Author: Marc Gold

I knew I needed it, but there was slim to no chance of getting quick customer service when I walked in without an appointment to Sony’s professional video camera service center, camera in hand. Typical wait time is 2 weeks. Minimum fee just to take a look at a camera, several hundred dollars. I needed to walk out of that place with my camera fixed that same day. I had several special events to record in the not-too-distant future. This was going to be a challenge!

Luis was the man at the counter, the “gate-keeper”, with the power to route the incoming video equipment to the short list or the wait forever list. I needed a strategy. Instead of becoming the angry, ugly, disgruntled customer, I acknowledged Luis’ authority to help me with my dilemma: “You’re in an enviable position, Luis, to help people like me resolve their problems.” I made sure to let him know that I was a dedicated Sony customer, and a very busy Los Angeles videographer with an emergency that only he could help me with. At that moment Luis was my ‘doctor’ and I needed him to feel my pain.

Long story short, Luis called the lead technician who patiently listened to my story and took the camera to the diagnostic area. So far, so good. He would need about an hour, so I went to lunch wondering what the result was going to be.

On returning, I was given my camera. I was told that it had been adjusted and I thanked everyone sincerely. No Charge! One hour turnaround! My lucky day!

The camera has performed flawlessly ever since. I was a very happy videographer. (I never asked, but I believe there is a chance that they did a courtesy lens replacement while I was out to lunch).

Moral of the story: “You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar”. No truer words were ever spoken!

Check out some of those videos I mentioned on my website at www.24ktsound.com.

Whether you’re a professional in the special event industry or simply a friend referring a videographer to another friend,  your vendor referrals carry a lot of weight. They also reflect back on you as the source of the referral. You want to be sure they’re solid and for the right reasons. If you’ve been involved with events at all, whether you work onsite or behind the scenes during the event you know the demands of overseeing its minute-to-minute success, and you may also know the distraction of having to babysit a vendor who isn’t able to keep up with the program. Here are a few tips to smooth out any possible bumps in the road.

Your class “A” referral is a resourceful problem solver. He’s brings with him the experience of having been through and resolved all the challenges already. Experience counts! No one wants to or has the time to be burdened by a vendor who needs to be constantly supervised.  In the case of the videographer, a few simple steps taken to create a cooperative working relationship with the other onsite professionals can ensure a gratifying experience not only for the clients and guests, but especially for the coordinator who has many other responsibilities to balance.

From the videographer’s perspective, it’s as simple as taking the initiative to build a bit of rapport with the DJ and the photographer early in the event at a time when successful working relationships can be built, quickly, discretely and behind the scenes.

The insightful videographer knows from experience that he is going to have to focus on the DJ’s announcements to keep on track with the program without having to be reminded. He will have sought out the photographer to work out a choreography with him that allows both to complete their work in sync, working side by side. Positioning for the toast and cake-cutting are two good cases in point that bring both professionals in very close proximity. Smoothing out the path ahead is part of the experience and personality of the seasoned videographer that makes him/her a valuable asset on your preferred vendor list. It’s all about knowing which steps to take ahead of time to ensure that issues that could create friction are foreseen and addressed before they can become visible problems. It’s a level well above “just getting the job done.” It’s about ensuring that it gets done well.

Everyone needs to work cooperatively to accomplish their respective jobs with minimum supervision, and without interrupting the event flow.

Make certain you choose a videographer with the experience and professional approach that helps you succeed. The rewards are great in terms of a client’s gratitude, return business, social media sharing and shining reviews.

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There’s a time and a place for amateur video, and it’s never the right time to put one on your business website.

My actor/friend, Kevin, with whom I’ve collaborated many times as the on-camera host of several corporate video productions, went to work for a software company whose website offered some video of their product. Unfortunately the site had a very high bounce rate driving nearly everyone away from the site without doing business with the company leaving Kevin and the rest of the sales force without many prospects.

It was no mystery.  Just about everything that could be technically wrong with their promotional videos was wrong:  Poor audio, participants recorded in front of a very bright open window with blinds drawn halfway down and hanging crooked, poorly prepared and not very well dressed employees fumbling to speak on camera. This was the video the company put in front of their prospective customers that was supposed to capture their interest and persuade them to purchase the software. There was an obvious disconnect here:  A high-end software product marketed to a technically astute audience promoted with a homemade video.

Kevin, distraught,  implored me to write a proposal for a new promotional video for his company which I willingly did. The company never responded and is still floundering to this day.

What it boils down to is this:  Resist the temptation to pick up your mobile device to record your latest news flash. It’s all about “image” and the impression you want to associate with your “brand”, which, in the broad sense of the word,  is much more than just your logo. It’s the whole user experience associated with your business, including, and especially, your website video. Websites are compromised, reputations tarnished and customers discouraged by amateur videos on the site. The bar is high today for website video with the expectation that it should be picture and audio perfect. Vis a vis professional video, homemade video just looks very amateurish, and on an otherwise carefully developed website is enough to damage your credibility sending the whole purchasing process into a fatal tailspin. It certainly doesn’t add to a website the level of credibility that’s needed to build consumer trust.

With a credible video, one that shows professionalism in the making, you have the potential to build a strong connection with visitors that helps them feel comfortable doing business with you. Amateur videos can definitely undo that critical process.

Please check out our video series, “Why Businesses Need Video” and the article: “How Good is Video on My Website.”

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“Is Your Website Content Connecting With Your Audience–Take This Self Assessment for Effective Web Content”

You’ve worked hard on the content of your business website and hope that it’s going to attract people to your site, help them find whatever they’re looking for and ultimately encourage them to become happy customers. All the appropriate motivators are in place: “learn more” “click here” “contact us” “buy now” to keep visitors on track. You’ve even done some search engine optimization, and still the results aren’t what you hoped for. Your bounce rate is high and visitors are leaving before they’ve finished reading what you’ve written. You soon realize that just because your site exists and is being seen by lots of people, there’s a disconnect with your visitors. It could be the nature of your website content.

Content needs to speak to your visitor’s “purchasing comfort zone”, that hard-to-define emotional state of mind where a visitor feels comfortable in doing business with you. It’s about creating content that’s able to build rapport and overcome the anxiety and skepticism that visitors often bring with them when they come to a website they’re not familiar with. Unless yours is already a trusted name brand, your visitors may not know you well enough to want to invest any time or money with you. You have to help them over that psychological hurdle by creating an emotional connection with them, exactly as you would if they entered your place of business in person, and all the text in the world isn’t likely to do that. It’s too emotionally neutral relative to other types of content such as video.

To see how well your website is reaching your visitors’ purchasing comfort zone, take this self assessment:

Website Content Self-Assesment:

1)  Does your website give visitors a chance to visualize themselves using and benefitting from what you offer?

2)  Have you addressed the customer’s inherent skepticism and anxiety about buying something they may not have prior experience with from a company they’ve never done business with?

3)  What do you have on your website to build credibility and trust?

4)  How have you personalized your site with a face and a voice that people can relate to?

5)  Are you requiring people to read too much text to find what they’re looking for?

6)  Are you doing everything possible to engage and keep visitors’ attention to prevent them from leaving your site and moving on to one of your competitors?

Despite the fact that ours is a generation that is very comfortable watching a video to get information, there are many websites that still rely on text alone, or text and a few photos, hoping (and possibly failing) to get their messages across even as the evidence points to the fact that many people don’t read a lot of written content. Look into the practicality of a video about your business for your website and move ahead in strengthening your visitors’ experience and your own profitability.

Find out how we can help with video production services in the Los Angeles area for your website, contact Marc at 24KT Sound and Video at 310-547-4702 and visit www.24ktsound.com for additional articles, videos and information.

One of the very best things about HD wedding video production is that it’s sharp enough to create impressive still images from anywhere in the footage that was recorded. Here are 10 favorite images from Patrick and Annette’s recent wedding which began at Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes, California where the couple prepared for their ceremony. The time at Terranea was filled with some awsome Armenian wedding traditions and music that rocked the room and made for some excellent video.

The ceremony took place at one of my favorite venues, Wayfarers Chapel, tucked away on the Palos Verdes peninsula amid towering redwoods and pines with a breathtaking view of the Ocean.

Their reception was at popular Trump National Golf Club, again filled with colorful Armenian traditions and dancing. Here are some stills created from the video I recorded of their event. Professional photography was done by my long time friend, Joey Ikemoto of Joey Ikemoto Photography, Torrance CA.