The power of video: a success story
As you may know by now, I’m a big proponent of using video to boost your online presence and increase engagement with your audience. Just last week, I got confirmation of something else that online video can do for your business: actually close deals.
I rent my office space from the beautiful Corporate Office Centers Westside location in Houston. The office manager, Tina Downey, and I belong to the same BNI chapter (BNI West Houston), and when the group decided to schedule an after-hours networking mixer in early July, Tina generously offered her space as a venue.
Always eager for an opportunity to improve my amateur videography skills, I toted my Canon Vixia to the event and spent much of the time shooting footage of the action. After a couple of hours in post-production using plain ol’ iMovie, the result was quite passable:
A few days after the event, Tina received a call from a prospective client in another city. The person was clearly shopping around and asked point-blank what distinguished Corporate Office Centers from similar “incubator” office spaces around Houston. The ever-resourceful Tina replied, “Well, let me show you” and emailed a link to the above YouTube video.
Less than an hour later, a signed contract came through on the fax machine and a check was in overnight mail.
As you can see, the little video I “produced” was nothing fancy—and it didn’t need to be. It showed the client what she needed to see (and hear) to seal the deal: a well-apportioned office location with a friendly staff and a professional environment.
Folks, the days of needing Hollywood-caliber skills and thousands of dollars in equipment to make an effective video are over. As long as your audience can see what they need to see and hear what they need to hear, you’ve got yourself one of the most impactful sales tools available.
That’s my online-video success story—what’s yours? If you’ve used the Web’s hottest medium to attract or retain business, tell us about it in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!