By now everyone has heard of video blogging. But at a time when most of us are struggling to understand how regular old text blogging can help us, why would we even want to consider adding video blogging to our already staggering workload?

There is so much we’re already doing just to stay afloat, it almost seems easier to stay away from it until someone has proven the model works better than say, email marketing, direct mail, magazine advertisements or TV commercials.

So having said that, I need to let you know that those arguments are bunk. Video blogging is one of the most powerful techniques you have in your marketing toolkit.

What other technique would bring you into a more personal, intimate, trusted position with your clients than sending them a video every week? Nothing. Absolutely nothing is more powerful than that touchpoint. Well, OK, you could drop in and bring chocolates, but apart from a personal visit, I can’t think of anything else that would set you apart so easily.

So how do you do it? You start simply and cleanly. This is what I am going to do:

1. Be honest – Clearly that’s an unusual competitive advantage these days.

2. Update regularly – once a month at a minimum. Start collecting stories now that can be used anytime.

3. Encourage feedback – I love two-way communication. It helps me get sharper and allows free expression which makes the value stronger over time.

4. Use humor – video is still young on the internet. Be yourself, not a stuffed shirt. Video is associated with having fun and relaxing. Don’t bore people.

5. Stay true to the soul of your company – As I’ve written about in many places before, there is no better way to reveal the soul of your company than through video. It clarifies, focuses, and differentiates like nothing else.

6. Have a call to action – just like any video. It can be very simple. For instance, you can ask your video to visit a certain web page, pick up a white paper, email you a question. There are lots of ways to make an impact.

A marketing expert whom I respect quite a lot plans to make 50 videos this year from a standing start. I’ve been helping him get his infrastructure together. He says to make fewer than that is just a waste of time. I don’t know about that, but it’s been fun to watch him gear up. You may even hear from him soon. Here’s a link to his website: www.psychotactics.com

The point is that video as a periodic touchpoint to your market is a valid and probably very welcome strategy that your market will likely embrace if you have the energy to try it.

These are the times when the free and the brave step out and do the hard thing, the thing that scares most people away. Most give up before they start. But I suspect that if you’re reading this, you are not most people and that hard work doesn’t scare you. You do want to know if your hard work will pay off. That’s fair enough.

If you want to know if this strategy will work for you, let’s find out. You may even find it isn’t right for you. Either way, you’ll know, won’t you? And knowing is better that not knowing. These days we need to spend our precious time on those things that will create value.

Find out whether this is one of those things.

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Article written by Steven Washer
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