One of The Association’s 2010 innovations was our Canon DSLR Boot Camp. Realizing the game changing nature of the Canon DSLR 5D and 7D, we took it upon ourselves to provide training for both new videographers and seasoned pros.

There are two levels to the boot camp. Level I is more of a beginner’s class, so pretty much anyone interested may take it. We’ve given our own Canon certification to still photographers looking to add video to their repertoire, all the way up to pros such as Daniel Pearl, ASC and Geary McLeod, ASC.

Level II is where the real hands-on action occurs, and the students film a short. The Association staff come up with a script, and the students shoot it using the Canon DSLR 5D. If the students don’t have their own cameras, we provide DSLRs as well as any related equipment. This gives everyone a chance to give the theory they learned in Pro Level I a swing in the real world, as well as walk away with credits on a great visual asset. So it’s not just any old Canon camera class!

The vampire short below was created by the Level II grads from the Pro Level II Boot Camp we held in October 2010. We chose a Film Noir, black and white setting to show off the exceptionally thick, rich (no grain) blacks the Canon 5D can produce.

The class used a dolly, jib arm and car mounts to follow the nun’s escape from a dangerous, blood-sucking casting call:

Special thanks to EVS in Burbank for the use of their facilities and generous support, to all our talented cast and crew, and to Vara Reese for her editing. If you’d like information on the next available Canon camera classes, the upcoming classes are posted here.

Jeff Murphy is a partner at The Association and a crucial part of our corporate video production services. With an eye for detail and a professional grip on all aspects of video production, Jeff has overseen all of The Association’s projects for the past 22 years, expertly guiding them from start to finish. No matter how big or how small, your production is in good hands with Jeff.

Jeff Murphy is a partner at The Association and a crucial part of our corporate video production services. With an eye for detail and a professional grip on all aspects of video production, Jeff has overseen all of The Association’s projects for the past 22 years, expertly guiding them from start to finish. No matter how big or how small, your production is in good hands with Jeff.

There continues to be a lot of buzz about Panasonic’s new AF100 camera, and whether or not it’s going to deal a deathblow to DSLR’s like the Canon 5D MkII. While I think not, there are many applications, from corporate video productions, Indie Films and even commercial productions, where the AF100 will be a perfect fit. The camera is already in the hands of many video production crews and filmmakers, and reports I’ve seen are very positive.

I recently had the opportunity to work with some test footage shot with the AF100. We set up a comparison of the AF100 and the Canon 5D in a side by side shooting scenario.(More on those results in a later article.)

Excited to see how the footage between the two cameras compared, I dumped the AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) files into my computer using the USB adapter that comes with the AF100, and thought to myself, “USB, this is going to take a while”. But, it was surprisingly quick due to the MPEG-4 AVC/H264 compression codec that the AF100 uses to record.

The AVCHD files have a .mts (MPEG Transport System) file extension. I wanted to transcode them to ProRes 422 Quicktime files for importing into Final Cut Pro. Piece of cake, right? With an Intel processor running FCP 6.02 or higher, yes,  it’s easily accomplished using FCP’s Log & Transfer function. Just make sure you include all the folders to keep the file structure intact.

However, if you’re on an older Power PC platform like I was, it’s a problem. The AVCHD format is not supported on Power PC processors. So what do you do if you’re in a similar situation?

Fortunately, there are workarounds.

You can use MPEG Stream Clip, a free software from Squared5  to transcode the files To ProRes 422. I’ve used this software many times in the past and it works great, but it does seem to introduce some gamma shift,  crushing the blacks a bit. This is correctable in post, but I wondered if there was something else out there to do the job.

You can use Compressor, but it doesn’t recognize .mts files. The files need to have the Quicktime wrapper.

After trying a few things I settled on a software called ClipWrap from Divergent Media. ClipWrap rewraps the files into Quicktime very fast, and with no affect on the image in my opinion. You can then take those files into Compressor and transcode to ProRes 422. Or, ClipWrap can also even do the transcoding to ProRes 422, eliminating the need to use Compressor. But, at only $49.00, I’m doing further testing to see if it holds up to the quality of Compressor.

For rewrapping, ClipWrap worked great. At $49.00 it’s certainly worth investing in, especially if you happen to be working on an older Power PC platform. Try the free test version first, and see if you like it. We’d love to hear your results!

Note: This is Part I in an seven-part series I’m writing about Press Releases. Press releases are possibly an overlooked item in the enterprise social media toolbox, so I’m going to cover a few points and talk about how I’ve used them successfully for client campaigns.

News vs. Information

Search engines categorize news and information differently. News kind of has an expiration date. Is the Grand Opening of a new store in downtown Metroville still news 6 months after it happens? Not really. It’s just information. This is where Press Releases have an advantage over articles, blog posts and other information, when it comes to short term visibility.
   
By nature, press releases are about news. Normally a press release wouldn’t be written about a restaurant’s menu or how to get rid of pond scum. That’s just information. But if there is a newsworthy angle to pond scum, a press release could be written about it. And you can get that press release to show up on the 1st page of a Google Search for certain keywords, practically overnight. I had one client’s Press Release show up in 8 hours on the first page of Google once it had been distributed.

Of course, you have to know how to research, write and issue press releases in an optimized-for-search manner for it to work right. But if reputation management is on the agenda for your corporate social media campaign, press releases can be a powerful tool.

Even if reputation management isn’t on the menu,  press releases can be used as part of an effective marketing plan.  I suppose press releases aren’t technically an enterprise social media topic, but I often suggest them for creating immediate online visibility, while leveraging other social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) for medium range to long term online visibility.

Whether a company has been around for awhile, or is just starting out, Press Releases can offer visibility without breaking the bank the way a Pay Per Click campaign might. First, try to nail down what news you’d like to make known. Is there a niche or aspect of your business that’s newsworthy? What sets you apart from your competition?

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If you’ve been in business for any length of time recently, I don’t have to explain why it’s important to show up on the 1st page of a Google Search. But just to be on the safe side, if today’s the first day you’re considering an effective online marketing plan, let’s briefly cover two main reasons any business would want to show up front and center on the consumer’s computer screen: Referrals and Search

Referrals
Many businesses rely on referrals, but today’s referrals rely on the Internet. A few years ago, some of my current clients would have told me they didn’t need a website because they got plenty of referrals. In fact, they didn’t really need any marketing at all, they were so busy. That’s changed.

Why? Possibly because few consumers are unscathed by some kind of scam. Whom should one trust? Consumers often want to validate that amazing offer they just saw on TV, and these days, probably even what their friends are recommending. And even a great salesman is probably going to get checked out on The Internet before or after an appointment. What will the prospect find? Nothing? Hopefully they find your corporate social media campaign.

Search
If you aren’t in the room with the prospect, how are you going to sell anything?Think of a Google Search Results Page as a room with 10 possible solutions in it to the searcher’s problem. Pretty simple math. If you’re solution number 11, you’re in a different room than the one the prospect’s in. You might as well be solution number 72.

Search is a logical approach. The consumer figures out what words make the most sense to enter in the search request box. That’s where your long tail keyword research pays off. Once he’s arrived to your page the emotional reason to stay as well as purchase hopefully kicks in. Ah, but that’s a subject for another day, called Consumer Analysis.

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IT’S SO EASY…..
An effective marketing plan is based on the simple concept of connecting with your audience.  To do that, you need market research data about your audience.   Not just statistical totals and pie graphs, but what moves your audience emotionally, since many buying decisions are triggered by an emotional connection.

Our Optimized Market Research (OMR) is the secret to making that emotional connection with your target audience. If you skip the OMR research step, you’re marketing blindfolded. OMR takes the guesswork out of marketing.  That’s what we like to do. Our conversion rates are 4 to 8 times greater than industry average.  That’s why we’ve been in business 24 years.

In my book, 3 main reasons for a strong personal online presence are as follows:

1.      78% of consumers trust peer to peer recommendations (referrals). Social sites like Facebook and LinkedIn have built-in referral tools AND they show up very well on Google search requests (usually much faster than a new website can). That’s a great combo deal, and it can be “supersized” by someone who knows what they are doing.

2.      If you aren’t telling your story, either someone else is or the customer has to make up reasons why you aren’t showing up online (such as, “maybe he’s out of business now…”).

3.      People prefer to have a relationship with an actual person, not a logo. By honestly representing yourself and who you are will resonate with plenty of people. And the ones who don’t like you (for whatever reason) probably won’t buy anyway.

This is good news! Well, maybe not good for criminals or the sort of folks that like to scam. But any service provider with a decent product and good service will do well with an enterprise social media campaign. They will be lifted up by their own customers and shared, with or without an “official” market development strategy. And at low cost. So jump in the social media pool if you haven’t yet. The water’s fine!

Nurturing existing relationships into referral sources is akin to growing a garden. Nothing worthwhile  happens overnight, but it’s well worth the effort when the fruits appear. Fruit from your own garden usually tastes better, is less expensive than buying from the store, and is just a few steps from your kitchen. Often your online neighbors (clients, friends and family) lend you the ground and even plant the seeds, but you have to provide the water (online content) and fertilizer (caring, reliable and honest service).

Online social networking sites act as little plots of land for your garden. Here’s my recommended list of sites to establish a presence on, even if you don’t update all of them regularly. I choose these sites because they tend to show up well on Google Searches (sooner than later), with or without long tail keyword research. If you have SEO information, by all means include it in your text.

 Social Networking

1.      Facebook Personal Profile

2.      Facebook “Like” Page (business)

3.      LinkedIn

4.      Biznik

            Blogs

1.      Twitter (it’s a micro-blog, technically!)

2.      Posterous (if you can use email, you can use this blog system)

Review/Recommendation/Misc Sites

1.      Yelp

2.      Google Place Page (see the article I wrote on Place Pages here)

  Every effective marketing plan in this modern age should include a corporate social media campaign, and I highly recommend the elements above to be included. Good luck!

At the risk of stating the obvious, it is important to be on the first page of a Google search. Quite often it’s easy to get there using social media, if only for your own name and/or the name of your company.

But these days, part of any effective marketing plan must include online visibility from a search perspective. And it has to be relevant to your customers, services and products. And most of all, to you as the one being referred.

Still dragging your heels? Here’s a few points to consider:

You may rely on referrals, but those referrals now rely on the Internet

A few years ago, some of my current clients would have told me they didn’t need a website. They got plenty of referrals. In fact, they didn’t really need any marketing at all, they were so busy. But all that has changed. The referrals have dried up, and they were left high and dry without any real marketing experience. These business owners eventually turned to traditional marketing, but it didn’t work “like it used to.”

Validation vs. Reality

Few people these days are unscathed by some kind of scam. It’s hard to know who to trust. Consumers often want to validate that amazing offer they just saw on TV, and these days, probably even what their friends are recommending. And certainly the post card a company sent them (assuming they didn’t just throw that out).

Even the best provider of a service on the planet is going to get checked over on the Internet first, these days, before a call is made to set up an appointment. What will the prospect find? Will they be able to validate some reason to use your services or purchase your products? Or will they decide you must be out of business since they couldn’t find a website (or you) after a cursory search online? It may not be true, but if someone can’t find you online, you just may not exist.

If you aren’t in the room with the prospect, how are you going to sell anything?

Think of the Internet as a room with 10 possible solutions in it to the searcher’s problem. Pretty simple math. If you’re solution number 11, you’re on the 2^nd page. Might as well be solution number 72.

These days there are all sorts of solutions to getting online visibility, even if you don’t have a website. While it helps to be adept at long tail keyword research, use the power of large sites like Google (Place Pages), Facebook (Like Pages) and Yelp (review website) to carve out a bit of real estate quickly.

Not sure where to start? Google Place Pages is pretty easy! To get started, search “Google Place Pages” and you’ll locate all sorts of information about it.