Creating great looking video for your website is much easier today than it has ever been. When launching Mobizou, I knew that video was a critical component to the marketing message and was a bit uncertain where to start. I did consider elance (see post below) but wasn’t willing to pull the trigger as I didn’t feel like paying for uncertain results.
A couple of sites that I ran across allows you to create great videos in minutes – with great transitions, easy ability to add photos and video and add any soundtrack you want. The one that I really like is Stupeflix. A recent startup out of France, they are not that well known but a gem of a find. Another company in this space is Animoto. While the Animoto service is a bit more established, I find it geared more towards the consumer market as it is less friendly when it comes to customizing your video. Stupeflix, on the other hand, has a simple drag and drop interface that allows you to customize as you wish. And for the html crowd, you can make all the tweaks you want with their editor.
Have multiple products that you sell? Creating a short clip on every product you have is very simple and costs are very reasonable. For the cost of 1 single stock photo you can get a full video. Has video helped increase your business?
Tags: online, sales, video
Posted in Marketing tips | No Comments »
Google Voice is a sweet service. First off, if you don’t know anything about it or need to learn more about it, there is a dedicated Youtube channel that will tell you all you need to know about it.
Now that you’re informed, did you know that the 403 area code is the only Canadian area code that you can link up to your GV number? Yes, by some random alignment in the cosmos, if you live in Southern Alberta you can use GV to your heart’s content. For now, your actual GV number must be choosen stateside to a US area code. Once you have one, you can link this number to any 403 number you have. Once you do, you call any North American number you want through GV (via your PC or mobile app), GV rings you back on your actual 403 number and voila – free LD!
Posted in Marketing tips | 2 Comments »
If you need a great looking brochure done, or a cool backsplash to your company’s twitter page, or how about a refresh to your website that is looking like it came from the 90s, or what about an iPhone or Android app – where do you go? I bet for many small businesses, most of these questions are not even on your mind as your battling with staffing, inventory, lease agreements etc… With minimal effort you can significantly boost your marketing efforts and image. Let me introduce you to a service that still blows my mind even though I’ve been using it for the past year and a half:
Right now I’ve just finished up a flyer design with a designer in Sri Lanka, my Wordpress blog was completed with a team out of Belarus, web design work is being worked on by a design team in India, and I have a number of web enhancements being done out of Russia. Welcome to the age of outsourcing. It truly is remarkable. The ease at which this is possible is truly remarkable. And Elance isn’t the only player in town – odesk and topcoder are similar sites both offering different models of engagement with providers.
I’ll provide some tips on how to best get started and engage with the right provider in a future post.
Posted in Marketing tips | 2 Comments »
The Mobizou blog is officially underway. This space will be used to announce company news, new products, and features. More importantly for any one who wants to follow along, the goal of the blog is to provide tips and actionable info to retailers and merchants who want to enhance their marketing efforts. In launching Mobizou, I’ve had the opportunity to speak to a number of business owners, managers of retail locations and self-employed individuals. A common theme I have found is that each company could be doing much better at marketing themselves. With so much changing on the online world and social media to a more prominent position from a consumer perspective, I will provide the insights and knowledge that I have gleaned over the years having worked as a professional marketer to my experience in starting Mobizou from scratch and finding myself in a similar position as many of the retailers that I am approaching to use Mobizou.
I hope you find this blog interesting and useful. If you do, please let a friend know. Starting up a business that was only a thought in the back of the mind is proving to be very rewarding. The journey is sure to be long but I am very much looking forward to it.
Posted in Company Updates, Marketing tips | No Comments »
