by, Lesa Seibert, President, Xstreme Media

So you keep thinking about doing a video for your business but you can't decide if you should.  Here are four reasons why creating a video for your business is a good investment:

 

  1. Show customers how to use your product. With a slogan as simple as "Broadcast Yourself," many YouTube users are doing just that, especially when it comes to showing how their products or services can be used. "There are countless small business owners posting how-to videos on YouTube.  If people can see you product and see how it works, they are more likely to purchase.  One of our clients, Lawn Solutions, does just that.  The company's sales increased dramatically after putting videos on their site of their products in use. 
  2. Extend your client base. Do you have a service that you could provide online to customers?  Remember, the Internet opens your customer base up to anyone in the world.  An example of this is John Tuggle,  In December 2007, John Tuggle, a slide and blues guitar instructor based in Decatur, Georgia, began posting videos on YouTube teaching people how to play guitar because he wasn't generating enough interest in his hometown. By February 2008, interest in his lessens grew so much that he created LearningGuitarNow.com where visitors contacted him regularly for private lessons via Skype at the rate of $25 for 30 minutes. "I just kept talking to people and kept putting more out, and figuring out what people wanted. Last year I pulled in almost $100,000 from the website," said Tuggle. 
  3. Entertain your customers. It is quite easy to post a video simply for visitors' enjoyment. For instance, Vimeo, a video hosting site that aims to be a "community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make," features a 'Videos we like' tab. For a small business owner, posting a video for entertainment purposes stands to generate many views, which in turn may spark interest in the company and possibly lead to the purchase of products or services.
  4. Provide a unique service.  Do you host seminars that others who could not attend would be interested in?  LiveCast, with headquarters in Vancouver, Canada, enables live video streaming directly from a cell phone, mobile Internet device, or Mac or PC, to anyone connected to the Web. For Gordon Cooper, photographer and founder of Perfect Wedding magazine, live broadcasting gives his business a unique capability. "I can have all the guests at the wedding even if they're not at the wedding," says Cooper. "Guest can still experience the live ceremony from wherever they are." Cooper is able to charge an additional $250 for this service.