If you are online and you must be if you are reading this then chances are you have used YouTube to look at videos whether they be something to do with cats or some really useful how-to video. Whatever it is entertainment, information or educational it is a popular way of looking at content and needless to say it is great way to get your business noticed. The vast majority of the traffic I get is from YouTube, way more that Twitter, FaceBook or LinkedIn. 

I guess the problem is with something like making video is you need more equipment and bit more time that using other social media where the message can be short and all you need is computer, smartphone or tablet to quickly add something. But good things take time so making a video may take more time but can have a lot of value. To be honest it does not have to take that much time depending on what you want to do.

The question for many is how can video help my business or that they do not have a budget to make a big promotional video. Firstly all businesses I can think of can benefit from having some video online and you do not need to create a promotional video to get noticed. You watch TV and there are adverts there to promote businesses surely that is what you need. Not necessarily, I would not put someone off from creating a promotional video which again does not need the big budgets of yesteryear. Many businesses and individuals get a lot of traffic by simply offering advice or how to guide. I can think of many examples where this can be useful.

• Keeping customers informed by video can be really powerful, recording a seminar or product announcement and putting that online will not only keep your existing customers happy but also let prospective customers know more about you. Look at Apple, they may have really well staged product annoucements but people are always tuning in to see what they are doing and how their products work and how they will benefit them.
• If you are selling something that needs setting up or assembling then a video how-to guide will show you have gone the extra mile in helping them and probably easier to follow than many printed guides. I video can show the nuances of setting something up that may not come across that well in a text based guide. As good example of this is when I needed to replace something on our washing machine and found a video on how to do it as well as links from the company on what I needed to buy from them including the tools.
• Giving your customers advice will not only keep them happy but potential customers may like the advice or what they see. If you are giving free advice then you may well be at the top of their list when they need your service. I can say this has worked for me, I have many how-to videos and when people want training they often contact me first. There are many professions where this could be useful from accounts providing accountancy advice to gardeners giving tips on how they can maintain their garden throughout the year. What if you are a photographer, then advice on how to take better travel photographs or how to capture your children will help keep you in mind.
• Staff profiles done as a video helps introduce people to key people in your team, people will feel like they know you.

These are just some examples there are so many more and as I said many of you already have the tools to create good quality videos.

If you want to learn how to create your own professional quality videos and how this can help promote your business then drop me a line by clicking here to go to my contact page.

Gary