In today's world, it's a given: If you have any kind of a business, you need a website. But what if you are an individual just looking for a job?
Whatever social or business networking sites you are currently using, if you don't have a web page for your company or for yourself, you are missing out on great opportunities - especially if you are currently looking for employment.
Lets look at the obvious first. If you are an employer, then presented with two candidates with roughly the same credentials, wouldn't you want to hire the person who took the initiative to create a personal web site? Anyone can create a LinkedIn or FaceBook page, but it takes some chutzpa to go the extra mile.
And it's cheap! You can get hosted for as little as $5 to $10 bucks a month, and most hosting sites will give you enough free software that you can easily design your own site. Don't want to do it yourself? There are many folks out there like myself who help companies and individuals get a nice, effective web site up and running for you, and for not a lot of money.
With your own web site, you can control what visitors see (and optionally hear). Those distracting advertisements, bulletins and lists would be gone, as any potential pop-ups. You can also format the page in any style you wish.
Having total control over your information can be the difference between effective self-marketing and just more noise on the internet.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Don't cause your company damage with bad web videos
Sometimes you wear jeans and sometimes you put on a
suit. Typically, you know when to choose one over the other. There are times
that require you to look your best and times that you just need to look a bit
hip and funky.
So it goes with video on the Internet in general, and video on your website, in
particular. Your return on investment (ROI), as well as your income, is going to be impacted
one way or another by how you present yourselves and your companies to your
clients.
We have all seen the quality of video slide downhill ever since the debut of
YouTube. YouTube helped establish the “viral video” generation and has
helped to disseminate information that, prior to its existence and other sites
like it, would be difficult to otherwise obtain.
But the typical YouTube video is shot with low- and medium-end camcorders and
edited in consumer video editing environments by folks with a minimal knowledge
of what would have the greatest impact on an audience. For all the money and
effort you have put into your business, is that the way you want to portray it?
Content is king. YouTube videos are poor quality but if the content is funny or
true or rich enough it doesn’t matter. They get their 5 minutes, or a million
hits, and they are forgotten. But quality means something for the long term. A
corporate, product or artistic video needs to have strength of content and
quality to have both an immediate and long lasting impact. Trends come and go
and are quickly forgotten. Don’t let the trend of mediocre video inform your
message.
As the legendary Marshall McLuhan noted, “The medium is the message”. As
an entrepreneur, you need to consider more than just the elements of your web
videos’ message. You need to consider the way the message is portrayed because
together, the medium and the message is a gestalt, comprising more than the sum
of its parts.
To make this blatantly obvious, consider a voice over attempting to convince
people that their tap water coming from a local reservoir is safe to drink, but
the video with that voice over is comprised of pictures of garbage lining the
shore of the reservoir along with dead fish. At the very least, you’ll be a bit
hesitant to fill up your glass from your kitchen tap.
So why are so many companies relying upon their own camcorders to produce video
for their web sites? Saving money is the obvious answer. Some will also add that
they “took some journalism courses” in college. Would you be satisfied with your
car mechanic if they told you that they “took some shop courses” in school?
Probably not.
Set, lighting, composition, sound quality, video quality and motivated edits.
Other than the actual script, these are the important ingredients in an
effective video presentation. Even the most boring CEOs (you know who you are)
can come off as exciting spokespersons if a professional is involved to create
the message. Conversely, a wonderful message from a talented on-camera person
can fail miserably if the other factors are not taken into consideration.
And, if you think reading a “Complete Idiot’s Guide to Video Production”
is going to help, think again. A video professional is like any other
professional; we have the experience, as well as the knowledge, to tailor your
message to your audience in a positive way, so next time you think about making
your own video, try having a professional do the work. You, and your bottom
line, will be so much happier with the results.
Flashback Media Productions produces cost-effective, professional videos
for web sites, DVDs and other purposes. See the difference. Capture your
audience with moving images and compelling stories. www.flashback.tv. Email:
videoman@flashback.tv
suit. Typically, you know when to choose one over the other. There are times
that require you to look your best and times that you just need to look a bit
hip and funky.
So it goes with video on the Internet in general, and video on your website, in
particular. Your return on investment (ROI), as well as your income, is going to be impacted
one way or another by how you present yourselves and your companies to your
clients.
We have all seen the quality of video slide downhill ever since the debut of
YouTube. YouTube helped establish the “viral video” generation and has
helped to disseminate information that, prior to its existence and other sites
like it, would be difficult to otherwise obtain.
But the typical YouTube video is shot with low- and medium-end camcorders and
edited in consumer video editing environments by folks with a minimal knowledge
of what would have the greatest impact on an audience. For all the money and
effort you have put into your business, is that the way you want to portray it?
Content is king. YouTube videos are poor quality but if the content is funny or
true or rich enough it doesn’t matter. They get their 5 minutes, or a million
hits, and they are forgotten. But quality means something for the long term. A
corporate, product or artistic video needs to have strength of content and
quality to have both an immediate and long lasting impact. Trends come and go
and are quickly forgotten. Don’t let the trend of mediocre video inform your
message.
As the legendary Marshall McLuhan noted, “The medium is the message”. As
an entrepreneur, you need to consider more than just the elements of your web
videos’ message. You need to consider the way the message is portrayed because
together, the medium and the message is a gestalt, comprising more than the sum
of its parts.
To make this blatantly obvious, consider a voice over attempting to convince
people that their tap water coming from a local reservoir is safe to drink, but
the video with that voice over is comprised of pictures of garbage lining the
shore of the reservoir along with dead fish. At the very least, you’ll be a bit
hesitant to fill up your glass from your kitchen tap.
So why are so many companies relying upon their own camcorders to produce video
for their web sites? Saving money is the obvious answer. Some will also add that
they “took some journalism courses” in college. Would you be satisfied with your
car mechanic if they told you that they “took some shop courses” in school?
Probably not.
Set, lighting, composition, sound quality, video quality and motivated edits.
Other than the actual script, these are the important ingredients in an
effective video presentation. Even the most boring CEOs (you know who you are)
can come off as exciting spokespersons if a professional is involved to create
the message. Conversely, a wonderful message from a talented on-camera person
can fail miserably if the other factors are not taken into consideration.
And, if you think reading a “Complete Idiot’s Guide to Video Production”
is going to help, think again. A video professional is like any other
professional; we have the experience, as well as the knowledge, to tailor your
message to your audience in a positive way, so next time you think about making
your own video, try having a professional do the work. You, and your bottom
line, will be so much happier with the results.
Flashback Media Productions produces cost-effective, professional videos
for web sites, DVDs and other purposes. See the difference. Capture your
audience with moving images and compelling stories. www.flashback.tv. Email:
videoman@flashback.tv
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Time to say Bye-Bye to the Web Guy (or Gal) - re-posted for correction
Not using CMS for your website?
Time to say Bye-Bye to the Web Guy (or Gal).
It’s way past time to say a Bye-Bye to the Web Guy and use a Content Management System (CMS) on your website, and here’s why:
(1) The best CMS software is free and open source.
(2) Your site(s) will immediately be very easy to update and edit, even for a non-technical person.
(3) You’ll save a mountain of money that would ordinarily go to web designers for tasks that you can now do yourself, for free.
(4) You can change the look and feel of your site with easy-to-apply templates
(5) Your site’s software can be automatically updated with the latest security updates and patches.
(6) You will be able to add functionality quickly and cheaply (read: free).
(7) You’ll have large on-line support groups available.
(8) All of your website data will be stored in a database, adding backups and migration efficient and on the easy-to-do list.
So many small and large businesses’ websites rely upon standard HTML pages from editors like Adobe’s Dreamweaver and Microsoft’s FrontPage. Changing text, pictures and styles requires having access to a knowledgeable web designer and therefore will cost money every time you need to add, change or delete anything. Or, perhaps you’d rather spend a heap of time learning to program in HTML? I doubt it.
So, what if you could just log on to your website, add, delete or change anything there, and do it for no cost, whatsoever? Makes sense, yes?
Content Management Systems make all this possible without so much as glancing into your wallet. Well, that’s not 100% true. You will need a professional web designer to make the switch, or set up a site from scratch, but after that it’s Bye-Bye to the Web Guy (or Gal).
There are several open-source content managements systems available. Popular ones include Wordpress, Joomla and Drupal. Like the operating system known as Linux, these are all free, open-source programs that are community supported. Don’t let ‘community supported” scare you at all. In fact, those who know would rather go with community supported software instead of having to phone someone in India to get support. Answers to your questions usually come the same day and in more detail than anything you can expect from phone support. In fact, there are so many programmers supporting open-source software that there are even annual international conventions where they go to share and learn.
Features? Well, EVERYTHING!
Video support, Flash support, site indexing, menus, slideshows, blogs, forums, shopping carts, Google Maps, Analytics and Ad Words, meta tags, chat, spreadsheets, games, dictionaries, aggregation, RSS feeds, comments, video and graphics uploading and manipulation, webmail, and on and on and on.
Give your website a New Year gift. Go CMS.
Want to know more? Email WebSites@flashback.tv, or call me at 303-545-9955.
Norm Strassner
Flashback Media Productions
Monday, December 28, 2009
Time to say Bye-Bye to the Web Guy (or Gal)
Not using CMS for your website?
Time to say Bye-Bye to the Web Guy (or Gal).
It’s way past time to say a Bye-Bye to the Web Guy and use a Contact Management System (CMS) on your website, and here’s why:
(1) The best CMS software is free and open source.
(2) Your site(s) will immediately be very easy to update and edit, even for a non-technical person.
(3) You’ll save a mountain of money that would ordinarily go to web designers for tasks that you can now do yourself, for free.
(4) You can change the look and feel of your site with easy-to-apply templates
(5) Your site’s software can be automatically updated with the latest security updates and patches.
(6) You will be able to add functionality quickly and cheaply (read: free).
(7) You’ll have large on-line support groups available.
(8) All of your website data will be stored in a database, adding backups and migration efficient and on the easy-to-do list.
So many small and large businesses’ websites rely upon standard HTML pages from editors like Adobe’s Dreamweaver and Microsoft’s FrontPage. Changing text, pictures and styles requires having access to a knowledgeable web designer and therefore will cost money every time you need to add, change or delete anything. Or, perhaps you’d rather spend a heap of time learning to program in HTML? I doubt it.
So, what if you could just log on to your website, add, delete or change anything there, and do it for no cost, whatsoever? Makes sense, yes?
Content Management Systems make all this possible without so much as glancing into your wallet. Well, that’s not 100% true. You will need a professional web designer to make the switch, or set up a site from scratch, but after that it’s Bye-Bye to the Web Guy (or Gal).
There are several open-source content managements systems available. Popular ones include Wordpress, Joomla and Drupal. Like the operating system known as Linux, these are all free, open-source programs that are community supported. Don’t let ‘community supported” scare you at all. In fact, those who know would rather go with community supported software instead of having to phone someone in India to get support. Answers to your questions usually come the same day and in more detail than anything you can expect from phone support. In fact, there are so many programmers supporting open-source software that there are even annual international conventions where they go to share and learn.
Features? Well, EVERYTHING!
Video support, Flash support, site indexing, menus, slideshows, blogs, forums, shopping carts, Google Maps, Analytics and Ad Words, meta tags, chat, spreadsheets, games, dictionaries, aggregation, RSS feeds, comments, video and graphics uploading and manipulation, webmail, and on and on and on.
Give your website a New Year gift. Go CMS.
Want to know more? Email WebSites@flashback.tv, or call me at 303-545-9955.
Norm Strassner
Flashback Media Productions
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Weekend? What weekend?
This must be the fifth or sixth year that Labor Day as come and I am in the middle of a project with a short deadline. Will I ever get a long weekend?
To make matters worse, the client threw out a perfectly good script, that included location and studio shoots, and instead wants all stock footage and graphics. So much for getting out of the edit bay.
If you're like me, you do a considerable amount of pacing around trying to figure out how to fill two minutes with made-from-whole-cloth graphics. Thank God for the Mac Pro with 8 cores and 8 gigabytes of RAM. I could not imagine doing this on my older dual 1.24Ghz G4. I used to have time to go for coffee during a render. Now, I trapped in the seat watching a progress bar actually move.
How do you other editors spend their time waiting for a long render? We should take a poll.
Ok, short notes today. Gotta edit!
-Videoman
To make matters worse, the client threw out a perfectly good script, that included location and studio shoots, and instead wants all stock footage and graphics. So much for getting out of the edit bay.
If you're like me, you do a considerable amount of pacing around trying to figure out how to fill two minutes with made-from-whole-cloth graphics. Thank God for the Mac Pro with 8 cores and 8 gigabytes of RAM. I could not imagine doing this on my older dual 1.24Ghz G4. I used to have time to go for coffee during a render. Now, I trapped in the seat watching a progress bar actually move.
How do you other editors spend their time waiting for a long render? We should take a poll.
Ok, short notes today. Gotta edit!
-Videoman
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Time to blog!
This blog is about life in the media production business.
Already running a small media production company? Thinking of starting or taking over one? Then I think you will enjoy and appreciate this blog, which is dedicated to and, hopefully, entertaining and informative for, our kind of business.
After 18 years in the Hollywood production community, editing and/or directing hundreds of hours of broadcast TV, I, my wife and my son, packed up and moved out to Boulder, Colorado in 1995. It was supposed to be the "end of struggle" for the Strassners. I had sold my company, Strassner Editing Systems, to an outfit called Videomedia which gave us the cash we needed to uproot and leave Los Angeles (it is very expensive to move!).
I had used Videomedia's machine control hardware to develop my line of linear editing systems, based on the CMX and Grass Valley styles of keyboard editing, but on a PC instead of customized mainframes, so they thought we should team up. Part of the deal was that I got to live anywhere I chose and using the Internet for day-to-day communication. All went quite nicely, until decisions were made by the powers that were that made the company implode. So here we were, two years after the move with no employment (my wife was also employed by Videomedia for public relations) and absolutely no opportunites -- save one.
A dear old friend of mine from college days at the University of Colorado at Boulder had developed a company called Flashback Video. She even bought one of my editing systems a few years earlier. She and her family wanted to move to Hawaii and sell their company. It seemed like the perfect thing to do! Back in production! We'll make millions! Yeah.
At the time, Flashback was a small event-driven video company; weddings, etc., although they did manage to land a few large jobs here and there. They had a nice little office space with a linear edit bay, a non-linear Media100 system cramped in a backroom, Beta/SP decks and VHS duplication services. We bought the company, tripled the number of VHS duplication decks - it used to be a great business - and built up a nice non-linear bay for the Media100.
We also had a partner, a dear old friend from college days who worked for CU in their media department. In fact, he was the reason I got into the production field, being the first person I ever watched direct a small production. Screw my honors degree in Psychology. This looked like a lot more fun!
So armed with a business plan that seemed guaranteed to make us millionaires in a short few years, we got ourselves an SBA loan and bought the company.
Pretty straightforward up to here. But wait! There's a lot more to come. Consider this a "forward" and stop back.
Already running a small media production company? Thinking of starting or taking over one? Then I think you will enjoy and appreciate this blog, which is dedicated to and, hopefully, entertaining and informative for, our kind of business.
After 18 years in the Hollywood production community, editing and/or directing hundreds of hours of broadcast TV, I, my wife and my son, packed up and moved out to Boulder, Colorado in 1995. It was supposed to be the "end of struggle" for the Strassners. I had sold my company, Strassner Editing Systems, to an outfit called Videomedia which gave us the cash we needed to uproot and leave Los Angeles (it is very expensive to move!).
I had used Videomedia's machine control hardware to develop my line of linear editing systems, based on the CMX and Grass Valley styles of keyboard editing, but on a PC instead of customized mainframes, so they thought we should team up. Part of the deal was that I got to live anywhere I chose and using the Internet for day-to-day communication. All went quite nicely, until decisions were made by the powers that were that made the company implode. So here we were, two years after the move with no employment (my wife was also employed by Videomedia for public relations) and absolutely no opportunites -- save one.
A dear old friend of mine from college days at the University of Colorado at Boulder had developed a company called Flashback Video. She even bought one of my editing systems a few years earlier. She and her family wanted to move to Hawaii and sell their company. It seemed like the perfect thing to do! Back in production! We'll make millions! Yeah.
At the time, Flashback was a small event-driven video company; weddings, etc., although they did manage to land a few large jobs here and there. They had a nice little office space with a linear edit bay, a non-linear Media100 system cramped in a backroom, Beta/SP decks and VHS duplication services. We bought the company, tripled the number of VHS duplication decks - it used to be a great business - and built up a nice non-linear bay for the Media100.
We also had a partner, a dear old friend from college days who worked for CU in their media department. In fact, he was the reason I got into the production field, being the first person I ever watched direct a small production. Screw my honors degree in Psychology. This looked like a lot more fun!
So armed with a business plan that seemed guaranteed to make us millionaires in a short few years, we got ourselves an SBA loan and bought the company.
Pretty straightforward up to here. But wait! There's a lot more to come. Consider this a "forward" and stop back.
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