Improvements in computers, internet service and web software has led to a vast improvement in the delivery of web video. Now, using video on your website is becoming a great way to tell your story. Here are four projects we’ve worked on over the past year which illustrate the diverse and effective ways web video can be used.

Stafford Hills Racquet & Fitness Club
staffordhills.com

Stafford Hills Racquet & Fitness Club developer Jim Zupancic asked us to help him bring a tour of the future facility to life. By combining the architectural renderings of the facility with a live tour guide we created a virtual tour that goes beyond still images. Web designer Vic Parker at Six Foot Eight Media & Design incorporated it into a website that draws viewers in and drives them to action. The feedback has been tremendous with initial membership reservations strong and anecdotal stories of the video tour motivating people to sign-up.

Scott Bruun for Congress
joinscott.com

Challenging an incumbent US Congressman is never easy, so Scott Bruun wanted his website to stand out and be a personal connection with voters. The Bruun campaign asked us to help integrate video into their website. Inspired by the website of another candidate for Congress, Sean Duffy in Wisconsin, they turned to us to help shoot the video and work with their web developer to make it come alive. Paul Bryant at Design Point Inc. improved on the Duffy idea by further integrating the video into the website. Check out how the colors flow behind the video of Scott and pay particular attention to when he points at the sign up section and the donate button as his hand crosses over the graphics.

Wellspring Heart
wsheart.com

Wellspring Heart, a revolutionary heart wellness program, turned to us to help them tell their story and motivate people to join their program. Through interviews with doctors, patients and program leaders, we explained in a powerful way the program and the success it can bring to participants’ health. This is an excellent example of how video can take a complex subject and engage viewers to learn about it in a manner that print simply cannot.

Tour of Remodeled Homes
remodeltourportland.com

In its 11th year, the Tour of Remodeled Homes in Portland, Oregon is the premier remodeling tour in the state. It is produced by the Professional Remodelers Organization (PRO) of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland. For this year’s event, the producers wanted to personalize it by highlighting the participating remodelers versus just showing their work. After all, success of a remodeling project hinges in large part on how well you get along with your remodeler. We produced a series of interview-based web videos that the producers are using in a variety of ways. In addition, a 30-second spot is being embedded in a web ad on Comcast.net.

How can video help you with your image, present your message, and drive your viewers to action?

Part Two: You Are Too Close to the Situation
By Kevin Curry

Author’s Note: This is Part Two in a series on crisis communication lessons I learned while assisting my friends during the recent Haiti earthquake. Read the background on the story in Part One here.

When a story personally effects you, reach out for help, even if you know what to do. You are too close to the situation and will benefit from someone with some distance.

Jill knows about communicating a message and knows how to work with the media.  But she was also deeply and emotionally involved in the situation at hand. This was about her and Joe’s son and his safety. As such, that really should be her number one concern. My hope was that I could take as much as possible off her plate, and frankly as much as she was willing to give me. Her passion for the message was an invaluable resource, so I didn’t swoop in and just take over and tell her what to do. I acted in a support role while continually telling her to feel free to give me anything.

When I had ideas for additional media coverage or messaging, I presented them when appropriate. She was already overwhelmed with a variety of tasks, from fundraising to messaging to media coordination to just worrying about her son’s safety. I didn’t want to add more to that list by bombarding her with new ideas.

This approach required constraint and patience. Normally, I’m an idea guy coming up with creative approaches, new messages, and new ways to reach people. While I didn’t turn that part of my personality off, I did pick and choose carefully which ideas to present and, just as important, when to present them.

One key role I played was being a sounding board for Jill to bounce ideas off and give honest feedback. This required a level of trust on her part, for which I am honored to have been given, and a level of tact on my part when presenting feedback. Jill and Joe were in a very stressful situation, they were getting little sleep and inconsiderate feedback from me was the last thing they needed!

I remember very specific times where I needed to give feedback but was concerned about how it would come across. So I turned to my own communication adviser, my wife Katie, to make sure I was using the right words and right approach. As a communication expert in her own right and a mom as well, she was the perfect filter during these situations.

The role also required patience when waiting to hear back from Jill and Joe. With everything they were involved in it could be minutes or hours before I got an answer. If it was urgent enough, I would make multiple inquiries. But if I judged my inquiry to be less important, I would just wait. This required judgment calls on my part to determine when to push and when to let it lie.

It is important for those who are asked to be outside counsel to remember your proper place and be cognizant of what the person (or business) you are helping is going through emotionally and physically. (One thing I kept reminding Jill is to eat! We all get so busy we can forget the basics.) This means relying on your own analysis of situation and using proper discretion.

The bottom line in a crisis situation is don’t be afraid to ask for help from people you can trust. This advice applies to individuals, like Jill and Joe, as well as to businesses who might be facing a difficult situation. Outside counsel and support is valuable and will make the situation much easier to handle.

Next week – Managing Media v. Generating Media

Learn more about the Wilkins adoption effort by reading their great blog.

Here’s Joe’s blog about his trip to Haiti and work with God’s Littlest Angels Orphanage.

More on God’s Littlest Angels Orphanage here and here.