Shooting for
Success
By Chuck Bender
In these economically tough times, when we are all trying
to reach out and engage our clients as often as possible in
a meaningfully way in order to stimulate more business,
video can be a promising medium. In fact, video may
prove more useful than the other social media that many
of us have recently adopted.
Do Social Media Boost Business?
Are social media effective tools to increase our sales volume and our profits? Using Facebook, even over the long
term, hasn’t showed any indication of increasing our sales
volume. And Twitter seems to be less successful because
there is nothing in our current business model that is so
time sensitive that it cannot be answered by a text message
or detailed e-mail later that day or the next day. However,
we use LinkedIn religiously.
We post a question almost every 10 days, trying to
build our network with people who have expressed similar interests. When we receive responses, we answer them
individually and promptly, giving them the attention they
deserve. Again, this is to build that business bond in an
effort to increase our sales volume at some later date.
After two years, we are not sure of an instance where this
has helped our bottom line either directly or through referral business.
We are not against staying in touch with clients over
long periods of time. We enjoy it. However, at a time when
we are working harder for less money, with our overhead
staying the same, we are very focused on using our time as
wisely as we can. Today, that means improving our sales
volume so we can see the results on our bottom line.
Lights, Camera, (Somewhat Synchronized)
Action
We have turned to video to improve our contact with our
clients. The first video we posted to You Tube (search for
Bill Gladstone Group) was a dance video performed by
the Bill Gladstone Group and choreographed by a local
dance instructor for $600. The customized song from a
singer we found on Craigslist.com cost us $300. It was a
fun video posted as entertainment for ourselves and our
clients.
Over time, more than 2,300 people have viewed the
video. Some of those clicks were members of our own
company; others were those who looked at it more than
once. But even with only 1,800 unique visits, that is certainly more than we have received from our social media
networks, especially on one particular topic. Also, Bill
received follow-up e-mails such as “do not quit your day
job” and “I never knew you had it in you,” messages that
prompted a few conversations regarding real estate. What
is important is that these comments came from current and
previous clients, not from people who had simply joined
our network.
Amateur-type videos followed, and eventually we
found a niche where we felt comfortable posting interviews with professionals in our market and commentary
on the previous 90 days (titled “The Last Ninety Days”).
We know from the e-mails and phone calls Bill has
received after people have seen these videos that our credibility in the market is being enhanced. Many clients are
eager to let you know they have just seen your latest media
attempt. It is a new way of presenting factual information
