Cross-Country Support for Hopecam.org

In the process of producing videos, I have often been in the company of accomplished and extraordinary people.  Most of them adults.  Most of them professionals.  In the latest Pawpro Media video release we are highlighting the children of Hopecam who are, or have been, homebound and isolated by treatment for life threatening illnesses.  It’s hard to not be impressed by their composure and strength.

For ten years Hopecam.org  has supplied computers, cameras, hardware and any technical support necessary to connect these children with their school friends.  Founder, Len Forkas, took on the mission to address this often overlooked, yet critical, aspect of long-term medical treatment for children after watching his son suffer with leukemia, and the painful emotional separation from his classmates at the age of nine.  Often these children are separated from their friends for a year or more while being treated, which can have a significant effect on their psychological and physical well-being.  The risk of a complicating infection is just too great.

Ride Across American fundraising Link:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/lenforkas/rideacrossamericaraam

To hear former Hopecam user, Daniel, now 13 years old, recall his initial thoughts of being diagnosed with cancer, wondering how long he has to live, wondering whether he will ever see his friends again isn’t a topic of which we expect a child to be conversent.  And his mother, Donna, recalling how she worried about how to “. . . keep him whole” in the process.  But these children and families are forever changed by this event.

With Len’s participation this coming June in the famed cross-country cycling event, Race Across America, Hopecam hopes to reach more children and make more people aware of childhood cancer, Hopecam and the need for this connection in the lives of the children and families isolated by intensive medical treatment.  Please help Hopecam raise $150,000 in 2012 to carry out this mission.  Visit Hopecam.org to donate today.

Adjusting the Focus on Business use of Video in a 24/7 World–Videotaping Conferences, Presentations, and Instruction.

Vision a little blurry on the importance of Web video content

If your vision is a little blurry on how video and multimedia applies to your business or Web site and social media strategy, let me bring things into focus. First and foremost, research now consistently shows that over 50% of consumers begin their search for products or services online. In this new consumer world any individual business is just a few clicks away from a new client, or nothing at all. The first few seconds and the first impressions of a browsing consumer will either engage and provide the needed information, or it will send him away frustrated and looking for the answers elsewhere.

Company Web sites have also become a convenient and economical way for companies to engage and inform their own employees. It’s an easy oversight, but don’t forget, employees are no different from clients in that they all appreciate convenience.

Videotaping business conferences and presentations is nothing new. However, making these recordings accessible on company Web sites or other public video sharing sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, and Go Daddy is now less of a trend, and more a necessity. Plus, these days it’s easy to manage who can and can’t see this content.

Information sharing and the growing demand for accessible, intra-company content of all kinds has become an expectation rather than a high-end luxury. As employees and companies, small and large, manage the 24/7 world, online video content feeds the need for employers and employees alike. It’s also a cost-effective option as it reduces or removes the need to hold the same meeting in multiple locations or regions. Hold the meeting once, share the information and its content as many times as necessary.

Educational Connections Video

Video also allows the message to be crafted and controlled so it’s uniformly sent and received, which is equally important whether the target is an employee or a client. It’s never been easier to incorporate PowerPoint presentations, Web site and computer screen navigation into a clean video format as the market of creative applications allowing their inclusion grows.

Here are two examples of the application of video in business.

Heros on the Hill for Horton’s Kids

Horton's Kid Video

Online video appeals via e-mails and social media sources by charitable and non-profit organizations have a proven success rate.  Nearly all online searches involve a searcher watching videos.   There is also a proven success rate for harnessing the power of inbound marketing, that is being at the right place, online, at the right time–when a person interested in your charity goes Google.  Make the best use of that searcher’s time by providing an appealing and clear video message.  This is what Pawpro Media does best.

Pawpro Hears and Sees the Whos of Horton’s Kids

What’s that sound? It’s not coming from a dust speck, people! It’s coming from the great efforts of Horton’s Kids, a Capitol Hill based organization which provides tutoring and support to students and families of the lowest-performing schools of Ward 8 in Washington, DC. Pawpro Media will be producing a series of videos for this great organization led by Brenda Chamberlain, and founded by Karin Walser. It’s only fitting that we make this announcement on Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

While filling her car with gas in 1989, Karin had a chance encounter with a group of children from this troubled area of our nation’s capital, and it inspired her to recognize their need as well as their presence in the shadow of her everyday life working on Capitol Hill. It was as if they were calling out, We are here! We are here! We are here! just as the tiny Who’s in Who-ville did in the infamous Dr. Suess book, Horton Hears a Who.

For 20 years Horton’s Kids has advocated, transported, and enriched the lives of these neediest of children with educational tutoring, mentoring as well as the basic necessities of food and clothing when necessary. Horton’s Kids’ work is funded entirely by donations. Please visit hortonskids.org/donate.html if you would like to make a donation.

Pawpro working with McEnearney Associates Realtors

Theresa Graham - Return HomePawpro will be working with McEnearney Associates Realtors to produce promotional and inspirational video content for the company’s Website.  The first will feature Executive Vice President, David Hawkins and the Alexandria office.  McEnearney plans to utilize video to keep it’s brokers and clients informed about the Washington Area’s fast-moving market tides.

Pawpro has previously produced video home tours for McEnearney brokers Theresa Graham and Deb Pietras.

Dom Bower Photography Blog

Dom Bower Videos

Pawpro loves the photography tutorials by Dom Bower because they’re easy to understand, cover useful topics, and, at moments, a little tongue-in-chic.  That’s right, chic, not cheek.  He doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he does offer hundreds of instructional videos for the casual user, as well as the serious photography hobbyist/pseudo professional.  He has a couple of YouTube channels and Websites, so you’re sure to find help on most any photography topic you desire.

If you plan on taking photos for your own Website, you can’t beat these tips.  Real estate brokers who take their own photos could really benefit from watching of few of these videos. 

Top Reasons to Add Video to Your Marketing and Web Presence in 2011

Assuming you read Pawpro’s Top Ten Reasons You Need Video on Your Website . . . Seriously post–enough joking around.  The REAL top reasons to add video to your marketing and Website content:

1.  Internet users do watch video–71% of them, to be exact.  It cannot be overstated, on multiple levels video enhances your Web presence to search engines and individuals searching.

2.  Search engines rank sites with video higher than sites without it.  In a first see, first serve world, why would you knowingly place your Website lower in search results?

3.  Substantially cheaper than print marketing.  More and more, consumers seek news, information, and commerce online.

4.  Better bang for the buck.  Video has a far longer shelf-life than print marketing, if produced correctly.

5.  Video transcends the impersonal aspects of the online consumer experience.  A personal touch separates you from the crowd.

6.  Video engages and prompts responses from the viewer at rates 4 to 7 times higher than still imagery.

SOURCES:

(1) HGA Creative Communications via Facebook, Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Top Ten Reasons You Need Video on Your Web Page–Seriously!!

  1. Does not stain your teeth.
  2. Just now coming to terms with the idea that your VHS movie collection is worthless.
  3. You’ve secretly wanted to find a way to get the entire office to do a dance routine on camera.
  4. You’ve got the music in you.
  5. This is the only way you can get Snooki to respond to your tweets.
  6. So you can forget about the Redskins’ latest loss.
  7. Think you might have a shot at the Tonight Show since Jay’s back as host.
  8. Trying to find Candy Mountain.
  9. Need an excuse for all the time you spend on YouTube.
  10. Rejected from Dancing with the Stars, yet again.

Pawpro Media Attends Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in DC.

Pawpro Media mingled in the 200,000+ crowd gathered for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, DC on Saturday, October 30, 2010.  See the signs and hear the crowd express their mostly moderate views.

Unless you’re living under a rock you probably already know that this rally was presented by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in an effort to show and appeal to the non-extremist political crowd.

What’s a tag?

Pawpro posts often mention tags.  A tag can take various forms, but essentially it’s a very quick video segment that can be used over a period of time at the start or end of a video profile, advertisement, or marketing presentation.  Think of it as a label in a shirt or a pair of pants, and every pair of pants you sell has your label sewn on.  Plain and simple a tag serves to help brand a service, an individual or business by making it familiar and giving the consumer something to remember.  It may be visually, verbally or musically memorable.

As an example, a tag can be as simple as a real estate agent saying, “I’m Bob Jones with ABC Realty and please give me a call if I can help you with your home purchase.” and this little segment is attached to every video home tour that Bob puts on the Web.  It makes Bob familiar to anyone who sees one of his video listings, they see his brokerage logo and it shows his contact information.  Bob’s not a stranger anymore, and he’s not just a name, phone number or still photograph on a Web page.

For a retail business, a tag may take the form of a memorable tag-line spoken over a shot of a storefront.  Or, maybe it’s just your logo animated with a tag-line.  It can be as simple as an on-camera thank you with telltale noise or jingle .  Pawpro can help you with ideas that fit your needs.

The most important element of a tag is its length.  Keep it short.  Under 10 seconds is my rule, and preferably under 5 seconds is best.

Pawpro’s Tag