Social Media and Business

I often get asked the questions "What is Social Media?," "How does it work?," "Do you really make any money off of it?" Because of these questions Pardiman Productions has been working more with small businesses and non-profits to help them understand this new opportunity for their business, and offer some tips and advice to guide them through these often confusing and overwhelming times.

For some time now a small company called Common Craft has been using videos to make complicated topics simple. Not being one to reinvent the wheel, their video on Social Media does a great job to explain the topic.



Check back for more tips and videos on using social media in your business in the future.

Pardiman Productions Gets a Profile Video

For some time now I have wanted to create a profile video similar to the videos I have been producing for others, but I am always behind the camera and not in front of it.

A while back I had the opportunity to go to an event put on by Biznik and have an HD profile video shot by a colleague.

I have edited it down, and I think it does a good job of explaining what we do here at Pardiman Productions, and what makes us different than other production companies.

Olympia First Friday Promotional Video Online

Pardiman Productions had the opportunity to produce an episode of Everyday Olympia for the website www.everdayolympia.com



The video highlights events that were going on during Olympia's "First Friday" in June 2009.

Businesses like Wind Up Here, Einmaleins, Yolly Shoes, Home Body, Studio 418 and others had events going on that evening.

2009 Olympia Business Summit DVD Available for Purchase

Pardiman Productions was asked to put together a DVD of the speakers (including Owner Corey Lopardi) at the 2009 Olympia Business Summit sponsored by The Solid Rock Foundation.

The Business Summit focused on several timely topics to help businesses. There was a panel of marketing, advertising, public relations, and social networking experts. A presentation regarding the state of our local economy along with economic forecasts for Thurston County. Opportunities as a result of the Stimulus Legislation for the business owner was presented. The tax panel discussed an amazing 300 tax changes as a result of the Stimulus Legislation as well as tax changes as a result of legislation passed 2008.

DVD 2 disk sets of the event panels can be purchase online here.
(50% of proceeds will be donated to The Solid Rock Foundation)

10 Tips to a Better Profile Video - #2 Pre-Plan Your Videos Structure

Tip #2 – Pre-Plan Your Videos Structure

Part of a 10 part series based on the presentation given on June 1st 2009.

I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” If you’ve ever marched head long into shooting a profile video, only to be disappointed with the outcome, then you’ve probably made a few mistakes that a little planning could have prevented. Planning the structure for your profile video is a key step in having a pleasing and effective profile video.

The first thing you want to do when your planning your profile video is follow a basic three part structure. This structure was first documented in the writings of Aristotle, and is very simple. Have a beginning, middle, and end. When was taking classes in public and competitive speaking many moons ago the structure was explained in this way. “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you’ve told them.” In a creative writing class it was once described as, “Get your protagonist up a tree, throw rocks at him, and get him back down (dead or alive).” I like to look at a basic structure for a profile video like this:

Introduction – Who, What, Where (Who you are, What you do, Where you do it)
Middle – Why (Why you do it, Why I need it, Why you’re the best)
End – When, How (When will I see results, How can I get it)

The next thing you want to do when planning your video structure is making sure you have all the video elements you need before you start to put it together. What images, audio, props, notes will you need before you can put the video together. If you are planning a video that’s going to involve some other element, you don’t want to find out after you’ve shot that the element won’t be available, and you’ll have to shoot your video again to make up for that element that’s missing.

Finally, plan your profile video with a call to action at the end. This call to action will be different depending on where the video will be shown, and what your product or service is, but you definitely want the viewer to take some sort of action after watching your video. Whether it’s calling for more information, click on a link, or logging on to your website, it’s the call to action at the end of your video that will prompt the viewer to move closer to doing business with you.

Check back for "10 Tips to a Better Profile Video - #3 B-roll and Testimonials

Owner Named Ambassador of the Month & Year

Owner Attends Ribbon Cutting

Pardiman Productions owner Corey Lopardi is pictured here at the ribbon cutting for Benchmark Home Loans as an ambassador of the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce.

Pacific Northwest Mushroom Fest Promotional Video

Here at Pardiman Productions we had the pleasure of partaking in the 2008 Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival last year, and while we were there providing video for the demonstration stage, we also went around and shot B-roll (additional footage) of the event.

Recently we put together a highlight of the event promoting this years 1st Annual Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival. It was an interesting project, because the music track was already created, and we had to conform to it's length and pacing.

The video has been shown at business and rotary meetings, posted to the events website, on Youtube, and several other places.

Feel free to share with friends, and we hope to see you at this years event!

You can take a look at the video here.

Sales Tip of the Day: PRESENCE

Check out this short sales tip. I have been living this concept for a couple of years now, and it's really starting to pay off.

Sales Tip of the Day: PRESENCE

Posted using ShareThis

Sales and Marketing Roundtable Video

Check out this new video we did in May for the Puyallup/Sumner Chamber of Commerce's Sales and Marketing Roundtable.

Speaker Carol Bowser presented a workshop on conflict management.

Click here to view video.

10 Tips to a Better Profile Video - #1 Know Your Purpose For Producing a Video

Tip #1 - Know Your Purpose For Producing a Video

Part of a 10 part series based on the presentation given on June 1st 2009.

When beginning the process of producing a video for your business it's important to take into consideration what kind of business you are in. The type of business you are in can be very instrumental in determining the type of video to produce, and how to produce it.

What are you trying to sell? Is it a product? Is it a service? If you're in a business that's person to person like a massage practitioner then an animation is probably not going to build customer trust and confidence. Someone looking for a personal service like that is looking to see that you are honest, pleasant, and have integrity. Those things would not come through in an animation, but they would come through if you were giving a short talk about your philosophy and what clients should expect when they set an appointment.

For a service business that is more concept oriented like security consulting would need a video that does more to explain the process, and establish customer expectations. That business wouldn't necessarily need a video that puts a face to the business.

Another thing to think about when starting the process of creating a profile video for your business is who your clients are. If your clients are business owners, then a professional video directed at highlighting the benefits of doing business with your company might be appropriate. If your clients are consumers with whom you will have a long relationship with throughout the purchase process, then a more casual get to know you profile video might be in order.

One more thing to think about when determining the purpose for your video production is where will you show the video. If you are only planning on having the video on a social networking or video hosting site then the quality doesn't have to be as good as if you are going to be sending it out in emails, or direct mailing in a DVD, or using it as part of a broadcast TV commercial.

Knowing the purpose for producing a profile video is the first step in assuring that you have a great video.

Check back for "10 Tips to a Better Profile Video - #2 Pre-plan Your Video Structure


You can sign up for the July 2009 "10 Tips Series - 10 Steps To Get Ranked Locally In Search Engine" by clicking here.

Blu-ray DVD's to Have Facebook Feature

Check out this article about Warner Home Video's plan to make Facebook accessible via Blu-ray DVD's.

Owner Corey Lopardi to Speak on Marketing Panel

Pardiman Productions owner Corey Lopardi will be speaking tomorrow at the Olympia Business Summit.

The Business Summit will focus on several timely topics to help businesses. There will be a panel of marketing, advertising, public relations, and social networking experts. A presentation regarding the state of our local economy along with economic forecasts for Thurston County will be offered. Opportunities as a result of the Stimulus Legislation for the business owner will be presented. The tax panel will discuss an amazing 300 tax changes as a result of the Stimulus Legislation as well as tax changes as a result of legislation passed 2008. Attendees will walk away with practical and useful information in each of these areas. Each session will end with a question and answer section. Lunch is provided. The cost is $15.

Session One - Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Networking

You will learn about local resources to help you grow your business! The marketing, advertising, public relations, radio advertising, video production, and social networking panel will consist of:

• The Williams Group
• Catalyst Publishing
• The Business Examiner
• MIXX96 Radio
• Pardiman Productions
• Alternative Marketing Experts

You can register or learn more here.

Why Every Company Needs a Blog

Check out this article on blogging, that every company should take advantage of.

Click here.

Feel free to pass this link on to others.

Sales and Marketing Roundtable Video

Check out this new video we did in April for the Puyallup/Sumner Chamber of Commerce's Sales and Marketing Roundtable.

Speaker Rachael Costner talks about "Exploring and Expanding Your Marketing Mind."

Click here to see video.

Free Profile Video Workshop

Pardiman Productions owner Corey Lopardi will be presenting a free workshop tonight at Mud Bay Coffee.

http://biznik.com/events/10-tips-series-10-tips-to-a-better-profile-video