Behind the Scenes of CNTV

We had the pleasure of producing IAEE-TV during Expo Expo in New Orleans. Our professional television crew captured highlights from the event, and posted daily news headlines online. This video gives you a quick look behind the scenes.

You can see the final product at www.iaee.com.

Back in Action

It's been awhile since I blogged, but I have a good reason. His name is Luke. I gave birth to the newest member of the CNTV team on October 18th. This is my third child, so things have been a little crazy, to say the least.

Now, I'm back in action, and gearing up for IAEE's Expo Expo next week. It's a little soon to travel, but it's such a great opportunity to see our clients, and meet new people, I just couldn't pass it up. This year, we're producing IAEE-TV!

We're really excited about capturing video headlines from the show floor. Our headlines will be emailed to members every day, and posted on the IAEE website.

Watch for them in your inbox, and if you're going to Expo Expo-- watch for our cameras!

Giving Away Trade Secrets

From a business perspective, it might sound crazy to teach other people to do exactly what you do. Isn't that creating competition? Isn't that giving away trade secrets? The answer is yes, AND it's vital to thriving as a business.

This week, my business partner and I will be training print reporters how to do what we do. We are working with a trade publication on how to use video to cover conventions. Some would say we're nuts, because that is what our business model is based on. We both have years of experience producing television news, and that's what our clients hire us to do. If we teach print reporters to produce the videos themselves, aren't we kissing a potential client goodbye? We don't believe so, in fact, we believe we may be creating an entirely new client. That's because we are building a relationship. We are going to their office, and looking forward to showing them how to improve their shooting, how to edit more efficiently, and how to improve their on-air presentation.

I must confess that we would have been leery about teaching other people how to do what we do if we hadn't heard author and PR expert, David Meerman Scott speak a few years ago. Meerman Scott talks about the viral, online marketing, and the importance of letting go of control. You have to be willing to put your knowledge out there for others to learn.

By sharing our knowledge, we build a relationship with this publication. When they need advice, hopefully they will turn to us. If their video production grows beyond their in-house capabilities, hopefully they will call us. The editor has already asked us if they can share our agenda and notes with other publications owned by the same company. We weren't expecting that at all, and it's indirect marketing at its best.

All of that aside, it's also just the right thing to do. If we share our knowledge, perhaps they'll share theirs as well, and we all become a little smarter.

It's amazing who you can meet on Twitter. I've met Event Professionals from around the world, and down the street.

This week, I had the pleasure of meeting Kimberly Button in person. Kim is known as @getgreenbewell on Twitter, and we connected a few weeks ago. To be honest, I had no idea where Kim lived... until she sent me a direct message. We quickly found out that we live minutes from each other, attend the same church, and have several friends in common! We met for coffee, and really hit it off.

Kim had serious health problems growing up, and believes many of them were caused by pesticides in her home. She has a passion for talking with people about how to choose the right cleaners, foods, and disinfectants, to be as safe as possible. The amazing thing is that she does it with a smile, without scaring people. It's just great information, and she has a passion for passing it on. Check out www.getgreenbewell.com, to learn more about her company, Green Well.

Our conversation energized me, and I look forward to seeing her again. Anyone who says Twitter is a waste of time isn't using it properly, it's a great way to meet people around the world... and in your own backyard.

What's your "Old Spice" Message?

Does your man smell like the Old Spice Man? Are you one of the nine million people who have logged on to You Tube to see the latest viral video attracting attention around the world? Old Spice was a dying brand-- something we bought our grandfathers for Christmas. But now, they've created a concept for a video that is defining "viral". In case you missed it, click the link below to watch. It's well worth it.

There's a great article about why it works on MSNBC. Old Spice executives planned ahead, they engaged key bloggers, they promoted the video via social media. I think anyone involved in marketing can benefit from the article. You can read it by clicking here.

I do think they missed a key, point, however. The video works because it has a message. Old Spice will make your man smell better. There it is, nice an simple. Viral videos are fantastic, but I believe they only truly work if they also deliver a message.

Video of a singing cat may very well be seen by millions of people, but what's the point? If it's nothing more than funny, it no doubt falls flat. The message is key. It needs to be simple, memorable, and something that ignites a call to action. The underlying message from the Old Spice Man is "Buy Old Spice". And indeed, people are.

While people watch the video because it's funny-- they are buying Old Spice because they remember the message. What message do you want to deliver?

Keep It Simple So It Sticks

I'm reading the book, "Made to Stick", right now, and it's fantastic. Dan and Chip Heath wrote the book to find out why some ideas "stick", and other die. It's fascinating, and their insight can be applied to just about any idea.

The first lesson I've learned is that good ideas have to be simple. They don't mean "simple" in terms of "dumbing down", or "quick soundbites", but rather finding the single core of an idea.

The book says, "Finding the core means stripping an idea down to its most critical essence. To get to the core, we've got to weed out superfluous elements, but that's the easy part. The hard part is weeding out ideas that may be really important, but just aren't the most important idea".

What a great lesson. In other words, often deciding what you're NOT going to do, is just as important as what you're GOING to do. At Convention News Television, we're trying to apply that to the new design of our website. We started with three buyer personas to speak directly to our audience. (The idea of "buyer personas" came from David Meerman Scott... and we love it!). Our new home page used to say that CNTV creates videos for:

1. Associations

2. Trade Publications

3. Corporations

While that's true... we were listing all the available products for each persona, and it was overwhelming. We had to strip the message down to a single core idea. We're now focusing on one buyer persona: Associations.

It's been hard! We believe our company can help all three types of clients, but our website listed too many products. It was overwhelming. On our new site, we'll be focusing on ONE core idea: We produce video coverage to extend the reach of an association's annual meeting. Period.

It's a tough exercise, but one that every company should go through. What can you leave out, so your core idea is simple, clear, and easy to understand? If you simplify, your idea will be stronger, and therefore, more likely to stick.

Perfect Vs. Good

Perfection is the enemy of good. Have you heard that one? It’s a well-known quote by French author, Volaire who lived during the early 1700’s. This quote was the topic of a discussion during the recent PCMA Education Conference in Montreal. This conversation wasn’t during a keynote, or a breakout session, but instead over dinner with my business partner. We got talking about out clients, and when we should send them a product to review—should it be “perfect” in our eyes, or just “good enough” to see if they like it. The client is always right, right??

Well, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this. Is Perfection really the enemy of Good? As we relayed our discussion to one of the leaders of PCMA, he added another thought. Perhaps we should strive for “Optimum”, instead of settling for good, or striving for perfection. AH HA! Brilliant. I like it, and I agree.

As I did a little research about Volaire’s quote. Here’s what I found on www.famous-quotes.net:

The point is more to know when to realize that any additional effort toward improvement would result in a negligible improvement, especially in comparison to the effort required.

When you reach that point… the product is optimum. Perhaps not perfect, but as good as it can be without negligible improvement in comparison to the effort required. For me, that means knowing I have done my best, I have given it my all, and I have maintained the client’s best interests at heart. If we have done that, whether the client likes the product or not, I feel like we have done our job…. We have reached “optimum”.

When is your product optimum? Do you find yourself settling for “good enough”, or striving for perfection?