Last October, Shaw wanted to get feedback from his friends and colleagues on a recent Apex televisio

Brett Dudley is owner of Sydney-based small business ecruising.travel , a company columbus travel bountiful utah that specialises in offering cruise holidays around the world. Founded 11 years ago, Dudley has typically relied on traditional marketing and advertising.
"It's only been the last six months that we've really started to utilise YouTube effectively," says Dudley, who has added videos of the destinations the cruise ships visit - such as Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands.
Dudley says: "The hardest thing when selling travel is when you are talking about it, people can't visualise it. YouTube takes the destination to the person. I absolutely credit the success of YouTube to a strong customer referral."
"This still gets to a lot of people but they are just a different demographic. With online marketing, columbus travel bountiful utah we're reaching columbus travel bountiful utah people who are au fait with using the internet. After all, we're ecruising [emphasis on the "e"], so we're targeting columbus travel bountiful utah people who are savvy with computers."
columbus travel bountiful utah Meanwhile, co-owner of New Zealand's Apex Car Rentals, Ricki Shaw, has taken a different approach to YouYube. He has found it a useful way to get engage with customers. However, this happened almost by accident.
Last October, Shaw wanted columbus travel bountiful utah to get feedback from his friends and colleagues on a recent Apex television commercial. With the commercial on YouTube , Shaw developed an easy feedback page that his professional friends and associates could use to provide their ideas.
"I made it easy for them to click on to the feedback page and then back on to our site," he says. "So I thought, let's open that up to the public. I put a twist on it by asking people to tell us not only whether they liked the commercial but also how they wanted us to develop the storyline.
"Our sales are increasing and, overall, we're growing as a company," says Shaw. "So I guess you can say that the commercial has been a success in terms of people considering us a credible alternative to the multinational brands. We want Kiwis to regard Apex as their rental car brand much the same way as they regard Air New Zealand as their airline." So what's the next step for you?
1. It's not that hard Before you lump this in the "too hard" basket, let's make it clear that you don't have to be Steven Spielberg to create an online video. Like Brett Dudley, many digital cameras also have video functions. While you may not be able to film a half hour sitcom columbus travel bountiful utah on it, you can easily shoot a few minutes of video ideal for online viewing. Creating an account columbus travel bountiful utah on YouTube is free.
2. What would your customers and prospects find useful? Think about it. Let's say you own a wine store. Panning shots and exciting cinematography using various angles around columbus travel bountiful utah bottles of wine may not be the most engaging video for a wine buff. But how about an interview with a winemaker? Or, at the most basic level, your own reviews of certain wines. Wine impresario, video blogger and now best-selling author Gary Vaynerchuk started out this way, reaching up to 100,000 viewers each day for his unique reviews on wine.
If you're a martial arts, boxing or fitness expert, "how to" videos on how to right hook, left jab, duck and weave will allow your prospects to see you in action but also teach them a thing or two. Check out this YouTube channel from Sydney boxing instructor Patrick Moore.
3. Just do it Don't strive for perfection. columbus travel bountiful utah Just do it. As small business, chances are you're columbus travel bountiful utah not going to have a big budget. In fact, like many small businesses, you probably have no budget! So make peace with the fact that you're NEVER going to create a video as slick as those produced columbus travel bountiful utah by advertising columbus travel bountiful utah agencies with millions of dollars at their disposal. Never. So stop trying.
At minimum, make sure the video is well lit and that the audio can be heard clearly and easily. I'm not saying it's OK to produce columbus travel bountiful utah a rubbish video - of course, you want to look professional, competent columbus travel bountiful utah and authentic. columbus travel bountiful utah I'm just saying don't wait until you have the resources to create the perfect video - or you'll never do it.
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