The set-up / scenario:    Say that I met a fellow seminar attendee yesterday named Steve.  We talked / networked during a break.  In briefly learning about each others’ company and services, we realized our companies were in a related, but not-directly competing fields within similar industries.

OR  …  SKIP  RIGHT  DOWN  TO  THE  TEST

The initial outcome of that short conversation was that we both saw partnering potential:

1. Marketing each others services to our own client base, or
2. Putting a service offering together to grow both of our businesses into yet untapped local / regional target industries and customer segments.

Knowing he’ll be out of town for a week, to follow up on that conversation with Steve in a way which:

1. Stands out from any other person/entity he’s networked with, including those he already knows who communicate with him via email,
2. Helps him remember me (who he just met briefly at a seminar prior to a business trip), and
3. Gives him the opportunity to learn more / know more about me and my company and its services.

That way, when we do next meet or speak by phone, more time can be spent on the topic / goal / next steps … the potential partnering opportunities … and less about learning / re-learning what it is that I do.   He will have “experienced the ‘power of video’ ” for himself via ”Video Email” in a way that continues “building the relationship” in ways mere thoughts conveyed in text form could ever do.

SO  ….  HERE’S  THE  TEST:

STEP 1 - Watch the two videos on my follow up effort:

1A  -  TYPE  /  SEND  A  TEXT  EMAIL

Note:  I’m no more than an average typist.  This video is real-time in the sense that start to finish, composing as I type including corrections all the way up to hitting the send button … takes 4 minutes, 42 seconds … and no editing tricks were used. 

(Feel free to stop the video or fast forward through if you’re so led, as it’s the same all the way through … watching me type.)

Follow-up:   What did you think?  I hope you didn’t watch the entire video when it takes about 15 seconds and you know that you can relate somewhat, as text emailing is a nearly universal experience shared by most internet users who’d be visiting this site / post.

1B  -  RECORD  /  SEND  A  VIDEO  EMAIL

Again, with no editing tricks involved here either, this next video is also real-time.  The entire start to finish time to record and send a video email through the system via the Desktop Recorder  … is all of 3 minutes, 3 seconds, which includes 45 seconds of video upload time. 

And since you can do any number of other activities, including other applications on your computer for that 45 seconds, work on some other tasks … review/complete paperwork, return a phone call, etc., the actual record/send time goes down to 2 minutes, 18 seconds … one-half the total time it took to type the same thoughts out via the text email scenario above (1A). 

Follow Up:   What did you think this time?  

I don’t claim to be the most dynamic on-camera personality; I’m fairly low-key and reserved.  But despite my personality, I’m betting you found watching / listening to be more engaging, interesting, and useful to you.

STEP 2  -  COMPARE WHAT YOUR EMAIL RECIPIENT RECEIVES

AND …  In watching the video in 1B, did you catch a glimpse of a simple but powerful feature?  It’s the “Notify me when recipient sees video” checkbox right there above the “Email Video” button on the “options” dialog box.

As you may know, traditional email delivery / read receipts may or may not come back to you depending on email server and/or specific email client software setting on your recipient’s computer or that recipient has to be told that you asked for one, and do they want to send one back to you.   Or it could be automatic to not send any receipts to you … ever; or it defaults to sending all receipts back (never asking them at all).  And most important, if receipts are sent, they are only sent back to you once.

Rather, and this is what’s very powerful about the CoVideo or Globalpreneurs Video Email service:  Check that “Notify me …” box above when the email is sent, and a notification like this is sent from the video delivery servers to you; it has nothing to do with email servers and software settings on their computer … JUST whether they clicked the icon to launch the video.

A nice aspect to this feature is that if your account’s email address is connected to a mobile PDA / cell phone with email access, you don’t even have to be near your computer; you can always know when your video email is played).

It’s usually sent in just a minute or two … EACH and EVERY time the video is launched.   The email message date/timestamp serves as a record, but please know that whether or not you checked the box, viewing information is always stored and available through your online account.

This allows you to guage what the next most appropriate follow up effort should be and when.  For example, 5 views in the first hour after sending might merit a personal phone call from an account rep as the recipient may have viewed it once or twice and forwarded it and/or shown others; however, no views 3 days later might get trigger resending the same video email and follow up by phone two days later if it’s not been viewed yet.

The system stores if a video as been viewed, when last viewed, the number of views, and if it was forwarded via the “Forward to Friend” link at the bottom, the number of recipients forwarded and to whom it was forwarded.

View of Video Libarary Showing View / Forward Stats:   click image to show full size

SUMMARY  /  FINAL  THOUGHTS:

If you and I were the ones who had met at some seminar, among many other people you might have run into, wouldn’t a video email delivered in a custom template branded to my company with up to seven targeted URL links help me stand out to you, help you remember me and also learn more about my company’s services?    (Those were my 3 goals as originally laid out.)

While text emailing will always be around and have a place and may even be preferable for certain  routine types of messages to known contacts where a relationship and trust has already been built, there’s no mistaking the value of video-enhanced email (Video Email).  Video can … and will … enhance communication, “build trust / relationships”, and help you and your message stand out from the competition.

How much more likely is the literal intended meaning of your communication to be correctly interpreted when accompanied by vocal intonation, facial expressions, hand gestures, smiles, and “virtual eye contact”?

If “a picture is worth a thousand words”, then … what’s a video worth? 

A constant struggle with written communication is that you often have to use more words to help convey certain concepts like importance, relevance and context … exactly what you mean.  Finding just the right words to communicate anything can be time-consuming.  Note that in my side by side comparison: 

• text email = 4 mintes, 42 second
• video email = 2 minutes, 18 seconds

Why is the same essential message that much faster?  I didn’t speak fast in the video … nor slow my typing down for dramatic effect.  Think back to any class or seminar where a presenter speaks and puts up slides on a projector screen; that’s the equivalent to video and audio.  What happens when you try to take notes?  Chances are that unless you use shorthand, you capture a very small portion of the total content … and probably not all that accurately.

When thoughts stay verbal and don’t have to be written, it gets said faster and received / understood faster than when.  Do you find that it usually takes more time to compose your thoughts to written form than it is to expess them verbally?  The time consuming part is that the sender’s brain has to convert his thoughts to written words … only for the recipient’s brain to convert it back to “thought” and hopefully understanding.

Studies show that retention and comprehension from reading alone (sight & no sound) is very low and when you add non-verbal (other sensory) input into the mix, learning, retention and comprehension increase.  Studies also show that a significant portion of person-t0-person communication is non-verbal.

That’s why video-enhanced email communcation can be so effective; it’s usually faster and increases viewer retention and comprehension of your message. 

For additional examples on the effectiveness of video over text, feel free to check out the CoVideo 60-Second Tip of the Week posts, where I transcribed each week’s video to text and present it next to the video player … and ask there as well, “Which do you prefer … reading text or watching / listening?”

Visit the lower third of the Video Email page for a full library of Custom Templates by industry, special occasion templates, and sample Email Icons.

Notes about video recording quality: 

1. This recording was made with the more robust CoVideo and Globalpreneurs Video Email Desktop Recorder application.  This record in native WMV (Windows Media Video).  This should almost always produce better video quality than the Web Recorder, which records real-time via a Flash webcam session (Flash Video or FLV) directly into your video library.  WMV is usually better than FLV video output.
   • See blog post about the differences.
2. Any lag of video behind audio in the 1B video is likely due to the fact that I am making a recording of a webcam recording.  Video processing is a very memory and processor intensive task for a CPU/processor.
3. Internet bandwidth, or should I say insufficient bandwidth would more negatively affect the FLV recording via the Web Recorder because it is a real-time process uploading your video as it’s being recorded.

Contact me today to find out more and to receive a personal tour and demonstration!!

Thanks for watching!!

Our Web Version can be accessed on any computer with a camera.  Simply login into your CoVideo account and click on Video Email.  The recorder pops up ready to record and send your video.  It’s that easy! Video Email Web Recorder

Our Desktop Version is downloaded onto your computer and offers the same ease of use, plus features such as scripts, video upload, insert media, contacts and video library . . . right on the recorder! Video Email Desktop Recorder

Both versions provide reports that make tracking your videos a breeze!  Take advantage of CoVideo’s Web and Desktop Video Email to send videos anytime, anywhere!

Happy 4th of July – Celebrate Your Independence

Use the entire family of special occasion / holiday templates to stay in touch … and connected … with those in your world.  Family, friends and neighbors.  Coworkers and colleagues.  Vendors and Suppliers.  Customers and Clients.  CoVideo … Connecting Your World Everyday.

I put what you see below in an HTML IFRAME so you can see the fireworks animation and see the video too.  Clearly you’re not seeing the entire video email in it’s full custom/holiday template.

• Just use the horizontal scrollbar to move the video email left or right while the video’s playing.
• Or, CLICK HERE to view the whole template/video as you would see it if you had clicked on a link from a CoVideo or Globalpreneurs video email that was sent to you.

Be sure to forward to friends, colleagues or those who might be interested in this communication platform … including video email.

Be sure to come back and check it out.  I’ll post again to announce when it actually goes live.

Lights! Camera! CoVideo!

(The importance of lighting … not just on your mood but for the quality of your video recordings.)

While not a literal transcript like in past weeks, I’d still make an educated guess that you chose to watch the video … or a part of it … before you read the text to the right of the video player.  I challenge you to watch and read both and compare your reaction. What’s more entertaining, relevant, informative?  Which communicates more?  Which one actually could “brighten your day”?  (Pun intended.) 

Even if/when you might not know the person you’re watching, don’t you truly have a sense of who they are after watching a video of them over reading text that they’ve written?  Which would you rather receive in your inbox?

That’s the “power of video”!  With Video Email you have the ability to communicate better, faster, and with greater impact to and understanding by the recipient / viewer.

Contact me today to find out more and to receive a personal tour and demonstration!!

Thanks for watching!!

Watch the video below to find out about the different ways every video in your library can be used.

Uses of Video Email

There’s no better substitute than making a personal connection with those in your business and personal communications. Read on below the table for video email custom template and email icons that can be designed for you. A custom template represents all the graphics, buttons, and links that surround your video when viewed by your recipients that supplement your branding effort while directing them to other online resources to enable them to take further action and/or contact you. An email icon is the graphic which is inserted into your video email message to also enhance your branding which, when clicked, launches the video in their web browser.

Contact us today to find out more about this and CoVideo’s other integrated and powerful communication tools.

My Custom Video Email Template

Here’s what my custom video email template looks like.  Full size it’s about 710 pixels wide and 615 pixels high … reduced only slightly so as to appear fully on this page.  To see my template below actual size, please click anywhere on the image below and then you will click the next image once to expand it to full size. (Click your browser’s “back” button to return to this page.) 

Note:  The entire template when viewed by your video email recipient as rendered in their browser is centered horizontally and at the top of the viewing page.

Power Pro Media Video Email Custom Template

Custom Templates & Email Icon Samples

This is an impressive array of template samples provided to show you the variety of styles, layouts, and other graphical design element that illustrate the top-notch skill of CoVideo’s graphical design team … but also can serve as a source of ideas and inspiration when you are considering how you want yours to look.

It’s Easy “Going Green” With CoVideo Systems

I bet you chose to watch the video … or a part of it … before you read the transcript. I challenge you to watch and read both and compare your reaction. Which would you rather receive in your inbox? Which communicates more?

That’s the “power of video” and with Video Email you have the ability to communicate better, faster, and with greater impact to and understanding by the recipient / viewer.

Contact me today to find out more and to receive a personal tour and demonstration!!

Thanks for watching!!

• UStream’s Watershed
• Stickam’s StreamAPI

I’ve been wanting to give UStream a test drive, but I will now be taking a look at StreamAPI as well.

It’s called Pond5 Stock Footage

From their “About” page:

Pond5.com is the world’s first open marketplace for stock video footage, and it’s a better way for video professionals to buy or sell stock footage for use in productions. Video, film and television producers anywhere in the world can find and buy instantly downloadable, broadcast quality royalty-free footage for use in their productions. Video/film creators and content owners around the world can offer their owned work for licensing and use by others. And, like any vital marketplace, people are able to connect, collaborate and share creative inspiration.

Pond5’s approach is simple. We believe a video marketplace must provide solid value to buyers and sellers. This means great pricing for buyers, solid financial return for sellers, a useful connection with the production community, and fast, easy systems that embody practical understanding of today’s video production workflow.

Pond5’s focus on value is supported by its strong marketplace dynamics. Our content contributors receive an industry-leading 50% payout for licensed content, and they are allowed to set their own prices. This has created true marketplace pricing not found anywhere else, and Pond5 is able to offer the most affordable broadcast quality HD and SD footage in the market today.

Pond5.com’s public beta went live in early 2006. We have experienced steady growth of buyers and sellers, of volume and range of content in all categories, and of license sales since the start. 100’s of content owners/contributors from over 30 countries sell to 1000’s of buyers from over 50 countries in all levels of professional and semi-pro film and video production.

Additionally, they have an affiliate referall program whereby you can earn a commission by referring traffic to their site.  For 12 months after a new user signs up, you’ll receive 5% of all their content sales and purchases.

Send “Thank You Notes” With Video Email Instead

I bet you chose to watch the video … or a part of it … before you read the transcript.  I challenge you to watch and read both and compare your reaction.  Which would you rather receive in your inbox?  Which communicates more?

That’s the “power of video” and with Video Email you have the ability to communicate better, faster, and with greater impact to and understanding by the recipient / viewer. 

Contact me today to find out more and to receive a personal tour and demonstration!!

Thanks for watching!!

Clicking over to the original article (URL:  http://www.globest.com/news/1366_1366/insider/177578-1.html?sector=retail).  Please read below for a brief excerpt and click over for the full article if you wish.

Hotelier Combats Info Hunger With Video Snacks

By Noreen Seebacher

Last updated: March 20, 2009  03:06pm

Julie Keyser-Squires, vice president of Atlanta-based Softscribe Inc., calls it a video email snack: a social media product that enables clients to reach key audiences.

Video is not only the next big thing on the web, but arguably the most significant thing in its immediate future. “As the web evolves from information to an interactive environment, video is emerging as the next great frontier of communication and collaboration,” says Marthin De Beer, senior vice president of Cisco’s Emerging Technologies Group. “We’re just beginning to scratch the surface of how visual networking will define the next phase of the Internet.”

Video press releases–or video email snacks–are just a few potential examples.

National Women’s Health Report Addresses Issues of Uninsured Plus New Paradigms of Care
— Changes in Medical Communications Could Lead to a New Definition of ‘Bedside Manner’

Your internet connection speed and its consistency / reliability are an important consideration in your ability to use Video Email, Live Conference, Live Presentation, Live Classroom, and Live Rep/Access within the CoVideo Systems (www.covideo.com) product suite or the Globalpreneurs (www.myglobalhub.info) video communications platform. 

Minimum recommended bandwidth for the above services:

• 1500MB/s Download Speed
• 300KB/s Upload Speed

The talented people that brought you these systems have incorporated a very robust Internet Connection Speed Test provided by into your back office.  Here’s the mini-test version which I’ve included for your convenience:

Feel free to read more about SpeedTest.net by clicking here.

This will allow you to be as imformed as possible when:

• communicating with your ISP about issues you may be having, or …
• you know you need more bandwidth for an web/software application(s) and you’re shopping around for a new ISP,
  • at least you know what you’re used to right now (regardless of what your ISP advertises).

NOTE:  Speedtest.net remembers all your tests, computes averages, plots them out in graphs, and compares your average connection to all other tests with your ISP … locally, by state, nationally, and internationally.

Use the System Everyday and Be Creative

I bet you chose to watch the video … or a part of it … before you read the transcript. I challenge you to watch and read both and compare your reaction. Which would you rather receive in your inbox? Which communicates more?

That’s the “power of video” and with Video Email you have the ability to communicate better, faster, and with greater impact to and understanding by the recipient / viewer.  

Contact me today to find out more and to receive a personal tour and demonstration!!

Thanks for watching!!

Flip Video Camera & Use Your System Daily

I bet you chose to watch the video … or a part of it … before you read the transcript. I challenge you to watch and read both and compare your reaction. Which would you rather receive in your inbox? Which communicates more?

That’s the “power of video” and with Video Email you have the ability to communicate better, faster, and with greater impact to and understanding by the recipient / viewer. 

Contact me today to find out more and to receive a personal tour and demonstration!!

Thanks for watching!!

Learning the CoVideo System; Don’t Be Afraid … Use It

I bet you chose to watch the video … or a part of it … before you read the transcript. I challenge you to watch and read both and compare your reaction. Which would you rather receive in your inbox? Which communicates more?

That’s the “power of video” and with Video Email you have the ability to communicate better, faster, and with greater impact to and understanding by the recipient / viewer.

Contact me today to find out more and to receive a personal tour and demonstration!!

Thanks for watching!!

The Power of Words … Spoken Words with Video

I bet you chose to watch the video … or a part of it … before you read the transcript. I challenge you to watch and read both and compare your reaction. Which would you rather receive in your inbox? Which communicates more?

That’s the “power of video” and with Video Email you have the ability to communicate better, faster, and with greater impact to and understanding by the recipient / viewer. 

Contact me today to find out more and to receive a personal tour and demonstration!!

Thanks for watching!!