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photo credit: Aaron Escobar

When you’re starting out with online video, often you’ll look to TV to get some idea of how the big boys and girls do it. Television has a lot going for it, including a little bigger budget and a few more people working on the show. That being said, there are certain secrets to their success that can easily be co-opted. The biggest one of all is the schedule.

One of the beauties of video on the Internet is that you can watch it wherever and whenever you want. Television has one stream, and things have to happen on a schedule (your DVR notwithstanding). While it means great things for viewers, it also means content creators can put out stuff whenever they feel like it. Great? Not so much.

I don’t know about you, but if something on my list has the “when I get around to it” tag on it, it doesn’t get done. My goal for this blog is to have a new post every Tuesday morning (yes, Tuesday Morning, I know). If I don’t have that self-imposed deadline every Tuesday, things won’t get done. On my local Port Moody events blog, theV3H.com, there has to be a post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9am. No exceptions. I think we’ve missed one or two slots in the 18 months we’ve been doing it. Because we have that schedule burned into our head, we ship.

In my day job at Global Television in Vancouver, when we have a news show that starts at 6pm, it means it starts at 6pm. If we’re seconds out, there are emails and recriminations. Now the viewer can watch it online, or record it on their DVR and watch it later, but they can expect a new show to ship at 6pm no matter what. Thousands of viewers every night would be gone pretty quickly if we got loose with the start time.

What does all this mean for you, the video producer? Consistency is key. It’s not even the consistency of producing the material, it the consistency of the release schedule. You can do 10 videos or 10 blog posts at once and schedule them to release slowly over time. Get your audience used to that schedule, and let them know. Put it nice and big on your site, “New Post Every Tuesday” and you’ve now given your audience a reason to come back every week.

There are so many distractions and things vying for our attention online. Having a schedule means I don’t have to waste time checking back. Even though many of us solve that problem with RSS readers, it’s going to be a small part of your audience who are going to know how those tools work. Having that schedule works for anything, from online video to blog posts – even when you show up to talk to people on Twitter.

So tell me, when you’re putting together content for your web presence, what’s your schedule?

It’s Amber here – wife to Mr. upNext Media, and all around cool person. Today I’m sharing my own thoughts on story-telling and brand. And I’m possibly exposing myself as a lush. Yay?

I have two small children. This means that, once in a while, I drink a glass of wine in the evening to unwind. Can you blame me? No, you cannot.

I am not an expert sommelier, not by any stretch. I make my wine purchasing decisions by hitting the ‘BC Wines’ section in the liquor store, because I like to buy local. Then I look around and see what catches my eye. Which is how I found Strut Wines.

Yes, the bottle is empty, and the window behind it is dirty. Don’t judge.

I don’t know anything about Strut Wines, but I am in love with their branding. I have bored several people to tears because I wouldn’t stop talking about it. Here is what I like about what they’re doing:

• They’re eye-catching. How can you miss those legs?
• They only carry a few types of wine – at my liquor store I saw “Well-Heeled White” and “Red Over Heels”. I didn’t feel like I needed a degree in wine-ology to make the right choice.
• Their branding is tight – every part of the bottle and the experience reinforces their message. From the imagery, to the names of the wines, to the story on the back, to the words “The Wine with Legs” around the bottle band. It’s all incredibly well-orchestrated.
• They know their niche. It’s pretty much the “Sex in the City” crowd – young women, with a lot going on, who like to think of themselves as fun, stylish and still smoking hot.
• They are telling me a story about myself, and making me think, “Yes! That’s me! That’s who I want to be!”

The bottle band reads, “The Wine with Legs”

Telling a story about yourself, and making yourself personal, is a great marketing tactic. But so is telling your customers a story about themselves. After all, we all make buying decisions based on how we want to perceive ourselves. I shop at the farmer’s market for a lot of reasons, but what it all comes down to in the end is that I want to be the kind of person who shops at farmer’s markets. When I fill my reusable produce bags with local carrots, I am telling myself a story, and I like it. And so I come back.

Strut Wines is tapping into that impulse, and telling me a story about myself. They’re making me want to be the kind of person who buys their product. Here is some copy from their website that makes me want to scream, “Yes! That’s me! I rock and so does this wine!”:

Today’s young woman is the ultimate multi-tasker; she knows she can have it all and she’s going for it, just check out her Blackberry calendar. Mogul, model, mom and much more – every day she’s playing the many roles that make up her vibrant life.

The story on the back of the bottle makes me want to buy

So, what are our take-aways here? I think there are a few. One is that when you’re crafting your story, it’s important to know who your audience is, so that you can play into what they want to hear. And then, at every turn, you reinforce that story. You make sure that every single interaction they have plays on that story, advances that story, and leaves them wanting more of that story.

My husband didn’t find the Strut Wines bottle that compelling. Which is fine, because he’s not the person they’re trying to reach. But I am, and I am in love. Mission accomplished, Strut Wines.

What story do you want to tell your customers about themselves? How are you going to make them feel great, and make them feel like they want to be the sort of people that buy your stuff? It’s a good question, and it’s worth taking the time to come up with a great answer.

Catch up with Amber’s own exercise in story-telling and branding as she reinvents herself over at Crafting my Life.

Last week we talked about how the unique stories of your business will make the difference between a business that people pass by and a business people actively seek out. It’s not only small businesses that benefit from this. Large corporations have been going out of their way to present their products on a more human scale as well.

In the early days of mass marketing, size was a virtue. Back in the days before big brands, shoppers would not necessarily know where the crackers in the cracker barrel came from that day. So it was hard to know what the quality of the product you were buying was. Brands came to stand for standardization, and a standard level of quality.

One of the early successes of this new form of marketing was the grocery business of Sir Thomas Lipton. Opened in 1871, Lipton’s Market in Glasgow became famous for its’ wacky street promotions and constant advertising. People were drawn by the story, but kept coming back for the low prices and consistent quality, especially the consistency of the tea. Lipton’s Tea was a promise of high quality, and was sold in boxes, as opposed to the loose bulk bags of his competitors. Lipton was the original celebrity CEO, advertising constantly and investing heavily in competing in the America’s Cup yacht race. Even though he never won, the America’s Cup made him one of the most famous men in the world, and moved a whole lot of tea. The marketing of anonymous products were no match for the Lipton marketing machine, which was really based on the promise of one man wearing a yachting cap that you were getting the best tea for the lowest price. At the turn of the last century, that was something completely new.

Today we are all mass marketed out. We are used to big brands and consistent but not remarkable, product. Today when I want a cup of tea worth talking about, I think of Caffe Divano and the personal relationships, not a bulk box of Lipton’s from Costco.

So what is a big company to do? Well, you try to make your products human again. The story of successful mass marketing inevitably leads to Apple these days. Knowing what you know about trying to humanize the experience of getting a product, check out the new Macbook Air, as presented to you by the guys who designed it.

Now I don’t know about you, but when Jony Ive starts talking about design, I have to put my credit card on the other side of the room. This is a company that moves billions of dollars worth of product every quarter, but the video succeeds in putting a human face on that massive business.

In the past, this was something only available to the largest businesses with the biggest marketing budgets, like Sir Lipton or Apple. Today, the technology that Apple is using here, putting videos online, is available to everyone.

So how can you make your business personal, and if Apple thinks that putting a guy in a T-Shirt on screen to talk about the Mac design is a good idea, why are you still hiding behind your business brand?

Had a great conversation the other day with Lisa from Caffe Divano, one of my favourite coffee places ever in Port Moody. If you’re anywhere in the area you have to check it out. We were talking about what it takes to get people interested in your product, to get the word out. The thing that makes Caffe Divano different is that all the food is made fresh right in the store, with high quality ingredients. They don’t scrimp on the coffee and the amount of beans you get in your morning cup.

Now I’m a tea guy, and I mentioned that I love their loose-leaf tea, it truly is some of the best I’ve ever had. Lisa then tells me this great story of how her and her husband discovered that tea in a cafe on a trip to New York. She found out it was from a company called SerendipiTea, also in New York. She went out to meet the owner who makes the best tea blends ever. Now they get it from the ladies at SerendipiTea for their little cafe in Port Moody. It’s a fantastic story behind my little cup of tea that afternoon, and the thing that makes it great is that there are real people involved. It’s not a big faceless multinational supply chain. It’s Lisa’s quest for better tea that brings her to the tea lady in New York that brings the cup she’s sharing with me.

Every interaction is one-on-one

Let’s face it, we’re branded out. While the promise of cookie-cutter products for cookie-cutter people created vast fortunes during the age of mass marketing, we lost something. We lost knowing who runs the business, we lost connection with our neighbourhoods, we lost the joy of discovery, when we could tell someone else about a fantastic cup of tea. Now, because we can connect easier than ever before, we’re starting to get it back again. But in order for that to work, we have to give people something to connect with, we have to tell the story in a place where people are going to find it.

Your website can’t be just a place where people get the basics of your location and operating hours. While those are job #1, it’s also a place where we tell our stories. Johnny B Truant calls it Storyselling. If everyone in the neighbourhood knew about Lisa’s fantastic tea, and the stories behind everything she sells, it becomes something worth going out of your way for. In the story of your business, creating that connection is going to make all the difference.

We spend a lot of time thinking that it’s too late. Most of us are late more often than we’re early. We watch the bus leave the stop just as we’re arriving. The last pair of shoes that were on sale in our size were sold just before we got there. We head to the kitchen to get that last cookie, just to see our child with a stack of chairs and chocolate covered face.

Now think of those times you were early. Most of us spend the time fiddling with our smartphones, but there is a certain calm that comes from being ready with time to spare. Those early mornings before anyone else is up in the house. The rare day when we decide to head to bed early with a good book.

Most of the time in business, our instinct is to think we are too late. That idea has already been done. There are so many people doing what I’m doing. If only I had started my blog in 1978. If only…if only…if only.

Pam Slim talked about this on her blog, the idea that we may think our market is saturated, but if we walked down the street in our own neighbourhood, nobody would have any idea how to use Facebook or Twitter to grow their business. We often have problems seeing the forest when we’re in a tree tweeting.

You may think that now that the people you follow online are starting to do video, you’re late to the party. Nothing could be further from the truth. The idea that you can create a video and people can easily watch it on their computer is still brand spanking new. Those A-list bloggers that you aspire to be are just now creeping ever so gently into putting video clips on their sites. Video doesn’t have to look like broadcast TV in order to make an impact online. This will change as more people jump into the game, but for now, the future is wide open.

So you know you’re early to the party, ready to join the fun?