Video interview with Alchemy’s Kate Ingham: How do you build credibility around your business?

November 04 · Blog

Yesterday we had the pleasure of interviewing Kate Ingham, one of the partners of Alchemy Equities, a company that specialises in commercialising business. Kate is on of the speaker on our upcoming Short Takes event on the 10th of November, click here for more details.

How do you build credibility around your business?

At some point your business will need resources to reach a next level. Alchemy Equities is about helping businesses get access to funding and support to make that happen. A key element of getting access to resources is building credibility around your business.   Kate shared a number of strategies to build credibility in our interview:

• Work hard.
• Balance your entrepreneurial enthusiasm with experience: Build a team with that includes people with significant experience.
• Exposure and network. Make sure who ever is on your team also has exposure and a network that helps build the business
• Create solid communication around building the credibility of the team: investors want to see a team of people who complement each other, not an individual.

So how do you create that kind of communication?

When you work on building credibility, look at how your collateral is communicated;

• Show attention to detail. If you sweat the small stuff your clients and investors will question your capability to execute what you promise.
• Consistency. Be clear and a 100% consistent about what you want to communicate.
• Don’t bluff it. Be honest and authentic about what your doing, including what you’re not getting right. Communicate to your audience how you’re dealing with issues; that’s what ultimately builds trust.
• Adjust you communication to your target audience. The people you’re communicating to are savvy. Choose language that’s appropriate.

Over to Kate!

http://vimeo.com/31566965

Crowd Sourcing as an economic and social phenomenon

November 02 · Blog

Earlier this year, Hunting With Pixels caught up with Shay David from Kaltura on the New York leg of our epic interviewing spree. Kaltura are a leading open-source video platform, helping business and educational clients deliver top quality video solutions. In this interview, Shay David talks about the difference between open and closed systems, and where the seemingly modern phenomenon of crowdsourcing fits in. Traditionally, there are two primary social forces that lead to things “getting done”, and these are closed forces, in that people generally have no say over how they work. Managerial command is a social structure where orders are given and executed in a top down format. For example, in the army, a commander gives the orders, and a private carries them out. Or else in the traditional educational system, the teacher tells students to sit down and study, and the students do. In a larger and more ethereal sense, there is pricing and market forces. Shay gives the example of hailing a taxi on a main road. Nobody has ordered the taxi to be there, however they turn up because there is the likelihood of them being paid. In contrast, an ‘open’ force, like Wikipedia, does not rely upon these methods of coercion. Wikipedia is run entirely by volunteers, who work on what they please, and have no real central command. This does not fit into either of the two traditional models. However as a phenomenon, ‘Crowdsourcing’ isn’t actually that new. In 1914, there was a radio relaying system, where volunteer radio enthusiasts would pass messages on a chain of short ranged sets. In fact, any volunteer organisation cannot be explained by our standard closed systems. As an academic, Shay David has studied extensively the theories of cooperation and coordination around the economic and social aspects of open-source. Kaltura was founded by him and several like-minded others, around the idea of using the principles of crowdsourcing in the world of media. With the great levelling power of the internet, open source systems are becoming more and more common. Businesses that can harness this, and turn it to their advantage, will find themselves attracting truly passionate people, with wild and new ideas http://www.vimeo.com/25699966

Why writing matters: What IS this guy talking about?

November 01 · Blog

Here’s a great example of written content that’s on Daniela Cavalletti’s site. Someone clearly put some time into this: “We will remain competitive in the constantly changing market for defense legal services by creating and implementing innovative and effective methods of providing cost-effective, quality representation and services for our clients.” Do we hide behind Corporate Speak to sound clever? Or is this language that can be appropriate in certain settings? Does this clarify the positioning of the company or does it diffuse meaning? We’d love to hear what your thoughts are. Daniela is one of the speakers at our next Short Takes event around Why Writing Matters, more information can be found here.        

Why Time Management is the Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Learn

October 22 · Blog

Earlier this year, we caught up for a social with the charming Andy Ellwood, Director of Business Development for Gowalla, a location-based social media group. For more info about Andy, click here. In these two clips, Andy pinpoints Time Management as the root habit of successful people, and discusses how we go about teaching these skills to the next generation. Counter-intuitive it may seem, but in terms of self-motivation it is very difficult to achieve great things without a concrete deadline. As Andy says, “A goal without a deadline is just a dream”. Setting up a deadline applies pressure upon yourself to achieve and put in the hard yards, instead of doing things when you get around to it. When we attend school, we have deadlines provided for us by our teachers. They hand you an assignment, a due date, and a set of consequences should you not achieve your goal. However, as we shockingly find out once we graduate, this is not the way the real world works. It is perfectly possible to cruise along doing the bare minimum, and not achieve anything. It is those students who learn in school how to set their own goals, and to manage their time appropriately, who become successful in the real world. The freedom to do what we want, when we want, is a wonderful thing, but it can also be debilitating. Andy suggests that his particular method of education, being home schooled by his parents, is responsible for teaching him the necessary time management skills. Being given deadlines, but left to figure out how to reach them, was something of a bridging step between school and the real world. Once grown, all Andy had to learn was to make his own goals, and the rest came naturally. Setting goals, of course, is another kettle of fish altogether. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TD2Ls4ECtM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY5Cx-4qJnw

Speaker Showreel Videos; Looking For Speakers For A Showreel Pilot on the 14th and 16th of December

October 20 · Blog

It’s time to shine!

Videos is an incredibly powerful tool to promote presenters and speakers; nothing will provide more compelling evidence of what you have to offer. Still a lot of websites of keynote speakers have no, or really bad video. We think the reason for that is twofold: – video is too expensive. – video of presentations often misses the magic that live presentations offer.

But where’s the magic?

One of the reasons a lot of speaker sites lack video is that video of conference often don’t have the same impact as being at the presentation; the lighting is weird, the camera angle not quite right and overall the video just doesn’t connect. Here’s an example of a speaker who’s actually pretty good, but the video is just not that convincing:  

Let’s change that.

At HWP we’re running a pilot for a new Speaker Showreel Package which will create beautiful, TED like presentations that will help you stand out from the crowd. Here’s what a well produced speaker video looks like: http://vimeo.com/32976928 A good speaker showreel needs to be recorded with great lighting, a slick background and at least three cameras; this is why video from most conference (except the top ones like TED) don’t offer compelling video of presentations; it’s simply too expensive.

So here’s a deal

We’re launching the speaker packages product early next year, but would like to create a number of pilot videos so we can use them as case studies. We create a great looking speaker package for 3 keynote speakers. We’re looking for ambitious people with experience and great IP. What we offer is a package that would cost between $ 1500-2000 at cost price. This offer is limited to 3 people only and offers a great opportunity to finally get that video that shows what you can offer; a great opportunity to take your speaking career to the next level.

A great way to promote you as a speaker

We want to make sure the shoot is a fun experience and offers the maximum benefit to you, so feel free to invite friends, colleagues, clients and prospects to the event; this is a great networking opportunity!

Let’s collaborate..

We recently talked to our friend Nigel Collin, who’s an awesome ‘on camera presenting’ coach, we thought it would be great if we could combine a live presentation for an audience with the controlled environment of a studio. The advantage of this set up is that you have the vibe of a live presentation, but you get the superb results that studios offer.

.. and cut costs!

Another issue is cost; renting a studio with three cameras and operators and lighting is very expensive; a way too big investment for most keynote speakers. This is why we came up with the idea of sharing resources and making part of the evening self funding. – You share the facilities with two or three other speakers, dramatically reducing cost. – You can invite prospective or current clients to the evening, creating a great opportunity to network. – You can sell tickets to partly self fund. Have a look at the video;

So what are we offering?

Here’s what we offer:

• A presentation in front of an audience in a specially set up venue.
• Great lighting, great audio, great vibe.
• Superb quality TED style video recorded with 3 cameras.

To create some examples for the promotion, we’re offering three speakers the opportunity to get this package at cost price: $ 695,-! The pilot takes place on the 14th and 16th of December at the Hunting With Pixels HQ, level 1, 270 King Street. This is a one off, after that you pay the full whack! So get in touch now!  

Becoming a Thought Leader: How to Stand Out in a Crowd of So-Called Experts

October 16 · Blog

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Steve Rubel, executive VP for Global Strategy and Insights with Edelman. Edelman is a global public relations firm, well known for being on the forefront of technological change. Click here for more info on Steve and Edelman. In these two clips from his interview, Steve discusses why and how businesses can become their own media company and self-promote. With the dispersal of media authority, audiences are increasingly becoming proactive in seeking out information. A gamut of opinions and facts are a simple Google search away. This is incredibly advantageous to small and medium businesses, those who might not have the capital to hire a PR firm like Edelman. When creating content, it is important to start small. A torrent of information and promotion will not only be expensive, it will likely be a case of sensory overload, so that the audience comes away with a diluted message. Online video is a concise, personal and direct marketing technique, which is becoming increasingly cost effective. One slightly left-field method of video promotion is to host ‘How To’ videos. By creating content that shares expertise in your business’ chosen field, and placing it online somewhere accessible by the public (especially YouTube), you can have your audience seek you out, satisfy a need that they have, while reinforcing your brand as being the experts on the topic. One of the major side effects of this democratisation of information is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out. When everybody can be an expert, then we see a dilution of what ‘expert’ means. The best way to be head and shoulders above the crowd is to be innovative, to present new concepts that address the core needs of your target audience in a new way. By self-promoting in this direction you will not only be viewed as an expert in your field, you will become leaders in it, and more and more people will come to be seeking out your online content. In this way, you will have built your brand and brought in new customers, all without spending a fortune on a big marketing campaign. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BuLeeLNT4I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INl7dDkaDXk

Top Tips for Video SEO

October 10 · Blog

Using online video as an SEO tool isn’t complicated. Here are some tips to get you started. – Use relevant keywords and tags. Spreading your tags wide and thin might seem to attract more hits, but to keep people on your site and convert views into customers, you need to have relevant content. Remember that you want your brand to have credibility. – Having said that, put some thought into how you use your tags, keywords and video title. Tags should describe the video and relateded to the subjects; simply copying them over can create links that lead to people clicking away, which will actually hurt your page ranking! – Make quality content. It doesn’t have to win Oscars, but it does have to look professional. If your video will feature a presenter, consider either using an actor or on camera presentation coaching. – Don’t skimp. It’s good to be economical, but if your video looks cheap it says that you are cheap. That’s great if you sell second hand tyres, but it’s unconvincing when you sell something of higher value. Always consider your brand credit. – The thumbnail preview of your video is vital in convincing people to watch. Video hosting sites like YouTube and Vimeo will often let you select which frame you wish to use as a thumbnail – make it a good one. – Consider adding a transcription of the video, so that Google can pick up the content as text; search engines like video, but they can’t figure out what the content is. There are some great tools online that can take the hard work out of this. – Make sure that you keep engaging the audience. Regular content will keep people coming back to your site, and build up brand recognition and loyalty. Rather than making one long video, consider a series of shorter ones, clearly labelled, that will have people clicking through your website. If you do video well, you’ll be really starting to cook with gas SEO wise!