk to the media . The caveat of the 3 day event is the pitch fest . Pitch your story to broadcast and print media.

Learn more and register http://www.speakerservices.com/mediaspeak07 .
Mention this note and receive a 10% discount (good for friends too).

The MediaSpeak Symposium was a fabulous training on how to approach the media and speak your message in a way that is arresting and newsworthy. For any professional who wants to be seen and heard by millions, this is an event not to be missed!
- Chellie Campbell, Speaker & author of The Wealthy Spirit and Zero to Zillionaire

Listen to replay of audio interviews with the faculty of the Symposium

Dr Letitia Wright, Publicity 2.0: Online PR . Click here to listen http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/80
and
Nita Vallens, How to Get Booked on Radio Talk Shows, Give a Great Interview and Get Invited Back and Jill Lublin- Guerrilla Publicity – Practical Strategies to Increase Visibility. Click here to listen http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/79

If you are an author or want to be author here is a brand NEW workshop designed for you Authors’ SpeakEasy, November 9-11

Authors need to promote themselves and their books. To get their books out to the public — for any effective action at all — there will be networking, book signings, media interviews and speaking engagements. In order to be successful at the media adventure, you — the author must master the media. Authors: Identify your Niche-Pitch®, Master your Message, Master the Media, 2-3 minute Interview Video Segment.

Learn more . ltd to 20 attendees

See all upcoming events
http://www.speakerservices.com (3rd col on right)

There is one slot open for the 3 camera video demo showcase Nov 4
See http://www.speakerservices.com/videoprod.html for details

Won’t you join us?

Susan

Video Inspires Trust

speakerservices — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 14:16:34 +0000

This past weekend we produced the BizSpeak and Video Demo Workshop. It is designed for Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Authors, Coaches, Professionals who want to personalize their website with streaming video.

We know that video inspires trust rather then static text or pictures as well as captivates visitors’ attention and motivates them to take action. Additionally it creates a personal connection with potential clients and converts more visitors to customers.

We had a dentist, a lawyer, a business and a dating coach, a skin care salon owner and reflexolgist, an actress, a high school teacher and a web site designer.

Take a look at a one of the short segments that we produced. View more videos and check out the upcoming dates for the next workshop.

The BizSpeak Seminar helped me understand my audience, refine my message, and get a great finished product. I can use my video to attract and educate clientèle on my website, myspace.com, citysearch.com, justburbank.com, youtube.com and many other online venues! Susan Levin and Jack Barnard made the process easy, professional, and a pleasure!”
– Libby Higgins, www.CitySitesInc.com, website design, optimization and advertising
View Libby’s video- Click here to play video…

Hone your Speaking Skills

speakerservices — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:08:53 +0000

My friend e-mailed the following video that he saw on You Tube - Elvira Speaks
When you have a chance take a look at it-it’s a riot.

You’ll probably agree after viewing it that you do need to be prepared to speak!

Many of my colleagues feel as I do that it is vitally important to have a coach and to continue to take seminars to enhance their skills.

At Speaker Services we offer lots of training. The Speakers’ Bootcamp is a great intensive for honing your speaking skills. Our next Bootcamp is March 26-30, ’08.

The MediaSpeak Symposium is great for anyone who has a service, product or book and wants to get more publicity.

Does any of the following sound like you?

You want to:

- Communicate your key message to the news media, audiences and clients

- Position yourself as a savvy media guest/expert

- Create grabber sound bites that attract attention

- Sell books on the radio and TV

- Develop dynamite pitches that attract producers and editors to spotlight you now

- Choose the best promotion strategies for print, TV, radio or Internet

- Discover how to pitch to multiple media outlets

- Become a sought-after talk show guest who gets booked again and again

- Convince newspapers and magazines to run feature stories on you and your work

- Nail any interview without getting clobbered

- Craft print and online media kits that reporters will love

- Adapt your ideas into a screenplay or TV pilot

Then you need to be at the 3rd annual MediaSpeak Symposium, October 11-13.

Psst: sign up by Sept 1 and save $150.

Would you like to have a video presence on your website? The BizSpeak and Video Workshop is a one camera shoot with a full day workshop attached to it.

There are just a few slots open at this time. Grab one-it’s only $497. A steal.

When I went to You Tube today to see the Elvira Speaks video I created an account and uploaded 2 short videos. One is with Jack and me talking about Why Video is Important and the other is of one of our speakers Suzanne Stanford talking about Internet Safety. Click here to view them. Suzanne’s is a one camera shoot that we shot at the Speakers’ Summit.

If you are a speaker and you want to get booked for speaking gigs it is necessary to have a 3 camera video shoot in front of a live audience. We offer a Video Demo Showcase twice a year for 18 folks. Take a look at some of the streaming samples on my website. I have 2 openings for Nov 4.

I got sidetracked today with the Elvira Speaks video and now I have to get back to work!

More later.

Susan

Get Inspired-Susan Levin

speakerservices — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 03:58:19 +0000

I was honored to be be choosen to be included in the Get Inspired Section of The Quest for Success E-Zine, produced by Ursula Mentjes, March 2007 .

Ursula is one of the speakers listed in Speaker Services directory. She speaks about business, goal planning and sales. See her speaker listing.

Her book is Selling with Intention: Learn the 10 Principles of Selling with Intention and boost your sales revenue or the sales revenue of your team by 200 percent – or more!

Here’s the Article:

Get Inspired

Susan Levin, owner and founder
Speaker Services, www.speakerservices.com
Marketing and Training Speakers and Authors

15 years ago I had a vision to create a heart-centered and “grace-full” business. I had been an entrepreneur since 1970 and Speaker Services was different than my other businesses because it was visioned. I practiced the spiritual principles of a life-driven vs. fear-driven business, continued to vision and be mindful to the law of attraction. I must say, today I am a poster child of a successfully visioned business and it has allowed me to support thousands of others in realizing their personal and professional dreams.

As business owners and soloists we are accountable and challenged to find ways of marketing ourselves. We must be creative with the shifting marketplaces, economic upheavals and a diversified population. Speaking is an excellent way to market your business and it can lead directly to new business. You can turn your experience into a speech that will bring you credibility, exposure and business. Norman Vincent Peale said, “When you get people to listen to what you believe you get on fire yourself, big fires, little fires––that never go out.”

I chose a business that filled a specific need, made it real in my mind, built a strategy, did the research and within three months I was up and running with Speaker Services Print Directory. In 1994 I was one of the first 1500 people to have a website. The right people always stepped forward and the business became an effortless dance once my vision was clear. Bringing speakers and authors together with audiences became my passion!

In addition to the online directory we offer The Speakers Summit, Speakers‘ Bootcamp, MediaSpeak Symposium, Visionary Business Conference, Video Demo Showcases, customized and individual presentation skills and marketing training for business folks.

We have trained thousands of business folks over the years and are very proud of their accomplishments. It is a joy for me give people wings and watch them soar.

When I find myself stuck, I always remind myself to toss out fear, to make room for new information, insights and creative solutions. When we come from that space then we can choose and allow creative spirit to do its job.

Allow me to assist you in growing your business through speaking. Give me a call at 310-822-4922 PST, e-mail me: susan@speakerservices.com and sign up for our e-zine.

Speaking, Media and Meeting Industry Resources

speakerservices — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 02:54:42 +0000

There are thousands of speaking opportunites every day and the question always is how do I find them?

There are many opportunites to submit articles to magazines or newspapers or be interviewed as the expert and the question is how do i find them?

Today I am sharing a handful of resources with you.

Before you reach out to any association or media contact, make sure you have a presentation packet. This could be on your website under the speaking/keynote button and the meeting planner button too. You need to have a one sheet for each topic that you speak about along with benefits for the audience, a 3 camera video demo in front of a live audience is also helpful especially if you have it streamed on your website.

Be professional, be prepared to be able to tell the media what you do in 2 sentences so they can say, tell me more.

At the MediaSpeak Symposium in Ocober we’ll be teaching you how to talk to the media-you know how to get to the point and then you have an opportunity to pitch live to radio, TV and print media folks at the Pitch Fest.

Here’s some photos from the last Symposium

Jaquie Jordan and me

Ron from People Magazine

The Learning Annex

Here I am with our master media, branding presentation coach Jack Barnard

BTW: Speaker Services is a paid listing service that brings speakers and audiences together. We connect you with audiences who you may not find on your own. You can e-mail me at susan@speakerservices.com for the speakers’ guidelines to get listed and take a look around the website. I have had the website since 1994.

Here’s the list of industry resources:

Libraries Want Author Appearances
See for a list of more than 700 libraries that sponsor appearances by authors. Many cover expenses; some pay an honorarium to the author.

PTA (Parents Teachers Association) State & National Conferences

Association Meeting & Event Planners Directory® – Douglas Publications
More then 8,000 national association listings contains vital information such as the association name, street address, phone and fax numbers, Web site address, general e-mail address and contact names and titles. Event details include the type of meetings, locations, number of meetings, length of meetings, number of attendees, and the number of years booked in advance.

Bacon’s
Bacon’s offers everything from excellent media directories to news release distribution services

College Newspapers
Get access to your college newspaper or any college newspaper in the U.S

Directory of Local Daily and Weekly Newspapers
State by state, town by town listings of local newspapers and contact info

National Directory of Magazines
Lists more than 17,670 business and consumer publications, including 14,000 magazines as well as tabloids, specialized newspapers and journals that carry advertising

National Ethnic Media Directory
Includes almost 2,000 media outlets representing the growing diversity of multicultural audiences in the U.S

National Trade & Professional Associations (NTPA)- Columbia Books
A directory which lists over 7,500 organizations, focusing on major U.S. national trade associations, labor unions, professional or scientific societies, and technical organizations. Address, fax/telephone, and budget information is provided.

Create a Winning Marketing Strategy

speakerservices — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:25:34 +0000

Here are several suggestions on mapping out a marketing plan for your speaking business.

Also an article on what meeting planners look for when hiring a speaker with tips on video demos too.

Establish yourself as an expert through speaking – a powerful marketing tool that lifts your business or service to the next level. Begin now to build a profitable speaking business that gets your message out to the world.

- Design an irresistible presentation kit that makes meeting planners want to hire you.
In this kit would be your one-sheets for each topic you speak on 
- Customize your talks with targeted pre-program questionnaires 
- Launch new product ideas based on solid game-plans

- Produce powerful video demos

- Create powerful websites, blogs and e-zines

What Meeting Planners Look for When Working with Speakers

• Are you easy to work with? The desirable speaker or trainer is organized, professional in all communications, and is flexible as opposed to “whiney” and demanding. Make their job easier and they will use you again and recommend you to others.

• Are you an expert in your topic? They look for a presenter who can communicate effectively with impact, drawing in and captivating the audience.

• Do you take the time to learn about their organization and customize your presentations for their people? They want someone who will take the time to research, and then adapt your presentation so that it is relevant and appropriate to the culture and climate of their organization.

• Do you engage the audience? Decision makers want a presenter who will get the audience involved and invested. They look to see if your audience seems sincerely interested and responsive to you, as opposed to someone who is just tolerated.

• Will you help the company achieve its goals? If their goal is to create long-term change, they need to be convinced that you can accomplish this before they invest in you. If they are looking for entertainment, they want to know that what you do will achieve this for the majority of their people.

• Do you have a video demo? Is it streamed on your website?

A great video demo can be your ticket into places you could have never reached without it. It can increase the number and the caliber of your bookings. It can be sent through the mail, streamed on your website, and even sent by e-mail. For most serious speakers and trainers, it is an absolute necessity for success.

Many meeting planners and executives will not even consider a speaker or trainer without seeing them in action. So your video demo can get you in the door, but then you have one chance to impress your prospect quickly. There is a lot of competition out there, and most professionals have a demo video. To stand out from the pack it’s essential for your video be creatively and intelligently designed, with excellent quality. It can mean a significantly higher income.

It makes sense to invest in a demo, but to increase the return on your investment, you need to design your demo to target, reach and persuade those who have the power to say yes or no to you. With that type of planning, you’re shooting at your target with laser guided precision! Without great planning and execution, you are just shooting arrows with a blindfold on.

Of course every speaker and trainer is unique, so each video should be unique. The tone, pace and image of your video will differ from others because of who you are and what you do. However, there are some basic attributes that appeal to most decision makers. It is up to you and your video production company to communicate that you have those qualities.

Tips on Video Demos:
Your demo video is like a five to seven minute sales call. A quality three camera professionally produced demo video lets your client know that you are a professional, experienced and in-demand speaker. A poor quality video has the opposite effect, and will usually not be watched at all.

• Stream your video and post it on your website so that you can be seen right away.

• Make a CD or DVD of your demo to send out to the planners when it is requested.

A quality demo video can:
- Help you get in the door and past the “gatekeepers” to the decision makers.
- Make a quick and great impression.
- Show your unique style and how the audience responds to you.
- Entice potential clients. Grab their interest so they’ll want to hear more of your presentation.
- Give you a quality tool to reach thousands of potential clients by streaming on the web.
- Increase the caliber of your bookings.
- Get you hired and increase your income!

See streaming video samples of 3 camera video demos that Speaker Services produces for their clients at the Video Demo Showcase. Next showcase is November 4, 2007.

Do you need a one camera shoot?

speakerservices — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:06:53 +0000

I think you may be aware of the fact that text is static. Right? So as professionals it is rather important and necessary to be seen or heard. Tell me the truth. Would you be more likely to hire an attorney or an accountant if you could see them talking about the benefits of working with them rather then reading about them?

I sure would. At Speaker Services one of the services we offer is a one camera video shoot called BizSpeak & Video Workshop.

It is a 2 day event. September 15 & 16 in Los Angeles.

Our master trainer, Jack Barnard teaches the attendees how to talk about what they offer in 2 or 3 minutes and the workshop is very interactive.

Day 1
- Learn the template for a 3 minute to 3 hour speech structure
- Learn how to balance information, story support and interaction
- Tap into a systematic approach for creating dynamite presentations
- Familiarize, not “memorize” your material

Day 2
Shoot a two-three minute segment and leave with a CD which you can stream and post on your webstie, Goggle, UTube, MySpace…

Your Investment: $497, Limited to 20 attendees

Take a look at at the streaming video we created at the Speakers’ Summit in May. This is Chaz Gaddie.

If you recognize the value of streaming video on your website or blog etc and would like professional coaching and a great video shoot then check us out at

Check out the PDF for the Workshop BizSpeak & Video Workshop

I love the graphics. Dotti Albertine of Albertine Designs is my graphic artist/designer. She really specializes in Book Covers & Interiors however, when she has free time she helps me out.

You can hear Dotti in a short audio clip on my resource directory talking about Book Design.

For business owners, entrepreneurs, authors, coaches or any professional finding ways to market your business, product or service can be a challenge. Let me recap the benefits of marketing yourself through streaming video:

- Inspires trust rather then static text or pictures
- Captivates your visitors’ attention and motivates them to take action
- Creates a personal connection with potential clients and converts more visitors to customers
- Provides a quick and easy way for visitors to get a quick overview of what you offer without having to read a lot of text
- Can be uploaded to your website and to video distribution sites with access to hundreds of millions of potential customers

Streaming video is changing the way we communicate in and out of business at an amazing rate. Video e-mail, video instant messaging, video blogging and video web casting are the hottest new crazes in the communication industry.

Jump on the video bandwagon and speak up so we can hire you as a speaker, coach or a consultant.

My first post ever

speakerservices — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 07:20:50 +0000

Welcome to Market Yourself as a Speaker blog. Dedicated to sharing information with business folk and authors who are interested in using speaking as a way to grow their business.

I am Susan Levin a marketing consultant for speakers and authors. I was one of the first 1500 people to have a website in 1994. I have assisted thousands of people with their speaking careers for the past 15 yrs.

www.speakerservices.com is my website which brings speakers and audiences together. Unlike a speaker bureau I do not take commissions however, I do charge a fee to be listed on our site and all the calls go directly to the speakers and they do their own bookings. I feel that given the opportunity to speak to a group of 10-100 is a blessing and a terrific way to attract business.

Speaking is a business and like any business it must be nutured.

In addition to the online directory I offer conferences, symposiums and summits plus video demo showcases.

I have a fantastic team of folks who I work with and I refer to them all the time.

Our E-Zine is archived on my website for the past 5-6 years. It offers great articles and tips and advice as well as leads.

Next time I will share some marketing tips with you.