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I have been searching online since 1999.  The search world is an amazing realm that has capabilities no other media available can compete with and is geared toward both businesses and consumers in the same capacity.

Imagine a world with out internet.  All businesses and consumers would have is the phone book and push ads such as; radio and TV.  We would have to manually find phone numbers when we are hungry for take-out and mail letters through the post office.  Businesses would be throwing more money into direct mail and TV with no track-able ROI.  Although the Internet has been around for only a short time it has been integrated into everyone’s lives and is now a normal daily ritual for almost all of us.  The vast amount of information that we all have at our finger tips has benefited the masses as a whole.

Business and the Internets

Marketing and ad efforts via the Internet have been growing exponentially in the past 5 or so years and there is no sign of stopping.  A business website is the first step in becoming current with the times.  The second step is search engine optimization which will allow Google, Yahoo, MSN and the others to list your site in the engines. The third and final step is creating links to your site.  Link building shows the search engines how relevant you are and therefore will raise your listing higher on the page.

If you implement the three above steps you are on your way to a happy online life!

If I had been told 10 years ago that I’d be making web videos full time, I would’ve wondered what planet I was on. Heck, even five or six years ago I would’ve thought the idea was nuts. Video file sizes were extremely large, download speeds were marginal at best and quality was subpar. Video on the web just wasn’t practical. And then something amazing happened. Flash video was born, YouTube was introduced and video exploded on the internet. Now fast forward a few years and video is everywhere on the net. People are going to CNN.com to watch the news, or on hulu.com catching an episode of their favorite TV show. I watched Barack Obama’s inauguration live from my computer. Ga-zillions of video feeds are floating around through emails and instant messages. Video is taking over the internet.

In the world of video, this “booming” is enormous. For indie filmmakers, it means that for the first time, anyone can pick up a camera, shoot a movie and broadcast it to millions of viewers without ever leaving their computer.  In the corporate realm, the realm that I work in, it means that businesses are able to not only post a professional website about their company, but also a professional video explaining who they are and what they do. This has become such a trend that now it’s almost expected of businesses to have something visual for users to see. Think about it; when was the last time you saw a link that said, “Click here to watch”?

Coming from someone who has been making professional videos for over five years, I’ve noticed several general trends, or characteristics (if you will) in video that have bloomed with the internet. In my opinion, these traits are what make or break a web video and are the fundamentals for producing a solid video that will get your message across. Here we go.

1. Think MTV on steroids.
In today’s fast food, instant gratification society, the attention span of viewers is shorter than ever before. And it’s even shorter on the internet. Think about it. How quickly do you surf through websites? Incorporate that into video. Viewers lose interest extremely quickly and you need to dazzle them long even to get your message across. One of the most effective ways to do this is to think of MTV on steroids. First, think of MTV or VH1. Think of them in terms of editing. Everything you see is very fast paced, quick cuts, lots of motion graphics, lots of information happening on the screen all at once. This technique is very effective and really grabs the attention of viewers, even the ones that weren’t initially interested. This is the technique you want to grasp, but you need to take it up a notch for the internet, especially if your video is over 30 seconds.

2.    One minute, two minute, three minute, gone.
As I mentioned previously, the attention spans of internet users is extremely short. You can’t expect someone to sit through a 20 minute corporate video. It just isn’t practical. The concept to grasp here, is to think about a typical TV commercial. Most commercials average around 15 to 60 seconds. The key is to try to get your message squeezed into as little time as possible. If you think you have a good four minute video, cut it down to two minutes. If you have a good 60-second promo, cut it down to 30 seconds. Always try to keep it as short as possible. The shorter the video, the more likely you’ll keep your target audience through the entire video. I cringe every time I’m handed a script for a video that I know is going to run over four minutes.

3.    Know the technical.
This is something that is often overlooked. Although YouTube and other various video sharing sites have made it easy to upload a video, quality still tends to be an issue with video. You need to become an expert with various codecs – what produces good results and what doesn’t. Getting to know the best compression settings is crucial. You could have the best video in the world, but if viewers can’t make it out due to compression artifacts, you’re going to lose your audience quickly. This knowledge is even more important if you’re creating a video that will be posted as a standalone video on a website. Currently, I’d recommend familiarizing yourself with flash video (FLV) and MPEG-4 video (MP4). These two formats seem to be the most popular formats in web video. Get to know the relationship between quality and file size. You don’t want poor quality, but you also don’t want viewers to have to wait for your video to load.  So play with the settings and become a master. It could make or break your video.

These are just three general tips of mine based off what I’ve seen in the industry. I can’t promise you an award winning video, but I can assure you that if you are aware of these aspects and work to incorporate them into your video, you’ll definitely become more proficient in delivering your message and keeping your audience (and you’ll make a better video too!) Good luck!

My professional background is 25 years of broadcast sales and marketing, not IT.  As a recent 3-year-old internet sales/marketing professional, I want to share some observations about selling the internet as a source of revenue or to address public relations challenges versus traditional media.

Traditional Media
The internet or the company website can be included under the umbrella of the traditional media in the context that it shares the same goal of improving revenue and communicating with current and new customers.

Many business and industries owned or managed by human beings are familiar with the technology and terminology associated with television, radio and print campaigns.  We all know what a tv/radio set is, we all know what a newspaper is.  We are familiar :10, :30: or :60 second commercials and can maybe even ballpark their cost.  We know commercials need to be produced.  With print we know about print size, placement, etc.  We are familiar with the importance of “targeting” a demographic.  We don’t understand the technology behind implementing the above media but we use it because we know it “works”.  (After 25 years of selling broadcast media, I still don’t know how it worked. I just know that it did because my customers were happy about the results = $.)

The Internet
Now throw in this thing called the internet, a new technology and new terminology.  On top of this is the challenge of learning how to use it as a source of revenue.  A common response I get when I first walk into the front door of a company and inquiry about internet marketing opportunities is, “Talk to our IT department”.   If I were to walk in to discuss tv or radio advertising I would be directed to the marketing department.  I have run into very few IT persons who have sales or marketing experience.

An analogy – A car dealership

Sales and marketing professionals do not fix or repair cars and the service department (IT department) does not sell or market the cars, but both are needed with one goal: keep and maintain happy, satisfied customers so that each gets paid.

The point of this maybe self evident by now… It is not necessary to totally understand the technology and terminology before a internet campaign can be implemented.  It is however, important to acknowledge it as a powerful sales and marketing tool (just as tv, radio and print are) to talk to new and current customers, to increase revenue or address public relations challenges.  Finding a person in the internet industry that you trust… now that is another topic.

Originally uploaded by tmaemarketing

This is TMA E-Marketing’s inaugural launch of our website marketing cartoon series developed by Jerry King.

The latest buzzword in the advertising world is upgrade.  From iphones, to HDTVs, to high speed Internet service, everyone needs an upgrade.  If Beyonce says so, it must be true!

Perhaps your search engine marketing campaign needs to dance to a new tune.
Is your online media matched to your latest business objectives, messages, products and services; or is it out of date and ready to be archived with your 45’s, 8-track tapes and VCR?

Today’s business economy is changing at the fastest pace ever.  So what should you do?

To begin, take a step back.
•    Review your website.
•    Take a good long look at your search engine marketing campaign.
•    Is your message being consistently communicated via your website, ads and landing pages?
•    Is your offer still current?
•    Are you getting a good return on your investment?

Now take a look at your current business plan. What are your 2009 business objectives?

If you’re search engine marketing campaign doesn’t project your current business goals, it just might be time to upgrade.

You don’t need to completely reinvent yourself, but you can build your brand through
better focused and more targeted approaches that are matched with your current business
goals and strategies.

Here are some recommendations to help you move ahead.

1)    Revise your website copy so it is current.  Perhaps you can afford a redesign, but if not, make sure your messages come through loud and clear and reflect your latest business goals and offers. Remove outdated or unnecessary copy.
2)    Refresh your site’s search engine optimization to include both new and best performing, relevant keywords. Google has a free keyword tool that can be helpful to find good keywords with high search volume.
3)    Consider developing a mini website (no more than 10 new pages).  This is a great way to focus on a high priority area of your business.  A mini site should be easy to navigate and can be optimized for specific search terms.
4)    Add video.  A product demonstration or a testimonial can go a long way to help customers see the value of your products or services.  Make is short; keep it simple; reinforce your messages; and make a compelling offer. Add it to your home and landing pages.
5)    Update your click campaign to make sure your ads reflect your latest offers.
6)    If applicable, set up local business ads to more precisely target your audience.  You could try different ads or offers for each location and test the results for best performance.
7)    Include trackable phone numbers on your website and in your advertising campaigns to measure results.
8)    Add Google Analytics to your website so you can gather trend data.  This is a simple improvement to help you measure and grow your business.

The best upgrade is one that is current, consistent, integrated, focused, targeted and measurable.

And the beat goes on….