Recently I listened to a commercial on the radio with Suzanne Somers. I thought to myself, “she’s everywhere!” I thought to myself that she has a lot of lessons for us in the world of marketing.

What do you think?

Beauty is ageless. . . . and it sells!

Suzanne Somers has been beautiful as long as I can remember.  She started out as Chrissy Snow on Three’s Company and later in her career, she was still stunning on Step by Step as Carol Lambert.  Look at her today and, well, she is still beautiful!  She knows the harder she tries to stay beautiful, the easier it is to sell her products.

Be everywhere!

Suzanne is everywhere.  She is on infomercials, radio commercials, TV commercials, online and in bookstores via her books.  Everywhere I turn, I see her smiling face.  She is never forgotten because she uses so many different channels to proclaim her message.

Brand yourself

Suzanne is her own brand.  Her products revolve around her and her message.  She advocates being healthy, and she is the poster child for her own message.  Therefore, she brands herself.

Create products that solve problems….. that help people

I know some people don’t agree with her opinions about healthcare, but she creates products that try to solve problems and help people be healthy.  That is her intention, and her products appeal to those who are trying to solve a problem.

Work tirelessly

She is a tireless worker and she does not stop working to build her brand.  Hopefully she does take time to be with family, but as far as her business and her brand, she is always working.

Be passionate

Whenever Suzanne tapes a commercial for one of her products, she is extremely passionate.  She is passionate about what she offers, her service, and her product.  Passion radiates through her voice and the expressions on her face.  It’s contagious really.

Smile

There are not many people who have a bigger or better smile.  Suzanne reminds us to always smile.

Sometimes, a story has to be painted.  Often, a message has to be told in another way.  I love words, and I write, but sometimes, words are not enough to convey the message in the best way.  That is why we have art.  There are those that paint, draw, sculpt, write and play music and more.  We, as a society, are blessed for it.

As a business owner, there may be times when we need a little more than a tagline to get our message across.  We come up with elevator pitches to help, and we might turn to someone like Samantha Hartley to come up with an audio logo.  These are alternative ways to convey our message, and they are well worth looking in to.

Another way to paint a message is through videos.  Studies have shown that people are more “hooked” by watching videos on websites.  Videos are powerful tools, and you don’t have to limit yourself to making a video to put on T.V.  Videos can be used online at your website, on Youtube, and Facebook.  In fact, Old Spice did a video/social media campaign earlier this summer that was very successful.

Now, take a truly inspiring story, and make a video about it, and you have a very powerful message.  In the 1992 Summer Olympics, Derek Redmond was running in a 400 meter semifinals heat, and he was the favorite to win the race and race for the gold.  However, something happened.  Redmond tore a hamstring muscle and collapsed to the track half way through the race.

What happened next startled and inspired the rest of the world that day in Barcelona, Spain.  Redmond got to his feet, and he continued the race hobbling around on one leg.  With a little over 100 meters left, his father joined him and helped him finish, way behind the others, the heat race.

The story has been told, but the video below tells the story and in a more profound way while reminding us of a message we all need to hear.

The next time you think about your marketing message, and how you are going to communicate the message, think about the use of videos. You don’t have to purchase expensive commercial time on T.V., you can upload it online and share it with as many people as possible.

If you need some help getting a video for your company, feel free to contact us.

Photo Credit:  303db

The ability to embed videos into your website has created a totally different dynamic. Websites can become much more entertaining and hold the attention of readers longer than with articles. Youtube, the video sharing website, changed everything. All a user has to do is upload their video, and they can instantly share the video on their website, Facebook, Myspace or any other social networking website.

Small businesses can take advantage of videos. As a result, as a business owner, you can produce a video which can get the kind of viewership that rivals what you would get by putting a commercial on TV at a fraction of the cost.

The following is three ways that a small business owner can use videos on their website and more.

Promotion

Have you ever gone to a website that had a video telling more about their product? This is an example of putting a promo video on your website. Unfortunately, those websites could do so much more! I am always at a loss for why a company who has a well done video on their website would not upload the video to sharing websites such as Youtube.

Do you have a commercial? With the power of the web, you can upload your video to Youtube and instantaneously share the video in as a commercial. Google has a platform through their advertising program or you can contact an individual website you would like to advertise on and offer to pay for space.

Training

Web based training is become very popular among publishers. How to videos can be very beneficial, and anytime you put the videos on Youtube you can get more traffic as people decide to check out your website for more information. If you are a chiropractor, you can produce a video on stretching and upload it to Youtube and your website. Tell you audience to go to your website for more information and clearly put your website address.

Other people have started video podcasts. Shama Kabani has a video podcast where she offers tips to her audience in a short two minute or less clip. The videos are entertaining complete with a cute tune and animation. Others, such as Kathleen Sullivan, offers video tutorials for her clients on how to use the tools she empowers them with.

Virtual Tours

Are you a real estate agent of do you need to show your facilities. This can be accomplished fairly easy also. Take a video and upload the video as a virtual tour. It is the best way to show around a facility to your potential customers. Customers can get an up-close view of the facility before they ever show up.

Other businesses can do a sample demonstration of select products. Imagine you are trying to increase sales of a menu item at your restaurant. Customers can’t smell your item, but they can see and imagine tasting the item! Make a video demonstrating the product, post it on your website, and share, share, share!

Videos are a great way to continue to market your product online. I am amazed how many people don’t think about videos.

Best–It is absolutely best to hire somebody to do your professional videos. A video is so much better when it is shot professionally. If you need somebody to shoot videos for your website, etc., give us a call. We have added video production to our line of products and services.

Good–For the quicker, more candid shot videos, buy a flip camera from a major retailer. You still may need video editing software, but go ahead and get videos made! If you need someone to edit the videos, let us know as we can take care of that too. Some animation or graphics may be exactly what a video needs to look a hundred times better.

Admit it, you watch both videos didn’t you?

We offer video production for the web.  Give us a call so we can produce a professional quality video for your company today!

Let the power of videos transform your online marketing today!

My church has participated in the Conway (AR) city-wide kickball league this summer. I have enjoyed watching my church play and cheering them on, and we have had a lot of fun and fellowship at the games. I have been to several of the games, and just for fun, I thought I would relate some of my observations to kickball.

If you aren’t familiar with kickball, it is played just like baseball only with a big rubber ball which the batter kicks. The league is co-ed meaning each team must have an equal number of ladies playing. The batting lineup has to rotate guy, gal, etc. You can have back-to-back ladies in the order, but not back-to-back guys.

The following are observations I made about kickball that relate to the world of marketing.

1. You have to do more than look good.

One of our fans mentioned, jokingly (I think), that the only thing matters is that you “look good going on the field and coming off the field.” In marketing, and business, looking good is not enough. All the snazzy designs and graphics and other means of “looking good” are pointless if you are marketing to the wrong niche. The key is to find the right message that matches your niche and then create the right, and great, look or logo, etc.

2. Everyone plays with the same ball

One night, the kickball was very warped! (O.K., more than once, but I digress) One of our fans lightheartedly complained about the ball being warped and the umpire wisely told him that “the ball is warped for both teams.” Right now, the economy is bad. The economy is bad for everybody. Now it’s more crucial than ever to have the right marketing message for you organization.

3. The goals are the same

The goal in kickball is to get the batter all the way around to home plate and score a run. The other team tries to get him or her out. It’s simple, and the goal is the same for everybody on the field. The same is true in business and with marketing. As a business, it is your goal to sell your product or your service, and marketing serves as a catalyst to get people in your store, etc. The goal for the customer is the same; to have a problem solved. You can be likeable, you can have the lowest prices, etc., but the question is are finding a way to solve a problem for your customer?