Expertise on Tap | Email & Video Marketing...made easy

Can you transform amateur video into something which looks professional?

Yes you can. It is possible to transform amateur footage into something fairly watchable but it depends on the quality of the footage. The tv news channels do it often with user generated content (UGC). What they do of course is edit the footage provided by the viewer into a brief 20 second clip. Of course it's never going to be as good as if their own news crew had been there. As professional video producers we'd normally prefer to be there ourselves and edit our own footage. We've produced numerous videos for our client The Stuart Holmes Hair & Beauty Spa however when they recently attended the Hairdressers Journal Awards (HJA) it was not practicable for us to be on hand to capture Stuart's moment as he accepted the award for Salon of the Year. Not least because HJA had their own film crew in attendance. The workround was Stuart took his own video camera and a team member shot the video as the awards were announced.  Stuart then passed the footage to us to see if we could transform it into something watchable! Here's the result... So, when it's not possible to have the video professionally shot and you need to use amateur footage here are some tips to enable a professional editor / producer to transform it for you. Our Top 5 Tips 1. Shoot far more than you need - This will enable the editor to choose the best bits. - Don't be tempted to "self edit" by stopping and starting. If in doubt leave the camera rolling. 2. Try and keep the camera still - If it has an image stabilisation function switch it on. - Resist the urge to pan from side to side or up and down. - If sitting at a table rest your elbows on the table to steady the camera. - Consider investing in a basic tripod. Or you could try a mini tripod as shown here. 3. Don't zoom in and out - This is called "tromboning" and will make it diffcult for the pro editor to edit your footage. - Use the zoom but do so to frame the shot and remember any camera shake is magnified the more you zoom in. 4. If the lighting is poor adjust the exposure - Some domestic camcorders may have a function to manually adjust the exposure settings. Don't overdo it though or the picture could become over exposed. 5. Use an external mic for close up speech recording - The internal mics on domestic camcorders are not that great so by using an external mic you'll improve the quality of speech recording. See some external mics here. - Note: For the above video the camera's internal mic was the best option as it picked up ambient sound from the venue's PA system.

How to get more subscribers for your e-newsletter

Here are our TOP 10 TIPS to get more subscribers 1 On every contact with customers take the opportunity to ask for their email address. Ensure you explain what you will use it for. 2 Add a subscribe form to your website. Place it on all the key landing pages. Right hand side of page and 'above the fold'. 3 Sell the benefits of subscribing to your newsletter. What will subscribe receive and how often? Why will it benefit them? 4 Give something away for free in return for subscribing. For example a tips sheet, a white paper or similar. 5 Add a link to your subscribe form in your email signature. 6 Promote your newsletter on blogs and forums. 7 Take hard copies of your newsletter to networking events and include details of how to sign up. 8 Archive your newsletter on your website along with details of how to sign up. 9 Include a forward to a friend link in your newsletters. 10 Include a subscribe link in every newsletter for people who have received a forwarded copy. Above all take every opportunity to collect email addresses. If you take the above steps your list will grow organically over time. You'll have a high quality list and will be communicating with people who have asked to hear from you.

E-Newsletters - why you should make it easy to unsubscribe

Why? Surely you want to prevent people from unsubscribing? No. We say make it easy to unsubscribe. Here's why. Making it easy to unsubscribe: 1. Cleans your list ensuring you're not wasting money emailing people unnecessarily. 2. Ensures you are only communicating with people who want to hear from you. 3. Means people are less likely to report as spam. Too many spam complaints will affect your sender reputation and you could even end up on a spam blacklist. Google, Hotmail and AOL have a "report spam" button which people will click if they can't easily find the unsubscribe link. 4. Provides a much better user experience and leads to less frustration. Every subscriber interaction with your business should be as positive as possible. Our top tips for easy unsubscribe 1. Include an unsubscribe link in the header of your e-newsletter along with a permission reminder of why they are receiving it. 2. Include a second unsubscribe link at the end of the e-newsletter. Make it part of the main body of the email, don't hide it in the small print footer. Below are two recent examples of poor unsubscribe positioning. In both cases the unsubscribe link is buried in the lengthy small print text at the foot of the newsletters and are very difficult to find. Example 1: Not actual size - see full size Example 2: Not actual size - see full size

How to easily produce stunning photo montage videos

Great photography, nice music and some Animoto magic! We've produced this photo montage video for our client The Stuart Holmes Hair & Beauty Spa, Cheltenham who recently won Salon of The Year 2010. Using some excellent photographs by Bullit Photography we added some copyright free music, sequenced the photos and logos and then let Animoto work its magic! See the result below. If you'd like to know more about using the power of video in your business let's talk.