Margocale's Video Blog | Margocales Products
Internet Marketing with Videos

You may think you want a video for training or for a trade show or for your Web site, but is that really the best use of your marketing dollars? It is important to consider objective, message, audience, viewing environment and end-usage when deciding if video is right for you — because a video is successful in helping you reach your communication goals ONLY when you know what those goals are.

Thinking about, and being able to clearly articulate an objective for the video is a key component of the effectiveness of that video. This gives purpose to the project and helps everyone to understand why you’re producing the video. For example, your objective may be to:

• Attract good employees

• Educate and build skills of current employees

• Comply with workplace rules or regulations

• Motivate employees to embrace change, be more productive and/or live a healthier lifestyle

• Sell more products and services

You may have multiple objectives. The point is that you are clear about your objectives from the very start so that the video has the greatest chance of achieving the desired result.

Once the overall objectives have been determined, what message do you want to communicate? For example, if your objective is to attract good employees, then you may want to communicate that your company has a family-friendly culture, or that there are many paths to career advancement at your firm.

Who will see the video? Your target audience will influence how you deliver your message including who appears in your video, the language they use, the pace of the action and the graphical style.

When, where and how the video will be viewed also affect how it should be produced. A video that will be viewed as a continuous-loop big screen image above a trade show booth, visible from anywhere in a busy exhibit area may silently project brand images, product information and applications, thus making effective messaging, text and graphics critical. Alternatively, an online video delivering the same message must be produced with the knowledge that it is probably being viewed by an individual in an office or home environment as they are quickly searching for relevant information. So it will be shorter, with appropriate images, sound and verbiage to attract and hold attention on the Web.

Do you plan to use the video in multiple ways? This is something else that needs to be decided up front. With proper planning, you can maximize your budget by creating different versions for your Web site, e-mail campaigns, landing pages, paid ads and trade shows, and by producing a “How To,” “Safety,” “Orientation,” or “FAQ” video, all utilizing the same footage.

For instance, a national construction supply company wanted to create multiple “How To” videos for their Web site and trade shows. The videos gave visitors to their trade show booth great information about lesser known products and applications, generating a lot of interest. The videos were then used to support contractors out in the field with helpful information about how they could best utilize the products. The videos were also distributed to multiple video Web sites to enhance the optimization of their main Web site and attract new business.

The objective, the message, the audience, the viewing environment and the end-usage of your video will not only determine how it should be produced, but whether you should produce it in the first place. The best return on your video investment will occur when you take the time to answer the question “why video?”

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Bulk REO Investing

Real estate investing and Bulk REO are tough businesses right now.    While the business of buying and holding real estate as a long term investment remains a legitimate and viable strategy for wealth building, profit is no longer guaranteed as it once appeared to be.  

   With that in mind, the astute real estate investor will consider some specific real estate investment concepts to complement the “tried and true” strategy of long-term buy-and-hold investment houses:  

   *  Virtual Real Estate Investing – the term “virtual real estate investing” has multiple meanings, including the use of the internet to buy and sell property, and the purchase and development of internet websites as a means of generating revenue.  With an objective analysis, one can see the conceptual similarity between physical real estate and internet properties including entire websites and even individual pages controlled on larger sites like Facebook, Squidoo and Google Knol.  Increasingly, real estate investors are seeing the clear opportunity presented by developing web “properties” into revenue generating assets much like physical rental properties.  This trend is on the rise and will continue for the foreseeable future.  

   *  Bulk REO – the prevalence of foreclosures in our economy has put mortgage lenders into a difficult position.  With large pools of foreclosed properties on their books, it is no longer efficient for these lenders to sell their foreclosed properties one-by-one through real estate brokers.  As such, mortgage lenders are increasingly opting to sell their foreclosures in “packages” to well-funded investors, at steeply discounted prices.  Bulk REO investing is a rapidly emerging trend and will continue to be a significant tool for real estate acquisition and disposition until such time as the current foreclosure crisis abates and the foreclosure rate regresses to more normal historical levels.  

   It’s a different world in the real estate investment business.   It would be very, very simple to think that the foreclosure crisis has caused the door of opportunity to be slammed entirely shut.   Yet that’s simply not the case.   When one observes the state of the real estate market, it is undeniable that fundamentals matter more than ever.   For example, the selection of the local real estate market is of greater importance than ever, considering the huge disparity that exists among the thousands of real estate markets across the United States.   Additionally, the role of regulatory compliance is greater than ever given the activist nature of the current presidential administration.  

   Without a doubt, there are very major challenges in today’s real estate investing market.   But with some persistence, determination and creativity, there is still plenty of opportunity.