Living The Dream

Me on the journey!

I think most of us at some point in our lives have been encouraged to follow our dreams, chase our passions, to do what we want with our lives and of course, the money will follow.  Many have done just that and are living their dreams successfully everyday, but there are also those still out there chasing.  I myself took a leap of faith several years ago and each and everyday I feel like I am living my dream, but it hasn’t been easy.  Here are a few things I have learned along the way…

First of all, identify your dream.  What is your natural talent or the one thing that brings the most joy to your life?  Maybe it is more than one thing or a combination of many.  Once you have identified your dream, figure out how you might make a living at it.

The journey is more enjoyable if you share it.

The next thing you need to do is lay a solid foundation.  I spent ten years in the television news business learning and refining my craft.  That’s right, ten years!  The wonderful thing about our country is that the overnight success story can happen… but let’s face it, for most of us it doesn’t generally happen overnight.

Next, is the sacrifice.  You have to be willing to take a step back in order to move forward.  Leaving behind a steady salary and Cadillac benefits was one of the hardest and scariest things I have ever done, but it was worth it.

Lastly - and probably the most important advice I can give - is to have patience.  Achieve your dream the old fashioned way by working at it and enjoying the journey.  Don’t be afraid to tweak things and reinvent along the way.  Don’t worry about getting there too quickly either or you might have to start another journey instead.

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Do we need Facebook and Google+?

Facebook will have 1 Billion users in just a few months. Google+ just is now more than 90 Million users. There is a lot of talk about having too many social media outlets, and I’m trying to sort out what works and what doesn’t for social business.  I went to a seminar about Google + and walked away excited about it.  But… I do think it will take time to get more businesses on board with Google+.  I was reading a blog by Lindsay Hunt Media, and she says “You can’t ignore Google+.”

Are you convinced Google+ is worth it when we have Facebook too?  That is my question!  So… I ask why?

First, being in this space will help your SEO efforts. Google+ is a social network indexed by Google (the #1 search engine) and associated with YouTube (the #2 search engine).  This is huge!

Second, you can easily share your own YouTube videos on Google+ with one click. This makes sense since most businesses now have a YouTube account.  Check it out… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCY2o7XG_kE

Lastly, I like the fact that Google+ is bundled into the Google product suite like Google Docs, Places, Gmail, YouTube, and Calendar.

I don’t think we should ignore Google+ just because we already have a following on Facebook,  Twitter and LinkedIn, but  I think it is worth getting it set up.  Then, slowly add new people and businesses to your circles.  Fireside Production has a Google+ page set up, so remember to add us to your circle!

What do you think?  Are we in social media overload?  What do you think about Google+ for your business?  I would love to hear your thoughts on this too.

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Posted in Tammie's Video Marketing Tips, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fireside Production Wins Ava Awards

Fireside Production is thrilled to announce we have earned top honors in the 2011 international Ava Awards competition.  Judges recognized two of our submissions for outstanding achievement.  This is the second consecutive year Fireside Production has won recognition for video production excellence in this competition.  The Ava Awards pay tribute to the magnificent history of the audio-visual industry. 

Fireside Production earned the highest honor, the Platinum Ava Award, in the Government Video Production category for the piece we created on climate change research for a federal laboratory in Colorado.  The Platinum Award recognizes the most outstanding submissions for their quality, creativity and resourcefulness.  Just 14% of the estimated 1,700 entries win the Platinum Award. 

Fireside Production was also honored with the Gold Ava Award in the Environmental Issue Video Production category for the Green Jobs Training video we produced for Mi Casa Resource Center presented by the Environmental Defense Fund.

“Mi Casa is incredibly proud to see this video about our green jobs training program win recognition,” said Christine Marquez-Hudson, Mi Casa’s CEO/Executive Director.  “It’s important for people to understand that the green sectors in Colorado are actively improving the environment and simultaneously creating valuable new employment opportunities for workers in need of a boost.” 

 

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The Shot List: Traveling Light

Me in the Palm Springs Airport with camera bag, laptop and caffeine.

With the growth of Fireside Production, I have found myself traveling more and more.  Traveling isn’t always an easy endeavor and it can certainly be a challenge when you are packing video equipment too.  So here are a few tips to that might make traveling with your gear a bit easier.

First of all, pack light.  It is good to get one big hard case (make sure it is padded inside) and fill it with only what you think you will need.  I generally pack three lights with extra bulbs, two wireless microphones, a shotgun mic, batteries/chargers and necessary cables.  Also, always pack a roll of gaffers tape!  Some extras I might consider are a black backdrop, a small reflector and a camera rain jacket if necessary.  

The next bag I pack is a tripod case.  Get a hard case and if it isn’t padded, toss a jacket or perhaps your backdrop in there too for padding.  On a recent trip to Indianapolis, I watched in horror as the baggage handler launched my tripod like a missile into the cargo area of the plane.  I purchased a hard case the day I returned.

Carry your camera onboard with you always!  If it is a prosumer-type camera, put it in a small camera bag and store it overhead.  If it is an eng camera, lay it overhead with the eyepiece up on top of a pillow, blanket or jacket.  Remember to pull your battery if you have a frezzi or camera light on top.  I always like to pack a wireless microphone in my camera bag too.  If the airline loses your luggage, it won’t be ideal but you can still manage with the camera and microphone if you have to go right to a shoot.

Lastly, pack yourself light too.  You already have to drag a camera bag and possibly a laptop through security.  Throw all of your watches, keys, etc. in your laptop or camera bag ahead of time.  If possible, don’t wear a belt or extra jewelry on travel day.  Nothing worse than ten bins of belongings going through security… Except for maybe those new X-Ray machines!!  Happy Travels!

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Keep Visitors on Your Website with Video

In my last blog, I discussed how to drive traffic to your website.  Next question… Once on your site, how do you keep online visitors engaged beyond your video content?  First, remember it is important to offer visitors to your website videos with memorable content.  Here are a few other ideas:

  • Make it easy for visitors to find video on your website.
  • Provide a link to a series of videos about that same topic.
  • Offer a preview of upcoming videos.  This is a great way to entice viewers of your current content to return to your site.
  • Suggest viewers sign up or subscribe to email announcements for
    new videos in the series.
  • End with some sort of preview or cliffhanger.  That encourages
    people to return to see your next video!

I generally recommend that our Clients post their video to YouTube and embed it from there on their websites.  Then, the visitors to their website don’t leave the site to watch the video and the video still generates those organic searches through YouTube and Google.

I hope you enjoyed these tips.  Please share your ideas too.  As always, I love to hear your feedback!

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Are You Talkin’ to Me?

This is perhaps one of the most essential elements of a successful video… who are you talkin’ to?  You must early on identify your targeted audience.  This is critical whether you’re producing a fundraising piece or a promotional video.  We all know that in television, the advertisers closely monitor ratings to know who is watching at what time.  Ratings allow advertisers to know the best value for their dollars when it comes to prime demographics and buying time for commercials.  You must know your audience to reach your viewer.

As a video producer, this is one of my first questions in speaking with someone about a new project.  I need to know who your audience is.  This allows me as a producer to craft questions for the video interviews that will illicit responses appropriate for your audience.

For example, if the topic of your video involves technology or research, you’ll want to consider whether you’re trying to reach viewers who are already well-versed in the field or those whose interest you hope to pique to persuade them to learn more.  A general audience likely needs fairly basic information with an emphasis on introducing them to the research or technology while fellow researchers or scientists typically require more high-level interview sound or narration to stay engaged.  Regardless of the topic, a good starting point is to identify whether your video is internally-driven or public-facing.

Knowing your audience also allows you the opportunity to be more personal in your messaging.  If your video is intended to welcome new employees, you can craft the interviews or narration around motivating your new hires by allowing them to experience through video what’s most special about your organization.

Now, all this isn’t to say that there may not be multiple uses for your video and more than one target audience.  In fact, Fireside Production is always looking for ways to help our Clients to multi-purpose their footage and maximize their production investments.  A promotional video for a non-profit might serve as a way to reach new volunteers and supporters but might also be an excellent platform for touching existing donors as part of your fundraising campaign.  Your audience may be attendees at a special event, but you might also use that piece for new employee orientations or trade shows.

Identifying your viewers is foundational to creating effective video communications… then, you want to move them, inspire them, motivate them with a memorable piece.

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Client Stories – Mile High United Way

By Robert Thompson, Director of Media Relations

Robert Thompson

Robert Thompson

Let’s talk about smart investment in story-telling.

It’s one thing to produce a video for your company or organization.  It’s another thing to strategically produce a video that you can repurpose for broadcast commercials, web content and social media.  But, that is exactly what we have been able to do at Mile High United Way with the assistance of Fireside Production.

For the past few years, we have partnered with Fireside to produce annual campaign videos for the Mile High United Way fundraising campaigns at hundreds of local companies and corporations.  These videos are shown to employees at our United Way fundraising campaign kickoffs and available on our web site, Facebook page and Youtube channel throughout the fiscal year.  They are the stories- the emotional hooks highlighting the work we do in the community and the people we help.

The question, early on, was how can we maximize video production for a better return on investment (which for a nonprofit equals more donations)?  The answer was simple.  Repurpose the raw video and create an integrated package of video materials that we can use across the ever-growing spectrum of video platforms.

The benefit is amazing, especially for a non-profit organization committed to spending donor dollars wisely.  For the cost of the initial video shoots, we had all of the raw material we needed to create our package of videos.  The only added costs (which were minimal) were for simple editing time.  That’s it!  No new shoots, no new graphics.  We follow a basic theme of graphics, colors and editing style to give the videos a united feel.  So, editing is a snap for the pros at Fireside.

This approach has not only helped us to build our arsenal of quality videos, but it has also saved us money and opened new lines of communications for us to tell the story of Mile High United Way.  We are now confident and prepared to customize a quality video for nearly any platform.  It’s awesome and so easy.

Let’s face it.  The world of visual story-telling is changing day by day.  From television to the internet to blogs and social media, you really have to cover all of the bases in order to make an impression.  The good news is- it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to do it!

Whether you are a for-profit or non-profit organization, I would urge you to consider this approach in your video production planning.  Talk to the experts at Fireside.  They are full of great ideas to maximize your message and your budget no matter how large or small.

Happy story-telling!

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Family Video Success

A great question was recently asked on our Fireside Production Facebook page, and I think the timing is perfect for the holiday season.  The question was, “How can a person film a family get together without over organizing the family or filming a disorganized melee?”

Thanks Mary Lou for the question - and I have to say it isn’t an easy one to answer.  That’s because every family is different and each has unique dynamics.  With that said, I have a few suggestions that may help make your home video a success.

First of all… go in with a plan.  In fact, with any video you should have a plan for what you want your video to look like.  Often, when you get there the actual event will be nothing like you expected, but it is a lot easier to change direction or tweak your plan than it is to figure it out from scratch.

Find good characters.  Who in your family will make the video memorable?  Based on what I see on YouTube, pets and babies usually do the trick.  Personally, I like people who have charisma and don’t seem to care when the camera pops into their space.  Think about it for a moment and you’ll realize who in your family fits this profile.  Use these people and don’t be afraid to let them narrate the action or become the star of your home video.

Build Trust.  If you go into your family event and shoot a video of everyone at their worst, they might not participate the next time.  In fact, you might not be invited next time!  I think it is always entertaining to have a little comedy fun at your favorite uncle’s expense but also give him a chance to shine too.

Lastly, don’t over shoot.  No one and I mean NO ONE wants to watch hours of every last detail of your family event no matter how close you are.  Anticipate the moments and events and concentrate on the gems that will make the family video a big hit.  If you can do that, everyone will line up for your next video!  Happy Holidays!

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Posted in Tom's Video Production Tips, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Video Tips to Drive Traffic to Your Website

Whether you own or work at a small business, large corporation or a non-profit organization, online video is an effective way to drive traffic to your website and deliver your message.   How do you do this?  Here are some valuable tips I learned from the Reel Web Creator.

      • In your video description on YouTube or Vimeo, for instance, be sure to include a link to your website.  Make sure it’s an actual link viewers can click on, and it’s a good idea to include that toward the beginning of your text description.
      • Use an annotation.  This is an interactive way to promote a “Like,” add a reminder to “Subscribe” to your YouTube page or encourage comments.  You can do all this directly from your YouTube page!  Here is an examble of how to use annotations.

    • Create bonus content video only for your website.  You use your YouTube video to mention those videos posted on your website.  They could feature a Q&A or a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the piece.

Now that viewers are on your website, how do you keep them there?  Let’s start off with some stats compliments of Infographic on wistia.com.  When you post videos on your website…

72% watch One video
13% watch Two videos
5% watch Three videos
2.5% watch Four videos
7% watch Five or more videos

Now, with that, it’s interesting to note:
- Those who watch one video typically have six minutes of site engagement.
- BUT… more than one video, and site engagement jumps to approximately 36 minutes.  You’ve got them hooked!

As you can see, it’s critical that your videos are compelling and engaging to keep visitors on your website.  How do you keep online visitors engaged beyond your video content? Stay tuned for part 2 of my next blog… video tips to KEEP visitors on your website.

I hope you enjoyed these tips.  Please share your ideas as well.  I love to hear feedback!

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Posted in Tammie's Video Marketing Tips, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Moments?

If you’ve taken a spin through our website or checked out our videos, you surely know that moments are very important here at Fireside Production.  Why Moments?  Moments take a video from predictable to exceptional.  A moment gives a video an extra element of authenticity.  You can’t script a true moment and they often happen in the most unexpected ways.  A moment, though, captured in a video and allowed to play out in full makes a piece memorable.

A question can often inspire a moment… it’s that pause when someone is overwhelmed with emotion or replies with pure enthusiasm.  When those moments happen, as a production team you need to be patient and let them develop fully.  I think that takes restraint.  Often too, a moment like that can only unfold in the most supportive of settings.  The participants in the video need to be able to trust their video production team and feel emotionally safe.

There are also the types of moments that are quite simply the genuine reaction to events taking place.  It’s the job of the videographer to capture those moments in the field and the producer to actually watch all of the raw footage, notice the moments and incorporate them into the produced script.  This piece Fireside Production created for Inter-Faith Community Services is a great example.

Tom was the videographer on this social networking video.  He does an extraordinary job of anticipating the action and then, capturing the reaction.  There’s even one clip where he’s in the middle of an impromptu interview and he reacts to someone walking by loaded up with school supplies.  It’s seamless and it allows you as the viewer to experience that day in all of its busy, excited, thankful glory.  That’s why moments make for video gold.

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