I took typing too!
Posted on | July 11, 2010 | No Comments
Chris Brogan wrote a blog post yesterday about taking a typing class when he was a kid. You can read it here: http://bit.ly/bfH5F2
He tells about their family purchasing a Macintosh computer and his parents required him and his brother to take typing classes before the computer arrived. He goes on to talk about the value of learning to type fast even while his brother aggravated him throughout the process.
I can relate to part of his story. I took a typing class during my senior year in high school, but where the story is different is the reason why I took it. There was no master plan. I just needed one more credit, had played around with my parent’s typewriter at home and knew there were no guys in typing class! Using a thick, hard back book that taught you how to “touch” type, I already was pretty good at it… so I saw a recipe for success! This was in the mid 70’s so it was before Mavis Beacon and the other “Learn to type” software came out. It was before “typing” became “keyboarding”. Oh, it was also before PCs and Macs were in everyone’s homes. Actually, it was before they were invented…
The class was fun for a while, but then I started taking it serious (getting competitive). I discovered why so many girls took typing. It was because they were good at it. But, I quickly realized that I COULD COMPETE! In the spring of ‘74 they started talking about the typing award that would be given out at the end of the year. I set my goals on winning the award. I was going to be the first male student to ever take a typing class and win the fastest, most accurate typing award in the same year. I was destined for glory!
Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted. In the end, I came in 2nd place. But all was not lost. When awards day rolled around, I was given an award for being the fastest male in the typing class because I came so close to winning it all. After licking my wounded 18 year old ego for a while I realized I had lost the battle but won the war because of the typing skills I had acquired!
How many times have my typing skills paid off over the years? More than I can count. Wish I could say I had planned it all, but I didn’t.
How do you learn to type or keyboard or “hunt and peck”?
Tags: Chris Brogan > fastest > hunt and peck > keyboarding > type > typing
A year of change in social media for one company
Posted on | July 10, 2010 | No Comments
I received an email yesterday from one of our clients with a link to an article in a magazine that serves their industry. The article is about the importance of getting involved in social media in order to stay in touch with customers and prospects in the healthcare industry. We have been working with this company for over a year during which time we have produced a website and a web marketing video for their company.
What is interesting is the fact that when we met to discuss the website at the first of the summer last year, I briefly mentioned social media and they really didn’t express any interest. Partially because they didn’t really understand what social media was at the time and it’s value. But more interesting is the difference in the value of social media to their business last year and now. Last year it would have been more difficult to explain how they would benefit from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. Now, the evidence is in. Almost everyone is getting involved. A large number of their prospects, customers and even competitors are on Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and….
So, they now have a Facebook page, a YouTube account, a Flickr account and we’re discussing the use of Twitter. Quite a trip in a year for them… and for social media.
What’s your experience with social media over the past year?
Tags: Facebook > healthcare > Marketing > marketing video > Social media > Twitter > web video
New promo video for 106.1 The River
Posted on | June 1, 2010 | No Comments
The River has returned to Knoxville! If you have lived in Knoxville or the East Tennessee area for very long, you probably remember a previous radio station that was known as The River. Well, now The River name is back, but it’s a new station and new faces. The River, 106.1 plays music from the 80’s, 90’s and today and I think it’s a really good mix. We just completed a promotional video for them mainly directed at potential advertisers. But, you can learn a lot about the station, it’s beginnings, how they operate and meet some of the people who work there. Producing this video was a lot of fun and Cindi, Jeff and all of the folks at the station made our job easy! You can check it out on our website here: http://www.pinnacleimage.com
Let us know what you think. And be sure to tune in 106.1 The River!
6 months later… radical changes in social media
Posted on | May 31, 2010 | No Comments
We recently wrote about the latest Socialnomics video by Erik Qualmann which gives numerous stats about changes in the world of social media. We just ran across another video that was done about 6 months about the same topic. If you’ve not seen the latest version of the socialnomics video, check it out first. You can find it here: http://www.socialnomics.net
Then watch this video with 6 months old stats: http://vimeo.com/9641036
There are several significant changes in the stats over the past 6 months, but I believe two of the most impressive are: Facebook now has more traffic to it’s website than any other site in the country (latest data indicates it is probably more than any site in the world). And, the number of daily views of YouTube videos has increased from 1 billion views daily 6 months ago to 2 billion views daily now. Really! That’s 2 billion videos viewed daily on YouTube.
So how are you using Facebook and video to promote your business or organization? If you’re not using these two tools, it’s time you start! Got questions? We can help. We have extensive experience in live and on-demand streaming video production from script writing, production, post-production and distribution. And we would love to talk to you about how you can use video to the best advantage for your company. Call or email us today.
How have you used video in your current marketing strategy? We would love to hear about your experiences and plans for the future. Leave a comment below!
Tags: Knoxville > production > Social media > stats > Video > web
Can Twitter get you better customer service?
Posted on | May 10, 2010 | No Comments
Yesterday, I was reading my Twitter feed and saw a post from Michael Hyatt (@michaelhyatt), the CEO at Thomas Nelson Publishing in Nashville. He had a bad experience with a national floral company concerning a Mother’s Day delivery to his mother. The flowers were supposed to be delivered to her on Saturday, but on Sunday, he found out they were not delivered. He made a phone call to customer service and was frustrated with the phone response he received. He had been told they would try to get them delivered by 7 pm on Sunday, but if they were not able make it by 7, then they would give him a 50% refund. Can you believe it!
He shared his thoughts on Twitter and I am sure received many responses similar to mine. I told him they should:
- deliver the flowers
- give him a 100% refund
- give him a sincere apology
Evidently the folks at the floral delivery service decided that was a good idea as a little later in the evening, Michael posted that they had done all of the above and called his mother to apologize to her as well. Don’t know the exact logisitics of how it all came about, but Michael’s voice with 78,000+ followers may have been an influence. In the end, he and his mother were happy!
Of course, we all know that the final response to his problem is the kind of response that all of our customers should receive when they are treated badly. Really glad it all worked out for them. And we get to learn a lesson. In today’s world, social media will likely have an effect on your business. It can be good or it can be bad. A lot of it is up to how you use it or choose to use it. In this case, the company was able to turn a bad experience into a good experience and will likely get more business from them in the future.
By the way, if you aren’t already, you should follow Michael Hyatt, @michaelhyatt on Twitter or read his blog at www.michaelhyatt.com. He’s one of my favorites.
Have you experienced a similar story where social media helped or hurt you in the end? Share it with us!
Tags: blog > customer > media > Michael Hyatt > service > social > Twitter
Still wondering about effectiveness of Social Media?
Posted on | May 8, 2010 | No Comments
Erik Qualman has just uploaded the latest version of his popular video, “Socialnomics09″. This version has the most recent data concerning the explosion of social media in the past few months. If you’ve not seen it before, you’ll be amazed at the information that he gets across in a 4 minute video (of course, that’s a benefit of video [keep that in mind!]). If you have seen the previous versions, you’ll want to watch it to get the latest stats on social media.
Very fast paced, but really drives home some important facts. And, if it goes by too fast for you, go to Erik’s Blog where he has a list of all the facts in the video along with his sources. What’s your thoughts about the importance of social media?
Tags: Erik > learn > media > more > Qualman > social > socialnomics > Video
Mother’s Day Video Tips
Posted on | May 6, 2010 | No Comments
Mother’s Day is coming up which means it’s time to pull out the cameras and camcorders. Those photos and videos provide lasting memories of the special events in life. With all of the HD camcorders available at reasonable prices you can create some really great footage of this special day. No matter whether you have the latest, HD camcorder or an older standard def model, following a couple of rules can make a major difference in the quality of your product.
When shooting, observe the rule of thirds. Some cameras have guidelines on the viewfinder, but if not, just imagine a grid on your screen that divides it into 9 rectangles as in the photo to the right. Place your subject on one of the vertical grids and their eyes on the upper horizontal grid. Notice in this photo how the animal is placed on the left grid line and “Look Space” is on the right side. Think about how much more professional this image looks than if it was just a close up shot with the subject centered in the screen.
Next, look at the lighting. The number one problem that we see with home videos is (other than bad audio) is bad lighting. You don’t have to have a professional light kit to make your video look better. Just take a look at your subject before hitting the record button. Many home videos suffer from being backlit. In other words, the person you are shooting is darker (has less light 
on their face) than the background. Now sometimes, this is desirable in order to create certain effects such as in the photo shown to the right. However, when you want to get good video of Mom, you really want to see her face clearly. Sometimes, it’s as simple as turning in a different direction if you are outside or opening blinds and turning lights on or off if you are inside. Again, just look before you shoot.
Finally, Use a Tripod! I know, I know, many of you grew up watch M-TV and probably even like that shaky video. I like it to… sometimes. There are many videos where all that shakin’ going on makes just the right effect for the message you are trying get across. And sometimes, turning the camera on an angle looks great. But somehow that doesn’t always work well later when you’re trying to see Mom and all of the family. Always fit how you shoot to what you are shooting and the message you are trying to get across. For Mom’s Day, you want good footage of Mom and the family without being distracted by a shaky camera. So, give it a shot on a tripod. I think you will like the results.
What’s your suggestions for easy ways to make better Mother’s day videos? Share them with us and we’ll all get better.
Tags: day > Knoxville > Mother's > rules > shaky > tips > tripod > Video
Having trouble coming up with blog content?
Posted on | April 25, 2010 | No Comments
Writing a blog for your business is one of the most effective marketing tools you can use to build community and drive prospects to your website. The tools to write a blog are often free, easy to set up and easy to use. The tough part is deciding the blog topics that would interest your audience.
Last week, we told you about Chris Brogan’s blog post about “50 ideas on using Twitter in Business”. If you’re like many people, coming up with topics for your blog can be difficult when you are first starting. So… we’ll go back to Chris to get more ideas. This time it is his list of “50 blog topics marketers could write for their companies”. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/Sr8N
It’s a great place to start and by the time you get through all of them, you’ll probably be an expert yourself at what content interests your audience.
If you have been blogging for a while, what suggestions do you have? Where do you come up with ideas for your blog?
Need help using Twitter in your business?
Posted on | April 23, 2010 | No Comments
You hear a lot about the importance of using social media in business (and it is important) and you may have heard that social media is free (a lot of tools are free) but the content that you share is more important than the tools. Generating interesting and/or entertaining content probably won’t be free (it takes time and probably money) and deciding what to Tweet about can be difficult (Do you really need to share that you are enjoying your popcorn?).
Maybe this blog post can help. If you are just getting started using Twitter in your business, Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) has written a blog post, “50 Ideas for using Twitter for Business”, that has helped a lot of business owners get started. You can read his blog post here: http://bit.ly/2vZoAa. Chris is recognized as a leader in the field of social media. He’s a great person to read and study to learn more about the complexities of the world of social media.
Since we provide video production services, we knew to share information about that, but this article helped us to better define the things other people would be interested in reading. Hope it will help you too! And, if you’ve had experience with using Twitter for Business already, share with your ideas in the comments section below.
Tags: 50 ideas > Chris Brogan > ideas > Knoxville > media > production > social > Twitter > Video
Why does my business need social media?
Posted on | April 11, 2010 | No Comments
Actually there are some businesses that might not benefit from social media. But for most businesses using at least some social media tools make sense.
There are numerous benefits to using social media for your business and they can vary widely from one industry to the next. But for most businesses, a primary benefit is to drive traffic to your website. For those of us who have been in the business world for 15-20 years or more, we can remember when your company didn’t have a website or it was just an online brochure. Over the years a website has become an absolute necessity for most businesses (although there are still a lot of small businesses without them). But now it’s not enough just to have a website. Because there are so many businesses with websites coupled with the fact there are so many people using the internet to research and make purchases, you also have to work harder to get your site found and drive traffic to it.
Social media tools are an important set of tools for driving traffic to your site and developing interest in you, your business or organization. Social media tools are the vehicles you use to go where your customers are hanging out to let them know what you have to offer. But… it’s not quite that simple. In fact, if done incorrectly, you might do more harm than good for your company and your image. As the old saying goes (I’m not sure who said it first) “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care”. It’s true in the online world as it is in the physical world. Think of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others social media tools as ways you can get you and your website found. As Hubspot describes them, think of them as “Outposts” whose purpose it is to send traffic to your website. But you have to contribute to the people in these Outposts and build relationships. To make it work for you requires a lot of work from you. But if you want to get use these tools, here’s how to get started.
Start hanging out where your customers and prospects are and start learning from them. Set up accounts and find them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media tools. Listen to what they are saying for a while. Then when you’re ready, start answering their questions, acknowledging their concerns and gaining their trust… then you can start thinking about offering your services.
But for right now… start listening. We all will learn more if we give it a try.
What experiences did you have getting started with social media? What suggestions do you have?
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