Grab your Mobile phone, take a video of persons at your latest function, post it to YouTube or Vimeo. Grab the embed code and post it on your site, Tweet your new video post. It's that easy! What did it cost you? TIME.
The problem most busy and strapped organizations face is TIME, or the lack of it. That could be said for just about any service really. I remember when I first got married and my wife's parents were really getting to know me, they thought I was "so handy". I would tackle any manual task and whether I knew how to change out the toilet hardware or not, for example, I surely didn't want to hire a plumber for $100/hr to get it fixed! Why not do it myself? My in-laws were busy with their work and social life and hired everything out. They had the money and were used to hiring the service person. They were saving TIME for activities that mattered to them most and were willing to pay for what was important and necessary. They had set their priorities.
The video posting example above illustrates what many organizations and companies do all the time that have taken the time to think through their outreach and networking. For example, a series of videos exemplifying a new service or product, a savings event, a humorous viral campaign. These take PLANNING with a STRATEGY balanced with time and priorities. You could easily make a video, yet do do it right, grab your team together and think it through, designate persons or the right company - and follow through! On the extreme end of the spectrum consider The Nonprofit Times TV or TED Talks. Could you aspire to this?!
Here is something we did in about two days (from shoot to finished product) to help our client Seattle BioMed promote their BioQuest Academy to underpriviledged high schoolers interested in the study of infectious diseases:
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I was having a weekend trip with a friend who is an actor Hollywood. Acting is a competitive business. To supplement his income he is working with a team to create viral video campaigns to help launch products, advertise services and heighten awareness and curiosity. I had heard about some of these types of campaigns, but being predominantly in the website and application development business hadn't had the time nor the demand for such ongoing video work. His target audience is for-profit businesses. I thought, wouldn't it be great to be able to do something like this for nonprofits?
I took this idea to one of our global health clients for which we've developed their website. The loved the idea! The outcome will be a series of shorts that monthly tell the story of the fantastic work they do, and in it we add a twist. The twist is what will keep viewers coming back for more as not only is the story wonderful but curiosity will pull them to the next installment. Sound familiar? Our client gets their own channel, increased exposure, a buzz around their work, and better SEO for their organization because of the keywords used for the video post. It's win-win!
Bottom Line
Without a lot of investment you too can have one or a series of videos with great content that will vastly increase your exposure, increase conversions and help you easily connect with your existing, and more importantly potential, constituents. You can also invest incrementally (or all in one big swoop) for higher production quality, better imagery, more choreographed on-location shoots to achieve a higher VALUE for your TIME.
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