[Marketing Matters] The Awesome Power of Video Marketing

When it comes to modern day technology, I’ll be the first to admit, I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the computer age. I’m a certifiable technophobe. There…I’ve said it…so now you know.

Back in the 1990s my small pest control business was growing faster than Lindsay Lohan’s rap sheet. I’m slightly embarrassed to say this now, but I remember telling someone at a local networking meeting in 1994 that I had absolutely no need whatsoever for a computer, much less a website. I was doing just fine, thank you.

There was no way I could have envisioned then how computers would end up changing my life.

I not only wound up with a computer in my home and office, but quickly began to see the amazing marketing opportunities it presented. To be honest, I couldn’t have cared less about how much easier it made our bookkeeping and operations. I left that up to my office manager. As for me, I had found a new toy and I quickly escaped into a world of fun and adventure!

A Game-Changer. Fast forward 10 years, to 2004, when my close friend Mike Stewart (who just happened to be one of the pioneers of Internet marketing using audio and video) introduced me to Internet video. And, from the very beginning, it changed the way I did business. I began creating short audio and video emails. I installed a video elevator speech and a video sales letter on my website. I also began a video blog.

At that time no one I knew in the pest control industry was using online video to market their business — not even the big companies. And for a little guy like me, it was unheard of. I truly had found a unique way to set myself and my small pest control business apart from everyone else’s.

Back in those days I used a small Sony hand-held video camera. I’d shoot a video and then had to download it to my computer using a program called Video Capture Wizard. I had to use several other programs to cut and edit the video, ad a music background track, convert it to an FLV file and then upload to my website. You literally had to build an entire webpage. And, once completed, if you discovered a typo, you couldn’t just do a simple edit and then upload it again. You had to rebuild the entire webpage, which meant lots of time, effort and frustration.

I quickly became famous for my videos. I’d be in a coffee shop or restaurant and someone would say, “I know you. I saw one of your videos. You’re the bug guy.”

Imagine that. A total stranger comes up to you and says, “I KNOW YOU!”

Do you see the power in what I’m talking about? Video allows you to build a face-to-face relationship with someone you’ve never actually met. It can be someone across the world or across the street.

I sold my pest control business in 2008 and now I’m a marketing consultant and sales trainer in the pest control industry. I spend my time showing other pest control operators how to get more new customers and how to get their current customers to refer them more often. And one of the most powerful tools I talk with them about is — you guessed it — video.

I have dozens of videos on YouTube and on my websites. I do a weekly video newsletter. I do video sales proposals and video introductions. It’s like having my own TV show.

Get Started. If you are doing video, great for you! If not, now is the time to get started because it is so incredibly simple and easy to do. All you need is an iPad. That’s it. I shoot all of my videos with only an iPad. I shoot the video, cut and edit, add a music background track, add text and upload to my website and YouTube with just an iPad.

Whereas just a few years ago you needed to hire a videographer to do a video for you and pay them a fortune, you can now do it yourself in just a few minutes with only an iPad. And the quality is incredible.

I learned how to shoot and edit videos with the iPad by watching a tutorial produced by Mike Stewart called Tablet Video Training. You can check it out at www.pestcontrolmarketervideo.com.

Keep in mind, Internet video is not like CNN television. You don’t have to have absolutely perfect lighting and sound. Old school videographers will disagree with me on that point, but then, that’s their business and they don’t want you to believe that you can now do this yourself. But you can!

Imagine being able to produce your own training videos for your staff and employees, video sales presentations, video emails, video proposals, video introductions and more.

Video is so much more powerful than just written words because it allows you to tap into the part of the subconscious brain that responds to visual and auditory stimulus. It is simply a much more effective way to communicate. It is the next best thing to actually being there in person.

I hope this article has helped you realize the awesome power of video and why you should be using it on a regular basis to promote your pest control business.

Video marketing is not the way of the future. It is here and it is now!

The author is president of Coleman Services, and a professional speaker, coach and motivator. He can be reached at 770/993-0004 or email hcoleman@giemedia.com. His website is www.pestcontrolmarketer.com.