Well, it’s Monday morning and my inbox is filling up with all the stuff that somehow gets past my bullshit filter. Most of the e-mail I get is about business, creativity, video production, public speaking and marketing. It’s usually anticipated, relevant and personal. However, some of the blog posts I receive lack anything of interest save for some type of inspirational message alignment with current events.
What I’m saying is, just because you have committed to a weekly blog, you shouldn’t feel the need to put it out when you have nothing to say. You’re just clogging!

You may have a self imposed deadline, but what you are becoming is a Dead – Line.

Save it up, we’ll wait!

I have always been about new ideas and strategy. Having never received any formal business training, I am usually way off the beaten path. I came from comedy, music, food and sales. (In that order) I always thought that if you could get to a CEO and pitch something really creative you would be able to make a difference if he or she bought in. Well, it’s not as easy as I thought.

What I have found that once you gain access to the C-Suite you find a world so removed from reality, and the air so thin, you need oxygen. In my years in big pharma, I have been able to get close to many a CEO because I was the video producer of their corporate on line messaging.

In that role I was able to coach, cajole and commiserate with them to help them refine their message and bring about a good on camera presentation. That’s where the whispering comes in. You struggle with tone, body language and delivery.

In that process you built a symbiotic relationship based on trust, personal taste and a messaging goal that would have a company wide impact. And that trust doesn’t come over night.

Some of these sessions were grueling because the message had to be read from a teleprompter and be precise but credible. A call to action with emotion and clarity.
What I call “transcending the lense.”

Most of the time the CEO showed up with what I call a “handler” who had to remind him what the topic was, why he was presenting it and that he didn’t have a lot of time because he needed to be somewhere in 30 minutes.

This is where, in my role as producer, an understanding of the big picture, the legal, regulatory and even political aspects of the presentation is critical.

Coaching someone in that position through a tough, critical, messaging session can be a rewarding experience and change the relationship in a positive way. Forever.

When you see the CEO in the hallway later you can see that look in their eye. It’s a great feeling to get up close and personal with someone responsible for the trajectory of a large organization. Very rewarding.

As a corporate video producer for the last 15 years, I have had the opportunity to work with large and small organizations to develop messaging aimed at internal and external audiences. Over the years, before on-line streaming became possible, there was a certain coolness factor to shooting corporate video because it was a nice to have, not a must have. Mailboxes were jammed with VHS tapes and DVDs.

A lot has happened over the last five years that make video critical to the growth and success of business today. In this upcoming series I will outline the creative ways I have used video for inbound marketing, product highlights, new hire technical and sales training, safety, patient and customer education, company overviews, company culture, Information Technology updates, HR programs, executive messaging, recruitment, live streaming meetings and creating presentations for trade shows.

Marketing

The first issue I will share concerns what makes a company: marketing. Having survived my share of product launches, I know first hand the importance of precise and consistent messaging, especially in the early stages. When a new product or services gets introduced everyone must be playing from the same sheet of music. Marketing (of course) sales, IT, technical support, customer service and manufacturing. All must execute. An enormous responsibility.

If you were a product manager, and you were bringing a new offering to market, wouldn’t you want to be sure the whole team was on the same page? Wouldn’t you develop an introductory on line video message to customers that softened the ground for your sales force?

Wouldn’t you want to be dead bang sure that all the features and benefits were properly and thoroughly introduced so that customers would receive a consistent message?

Wouldn’t you want selling scenarios and technical updates on line so reps could go back and refresh their recollection? (To use a legal term.) Companies don’t need to be flying reps all over the country for refresher training. Even new hires can at least get a leg up when just getting on board.

Creative, well thought out video presentations can and does, serve a critical role in your successful product launches.

Your job depends on it.

Let’s just friggin’ collaborate, OK? Structure leads to fracture. If people want to be owned and operated, join the military. If you want some place warm to go in the winter, get a tanning bed. If you would like to contribute a marketable skill set to a worthy endeavor, then the world awaits. Can I get an amen?

Pardon my schadenfreude, but seeing that I never got an MBA and the toughest five years of my life was the eighth grade, I am over the moon with joy and anticipation in this “disruptured” economy. Now let’s see what happens when the gloves come off.

The glass is not half full or half empty, it’s broken! Yipee!

Talk about a level playing field. Now, anyone with a good idea has a place to shove it. The world is your oyster. You can blog and face and tweet your ass off. There are no more barriers to success (I always hated that term). If you’ve got the goods then belly up to the bar. The best ideas don’t always have to come from Wharton or Harvard. I never let common sense get in the way of my “eureka” moments.

There’s no more cradle to grave punch in and lunch out. We’re all naked in the same pool of Jell-o! I am not running a company, I am part of a collaborative effort to help other vision-driven organizations create their story.That is what’s cool. That is what’s important. Crazy ideas and unbridled creativity are what it takes to run a non-company. Oh, and maybe a lower than normal I.Q. Works for me!

Repeat after me: On line video is not an afterthought! It is a discipline. It is not arts and crafts. You might think because your cousin Lenny shot your wedding on his flip cam that anyone can hold a camera and capture the moment. You might be in for a rude awakening.

In an age where everything goes on line and e-mail lives forever, it is amazing what videos I see posted on a lot of corporate web sites. The corporate overview videos I see are mostly self indulgent travelogues that are really suited for new hires not the public or a business they are trying to impress.

Here’s our deal. We don’t spam. We don’t blast. No pop ups. We don’t advertise, no commercials. We’re not even in the phone book. Remember those?

If we are doing business with you it came from word of mouth. People like to feel as though they’re doing business with someone that is knowledgeable, savvy, has a deep empathy for their business and can be trusted.

What we do is too intimate to be marketed like time shares. We put our clients in a light that is admirable, effective, interesting, compelling and gives the audience the whole picture in a short amount of time.

Nothing transfers emotion like video. You just want to make sure it’s the right emotion.

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Ever wonder what one of your customers looks like after one of your one sided “all about us” e-mail campaigns? Well, here he is after one of your corporate peltings.

While you marketing folks are all high-fiving each other, your audience is tightening up their spam filters. With empathy out of the equation, you guys are good to go. Right?

How many of you like enduring one way conversations? I’ve been in this game for many years and I don’t like what I’m seeing. The mindlessness, the cluelessness and the outright disrespect of people’s attention. We’re supposed to be having a conversation, remember? It takes two!

I had a market research director tell me once, “never mind this e-strategy stuff. We buy a list of potential and existing customers, we hit ‘em once and get out.” Yeah, how’s that workin’ for ya?
Today’s on line marketing is like a game of tag or paintball. Gotcha! Take that! Another guy told me they “blasted” 9,000 customers and only 90 were opened. Very disappointing. I liken that approach to peeing into a fan.

If your customers look like this guy, you better re-think your approach.

We have an open position for a forward thinking company that knows the value of in house video production and the benefits of having access to creative energy and experience to improve internal and external communications company wide.

This candidate would need to possess the vision and flexibility to want to move their company forward in new and exciting directions by using state of the art equipment, talent and ideas.

The candidate should also be willing to be coached and trained to be comfortable in the art of presenting on camera using slides, tele-prompters or extemporaneous presentations.

Be willing to accept ideas and direction based on our many years of multimedia experience.

This candidate must have the flexibility to have us be part of the team early in the ideation process, whether it be executive messaging, corporate and marketing communications, HR, on-site safety, IT and company or town hall meetings, to build these on line communications from script to screen.

If you meet any or all of these requirements, please feel free to reach out to us at 508-517-6714 ask for Bob O’Hearn.

No, we won’t make you submit an on line resume and keep you in the dark until we’ve made a decision. We’re actually very approachable.

We are looking for someone who wants a long term relationship, not a one night stand. We are looking to settle down and raise a company.

www.doubleocreative.com

My Kindle is full of business books, marketing, sales, organizational techniques you name it. I think I own all the business best sellers that Amazon carries. What I have noticed is that once I get past the first or second chapter it seems to be the same recipe.

The rest of the book is step by step list taking, attitude adjustment and the usual life tweaks. In my opinion, of course.

There’s an old saying “Never date anyone you have met in the bookstore self help section”.
I think it’s interesting that we look outside ourselves for the answers to almost everything. Sure, there’s great advice in most of them but the surge of these types of books is overwhelming.

Most of what I get is from the title, like “How to Build a Platform” Platform? What’s a platform? Let me Google that. OK, so now I know I need a platform to be seen and heard by the world. Cool!

Very insightful, but after the first twenty pages it’s all hand holding, statistics, success stories, parables, goal setting and quotes from Seth Godin et al.

I understand you have to fill a book with something but all I get after the introduction is help with my melatonin abuse. I call this the “self help drop off rate”.

If you read and believe everything that’s escaping today’s publishers you will find it hard to cross the street let alone be a successful entrepreneur.

In my business, video production, the old guard is reaching the event horizon, in that all the equipment and access has become so easy for newbies to attain they have resorted to on line tutorials on how to succeed in what they are already failing in.

As they said to me once at Berklee College of Music, those that can’t play…. teach.

I attended a speakers bureau meeting recently where some forgettable self help speaker/writer regaled his wannabe audience on how easy his life was.

He was just basically phoning it in. An hour on his blog in the morning, (after perusing the news for ideas) a trip to the post office and off to the next speaking event.

The audience needed bibs to contain their drool.

His topic was how to make more money, be more successful, become a paid speaker and travel the world.

There’s a cottage industry out there of folks who are just dying to show you the way, to let you know what you’re doing wrong and how to write and maintain your life plan. Cause after all, everybody knows better than you.

Confused at Barnes & Noble

Necessity is the mother of re-invention. Our lives seem to be plays with many acts. We call them turning points or watershed moments. Mine always come at critical moments of extreme creative dissatisfaction. When I get there, I always go to the lowest common denominator. I am a human on this planet and I’m only here for a minute. I don’t know where I came from and I don’t know where I’m going. So, now that we have that out of the way, all I have left is the present and how do I entertain myself while I’m here.

With the current economy in tatters and in my opinion, not coming back. At least not in a form that we would recognize, it’s time to take stock. A human inventory if you will.

What do I have to offer the world? What can I anticipate? What can I commodify?
How can I hope to get to people that will recognize my many skill sets and put me to good use? These used to be simple questions in the past. You just bent yourself into a human pretzel and made yourself fit into the confines of some large organization. Hoping that the gods of middle management would find favor with you. Over time, all of your unused potential starts to nag at you and you start to think about purpose and meaning.

OK, this sucks and I’m not gonna take it anymore.

Expression. Self expression. Yes! That’s why I’m here isn’t it? Well, what am I going to do about it?

I’m going to take stock of all my life experiences, my skills, my art, my personality and my very existence and put a bow on it. I’m going to start a business that is untethered from any organized principle. Technology is my microphone and I will use it to reach, teach and impeach. Not preach! I will insert my opinion without fear into the world.

Because I can.

Gut check: Who wants to start their own business? Who the hell wants to live and die by their own hand? Who wants to procure the next piece of business that comes through the door? Who wants to be out of the womb and into the street? Not me! It’s safe in here.

We are being presented with huge challenges in this current economy. Whatever went before is heading stage left.The goal post just got moved again. As reluctant as we may be, we are caught between floors and being forced to take stock and re-present ourselves to the world. So let’s offer the very best, something that expresses our creativity and contributes to the world, on the road to enlightenment.

Tweet Stalked

Not sweet talked! I’m not going to mention any names, God knows they would love that, but I am totally mystified at how some of these social media experts can tweet 40 times a day. (At least) 10 steps to this ,5 steps to that, the real secret, how to… on and on.

I have a 30 inch monitor and when I go on to Twitter I get 30 inches of this guy’s face.

It’s like peeing in the shower.

Does this stuff come to him overnight in the form of divine intervention? Every day? Are you trying to see what sticks to the wall? If I have to be part of your grand experiment then pay me. If you want to shoot a mosquito with a machine gun, hey, they’re your bullets. Stop hogging the mic. We’re just not that into you, OK?

All you’re doing is proving to me that you have the ways but not the means.

I’m still on the turnip truck.

Think I made up a word!

The loudest guy in the room won’t always be able to win the argument. At some level, blog jackers already understand their efforts result in slim to none.

Being pelted with on line junk all day is causing our eyes to glaze over, attention is scarce and the world is enveloped in a state of cognitive dissonance, the tension between what we believe and what we do. They know it won’t work but still they persist.

Today.

It’s 5:00am, time to delete the hijacked posts on my blog sites. Every morning I have to remove articles about motorcycle parts, hair care products and today I discovered that I’m giving advice on how to tell if you’re ovulating. To what end? Surely they can’t have any positive expectations, or maybe they do, which in itself is cause for extreme concern.

I received an e-mail recently with a whole catalogue of scuba gear pricing. Very extensive and pages long. They spoke to me like I was an enthusiast and a long time customer. Seeing that e-strategy is what I do, I called them and asked them what they were thinking. It seems they got their databases crossed. They also partner with a company that I purchase video production equipment from. They apologized profusely and even sent me a free snorkel. At least they understood the gravity of their trespass.

When I regaled some of my clients with this colorful account, they were in complete amazement that I would go to the trouble of tracking the offenders down.
“Just delete it” was the response. This is like tipping 20% to the waiter when the service sucked. We’re heading into “locked down” mode and the circular firing squad will abate, until the next new wrinkle. It’s not always possible (or reasonable) to do what I did, but tolerance levels are reaching their limits.

I have a theory though, it’s called “Only the Strong Survive”. After these clowns have forced us to tune out by bashing us over the head with nonsense and drivel, only anticipated, relevant and personal messaging will get across the moat and into the castle.

Until then, “Just delete it”

Uh, I don’t get it!

If you are allergic to eye rolls, abrupt subject changes, crickets and that familiar sucking sound as all the air leaves the room, welcome to “outside the box and into the grinder.”

Pitching a new idea to someone who might be a graduate of M.I.T.’s School of Mechanical Thinking can be terrifying. Really creative ideas can be met with derision, or worse, when not unveiled in the right atmosphere. And there really is no right atmosphere. I takes guts and confidence. Yeah, courage.

I never do a cold opening. I leave that to SNL.When I have an idea that’s really out of the mainstream, I meet with the attendees of my presentation separately to get their thoughts. When I do present it to the group, they understand immediately where I’m heading … and they have some skin in the game! Good to have friends in the room when the knives come out.

Everyone talks about ideation, innovation, teamwork and that outside the box thing, but it can get scarce in a politically and competitively charged room.

Most new ideas take a while to settle in and that’s where it pays not only to be creative but courageous as well.

Incoming!

We have been very busy lately shooting sales training videos for our clients. There is no better way to keep sales people up to date and ready for prime time than with product and customer specific training. Sales scenarios, like features and benefits, handling objections and strategic planning are extremely effective when on line access can remove any questions or doubt.

One very helpful technique we employ, especially on a new product launch or a new audience gets added to the mix, is to interview those clients and get their expectations of the rep and the call. Gaining access to anyone these days can be difficult so if you get in, you better have some pertinent information. Oh,and you had better know what you’re talking about.
Doughnuts don’t do it anymore. Natch!

The amount of money spent by organizations to train not only sales people but all employees in the areas of safety, culture, best practices and procedures is obscene. To capture training correctly so that viewers will retain and use vital information is well worth the expense in the long and short term.

When this type of information is readily available to all employees, there are no excuses for not being in the loop with all the poop!

Watch once, repeat if necessary!

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OK, you know the drill! It’s dinner time, the phone rings, private call, you wait in suspense while the computer finds the dolt who has been assigned the task of driving you up the wall. I usually make good use of the time by ingesting a baby aspirin and praying it’s Publisher’s Clearing House. Of course, it’s not, and the interpretation of my last name is so garbled it’s beyond repair. A close friend, I figure.

At around the three minute mark he says “ So how are you this evening?”

By now I have so many answers they are coming from different parts of my body. So how am I? Well, I’ll be fine as soon as I get this chicken bone out of my neck you #$#@$% jerk.

Why do they always ask how you are? Everyone of these irritants uses the same line. Is there some marketing strategy that makes this annoying inquiry mandatory?

Maybe it’s the same person disguising his voice over and over.

When I’m finally able to speak, I tell him I’m so glad he called because I can’t wait to tell him about the new line of Amway products that he’s just gonna love.

Click!

One crucial aspect of bringing a new product or service to market is the launch. Launching is the most critical and deliberate phase of success because you usually only get one chance to make a good first impression. Obamacare anyone?

The preparation and training to sales people charged with educating and selling your product is not always a smooth process. There are varying degrees of technical knowledge and expertise in the sales arena that can be rife with mistakes, misinformation and inconsistencies culminating in a lack of confidence. Especially in the beginning…. where it counts.

One solution is to get the product manager to create an introductory explainer video where the features and benefits are consistent and clearly understood. This will soften the ground for sales people and help to ensure a successful customer interaction.

Plus it doesn’t hurt to have the person responsible for bringing the product to market step up to the plate.

Launch anyone?

Hi! This is Bob O’Hearn aka  Enlightened Rogue.. more on that later.

I have been a corporate video producer for more than 15 yrs. I have produced many corporate, small business and executive communication projects. In that time I have seen the proliferation of video as the go to vehicle for sales, marketing, corporate events and cultural communications. These are amazing times. What I see today runs the gamut from high quality well thought out messaging, to what I call weapons of self destruction. Successful on camera presentations do not come naturally. To go from credible to cringe worthy is extremely easy.

We are approaching the world of ME.TV. Everyone has access to cameras, accessories and a pathway to an on line audience. You are broadcasting yourself whether you are using social media or just have a web site. That being said, there is, and will be, enormous amounts of clutter. The state of the art is not good. Attention is the new currency. How you gain it requires strategic thinking especially when it comes to how you present yourself on camera.

In this continuing series I will be addressing issues that come up time and again as a consultant. I will be sharing some of my insights on how to approach this medium so that you may have a better grasp on how to create your own successful video communication or become more comfortable and effective contributing to a larger production.

You want your audience to feel as though you are imparting valuable information not trying to get them to pay a ransom.

I look forward to sharing with you.

Attention!
noun:
notice taken of someone or something; the regarding of someone or something as interesting or important:

Attention is currency. Attention is how we draw circumstances good and bad, into our lives. It makes a difference in our personal and professional endeavors. It’s impossible to be in business without it.

Without a way to get favorably noticed all our efforts may be in vain.

With todays technology, it is possible to reach anyone, anywhere at any time. It can open a door or close it. This is where video can make the difference.

Using video to introduce yourself, detail a product, a technique, give a company overview or apply for a position is the next best thing to being there. It’s the preferred method in most instances when time and distance are an issue. But doing it properly can be difficult as YouTube will attest.

As the old saying goes, “you only get one chance to make a good first impression”! Developing on camera talent is a must for leaders today. Making prepared remarks for company wide distribution where very “i” must be dotted demands the use of prompts or teleprompters and read into the camera with emotion and clarity.

To transfer emotion and credibility while reading takes time and practice but is well worth the effort.

This what we do. Are you camera ready? Well let’s do it.

It’s early, dark and quiet. I move toward the pulsating miracle of technology that seems to own my soul. Best to get to work before I start drowning in yesterday, or worse, tomorrow.

Inspiration where art thou? Where is my muse? Creativity cannot be manufactured out of whole cloth.

To work. On the table before me a mountain of images, tapes, hard drives and notes. I stare. I whimper. I ponder. I exhale furiously. I wait. I trust.

Circling now, I spot a loose thread on this big burly coat of confusion and pull until its mysteries start to unravel. Aha! A plan! Eureka!

Like an unmade bed, you find the corner of the sheet that will bring order to chaos.

Now we’re rolling. Suddenly you are the conductor, maestro, if you please. Now you apply your thoughts, reactions, impulses and every life experience you’ve ever had and set it to your inner metronome.

You slap on your tastes, judgements, opinions and rage and bring it to a boil. Yes!

You smooth and tweak and polish and shorten and add and match and replace.

Shit!

You second guess. You triple guess. You flounder. You give up. You get over yourself.
Round and round we go.

Wait! This is just me. What about them? Wasn’t thinking about them. Oh no!

What do they want? I had an idea, but now I’m not so sure. They didn’t give me much to go on.
They said to put something together and they would take a look at it. How cruel is that?

They’re going to judge me. Not just my work. Me! My id.The part of the mind where innate, instinctive impulses are manifest. How dare they!

What? They like it? A minor tweak and it’s good to go? Well, uh, sure, I knew they would.

Great! Now what am I going to do with myself?

Well, there’s always tomorrow.