Today marks the debut of new guest blog series about video marketing from my good friend and colleague Steve Washer. I know you'll love his tone of voice and be inspired to learn more about the wow and the how behind adding video to your marketing mix to show up at your very best so you can do more of what you love to do in the world. Take it away Steve!
There’s a huge misunderstanding about marketing in the conscious business community. It has a name: authenticity.
So it’s no surprise that many in this community hate marketing. But given the importance of marketing to keep your business profitable, wouldn’t it be nice to learn to love it as much as you love working with your clients?
Let’s put this in a moving pictures context where the issue comes up most often.
Movie-makers work very, very hard to create an image that shouts out to the emotional centers of our brain. Sometimes their messages are quite loopy, but nestled in the confines of a warm and fuzzy image, those messages become extremely powerful and unforgettable.
Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not:
“You do know how to whistle, don’t you Steve? Just put your lips together and blow.”
Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark:
“I hate snakes!!”
Those films and others conjure in us a world of thoughts and feelings that make us laugh and cry and wonder and yearn.
Yet in each case, the moment was carefully crafted by artisans of the first order working at the top of their game. They did it, not to manipulate you, but to make you feel something, or to change your mind. Those feelings are real. And that’s a noble goal.
So how does a marketer use video to create the same effect? Many internet wags go all school-marm on you if you say you want to make a video that doesn’t make you look like you’re strung-out on crack. Why?
Well, simply because it’s not “authentic.” This betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the word “authentic.” Worse, it can destroy your efforts at video marketing before you start.
Let’s take the typical example of a businessman who makes a webcam video. Usually these can be described as “Raw, Unfiltered, Uncensored, Visceral.” Doesn’t that sound like something you would like for your business? Authentic, right? Well, consider the implications.
“Raw” means his worst appearance. Hair unkempt, clothing the same, shadows that make him look like a vampire, and a background that screams in another language.
“Unfiltered” means he was unsure of what he wanted people to know and so he confused his viewers.
“Uncensored” means he kept in all the mistakes and wasted his viewer’s time.
“Visceral” means he bypassed the logic and emotional centers of the brain and spoke directly to the brain stem, neutering any thoughtful message, leaving his viewer with an undefined yet slightly queasy feeling.
Ah, but at least it was “authentic.”
There is a better way
Take a tip from Nancy Juetten. You can do video simply and in a way that won’t embarrass you. It just takes a bit of learning and conscious awareness. This is where you have it all over the un-conscious businessperson.
Pablo Picasso said that “art is the lie that tells the truth.” You have to be able to hold two opposing concepts in your head simultaneously to get that one, but truer words were never spoken when it comes to marketing with video.
Am I saying there is no place for the webcam? Not at all. If you use it with the right strategy. The Blair Witch Project proved that you could rough up your image to great effect. The key is to stay at the level of conscious awareness, and know how to get the effect that will stimulate the feeling you want to give your viewer.
But what about all those internet gurus who tell you to use highly degraded videos? Um, what they’re not saying is that they were already millionaires before they started using video. And it’s not likely that you have the same markets they do. If your business depends at all on personal relationships, like coaching or the helping professions, the “ghetto” video will usually be of very little use.
Bottom line: if you want your potential clients to embrace your authentic image, give them an authentic image that is embraceable.
Resource Box
Steven Washer, the vanilla chai video guy, is Headmaster at BrainyVideo and Video Marketing Coaches. He teaches entrepreneurs the easy and effective way to reach their ideal clients with video strategies that create an authority presence for them in their space.
brainyvideo.com | videomarketingcoaches.com |steve@brainyvideo.com
