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All those that succeed with video email have 5 things in common. In this article I am going to explain what those commonalities are, I call them “The 5 Keys to Success with Video Email”.

jiveSYSTEMS was launch in May 2008. From that time, I have worked with hundreds of people from many different walks of life who are working in a surprising variety of industries. These 5 Keys are the product of hundreds of hours of research and personal testing.

1) Overcoming Camera Anxiety

• Sending a video email needs to feel the same as a text-based email. If you have any hang-ups, you are not going to succeed, unless you find a way to overcome them. You can practice by sending video emails to friends and family. After all, life is not just about making money and everyone loves to receive video email messages, especially ones where you have the training wheels on.
• Once you have broken the ice, it is critical that you don’t let it freeze over. Make a commitment to send at least one video email per day, even if that video email is to yourself (e.g. a video log of each day, or better yet at the beginning and the end of each day).
• Find comfort in the fact that you don’t walk around the world with a paper bag on your head… you talk to people all day… video email is no different, apart from the fact you can hit delete and do another  take!  Life doesn’t have a rewind button, video email does.
• Don’t become a perfectionist and fall into the zone of diminishing returns. In most cases, good is good enough. This is especially true with video email because it is designed to supplement text-based email. It is not supposed to be a professional brochure, that is what web video is for (videos that are produced, edited and published to a web page).
• Don’t try to become Steven Spielberg. Video email is supposed to be quick and easy, it is best leveraged as a  follow-up to a first phone call with a new prospect or lead, to help put a face to the name–thus establishing trust in the sales process.  When you have trust you have sales!

Related Blog Posts: On-Camera Training
You may also like this post, Video Email Comparison: Putting Myself on the Chopping Block.

2) Location to Film

• If you don’t have a studio and feel you need one, think again. When we first started, I would sit on the back of my sofa with a flip style camera held at arms length. Sure my videos were a little shaky, and they certainly didn’t have the best lighting, but the content was sound. The members that have been with us since the beginning still remember those videos, and many have stated they signed up, at least in part, because of them. They got to know me by watching my video emails and started to trust me, and in turn took a free 30 day test drive of our video email marketing software and training. Imagine what a free, well placed video email, in a marketing sequence, can do for your business.
• That being said,  don’t just record video emails anywhere. Note that I recorded my video emails on the back of my sofa in my living room, I did this because I have a painted wall and a nice ? piece as the backdrop there. You want to work towards having a dedicated location to film, a room in your house if you work from home most of the time like me, or a suitable location at work. You can even use this as an excuse to decorate a little and make your office look a little nicer, which I can assure you will boost your energy levels while you are working.
• Surround yourself with the things that define you and will represent you to your clients. If you can’t create a dedicated location, pay close attention to the noise in the room where you are going to film. Aim to pick a quiet place, and if that is not possible know the rhythm of the room (e.g. the best time to film is 1100hrs to 1400hrs while the kids are at school).

3) Recording Devices

• Not all webcams are created equal. I have tried many of them  and the best by far are Logitech. I am currently using the Logitech C910 which costs around $80 on Amazon. Before that I was using the Logitech 9000 which you can get for around $50. The difference between the cameras is barely noticeable for video email. However, the C910 can record in HD which means it can double-up as an exceptionally economical web video recording device. I often use my C910, instead of my expensive Sony Prosumer camcorder, for really high quality videos that I edit in Sony Vegas and then publish the landing pages. It really is that awesome. The sound quality is also superb… more than capable for most screencast or podcast type recordings.
• To get a really good picture, you need lots of light in the room. Webcams have small image sensors–the more money you pay for a picture capturing device, the larger the image sensor and the better quality picture you will get in lower light conditions, is the general rule of thumb. Since we don’t want or need to spend thousands of dollars, switch on all the lights in the room. If your room is still not bright, you can buy some natural daylight lamps for around $30 a piece to brighten things up while being kind to your face.
• If you are using a laptop, put it on top of a box, to bring it up to eye level. You don’t want people looking up your nose now do you? You should also turn the webcam mic level down and speak loudly instead, this will, in most cases, eliminate the background noise (e.g. computer fans, air conditioners, noisy neighbors).

Related Blog Posts: Video Equipment

4) Camera Readiness

• Be ready to record when you re working. This trips a lot of people up, especially  for those who work from home like me. In fact, it still trips me up on occasion. If you are not camera ready, you are not going to record video emails. It is that simple, if you have to do your hair, shave or makeup or whatever it is that you need to do to feel good on camera, just quit now. ALWAYS REMEMBER, video email isn’t supposed to be polished, it is meant to be REAL.
• Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying you should record videos with bedhead. What I am getting at is this: you need to find a happy medium between looking good and feeling like a rock star, a look you can achieve everyday right when you wake-up for work, so you are camera ready.
• If you have been following me for a while, you will note my outfit of choice is blue jeans and a black T-Shirt. I have 2 pairs of blue jeans and 9 of the same black T-Shirt. For those of you who monitor stats closely and have read my previous posts, I used to have more black T-Shirts but some wore out and I am yet to replace them, lol. For those of you who don’t feel one outfit is enough, I hear you, but that is just my style. The key is to have your wardrobe ready and defined, so you are camera ready when you are working. The goal is to be able to switch on your webcam with the least preparation possible when you are working.

5) Understanding the Technology

• Video email isn’t a common place piece of software like MSWord, it is a living breathing cutting-edge marketing tool. The online streaming video space has few standards and therefore is a complex environment that is flux. This means it is a constant challenge for the software developers like us to keep up with the changes and to cater to the new and growing numbers of applications for video email as they arise. Part of this process involves making frequent changes and updates to the software, which needs to be done in frequent iterations and then explained to the users.
• Video email has barely entered into the early adopters stage of the technology adoption lifecycle. I would say that less than 1% of the entire business population is using video email, way less. So you need to have a really good relationship with your video email provider, so you can grow with them as the applications for the technology expand.
• Choose a company that provides not just support but training, which of course we offer. Make sure your videos will stream on all the popular devices PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and Android; not many companies can say that, but of course we can. These are the facts, you can take them or leave them. I am not trying to market to you, merely putting it all out there. The fact that there are no other video email companies that I am aware of that offer these things is not a marketing pitch, it is simply the truth.

Conclusion

Success and failure are largely based on how you master these 5 Keys. If you are using or intend to use video email, don’t try and break the mold. Focus on these 5 Keys until you have mastered them.