photo credit: axbom

So, your site now has all the bells and whistles. It’s SEO compliant. It’s mobile-friendly. You’ve even got the latest and greatest social media share buttons on the market. But the question is…

is your site responsive?

What is a responsive site, you say? Glad you asked.

Simply put, a responsive site is a site that displays in the proper dimensions based on the device that is being used to view it. For instance, standard site dimensions are 1024, minimally. Viewed on a mobile device, that site would be either humungous or imperceptibly small, depending on whether you viewed it real size or tried to fit it all on a mobile phone. So you make a site that is properly viewable on a mobile phone. Ok. That’s better; but have you considered that people who view your site on a mobile phone are not necessarily just “surfing sites”? Chances are, they are seeking specific information that your company, and thus your site, has. So give priority to the information your mobile viewer is most likely looking for. Yes, that may only be 3-5 items, but if it gets them to the exact information they’re looking for, you’ve succeeded. Give them the information they want; not the information you want them to have.

The same is true for tablet devices, although you do have more room to work with and may not have to be as concerned with displaying only a few items at a time. But now you have to also deal with the directionality of the device; it is landscape or portrait? This is true for phones as well, but it is much more critical for tablet devices.

Then, let’s throw in a variety of viewing resolutions for good measure.

So, what that means is, you need a site that can determine what device it is being viewed on, at what dimension, what resolution, so that you can deliver the appropriately designed site. Cool! That means I have to make 4 versions of my website.

Ok, now you’re just being ridiculous.

Let’s bring in a responsive website. A website built responsively (responsibly?) knows all the answers to those questions and offers up the right site design automatically. This is important from a user-friendly standpoint. The whole reason you’re on the web to begin with is to meet your customers’ needs and get more customers, and that means making it as easy as possible for your customers to get what they need from you. And one way to do that is through a responsive site: a site that responds to your customer in the way that best meets their needs.

If you’re not sure what your website looks like on a mobile phone, check it out. If you don’t have a smart phone, ask someone who does; and if you’re not happy with what you see, give us call.

As you can tell from the title, this is Part 2 of my expo experience. I do recommend reading that post first, but it’s not mandatory.

This expo was special. Like I said, the open floor plan facilitated mingling among vendors at nearby booths as well as booths across the room. This was especially beneficial for the Taste vendors. While I don’t believe many of those walked the room (they did have to serve food, after all), as others did, they would make their way around the room more than once, perhaps having seconds while visiting other booths. Through Jodi’s special connections, the expo was promoted by at least 5 other area chambers who encouraged their members to attend the expo and experience a Taste of Loveland and Loveland businesses. This brought many people out and the networking was fantastic.

Almost 200 people attended the lunch where Cammie Dierking was emcee and Icky Woods was the main speaker. After teaching us all the Icky shuffle (which I have on video), Icky told the story of the death of his son and how he brought some good out of the tragedy by starting a foundation that promotes asthma awareness and also provides scholarships for athletically as well as academically qualified teens. After the lunch, Icky sat in the lobby and signed tee shirts to support the foundation. The Chamber gifted the Jovante Woods Foundation with $1000 in appreciation for his speaking.

Cammie was given a basket of Loveland treats from chamber members to welcome her to Loveland. She is building a house and anticipates moving here in about a year. Welcome, Cammie!

The creativity abounded at the expo this year by some vendors thinking “outside the box” for their displays.

Avalon Otterbein Small House for Nursing Care highlighted their pet therapy by bringing one of their dogs, a beautiful blond dog (sorry, I forgot to ask what kind it was). But what a delight to meet them and I had a wonderful conversation with them about their facility in Maineville.

Probably the highlight of the day, vendor-wise, was the live music provided by Matt Snow, “The Cincinnati Sinatra”. It was such a nice change of pace from the typical muzak. And I don’t believe it was a planned occurrence. It was so much fun to watch him entertain the room and I got some of it on video. Kudos to the chamber for allowing this extra bit of exposure for him as well.

The day was capped with Matt Snow announcing the winners of the vendor drawings.

Everyone I talked to throughout the day was very happy with the change of style for the expo. Being able to walk the room and not be stuck at one’s table seemed to be a big hit with everyone. Deepest special thanks to all the hard work by Jodi and Tracy. The vendor gift bags were a nice touch and put a smile on everyone’s face. Giving me an opportunity to showcase my work by playing my video during the lunch has touched me deeply.

As this first year of new management comes to an end, and if the great success of several events throughout the year is any indication, I think the Loveland Area Chamber of Commerce is in for some incredible growth.

You are gonna like this!!! I found this when I went to do a search today.

Google Voice Search

I came across this story about a just-plain-fun video camera inside a Matchbox car. At only about $59.95, it’s quite affordable. It records at a smaller size dimension-wise, but the frame rate is 60fps, which is double the standard. As the video shows, there are some useful applications, like attaching it to your bike (or car), or on a baseball cap. I’m not advocating secret recordings, but this could make for some very interesting videos with unique perspectives. Allowing you to get away from the “always-at-eye-level” type videos, and have some fun with video, this little device can encourage video creativity for both professionals and laymen.

It tears up the racetrack, too!

I am excited to announce that I have finally entered the world of smartphones. Although I am very technical, until now we were just not able to get into the mobile market. But about a month ago we were able to pick up an LG Optimus Android phone and Don got a msgm8 phone. With unlimited minutes, unlimited data and unlimited text, we don’t have to worry about extra charges for falling outside our plan. Without that worry, we can concentrate on how to best use mobile technology.

Step One: Apps

Of course the first thing I did was get my apps in order. I’ve used an iPod Touch for the last 3 years and while it does most of what an iPhone does (except for phone and camera features, of course), there were several apps I never did find or that worked just right for me. The most important to me being mileage tracking. It was the first app I looked for when I got my smart phone, and right away found one that did what I needed. You can check out more of my thoughts on this app in my review post. I will be doing more posts on my favorite apps, so I won’t go into that detail here.

Another big advantage with my Android phone has been the connectivity with Google. Instant sync with my calendar and tasks/to do’s (a serious lack for iPods), has increased the functionality of this device incredibly. One serious shortcoming I had with the Touch was finding apps with the ability to update the data on a computer. For instance, getting an initial task list setup would have to be done on the Touch; there was no correlated app on the computer. That would just be too difficult on that tiny screen and I wasn’t going to do it. So the second app I looked for was a task manager; and I found one in Astrid.

So just being able to find specific apps that work for me, that were seriously missing from Apple, has made me much happier. And, as an aside, I haven’t had to buy an app yet. There are a couple I’m considering purchasing or upgrading to full versions, but the functionality and variety of apps available at the free level is amazing.

I Can See Clearly Now

Now that I’m in the Mobile World, I’ve also gained a new perspective. For instance, being able to check-in at any time, like with Foursquare, has gotten me thinking about possibilities for this technology and how I might use it to help my clients grow their businesses.

Of course my favorite are the photo and video capabilities. The ability to instantly post photos and video has opened an incredible new world to me; a world of possibilities for business to use video to compete with larger marketing budgets, and to connect and engage with customers.

So i am very excited to begin this mobile journey. If you don’t know how mobile can help your business, drop me a line. I’d love to explore the possibilities with you.

We’re at waffle house we just finished breakfast. I have work installed on my droid. And I am voicing this post.

I’m attempting to add a video to post

I always say, “the most important part of video is audio.” If (WHEN) you’re creating videos just using camera mic, if the viewer can’t hear you, they’re leaving. Even if you’re picture is a little dark, but the audio is good, the audience can tell what’s going on. The other way around–good video but bad audio–doesn’t work. Try it watching television sometime.

That’s why it’s important to get a camera that has an external audio jack. The Kodak Zi8 does, which is why I highly recommend it for people getting started in video. There are occasions for just using the camera mic, for shooting quick and easy videos, but if you want to make your videos stand out from the crowd, the quality of even a cheap external mic can be a big improvement.

Check this video out to see the difference between camera mic and external mic audio. Then, check out my store to purchase a Kodak Zi8 and a wired lapel mic.

This video is about National Holiday celebrations that you can use as a theme and promote your business as well as your customers’. Sorry it’s a little long, but I think there’s a lot of good information in it. You can always listen to some of it now and come back later for more.

So if you’re fairly new to this whole “social media” thing, you may not be seeing the results you had hoped for quite yet. The problem is, you don’t know why, and the more you search for answers, the more answers you find. There is just so much information out there, it’s almost impossible to wade through it to find the most useful bits.

So stop wading for a moment and let’s get back to basics. The first rule to a successful social media campaign is engagement. Keyword being “SOCIAL.” That means go out there and meet people; relate to them on a personal level, not just a “buy my X”. It is when people get to know you and like you that they will feel more comfortable buying from you. Repeatedly, if you do it right.

Duplicate Yourself

And one of the most effective ways to engage people is through video on your website. Since you can’t literally be everywhere on earth at the same time, and speak to everyone at the same time, having video on your website is the next best thing. With video, you CAN talk to everyone everywhere at once. The new currency of customer loyalty is people buy from people. Put a face on the business. Let the consumer see who you are. You’re a real person, not a faceless entity just out for their money.

Back to video, it is through video that you can put a face, a name, a personality on that business. You are approachable, a real person. Even if you are P&G. Now, if you’re thinking, I can’t do video; it’s too complicated; I wouldn’t know what to say; I don’t have the right equipment; I’m having a bad hair day…and on and on. Well, there’s an answer to every one of those excuses, but the first hurdle is to make the decision that you are going to do video. Final answer. All the other excuses (er, reasons), can be resolved if you are determined to embrace the power of video.

So here’s where you start…

Make a welcome video. Most computers these days have built in cameras, so use that. If you’re on a PC, you most likely have Movie Maker. If you’re on a Mac, you probably have iMovie, Photobooth, or Quicktime Player. If you’ve never opened a video program before, I recommend starting with Photobooth. It’s a simple click to record, click to stop recording. The quality isn’t the best, but let’s work with what you have. Be sure you are sitting close enough to your computer so that the built in microphone picks you up well. This is not the most ideal circumstances, but it’s the best way to get started, with what you have. No excuses, no delay.

Here’s what you say…tell who you are, what you do, how you can help, and call to action. You only need a minute or so. You don’t need to explain your whole business plan or go into great detail about anything. Keep it simple.

My name is Vickie Sceifers and I’m a video producer. I show people how to use video to promote their business. Call me at (513) 360-8776 for a free consultation.

Simple. To the point. Now granted, there could be a little more substance than that, but just start with this. You can always add more to it later. It is more important that you DO IT than that you do it perfectly.

Here are a couple tips to help you avoid the need for editing

1. If you’re recording with your computer, and there’s a big red RECORD button, when you press that to start recording, do not move your hand; then when you’re finished recording, you can just click it again to stop and there’s shouldn’t be any definable action in the video.
2. Before you start recording, poise your mouse over that button so you can click it without looking. Now look up at your camera. SMILE. Click Record, count silently to 3, then begin speaking. When you’re done with what you want to say, pause for a 3-count again, then click Stop Recording. Depending on the ability of your computer, the 3-count is important to avoid any buffering delay. Hopefully you’ll end up with a video that doesn’t need editing. (If it’s pretty good, but there are ends you’d like to crop off, I’ll cover that in another post.)

Well, we’re off to a good start. You’ve got a video. Next post I’ll cover what to do with that video. If you’d like a little more help, feel free to leave a comment below.