John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing joined me recently for a joint webinar called “Why Marketing is the New Selling.” In it, he affirmed what I’ve been witnessing – that video enables people to get to know you without you being in front of each and every one of them.

John said in the webinar,  “… if you can get up in front of people for 45 minutes and talk about their pain, and they can see that you are a reasonable person, you know what you’re talking about and you don’t bite … it could be one of the most effective sales tools you can create.”

Exactly, John! And I say this from personal experience. I post at least 10 videos to YouTube each month, and people watch them, they get to know me, and they come to the sales appointment much more ready to buy.

And speaking of video … check out my joint webinar with John Jantsch. It’s jam-packed with useful information for anyone looking to improve their marketing and sales results.

Brad Farris is a small business advisor with Anchor Advisors, Ltd. in Chicago, IL. Since 2001. Anchor Advisors has been helping creative professional firms to grow. Brad is also managing editor of EnMast.com, a business owner community.

This holiday season I was fortunate enough to be Hamlet, er.., Santa!

To set the tone, here's a short transcript of a conversation from the film "Miracle on 34th Street" between a young janitor Alfred (or Albert?) and the real Kris Kringle in the Macy's locker room(!). 

Santa: Do you enjoy impersonating me?

Alfred/Albert: Oh, yeah..

S: Why?

A/A: I don't know. It's.. When I give packages to little kids, I like to watch their faces get that.. that Christmas look all of a sudden. It makes me feel kind of good and important.

Well, when I ventured out into downtown Chicago on behalf of Big Teeth Productions with my elf navigator Jill to distribute this year's holiday gifts, I didn't see any little kids in any of the business offices, but I certainly saw faces getting that Christmas look all of a sudden.

Plenty of that.. and brief terror, kindhearted pity, concern, but surprisingly no discernible scorn or direct mockery. Overwhelmingly; however, people were expressively pleased to see even a thin Santa Claus wandering about, squinting for addresses. 

Throughout that whirlwind day, I posed for photos, greeted pleasantly bewildered clients, waved to hosts of honking motorists, added unexpected merriment to a lunchtime pizza buffet, and generally bathed in the very real goodwill that even our city's most hurried, busy citizens offered unprompted.

In playing Santa Claus for Big Teeth Productions this year, I found myself the unexpected recipient of an overwhelming response of warm and positivity that stands as one of my cherished holiday experiences and a special gift.

To be or not to be… If someone asks you to dress up like Santa Claus.. Be!!

It should also be noted that when you purchase this it is yours to own and do what you want with it DRM-free (meaning no icky corporate-driven encryption). This is a big deal in content creation land because it takes the power out of the hands of the normal channels and into the hands of the creator himself.

If Louis is successful with this it can become the case study for other artists looking to sell their wares in exactly the way they want with no interference. This means that musicians, filmmakers, comedians etc. would not have to kowtow to the “suits” who make decisions based on units being shifted and legal disclaimers.

The question now becomes, is this the brave new world of content creation where we show that the record labels and Hollywood studios are no longer needed, or is this the case of an already popular artist being able to do something that up and comers can’t do because (like Louis had to deal with) you need the system to build you up in the first place before you can control your destiny?

What say you? Is this the real deal? Is it good for all creators or just celebrities? Is it the end of DVDs and CDs once and for all?

Credit: Free photos from acobox.com

For the past six years I’ve been running our small business as if it was my baby, and in many ways it is. But, I always knew one day I’d be an actual mom.  I never pictured myself to be a stay at home mom. 

I didn’t have a stay at home mom and she was such a role model for me.  I was what you call a “latch key kid” and I never thought there was anything wrong with that.  In fact since I’ve always been very career driven and always loved the work I do, I knew that it was going to be necessary for me to go back to work and interact with adults.  Gregg will even tell people about my dream of coming home on the L and finding him there to meet me with a stroller!

So, it figures that within days of giving birth I was working, that’s what you do when you own the business. The problem was that I could tell my attention was not always focused on the business at hand. Instead it was focused on making sure my daughter gained weight, stayed clean and didn’t scream too much.

I decided to officially come back to work about 6 weeks after Carmen was born but on a somewhat part time basis.  I’m never truly “off” but at least I have 2 days a week I can dedicate only to Big Teeth.  Other than that I divide my attention and still look to others to keep things moving smoothly.  I suppose I have the best of both worlds!  I have a baby who will get to know her mom even better than her nanny while still maintaining the ability to do my old job and do it well (at least I think I still do!)

Until I really find myself slacking at one job or the other I’m gonna keep plowing through and trying to love every overwhelming minute of it.   And to all our clients or potential clients out there, I hope they’ll see that I’m embracing work life balance but will never let the ball drop when it comes to managing their projects!

Any business owners that became parents experience similar situations? What about those who work for others, do you find it’s easier to separate home and work or is it still that same balance?

These have become very popular in the age of “I don’t have an extra 15 seconds to read that paragraph so just show me in cute pictures the very least I need to know.”

WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN deciding to use EXPLAINER VIDEOS on your site

1. Just the good bits

2. Keep it short

3. Talk to YOUR audience

4. If you make it… use it!

5. Listen & hear - audio matters

6. No video is an island

Most times I shoot in noisy locations or ones I need to leave quickly because I’m there illegally. Time is always of the essence and I don’t like getting bogged down with more equipment. What almost always suffers in my production process is the audio.

Thanks to the library of sound FX in programs like Garageband and free sound sites like Free Sound Project, you can easily recreate any location specific sounds, but not dialogue.

Here’s a quick and easy dubbing (also known as ADR, which stands for AutomatedDialogue Replacement) method that’s worked well for me. Quick, simple, and can be done with your iPhone headphones. Helpful for when you couldn’t get clean audio the first time.

What I use:
- Apple iPhone headphones with mic (Any smart phone headphones with a mic will work)
- Adobe Premiere (Final Cut will work too)
- Garageband (Audacity is also fine)

First, shoot your scene

I shot with no external mic, just the one on my camera. It’s a decent mic, but as you can see from the 1^st video below, the location was super noisy. (Per a previous blog post: Some filmmakers re-record the lines while still on location. That method rarely works for me because the location is usually too noisy, hence the problem in the first place, and it’s hard to get a good match.) Get 60 seconds of the location’s ambient noise to be added in later!

Cut the scene together with the bad audio

Programs like Soundbooth and Audacity can remove hums and hisses, but this audio is too bad to be saved.

Invite the actors back to your home or office

Hopefully you weren’t a tyrant while filming and they’re still talking to you. Also, hopefully you have a quiet room to record audio in.

Open your project in Premiere and a start new file in Garageband. Plug in the iPhone headphones.

In Premiere, you can isolate any line and loop it.

Have them talk clearly into the iPhone headphone mic. Hold it close, but not too close or your audio will peak!

When you pick your actor’s first line it will sound like this:

In Garageband hit record, then play the loop in Premiere

Have your actor repeat his line over and over with the loop, Garageband will only pick up what’s coming through the headphone’s mic and you will get something like this:

Start and stop recording in the Garageband file as you go
line-by-line in Premiere

What you will have at the end is a track with your actor’s clean voice saying each line several times.

Once you have all the lines, send your Garageband
track to iTunes:

It will open and play in your iTunes. Right click the track and show in Finder:

Drag the mp3 into your Premiere project

Open it, scroll across, and pick your favorite line. Pull your favorite onto a new audio track. The shape of the waves should be similar so you can match them up visually. If no, move it back and forth until it matches up.

Once you have your clean lines in place, mute the tracks with the bad audio

Here the scene with just the clean dialogue:

Too clean sounding. To make indoor audio sound outdoor reduce the bass and maybe add more treble. Adjust by ear.

Add your sound FX

I get mine (gun shots, ricochets, etc.) from Garageband and/or Free Sound Project.
The dramatic music is from the Team America soundtrack (Hopefully I won’t get sued).
Add your layer of uncut location ambient noise! It should be low enough to be just barely heard. Its continuous drone in between cuts will further enforce the audio illusion. Fancy!

Here’s the scene with the FX and music mixed in:

PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!

No it’s not. I’m no master at this technique, but I’ve used it a lot, with varying degrees of success. There are may variables you can adjust (actor’s line readings, a better mic, perhaps recording the ADR on your laptop and go back to the shoot location if at all possible?)

If you don’t have great audio equipment, are pressed for time on a location, or end up getting bad sound, this ADR method can be a great way to keep your production moving and save poorly recorded dialogue.

This and other posts can be found on joeavella.com. To see Joe in action, check out some of his comedy gold in an appearance for a promotional video we did here.

The Rehearsal-Day 01

Two days before the shoot, we held a late night creative meeting at Gregg and Elise’s place with beer, pizza and the will to make it work. Without actual lobsters, shrimp and beef, we had to improvise movements with cell phones and starbursts standing in. We quickly saw that some ideas were possible and some might take days to complete. By the end of the night we had put together storyboards and detailed lists in an attempt to avoid major decision making while on set, but still left some room to adapt on the fly.

The Rehearsal-Day 02

The next day we continued planning for the “People” spot and testing the Dragon software. We tackled issues head-on such as how many moves does it take to eat soup and how to execute having the talent slide into the booth. These sessions relieved some of the stress over doing something foreign to us and gave us confidence that we’d succeed.

The Big Day

We amassed in the morning at Ron of Japan ready to bring food to life. We had a healthy sized crew and everyone played their part – from the physical animation of veggies to lobster shell wrangling. After a lengthy set up, we got a late start, but after finding a flow we rocked through, fanning lobster tails and sizzling beef. Like any new experience we did encounter some bumps and bruises along the way.

With our commands set we could tackle the next hurdles:

• Changing a camera battery and returning it to it’s spot – at least 15 minutes.

• Moving the lobster in the wrong direction and realizing after about five moves. This of course took some time to correct but made us more focused and, after the second time it happened, cemented our brains not to do it again.

• A bump of the camera also happened here and there, adding little hiccups but never hurt our enthusiasm.

It was definitely a marathon and made strange parts of my body ache the next day. Like any new experience, we changed the plan here and there to adapt to the unexpected. But when an hours’ worth of stop motion was played back in a number of seconds, and it actually worked, it was fuel for the next hour. What felt like two weeks passed over ten hours and the shoot was done. 60 seconds of video felt pretty amazing.

Will I do more stop motion? Definitely. Will it get easier every time? Maybe… Will it be extremely rewarding? Oh yeah.  

When we pitched the idea we really liked it but weren’t sure the client would bite.  To our surprise, and enjoyment, they did – forcing us to step up to the plate and dig in to the task at hand.  (Tired of the food references yet?).  So we all sat down and watched hundreds of stop motion commercials, music videos, and other mind-blowing clips that the web had to offer. While sorting through these videos I found that watching each clip became a process.  First, my mind had to switch gears to take in the alternate reality of it, then imagine how it could have been done, and finally rationalize how much time it took - ending with a pure appreciation of what was created.  

So, making sure I wouldn’t be a complete failure, I set up the camera and grabbed Chiquita.

I realized that not only could I do it, but loved the process.  I suddenly understood why there are thousands of stop motion pieces online; it can be addicting.  And no, my first try wasn’t perfect but it did spark my interest enough that I was confident I could make the project work.  This feeling only increased as everyone else involved became equally enthused, and even more so with the addition of Dragon Stop Motion, software that a colleague pointed out to make the process more professional. For this I was very thankful as the benefit far outweighs the cost.

In these hyper-technologically animated times, classic animation has taken a back seat to the Toy Stories and Madagascars of today. Fortunately stop motion is still prevalent and can be seen in thousands of online videos as well as the big screen.  I think people appreciate the necessary time and thought put into it – and because it looks sick. It can cause a bit of madness when a mistake is made, but the final product is, as my co-animator Jill said after we finished, “Magic!”

View final spot here.

How do you feel? Do you appreciate the work that goes into stop motion or do you not even notice? Any good videos you’ve seen feel free to share in the comments.

Setting out to make my first pot at Big Teeth, I had dreams of creating a welcoming aroma as coworkers came in to start the week.  After all, I love to create giddy smiles of happiness and delight others with culinary treats, goodies and surprises sure to invoke creativity and build moral at the workplace.

This is what happened –

After locating the coffee pot and pouring water in, I noticed a reusable filter in the machine as well as  paper filters in a cabinet.  My environmentally friendly side said, “Nah, no paper filter needed.”   After putting the grounds in the machine (86 the paper filter,) I poured the water into the hopper, visions of International Coffee ads with french waiter "Jean Luc" dancing in my head.  The coffee pot percolated along – music to my ears.  I came back to pour a cup into a Big Teeth Logo-ed mug, noticing the logo was wearing off a bit.  I went back to my desk to roll up my sleeves and start my first day, noting I'd have to replace the worn mug with a fresh one.

“Jill, you still need to use a paper filter.  No worries, I’ll just drink it.”  “Just so you know, Gregg’s mug is the one with the worn logo.”  “I picked up some milk too.  Looks like we will just have some extra.” 

I was initiated into the Big Teeth morning coffee ritual with kind words and laughter.  This fine- tuned machine accepted my coffee making skills and selflessly helped bring me up to par with their own skill level.   I’m finding this same selfless sharing of skills and ideas in everything I do at Big Teeth, whether it’s making coffee, rebranding a company or planning a shoot.  I think I’m going to like it here.

First days can be both exciting and full of moments to make you cringe for weeks.  Any “first day” stories out there you can look back and laugh at?

editors note: all the kind words Jill wrote were of her own accord. We don't force our staff/bloggers to like us... just tolerate us.

Wilfred Pennyminder sits behind his great oak desk twiddling a feather pen in his hand.  His furrowed brow finds a way to inch ever closer to the rest of his wrinkled face like a black hole sucking in its surroundings.

“If these bunions in marketing bother me again with shelling out more scratch for the web site I’m going to go down there and conk them!  I just gave those ruffians three hundred clams a score ago!  Hogwash!” he exclaims to the stuffed form of a deer named Freddy on a nearby wall. 

In doing some research for a real estate company I came across many outdated websites.  When I come across an obsolete site my first thought (after that great theater plays through my head) is “What an outdated company.”  Then my second thought is “Why would anyone not want an updated website?”

Maybe they believe that their company doesn’t have a product or service that is web based, such as a machine parts manufacturing company, and thus don’t need to sell their company on the internet.  Perhaps they are thinking that they would have to dedicate too many of their resources to something they don’t feel will justify the cost or manpower.  Or maybe they’re just like my friend Wilfred and simply believe their old ways don’t need change.

Between the broken links and confusing layouts a stale website can make a company look as bad if not worse than one without a site.  No matter what business you are in you need an easy way for your potential customers or business partners to reach you and find out what makes your company better than the rest.  Unless your company is web based you probably don’t need to throw down fifteen large to sell spark plugs.  Still, if you spend some minor cash chances are whatever business is produced as a result of it will at least off-set the cost of the website.  

Awareness of course is the key.  People can talk about SEO until their mouths explode, but every business owner knows that the more people that know who their company is and what they do the better.  For every ten inquiries that miss the mark there’s one good business opportunity laying in the weeds. 

So if you’ve read this post and you find that you have a lot in common with Wilfred Pennyminder (although I guess if you are then you don’t surf the web very often and might not even own a computer) then please consider trading in your quail pen and carrier pigeon for a computer and a functioning website.