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Blender Magazine Customer Service

14
Jul/110

Small Business Video Marketing For 2010

There are still debates going on about how business owners can use social media marketing, however the actual number of CEOs engaging in social media is surprisingly low.

In 2010 it seems that businesses have either grown comfortable, or have been forced to accept sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare.. For example, there are a number of influential CEOs using Twitter to represent their companies and bring a friendly face to their businesses. Tweeting CEOs like Tony Hsieh of Zappos and Guy Kawasaki of Alltop are well-known for their successful social presences and large followings as a result.

There is more to the buzz than just Twitter and Facebook, and you can see this in action by watching how business owners are using video marketing. We took a look around the web to see how CEOs and founders are leveraging video to educate and engage consumers.

Unfortunately this list was very small, which leads us to wonder how long it will take for businesses to catch on to the 800% growth in video viewership on the internet. For the small number of businesses taking a lead role in video marketing, their success is easily noticeable. The following is a collection of 9 CEOs and founders using video marketing to boost their unique small businesses.

1. Tom Dickson, Founder & CEO, BlendTec

Tom Dickson, Founder and CEO of BlendTec, an appliance production company that specializes in blenders, host’s his own Youtube channel – Will It Blend? In the video series the blenders are tested against everyday items. Popular items that were blended include an iPhone, a vuvuzela, and an iPad just to name a few.

Dickson’s YouTube series is a tremendous success. With just over 100 videos uploaded, total video views today total almost 131 million. We would be shocked if that level of visibility wasn’t influencing the bottom line.

2. Gary Vaynerchuk, Founder, Winelibrary TV

Gary Vaynerchuk is the founder and host of Winelibrary TV, a daily wine video blog in which Vaynerchuk reviews wines and updates the world on the latest wine news.

Vaynerchuk utilizes Viddler to host his daily video updates, and he also maintains an established personal account on Viddler, where he uploads videos on social media, technology, and branding, among a variety of other topics.

Leaders with large personalities should take note of Vaynerchuk’s openness to be real. His message is to the point with a honest opinion. That’s what keeps his fans coming back for more.

3. Mitchell Harper, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, BigCommerce

BigCommerce is an e-commerce platform that helps businesses launch professional online stores. Mitchell Harper, co-founder and co-CEO of BigCommerce, posts videos to BigCommerce’s YouTube channel around once a week, focusing on topics of interest to his core target audience, e-commerce experts. His videos take an educational point of view while maintaining a down-to-earth, yet professional tone. He says:

“I think it’s important to use a whiteboard to explain concepts, and it’s kind of become my trademark in the videos. I could use a proper studio but I want the videos coming off as genuine and not professionally made. Even when I make a mistake, I don’t edit it out, because I feel it takes away from the authenticity of the message.”

Harper appears to be incorporating value to both his community and business. Since launching the channel about six months ago, they have reached nearly 420,000 video views.

4. Tim O’Reilly, CEO, O’Reilly Media

O’Reilly Media, a media company that publishes books, magazines, websites, and produces conferences on technology topics. With over 1,000 videos and 2.5 million video views, the O’Reilly Media YouTube channel is a constant outlet for the organization.

The channel frequently incorporates speeches by and interviews with O’Reilly. We applaud O’Reilly Media for repurposing helpful content that would have otherwise been lost in the great unknown.

5. Kevin Rose, Founder & CEO, Digg

Kevin Rose, founder and recently appointed CEO of Digg (Digg), a social news website, co-hosts a weekly video podcast named Diggnation, together with Actor Alex Albrecht, where by they talk about the top stories from Digg. Diggnation at this time has over 3.3 million video views, proving that advertising your organization can sometimes be as easy as shooting videos that discuss what is happening in your community.

Rose also has fairly active personal accounts on YouTube and Vimeo, in which he posts on technology, travel and food, and hosts The Random Show with Tim Ferriss, writer of The 4-Hour Work Week.

6. Aaron Patzer, Founder & CEO, Mint.com

Aaron Patzer is the founder and CEO of Mint.com, and now the vice president & general manager of Intuit’s Personal Finance Group, since Mint.com was recently acquired by Intuit (makers of the popular personal finance apps Quicken and TurboTax). One of the best contributions that a company can make to an online community is educating its users on how to use its products. That doesn’t mean you have to create hundreds of videos, keep it simple and to the point while providing value.

Mint.com’s YouTube channel delivers powerful information on how to use the products and services that Mint provides. With just over 20 videos uploaded, many of which Patzer appears in, Mint.com is reaching nearly 700,000 video views. Congrats to the Mint.com team for always keeping it minimalist while still increasing video views. Their channel proves that quality always trumps quantity.

7. Pam Liebman, CEO, Corcoran Group

There are numerous real estate professionals diving into social media, and Corcoran Group, the biggest residential real estate firm in New York City, is ahead of the competition. Corcoran has an in depth social media presence, and their video presence spreads across to YouTube, Vimeo and blip.tv.

The videos feature CEO Pam Liebman responding to issues posted by Facebook and Twitter followers relating to the state of the housing market and New York living recommendations. For example, in the video above, Liebman answers a question posted by Inman News’ Rob Hahn via Twitter. These types of videos allow the Corcoran team to truly engage with potential customers, as well as showcase their expertise in New York City real estate.

8. Rob Banks (Co-Founder), BuildDirect

Rob Banks, Co-Founder of BuildDirect, a manufacturer and wholesaler of flooring and building materials, has a very active role in the companies marketing strategy. He appears in hundreds of videos on BuildDirect’s YouTube channel, discussing a variety of flooring and building materials. The videos often also feature Jeff Booth, President and CEO of BuildDirect.

BuildDirect’s mission for the YouTube channel is clearly stated: “We want to educate, to entertain, and to let you know who we are as a group of people.” The occasional Pancake Day video certainly gives us a glance into their lively company culture.

About the Author

Charleston video marketing
is changing and The Graham Marketing Group is providing the most effective advertising strategies for businesses all over South Carolina. Contact us today for a complete online 2 offline marketing strategy.

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