The ARTS + VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS

What is ‘The Arts’ ?

1.    The Arts is a group of disciplines, comprising many genres, endeavours or art forms, all united by their employment of the human creative impulse, to express and communicate through various art forms.
2.    New and additional genres are being added daily.
3.    Let us put them all in one box for ease of understanding. This may be contentious to some globally, who have different perceptions of The Arts.
4.    The many forms of expression create an adequate or enormous income for many players, but for others, sadly it must just be perceived as a pastime, due to lack of funds or infrastructures.
5.    The Arts are dying in many countries, which are not getting sufficient financial support from their governments or other and so it is time to seek other means of exposure and marketing platforms.

What do The Arts enable ?

1.    Imparting a message
2.    Telling a true story
3.    Education
4.    Imparting own gifts
5.    Creating mindset shifts
6.    Enabling interactive conversation
7.    Enabling enjoyment, laughter, sadness, joy etc
8.    Self expression
9.    Enabling escape from real life – and so on

Let’s look at some players in ‘The Arts’

MUSICIANS – all genres from jazz to rap
ARTISTS – all mediums, including sculptors, potters, etc
DANCERS – al genres, from ballet to hip hop
COMEDIANS
MAGICIANS
SINGERS – from OPERA to RAP – including producers, choreographers
FILM/THEATRE – actors, directors, writers, producers, choreographers
WRITERS/AUTHORS – all genres, including poets, fiction, non-fiction, biographies, etc

Players in ‘The Arts’ need to up their marketing game + would do well, by using the Social networking sites + incorporating VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS into their marketing mix

Adding VIDEO CONFERENCING / WEBINARS into the marketing mix :

More and more of The Arts genres are embracing this powerful technology as an adjunct marketing, training, collaboration, communication and exposure platform. Due to budget and time constraints, people cannot always travel far distances to attend an event/training etc..

DISTANCE Training/Workshops

Globally teaching, learning + rehearsing dance routines, orchestral music arrangements + scores, scripts etc in advance before show time
Creating a global environment for creative research across diverse disciplines, where all players can collaborate, experiment and enjoy artistic exchange and learning, exploring the boundaries of synthesizing art and technology
In this global environment, students can actively explore their creativity and develop, using their own creative gifts through active engagement, reflection and collaboration
More and more music teachers world wide are embracing this technology to teach pupils to play various instruments in remote areas

SHOWCASING

Virtual shows can be created in a global Video Meeting Room, where interested parties can participate in interactive sessions, with people interested in learning more about their particular genre of Art.

BOOK LAUNCHES

o Authors can save a fortune by hosting a virtual book tour.

o This can be co-marketed with e-commerce book companies, online communities and off-line bookstores, that want to drive traffic to their stores and sites.

MEDIA INTERVIEWS

o Invite reporters or editors to an online web interview.

o These web events can be conducted with the media, through relevant websites and e-commerce sites.

o Online web interviews enable interviewing all relevant journalists at once, with the promotion of their stories on Movie, TV, Radio, Theatre, Music, Dance, Arts etc.

o Webinars enable you to expose large groups of people at once to interviews with actors, singers, dancers, poets, playwrights, producers, choreographers, directors etc..

ART EXHIBITIONS

o Artists across all art form mediums, can use Video Conferencing to go global, communicate and show their art to the world.

o They could even stream a pre-recorded video on a virtual tour of their art from their own studio or gallery.

o Inviting a well known art expert as a guest speaker to a Webinar, who in their own rights, will attract numbers to the web event, would be an added bonus.

Adding VMail – The new EMAIL – into the marketing mix

What is a Vmail ?

o Video Email is simple to use, online, browser based technology, which enables you to create your own personal Vmails.

o Most technology platforms allow 20 minutes of talk time, which is more than adequate to impart your message.

o Additional videos may also be uploaded into the Vmail, e.g. a virtual tour of an Artist’s gallery or studio, a Singer or Dancer’s debut or demo, etc..

o No software downloads are necessary.

o Bandwidth is not compromised, as the VMail opens on the Internet.

o Most Vmail purveyors allow full integration into your social networks to share on Youtube or Facebook, etc..

WHY use VMAIL ?

Video Email is the new Email ! It is a perfect adjunct marketing tool to incorporate into your Video Communications suite –

Why ?

It’s Different
More powerful
More Personal
More Effective
Is Creative
Seeing is Believing
Has more Impact
Grabs the customer’s Attention
Enables you to literally look into your contact’s eyes and develop a relationship with that person, engaging them on a level that is simply not possible with a static text email
Enables your voice to resonate on a subliminal level
Static text emails, are easy to ignore, and at their best, give a customer only the vaguest notion of what your business or craft really values

Facts :

– Google loves Video !
– Cisco predict there will be a 10 fold increase in the use of Video over the next 5 years
– Internet Video traffic is now 40% of consumer internet
– People retain 10% of what they hear, but 50% of what they see
– Video is the single, most effective form of communication
– Additional creative marketing platforms are constantly being sought
– ‘Old school’ marketing is no longer effective

Heather de Wit considers herself to be an ‘out of the box’ thinker and is happy to share her knowledge on the merits of utilising Video Email and Conferencing/Webinars. Her experience as a sole Entrepreneur for over 20 years spans marketing, advertising and PR. She enjoys creative writing, singing at functions and is a self-taught artist.

Get in touch with heather :

Facebook
LinkedIn
SKYPE : heather.de.wit
Mobile +27824907143+27824907143
EMail: heather@boundless-activities.net

October 9, 2012

How Content Marketing helps to generate up to 40% more Revenue

Millions of businesses competing for paying customers and it have become a difficult task for most of them to stand out of the crowd and to make future customers aware about their offers.

The customer chooses by himself through research on search engines like Google, with the help of friends, relatives and his social networks which product to buy and which not.

Did you asked yourself what future customers will find when they research your industry for products and services you also have to offer, will they find you or your competitor?

How many people hit your site and how many business leads do generate daily?

Businesses who publish and share content on the web do not only increase the number of “digital outpost” but moreover increase their visibility and build trust with the future customers. Trust is the main motivation to buy. When your audience trusts you, then you they are willing to do business with you.

Actually the best way to increase visibility is content marketing. With content marketing businesses demonstrate thought leadership; prove themselves Trustworthy and Boosts SEO by increase Backlinks to their website.

Remarkable and helpful content is also a great to build customer loyalty. It offers the so called value ad for customers

Content marketing has established as a powerful way to engage customers. An increasing number of B2C and B2B marketer are faced with the challenge to produce and publish buyer persona oriented interesting and remarkable content to attract customers to their products and services.

A seriously executed content marketing strategy can be responsible for 25x times more business leads and boosts your revenue by up to 40%!

With great content you position your business and the people of your business who create the content as trusted experts in your field. Content Marketing is great to build your online reputation.

Here are some marketing tips you can use right away.

Give away free content

Give away free content in form of a corporate blog where you write about topics your audience is most interested in. You can get great ideas for blog articles when you go through email and support requests. This will give you a ton of possible blog article topics.

You can also take a camera and explain a task, for example how to use one of your machines and what to take care of. Or you can use photos and testimonials of satisfied customers and publish them too.

You need to invest time/ money to produce content

To find the time to produce remarkable content is the most common problem business face. But as you need to spend time for your business you also need to understand that marketing and content creation is an important part of your lead generation. Therefore you need to set time free to produce remarkable content which will attract new customers to your business.

No matter if you do it by your own or you hire an Inbound Marketing Agency, content marketing is not free. You have the choice, do you want to invest your time or do you want to set a marketing budget and hire a professional Inbound Marketing Agency.

Give away GREAT content

Great content is valuable. It is worth reading and sharing it. Therefore you need to be specific with information which should benefit your future customers. Don’t be afraid to give away “secrets” because this kind of content attracts the most people. And be the end you are the professionals and the future customer will turn to you when he is ready to buy.

September 25, 2012March 24, 2014

Will Technology Kill the Call Center?

Customers love instant gratification of call-in service. Until recently, that’s what phone service got them.

But these days the majority of people have tired of extended holding, automated prompts, unhelpful agents and getting lost in a sea of transfers. Couple this with new technologies for better, faster self-service and you’ve got a change a brewing in the consumer support industry.

Later this month, I will host a Software Advice live debate on this topic called, “Will Technology Kill the Call Center?” The event will begin at 1 p.m. Central on September 27 in a Google+ Hangout. To watch the event and chime in with your own questions, visit my Google+ page that day and comment in the feed. Add me to your circle on Google+ and I’ll send you an event reminder.

I will run the event similar to a political debate. A panel of four experts will answer a set of questions one by one, with opportunities for a rebuttal after each response. I will also close with a few questions from the audience, collected via comments in the feed on my Google+ page. To watch, just go to my profile page and click the round play button in the “Hangouts” box.

Here’s a list of the speakers:

Jim Iyoob is the senior vice president of global development for Etech Global Services. He has more than 15 years contact center outsourcing experience in domestic and offshore inbound, outbound, and live chat operations.

Shervin Talieh is the founder and CEO of Drumbi–a technology startup focused on mobile and social customer service. Drumbi leverages voice and data synchronization to streamline call routing and phone customer service. Previously, he also served in leadership positions for Goldeneye Solutions and Accenture.

Laura Bassett is the director of customer experience management and emerging technologies for Avaya Inc. Avaya designs, builds and manages business communications applications for more than one million businesses worldwide, including more than 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500 companies.

Mike Hennessy is vice president of marketing for IntelliResponse. His company provides “Virtual Agents” and other customer self-service offerings. Previously, he worked for Truition and as a communications consultant for Amazon.com, Dell, The Royal Bank of Canada, Hewlett-Packard, and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.

See you there!

About the author:

Ashley Furness is a Market Analyst for research firm Software Advice. Her professional experience spans journalism, sales, advertising and SEO marketing. She’s a seasoned writer having produced copy for business journals, a sports magazine, daily deals advertising and industry blogs. She can be contacted at Ashleyfurness[@]softwareadvice.com, or by calling 512-582-2314512-582-2314. LinkedIn – Twitter – Google +

September 18, 2012

Do You Want to Control Your Traffic and Lead Generation?

The traffic to your offers online decides about the value and the volume of your business leads.

Are you in control of your traffic and the volume of your business leads? Do you think you can be in control of your business leads and revenue?

I have a message for you: You can be in control of your business leads and revenue!

There is a way how you can increase qualified traffic, business leads and revenue. Content marketing!

Content marketing has become a powerful way to engage customer’s right where they stand.

To share published content in social media is not enough. Content creation and content marketing as a holistic strategy must be performed on regular basis to gain measurable and profitable results on the long term.

Businesses brand them self by creating and publishing original content. Businesses that create and publish remarkable content on the web and in social media:

• Establish thought leadership
• Elevate brand visibility and buzz
• Boosts SEO

Content marketing improves the search engine rank and the content has more chances to get shared on social networks, which also improves brand reach and direct more future customers to landing pages where they can convert to qualified leads.

By generating interesting and remarkable content other blogs, news sites will link to the businesses website and blog which increases the Page Rank and improves the search engine visibility.

Companies utilizing content marketing strategy report an up to 2,000% lift in blog traffic and 40% boost in revenue.

Infographic: The Anatomy of Content Marketing

The best way for businesses to start with content marketing is blogging!

Companies who operate a corporate blog on frequent base get up to:

• 55% more Traffic than companies who do not blog
• 97% more Inbound Links than companies who do not blog
• 434% more indexed pages in search engines than companies who do not blog
• 25x times more business leads than companies who do not blog

September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

Original Content builds you Trust and Customer Loyalty

In a March 2012 poll of more than 400 US marketers and agencies content curation services provider Curata found that 95% had curated content in some way over the past six months by sharing a link, blog post or other content type with their target audience.

Curata results also showed that 85% of those marketers focus their main objective of content creation to establishing a thought leadership, 80% of those marketers see also brand building and buzz as a goal of their content creation strategy.

The most popular channel to share content is social media. About 76% of marketers say they used a social network as the main channel for content distribution.

Content marketing has become a powerful way to engage customer’s right where they stand.

But what is more powerful curated content or original content?

A business brands its self by creating and publishing original content on. It establishes thought leadership, elevates brand visibility and buzz and boosts its SEO by creating and publishing original content the web and in social media.

This improves the search engine rank and your content has more chances to get shared on social networks, which also improves brand reach and direct more future customers to your offers.

By generation interesting and remarkable content other blogs, news sites and content curators will link to you which increases your Page Rank and improves your search engine visibility also!

The biggest challenge for marketers when doing content creation is the time investment!

Research results show that about 70% of marketers say they did not have enough time to devote to the process of content creation and content marketing. Also the marketers stated that is difficult for them to create original content to share with their audience.

Infographic: A Brief History of Content Marketing

September 11, 2012

Grocery Stores discover Social Media as Communication and Marketing Channel

Increasingly consumers shift from traditional to the digital media. They research about products on search engines, forums, and blogs and in social media to get the best products for their money!

To get found online when future customers are looking for products is one of the major challenges businesses are facing today.

Millions of businesses competing for paying customers and it have become a difficult task for most of them to stand out of the crowd and to make future customers aware about their offers.

A recent research from media and marketing services firm Valassis shows that 12% of the surveyed grocery retail executives go from usage of 12% social media in 2012 to a 65% usage in the next five years. They also plan to increasing investments in online marketing in general. The have understood the advantages of facebook for business and other networks to build customer loyalty.

An increasing number of B2C marketers are faced with the challenge to attract buyers to their offers.

This problem can be solved with Content marketing which has established as a powerful way to engage customers in social media.

Also an increasing number of B2C marketers are faced with the challenge produce and publish buyer persona oriented interesting and remarkable content to attract customers on the web and in social media to their products.

The most popular channel to share content is social media, the advantages of facebook for business and to win customer loyalty are known. About 76% of marketers say they used a social network as the main channel for content distribution.

Successful companies use every possible communication channel to get in touch with their target audience. They are interested in what their recent and future customers are thinking and communicating about them.

Infographic: How Brands Listen in the Digital Age

This communication ability helps them to better understand and to serve their audience, which sets them apart from their competition and gives them wide advantages in their business field.

Businesses which are willing to communicate with their audience in blogs and social media show that they care about the people who spend their money with them.

September 6, 2012

7 Easy Steps on How to use Twitter to Reach Your Revenue Goals

New reports show that Twitter beats Facebook in US Mobile Ad Revenues This Year. This is a clear sign that Twitter users could be more engaged that Facebook users. New numbers also show that Photo- and Video-Sharing Popular on Twitter.

Here are some numbers to try to compare the effectiveness of Twitter and Facebook for marketing:

An average Facebook user has an average of 130 friends compared with a Twitter user and his average 300 Followers. Twitter users share 1.5 more times tweets than compared with Facebook users which share wall post messages 0.65 on average. Massages shared on Facebook reach 45k of people there on average compared with 105k reach on Twitter.

These numbers give you a small idea of marketing effectiveness of booth social media platforms.

How can you profit from Twitter’s great opportunity to reach your target audience and increase business leads, sales and profits without spending a truck load of ad money on Twitter?

Twitter is a great tool to do real time communication with your audience. Users expect companies to response quickly to their requests. The quick response and serious reaction to requests or events on which happen is an essential part to profit from Twitter communication which breaks out.

Customers often reach out to brands to learn more about new products and services. If a brand is able to publish important product and services related news exclusively to their Twitter network first, this would help to improve loyalty with their network. This can also result in an improvement of revenue in the long term.

4 Reasons why companies should leverage Twitter:

• Increase brand awareness
• Humanize B2B companies
• Establish as thought leader
• Connecting easy and effortless with customers and prospects

7 Steps how can you profit from Twitter?

1. Start a Twitter presence and complete your profile
2. Research for industry related Tweets, discussions and people. Follow those people
3. Listen to their discussions. If you have something valuable to contribute than do it, otherwise go on listening
4. Start a corporate blog. Write about topics your audience is interested in. Share your blog articles in Twitter and ask for feedback and opinion for your publication
5. Build landing pages and offer Twitter exclusive and valuable content for download. So you generate laser target high quality industry related leads from Twitter
6. Measure your activities
7. Improve your activities and repeat

Infographic: Twitter Marketing

September 4, 2012

Why do you have a Facebook profile if you don’t want to communicate?

When I communicate in Facebook and Twitter, then I like to share interesting and valuable content.

Sometimes there are users in my network who make the impression they are bothered through this information. Social media is for connection and for communication. People who don’t want to be “bothered” by information which they don’t like for this moment should take into account that maybe this information they don’t like at this moment can benefit other people.

Social media is a democratic way of communication and this means that everybody is free to publish any information which can benefit others.

Not each piece of content which a business or a private person publishes in the social media channel is of interest or value for all. But the more content and information is published the higher are the chances that under this mass of content parts exist which benefit other people.

To publish and to share content is a sign of generosity. And if there is content or any information you don’t like than you are free to express your personal opinion on this, but keep in mind your opinion must not be universally applicable.

Content sharing is an essential part of knowledge and communication and improves the online reputation.

Infographic: Social Sharing Trends

What do you think, how does content sharing in social media benefits you?

August 29, 2012March 24, 2014

Tips for New Content Marketers – an Interview with Joe Chernov

Recently, we posted a video with Eloqua’s Joe Chernov that discussed the various ways marketers miss the mark with content marketer.

As a follow-up to that, the folks at CRMSoftware.TV sent over another interview where Joe offers some advice to those just getting started with content marketing

You’ll have to watch the video to learn all of his tips, but we’ve highlighted our three favorites below.

— Develop “buzzword-free” writing skills. At the risk of offending the PR crowd, it is important for content marketers to know how to write in a non-PR way. What that means is ditching the buzzwords and using language that people can understand and ultimately connect to. This is an area where new graduates have a leg up. Their language hasn’t been corrupted by industry jargon, so they are more inclined to communicate ideas in a more straightforward way.

— Display good business judgement. Many young marketers pride themselves on their web savvy. They are on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Google+ and myriad other online networks. However, it is important to remember that your activity on those networks is a reflection of you as a professional. Joe suggests that you approach your activity with this mindset: “If Google is your resume, what does that say about you?”

— Keep it brief. An oft heard phrase is, “Brevity is the art of lingerie,” but it’s also the art of content. Joe addressed this somewhat in the last video, but it begs being mentioned again – keep it short and sweet! Just because you use 100 words to explain something doesn’t mean you should. It’s far more impressive to do it in 10. Content marketers should keep this in mind when creating content, remembering that today’s buyer consumes information at a much more rapid pace and doesn’t have time (or patience) to sit through a 10 page whitepaper.

For the rest of the tips, check out the video below.

Lauren joined Software Advice in 2010 as the CRM Market Manager. Currently, she is the Producer and Content Manager for CRMSoftware.TV, a new site designed to be like Hulu for CRM Software. She writes about various topics related to CRM software, and often reports live from major industry events. She has particular interest in marketing automation and social CRM, and her work has been featured in Forbes and The New York Times. When she isn’t covering the software industry, you can find her running at Town Lake with her dog, Sophie, and singing at local Austin venues. She is a graduate of the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Get in touch with Lauren:

August 23, 2012August 23, 2012

How Real Time Communication can increase your Revenue by up to 40%

In the past marketing has depending on campaigns. Because of its inflexibility this model does not fit anymore into this Real Time world we live.

Today businesses need to react in real time with their audience.

Business can gain a massive competitive advantage when they become able and are willing to communicate with their audience in Real Time.

The most frequented Real Time Communication Channels are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn only to name some of them.

Here is the audience which demands brands to communicate in real time and show they care about their recent and future customers.

Real Time Communication is a powerful way for businesses to learn more about the demand their audience has and this sets them into the position to custom tailor products and service for the price their audience want.

As business recognizes the Real Time Mindset and the importance of speed they can set them self apart from their competition the smart way for a fraction of the cost of old school campaigns but with much more better results.

A Real Time Mindset ads an smart additional way of marketing to the businesses marketing arsenal, which means that business still can go forward with the marketing activities they still do and then compare investment, effort and results with this new Real Time approach.

Numbers do not lie and every business owner will go on to use the marketing strategies which bring him the most for his buck and cancel those one who do not.

The size of an organization can make real time communication difficult. Because of the simple question who does what.

But great examples like ZAPPOS have proven that even organization with 300 people can communicate in real time for example on Twitter which has set them massively apart from their competition. They became so successful that AMAZON acquired them and let them work further as ZAPPOS without changing anything inside, especially not the successful way of real time communication.

Sure size matter, but when you want it and you understand the benefits, than you can do it no matter how big or small your organization is.

The secret to get Real Time Communication successfully achieved so that it brings your business huge profits is to lower control which needs to hand over a high amount of trust to your employees. If you see them as responsible adults and demand for their responsibility they will react this way.

You will need to set flexible rules about communication which leaves your employees enough space to breathe and to react in your favor.

Let me know what you think about Real Time Communication!

August 21, 2012August 21, 2012

How to Generate Business through Content Marketing

We live in a customer centric time powered through social media and the rules of marketing and PR has dramatically changed.

The customer chooses by himself through research on search engines like Google, with the help of friends, relatives and his social networks which product to buy and which not.

Then it counts what and if he can find your business on the web.

Marketers need to understand that most people do not go online to buy something. The primarily go online to research for products and services. This is valid for B2C and B2B!

Trust can only be build with a long term approach, because what you publish reflects what and who you are.

With great content you position your business and the people of your business who create the content as trusted experts in your field. Content Marketing is great to build your online reputation.

Here are some marketing tips you can use right away.

Give away free content

You need to invest time/ money to produce content

Give away GREAT content

Infographic: The Rise of Content Marketing

Six great reasons to consider content marketing to generate more business

Companies who operate a corporate blog on frequent base get …

…up to 55% more Traffic than companies who do not blog
…up to 97% more Inbound Links than companies who do not blog
…up to 434% more indexed pages in search engines than companies who do not blog
…up to 25x times more business leads than companies who do not blog

Companies utilizing content marketing strategy report an up to 2,000% lift in blog traffic and 40% boost in revenue.

Every businesses which ignores these facts will vanish in the dust of today’s networked and quick economy and that’s good.

August 14, 2012March 24, 2014

VMAIL is the new EMAIL

VMail is the new Email

Extraordinary results can be achieved using this technology. Video Email can change the world and the way we communicate Vmail by Vmail !

Facts :

– Google loves Video !
– Cisco predict –
- There will be a 10 fold increase in the use of Video over the next 5 years
- By 2015, there will be nearly 3 Billion Internet users – more than 40% of the world’s projected population
- Internet Video traffic is now 40% of the consumer internet
– People retain 10% of what they hear, but 50% of what they see
– Video is the single, most effective form of communication
– Companies continue to look for additional creative marketing platforms
– ‘Old school’ marketing is no longer effective
– People spend 8 seconds reading a static text email, but retain 85% of what they see in a Video
– Static text emails are easy to ignore, and at their best give a customer only the vaguest notion of what your business really values. People simply don’t have the time today to read screeds of text and barely get past the third line, before deleting, without ever grasping the gist of the message that is trying to be conveyed.

Practical research has been able to demonstrate the power of video over other forms of communication:

1. ‘Video email marketing reaps 280 percent higher returns than direct mail.’ – Gartner Research
2. ‘63.9% of 5,000 people watched a video sent via email to completion. The average email viewer will only spend 8 seconds reading an email’ – Marketing Vox
3. ‘Good service is not enough. A customer who is ’emotionally connected’ to your place of business is likely to spend 46% more money than a customer who is merely ‘satisfied’, but not emotionally bonded.’ – Gallup Survey
4. Increased market interest. According to an August 2011 Forrester Research survey: 50% of interactive marketers believed that marketing’s effectiveness will increase with online video over the next 3 years; while 43% said it would with E-mail marketing.
5. Increased clicks. According to David Daniels, former VP and Principal Analyst for Forrester Research, “Video in email can increase click-through rates as much as 2x-3x.”
6. According to a video email case study by Holland America Lines, in-email video produced a 2x higher CTR versus a static image, and 2x higher CTR than their average campaign.”

So what is a Vmail ?

Video Email is simple to use, online, browser based technology, which enables you to create your own personal Vmails. No software downloads are necessary. Bandwidth is not compromised, as the VMail opens on the Internet. Vmail allows full integration with your social networks to share on Youtube or Facebook, etc.

Creating a VMail

1. Use your Webcam to record your message or upload a video from your computer, IPhone, Android or any Smartphone.
2. Incorporate marketing Videos or something from You Tube.
3. Use the Templatefeature –
- Create your own personal template, using your own art or photos, or
- Choose a template from 100’s of designs available
4. The system automatically adds your contact information.
5. You can also add images, such as printable coupons or hyperlinks to other websites.
6. Use the Contact Managerto manage all your contacts –
- Import all your contacts from your phone, email and computer into one spot.
- Organize your Contacts alphabetically or in Groups.
- Select and send to any number of your contacts using the Contact Manager.
7. Use the campaign scheduling feature to send right away, or set the day and time that you’d like it to go out.

Why use Vmail ?

Video Email :

– Is different
– More powerful
– More effective
– Is creative
– Seeing is Believing
– Has more impact
– Grabs the customer’s attention
– Enables you to literally look into your contact’s eyes and develop a relationship with that person, engaging them on a level that is simply not possible with a static text email.
– Enables your voice to resonate on a subliminal level.
– Will replace static text emails, which are easy to ignore, and at their best, give a customer only the vaguest notion of what your business really values

Infographic: Video EMail

Vmail USES are endless e.g. :

All aspects of Business
Product launches
Product or Service info
CV’s
Training/Skiling
Teaching
Invitations
Vacations
Special events
Weddings
Anniversaries
Responses
Birthdays
Announcements

Get in touch with heather :

Facebook
LinkedIn
SKYPE : heather.de.wit
Mobile +27824907143+27824907143
EMail: heather@boundless-activities.net

August 11, 2012March 24, 2014

Marketing with VIDEO CONFERENCING / WEBINARS

This technology can change the world !

Facts :

· Google loves Video !

· Cisco predict there will be a 10 fold increase in the use of Video Conferencing/Webinars over the next 5 years

· Internet Video traffic is now 40% of consumer internet

· People retain 10% of what they hear, but 50% of what they see

· Video is the single, most effective form of communication

· Companies continue to look for additional creative marketing platforms

· ‘Old school’ marketing is no longer effective

What is a Video Conference / Webinar ?

Called by many names a Video Conference, a Video Meeting or a Webinar – all meaning the same thing. It is an highly effective, browser based, simple to use virtual Video Meeting Room, where, at the click of a button with a link, you are able to host large or small online meetings with people locally or globally, to connect, communicate and collaborate.

Access to online meetings is now available on most ‘smart phones’.

Some are saying it is the ‘new’ business card.

Many have not yet fully embraced or grasped the power of this technology, perhaps for fear of losing ‘the personal’ touch or the ‘face to face’ meeting scenario. However, we cannot stop progress and this is where things are headed if you want to see it.

‘Going green’ is what the world is advocating and what better way to save on time, energy, airfares, hotel accommodation, increase productivity and ultimately save money, than by hosting meetings, trainings, launches etc online.

This could be perceived as an adjunct marketing platform, or an additional marketing tool to what you already have in place.

The marketplace has become global and this technology enables you to go global with ease.

General features –

· Attract and drive more people to your business

· Share Powerpoint presentations

· Share ideas

· Share Videos

· Show websites

· Share photos

· Review contracts or documents in a safe and secure environment

· Share your desktop

· Use the white boarding feature, with interactive tools, like drawing and highlighting, to make it simpler for your attendees to collaborate with you.

Creative Uses :

· WEBINAR SERIES

Develop a series of Webinars over a number of weeks, with content relevant to your clients or prospects. In this space, you can educate and demonstrate the value of your products or services. Guest specialist speakers always add value.

· ANNOUNCEMENTS, NEW PRODUCTS or CAMPAIGNS

Invite your media contacts, industry analysts, clients and prospects. Elevate the level of conversation by inviting specialists in your audience to answer questions and provide input.

· GUEST SPEAKERS

People perceive you differently when they know where you are coming from – eg, reducing your carbon footprint. Attract people ‘through the back door’ by hosting a Video Conference, selecting a relevant and current ’green’ subject matter, with the added attraction of a guest speaker, who should be a well-known expert or specialist in that particular field. Your guest speaker will, in their own right, easily attract a large audience – Everyone benefits.

· BOOK LAUNCHES

A book tour can be very costly. Authors can save a fortune by hosting a virtual book tour. This can be co-marketed with e-commerce book companies, online communities and off-line bookstores, that want to drive traffic to their stores and sites.

· The ARTS

For Movie/TV/Radio/Theatre/Music/Dance Promotions, use Webinars to reach large groups of people to interview actors, singers, dancers, poets, playwrights, producers, choreographers, directors etc. These web events can be conducted with the media, through relevant websites, e-commerce sites, TV, newspaper or magazine, radio web sites.

· ART EXHIBITIONS

Artists across all art form mediums, can use Video Conferencing to go global, communicate and show their art to the world. They could even stream a pre-recorded video on a virtual tour of their art from their own studio or gallery. Inviting a well known art expert as a guest speaker, who in their own rights, will attract numbers to the web event, would be an added bonus.

· MEDIA INTERVIEWS

To better assist journalists with their stories, invite reporters or editors to an online web interview to discuss issues, show products, present information and data.

· MARKET RESEARCH

Focus groups can view and research products through audio, chat or text-based questions. Polls and online surveys are also a popular feature in these focus groups and are available features with this technology.

· SPECIAL EVENTS/TRADE SHOWS/EXHIBITIONS

Create a virtual show in a Video Meeting Room, where different companies can participate in interactive sessions, with people interested in learning more about your company’s products and services. Due to budget and time constraints, people cannot always travel far distances to attend an event. CUSTOMER SERVICE

Give E-Commerce customers live assistance when choosing products. Invite them to a product knowledge session. The Video Meeting Room can feature a live individual or be a pre-recorded session.

• CUSTOMER SERVICE

Give E-Commerce customers live assistance when choosing products. Invite them to a product knowledge session. The Video Meeting Room can feature a live individual or be a pre-recorded session.

· DEMONSTRATING PRODUCTS

Web conferencing is a great way to demonstrate the uses of products.

· EDITING on the fly

Edit on the fly in a safe and secure environment, with people from different geographic regions. Everyone can view the same document simultaneously, so edits can be made quickly and efficiently, without costly delays.

· Editing WEB SITES

This is a highly efficient way to review web pages with a group of people.

· SKILLING, TRAINING

Webinars are becoming increasingly popular and convenient as a training tool.

· RECRUITMENT

Companies can easily go global and hire the best from anywhere in the world, using Video Conferencing as an interviewing tool, inviting prospective employees to interact and collaborate. Here they can upload their resumes and review same with them, together with others, who are part of the hiring process, but are located in other regions.

· CONTACT US

Video Meeting Rooms can be used as a ‘Contact Us’ feature. People can request an instant meeting to talk with you and learn more about what you do.

· INVESTOR RELATIONS

Invite analysts, media and shareholders to a Web Conference for quarterly reviews, announcements and appointments.

· COMMUNITY

A great tool for Community forums and groups to connect, collaborate and communicate on :

o Community issues, problems

o Neighbourhood watches can have a better handle on crime and policing

· COMPANY STAFF, COMMITTEE, SALES or BOARD MEETINGS

More and more businesses are seeing the value of using this technology to communicate and collaborate with employees and management nationally or globally on a more regular basis, saving time, energy, travel, communication bills, accommodation bills, etc, increasing productivity and ultimately saving money.

· DISTANCE EDUCATION

More and more institutions are embracing this technology for :

o Distance learning

o Extra mural classes moderated by Teachers

o Students can ‘study together’ without ‘being together’

o School board meetings

o Teacher training

o Academic contests e.g. debates, with other institutions

· CHURCHES, NGO’s (Charities), CLUBS

Institutions using Webinars can :

o Interact with members and constituents

o Conduct remote study with exchange groups

o Conduct Church meetings

o Conduct Board or Committee meetings

o Host Fundraising campaigns

o Host Planning sessions

o Host Remote counselling

Infographic: Video Conferencing

Get in touch with heather :

Facebook
LinkedIn
SKYPE : heather.de.wit
Mobile +27824907143+27824907143
EMail: heather@boundless-activities.net

August 8, 2012March 24, 2014

The Keys to An Effective Content Strategy – an Interview with Joe Chernov

We are marketing in an age where content is king. As a result, more and more companies and marketing teams are increasing their content marketing efforts. But, not all content was created equal. How can you discover which content is going to convert the best? And what steps should you take to develop an effective content marketing strategy.

In this video, CRMSoftware.TV‘s Lauren Carlson sits down with content marketing guru Joe Chernov of Eloqua to discuss where some marketers are falling short when it comes to content.

They also highlight several tips for marketers who want to up their content game by creating a powerful and effective strategy.

Check out their discussion in the video below.

Get in touch with Lauren: