Okay, so we got to shoot a behind the scenes video for “Exotic Car/Fitness Model Calendar Photo-shoot with Affinity Luxury Car Rentals and Fitness Star International a few weeks ago. Needless to say, our cameras captured some incredible images and after going through the footage we came to the conclusion that one video was not enough.

Here is a 60 second trailer we cut together from the footage we acquired that day. The song is a great Royalty Free dubstep track from Premiumbeats.com and all the footage was shot on a Sony PMW Ex1.

So You’ve Got An Event Coming Up…

In December we had the opportunity to visit the set of Fitness Star International and Affinity Luxury Car Rentals Calendar Photo shoot in Toronto to shoot some behind the scenes video. Obviously fitness models and exotic cars make for compelling video content, but no matter what your business is, you can capture new customers with a well thought out behind the scenes video.

The Opportunity

As a professional video production company, we have been involved in our fair share of events and we know how hectic it can be to organize. With a million things to do, the last thing you need to think about is getting a video made, right? Well, maybe not, but by hiring a professional video production company that understands your business objectives you can use the backdrop of any event to deliver a powerful video that showcases your business key messages and drives new customers to your business.

Events and special functions are amazing opportunities to capture candid moments that can really tell your companies story to potential customers. Plus, at events there are usually all sorts of friends and already happy customers more than willing to say great things about your business.  You would think that with all this great stuff going on you could just flick on the camera on your I-Phone and capture all the glory, right? Well, you could, but then again you could also do your own plumbing or file your own taxes. Sometimes the best move is hiring professionals.

Where to Start?

Your planning an event and you have NO time to audition video production companies. Well, the great thing about picking a video production company is that you can see (for the most part) exactly what kind of product you will get by simply viewing their portfolio.

Any professional video production company or web video agency worth their salt will have a portfolio with working video samples right on their website. They should also have a channel on a video sharing site like YouTube or Vimeo. If they don’t have a working video portfolio and their business is video…perhaps its time to continue the search.

Find a company who’s videos are the style that your looking for, but also pay close attention to video quality. If their videos are on YouTube, click the video quality button to see if they shoot in HD. If you are spending money to capture unique moments, your going to want them in the most up to date format.  Good quality image and sound are absolutely crucial in making your company look good. If the video looks amateur, what will people think about your company? 

The final thing that you must consider your audience and there this video will be seen. The purpose of this article is to talk about using behind the scenes for marketing purposes, so the best place to use this video will be online:

• Your Website
• Your Social Media properties like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
• Your Blog
• In your and your employee’s email signature line (every email sent will carry the video message)

Telling The Whole Story

So there is usually a LOT going on at a special event or function and it might get confusing as to what to focus on. Luckily, events usually go on for hours, and while it will go by in a blurr for you, it also means that your video production vendor has the opportunity to capture hours of footage.

When we shoot behind the scenes at an event or function we also make sure to understand where and when the important things are happening (you definitely don’t want to miss any key speeches or announcements) but also want to have the opportunity to truly shoot from behind the scenes and capture your events candid moments.

You also want to make sure that all your partners, vendors and VIP’s are captured in a positive light. By giving your partners some airtime in your video, they will usually distribute your video to their network of contacts (because you made them look great also). This improves your relationship with them, and also gives you access to their customers.

Finally, it is crucial to take time and organize key individuals for a quick interview. Sometimes all they will need is a few minutes to get a quick soundbyte, but your definitely don’t want to miss the chance to have awesome people say awesome things about your company and your event.

The Budget…

The dreaded question: How much is it going to cost? Well, you might be pleasantly surprised. Traditionally, professional video production was outrageously expensive and only reserved for the biggest companies. However, now because of advances (and thus more affordable) professional camera equipment, free distribution channels online and editing suites  that can tackle HD footage quickly, you could have a professionally produced video for a price that should fit most budgets.

There isn’t any set price for video production, but for a fairly high quality event video (4-8 hour event) shot by a small production team (1-2 people) from a professional company, it should run you approximately $1,000/minute of completed video. This should include the all costs of shooting, rendering, editing, music and delivery.

The Result

If you have taken your time to select the right video production company that understands your business objectives, the final result should be a 1-3 minute video that truly captures the essence of your event, delivers your businesses key messages and because we are using the web for distribution, should contain some sort of way for viewers to click onto your website (or more of your content).

The final product is a professional looking piece of engaging content that showcases your brand, your event and your partners in an authentic way. You can use it to promote the same event for next year, to let clients and customers know more about what you do and make everyone look great while your doing it.

Next time you have an event or function, think about all the great things that will happen at it, and if those things are worth showcasing to the world. If they are (and they usually are), then a behind the scenes video is the perfect way to do it. To check out more behind the scenes pictures and videos from our most recent shoot, check out The Signature Video Group .

If you are a small business owner, this is probably worth a read. It could lead to increased traffic to your website, more phone calls to your business and a juicier bottom line at the end of each month. I’m talking about Google places. Understanding what it is, how it works and most importantly how to conquer it. The following is a guide explaining the local search function and how it can help your business land new customers.

What is Google Places?

Google Places is a directory of local businesses that Google has indexed to help searchers find when they include a Geo-Specific location in their search. You might have noticed that if you include a city name in a search, you will likely find search results that looks something like this:

As you can see, there are a number of local “Toronto Restaurants” listed with letter next to them. Those letters are also indexed on a Google Map to the right of the Google Places results. This way, people looking for a restaurant in their area can instantly zoom in and find some good local eats. The same principle goes for any business. Whether you sell pizza or vacuum cleaners, Google will index your business like this for local search.

Why does it matter?

Google has stated that 1 in 5 of every search conducted is related to a location. Google has billions of searches daily, so that means hundreds of millions of those searches are for local businesses (just like yours!). The point is that people are searching for what you are selling. The questions is: what are they finding? If the answer is your competition, then you understand the importance of achieving a good ranking.

How Does it Work?

Before we get into specifics, it’s important to understand the goal of Google. Basically, Google wants those doing searches to find the most relevant items of what they were looking for. The more information a website includes about itself (via titles, meta tags etc…) the more Google has to go on in connecting those who are looking for that information.

Google places takes the amount of information about a local business to the next level. It includes the basic stuff like address, phone number, email address and website, but also collects more in-depth information like hours of operation, reviews, payment methods, pictures, videos and more. Basically the more information that is included on a Google Places page, the more likely it is to be ranked higher on a Google Search.

Where do I start?

How about from the beginning? The best place to start is by signing up for your own Google places account. I don’t have the address on the top of my head, but just Google “Google Places”.  Before you start, read the rules and watch the tutorial video. Knowledge is power right?

The next step is to fill in your information. There are a lot of fields to fill in, but don’t sweat it: your time spent now could be worth many new customers down the road. Be sure to fill in as much information as possible. It’s your job as the business owner to really know your business so show em what you know.

Before your Google Places account goes live, they will need to confirm that you are in fact the business owner, and will do so by either sending you a code via text message or regular old snail mail. They want to make sure that your listing is legit…Google is not big on Spam.

Okay, so how do I rank higher?

This is the million dollar question. Although no one but Google knows exactly how their search algorithm works, there are some pretty well documented (and tested) best practices at play. If you have filled out your profile all the way, you have already done some of the work. The more information you supply, the more legit your business seems. However, to really climb those rankings you will need to get involved with some basic (and some not so basic) SEO or Search Engine Optimization.

I wont give away too many tricks here (as local and video SEO are services we provide our clients) but basically the most important piece of information Google has about your business is how many other sites/people are mentioning it, or linking directly to it. If there are lots of customer reviews for your business, Google knows that A) people have actually been to you and B) They cared enough to go online and leave your thoughts. The more outside info Google can index about your business, the more likely it is that you will rank high.

It sounds complicated

Well, yes and no. SEO is certainly a complex concept and there are literally thousands of variables involved in perfectly optimizing web content for search. However, as mentioned before, the more people talking about your business, the better you will rank. Ranking high on Google Places has gotten incredibly competetive so the best advice I could give is: HIRE PROFESSIONALS! They will know the tricks of the trade to help you climb the rankings and get noticed by new customers. Some companies (like mine: The Signature Video Group) will even offer results based pricing, only charging full price when they actually get you ranked.

Ranking high in search engines when people are looking for what your selling is a no brainer. Sure SEO can be expensive, but when your getting fresh traffic (and your competition isn’t) it is often well worth the investment. Get started by building your own Google Places page and see where it takes you. If eventually you think it would be worthwhile to hire a pro, I know a guy

Till next time,

Chris Stasiuk