positive disruption by: Tom Martin | New Orleans based Social Media | B2B Digital Prospecting | Digital Strategy Agency

How to Create a Split-Screen iPhone Video Interview

To view this post on your mobile device click here.

Last week I uploaded a split screen video interview I did with my son Maes and asked if anyone could figure out how I did it using nothing but a single iPhone. Most folks guessed some kind of mirror or prism, which is almost right.

To get the video I used a Love Box. Not sure where I found out about this nifty little device but you can see more and buy one by visiting their website at TheLoveBox.com. Thus far the handmade Love Box is available in a limited edition -- 100 being made and sold. Mine was #67, so if this post gets you thinking you'd like one, you might want to order sooner rather than later. The device will run you about $100 and mine arrived within a few days.

So how does this puppy let you create a split screen interview? Easy. By placing your iPhone on the special mount and adjusting the mirror, you effectively record both the front and rear views of the phone.

---

Creating a Split Screen Video Interview

---

It's a little tricky at first, especially adjusting the mirror and phone so that you don't see the iPhone's camera in the view of the rear. Also, you'll have to sit at an angle to your phone (to keep the reflection of the phone out of your shot) so you have to think about where to look while you're doing the interview.

You'll see that I was busy looking at the screen during much of the interview and it just looks odd. My son on the other hand was looking right at me or the camera and thus looks pretty natural.

---

Creating B2B Video Content With an iPhone

---

One of the B2B content marketing workhorses is the "talking head" interview. I love using my iPhone to create these thought leader interviews. In fact, in 2010 I spent the entire year creating a digital thought leader video interview site where I interviewed 52 of the smartest folks in social and digital marketing -- all using nothing more than my iPhone.

Based on feedback from viewers I improved the audio of my iPhone interviews, learned how to use lighting more effectively, and found a ton of apps to make iPhone videos look more professional.

But one of the most consistent pieces of feedback I received was that folks wished I had been on screen too. They wanted to see the interviewer as well as the interviewee. When you think about it, what they wanted was to see an interview conducted in a manner that they were used to from television.

But you can't switch from front to rear camera on an iPhone while video'ing (at least not in the native camera app). Thus, if I had wanted to get both the interviewee and myself on camera, I would have needed two iPhones and I would have had to deal with syncing the video and audio streams.

That's complex and time consuming, which is why I found this solution so compelling. Now, with a simple $100 device I can easily record both sides of the interview.

Further, because the mirror slides back and forth in that slot, you can actually transition between showing one of three screens:

• You can have the entire screen show the person you're interviewing (front camera)
• You can have the screen split with you on one side and your interviewee on the other (like my video)
• You can have the entire screen just show you (rear view)

It's a bit tricky to get a nice smooth transition from these three different settings, and I'd recommend that you practice and probably mark the mirror slot with the positions to place the mirror in for each shot.

But once you've done that, you can actually create a video interview that "feels" a lot more like a traditional TV interview that transitions between those three views.

Man how I wish I had this device last year when I was doing my Talking With Tom series. It really would have given that project a different feel I think.

---

Tips To Improving Your B2B Video Content Shot on The LoveBox

---

While I really like this tool, there are a few things I'd love for the makers of The Love Box to change that would really improve the device as a B2B Interview capture tool.

First, because the device sits on a table, it's too low. It would be great if the bottom of the base had an opening to allow the device to be attached to a tripod. Then you could place the camera at the optimium level and adjusting it for pretty much any circumstance.

Second, moving the mirror to create the various screen configurations above is kind of hard. Doing it without getting your hand in the picture is almost impossible. So, here again, some kind of attachment would be ideal. Maybe something as simple as a little rod that connects to the mirror base and allows you to pull and push the mirror smoothly up and down the track.

Third, include a portable carrying case. The handmade box is awesome looking and always entices folks who see it in my office to ask what it is... but it's totally impractical as a carrying device if I was to take The Love Box with me to a conference to get interviews. They also need to supply a bubble wrap or cushioned carry case for the mirror.

 

 

Fourth - something you'll need to do on your own. Because you'll be using a single iPhone to capture both sides of the conversation, you're going to need to rig up two microphones to both feed into the iPhone.

Conversely, you could use an MP3 recording device and then a program like PluralEyes to sync the audio and video, but that adds time and complexity to an otherwise simple and easy workflow.

---

How To Use Video Interviews In Your B2C Content Marketing

---

While I have been focusing on using The Love Box as a B2B content marketing tool, it's also a great tool to have in your B2C marketing toolbox.

Testimonials from satisfied clients are highly effective online content. We all like to know that the companies or brands we're thinking about buying from have a history of delivering great experiences and products, hence why testimonials are so effective.

But don't stop with quotes, let today's customer tell tomorrow's prospect how wonderful you are -- there is nothing more believable than a video testimonial. Seeing the truth and in some cases passion in a customer's eyes while they deliver that stellar testimonial for your brand just can't be captured in any other format but video.

So what do you think? Did you find this helpful or interesteing? If so, maybe take a tip from my son and share it ;-)

And if you have any questions or comments, let'em fly... always like to hear what my readers are thinking.

28 Tips To Create Awesome Blog Content with an iPhone

Given my Talking With Tom project this year is produced entirely from my iPhone -- I've had a chance to learn a lot about what you can and can't do multi-media wise with an iPhone. The big surprise -- your iPhone is so much more than a phone... it's like Hollywood in your pocket -- a complete multi-media studio right there in the palm of your hand. The fine folks over at Blog World invited me to share what I've learned. Here it is.

View more webinars from Converse Digital

So, what was your favorite app or accessory?

 

Got any I missed? I'm always looking for new iPhone apps and iPhone accessories to test.

 

Follow @TomMartin

 

Click HERE to receive more great tips like this by email.

Related articles

• My iPhone Video Tools
• Making better iPhone Videos - Lighting
• 8 Simple Secrets to Better iPhone Video Blogging

iPhone Photography App Review: Big Lens

Is Big Lens the new Instagram or just the coolest iPhone photo app released to date?

The photo above -- I just took that using my iPhone and then retouching (on the iPhone) with Big Lens. I changed my depth of field, isolated the Converse Digital business card and then applied a photo filter to give it a bit of tone. All in about 30 seconds.

And all with my iPhone 4.

Here is the original shot (which I cropped using Photogene):

As you can see, the photo is completely in focus, like every iPhone shot. There is no opportunity to create a depth of field on an iPhone, until Big Lens came along.

I have a bunch of iPhone photography apps and I spend a good deal of time playing with and looking for more in my quest to explore the content marketing capabilities of the iPhone.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaking of using an iPhone to create killer blog content -- if you're going to be at BlogWorldLAX this week, I'm giving a presentation on using your iPhone to create awesome blog content. Stop by and if you're not registered yet -- use Martin20 as your discount code (good for 20% off).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo App Review

The app is 99 cents in the app store and the interface is simple. There is a basic function -- which gives  you the ability to set the focus point using a circle (as I did here) or using a horizontal plane (rectangle). My only beef here is that the rectangle extends the entire photo like on a TiltShift app, and in this case, having the ability to just isolate the card with a rectangle would have been cool.

For users that want/need a really high degree of control, there is the advanced function, which lets you isolate any particular area of the photo. It takes a little practice, but you can actually outline the object you want to have in focus and the rest of the photo will go out of focus.

You can also change the f-stop setting from 3.5 to 1.8, which is how you get the blurred background. Lastly, there are a bunch of Instagram type filters that you can add to the photo too.

There is also a handy "compare" button that when pressed shows you the original photograph that you took using the iPhone. This is really handy for seeing the before and after to determine how far you want to go with your editing.

Sharing your iPhone pictures

Sharing is one-click away. The app can save your new photo to your camera roll or you can share directly from the app via eMail, or upload to Facebook, Picasa and Dropbox. I really like the Dropbox integration, which would make it easy for a field photographer to shoot and upload to a home office based blogger that then uses the photos in content marketing creation, like blogs. NOTE: you have to save it to your camera roll if you want the photo in the future. The app seems to keep your retouched photo in some kind of cache that is only available to the app if you don't. 

Best Uses for this photo app

After playing with the app, I have to say it's just perfect for food bloggers, tourism bloggers, restaurant blogs and home decor or real estate blogs/bloggers. Can you think of any other bloggers that would benefit from such an app?

And when you combine the focus and filter effects with the ability to crop shots via other iphone photo apps like Photogene (or in the native app on the new iOS5) the iPhone continues to show itself as an outstanding content marketing creation tool.

So what do you think? Is this the coolest iPhone photography app you've seen? If not, what is... let me know!

 

Tweet

Click HERE to get more killer ideas delivered directly to your in-box.

My iPhone Video Tools

For the last six months I've been interviewing digital thought leaders for a pet project, Talking With Tom. Over the course of 2011, thanks to my sponsor, email marketing firm Emma, I'll interview a total of 52 digital thought leaders, asking each the same single question: What's next? 

But for me, what makes the project even more interesting is that the entire thing is done on an iPhone. All of the video is shot, edited and produced using the iPhone. And the blog posts themselves are authored and published via the iPhone. It's truly a 100% mobile video blog. And judging by the number of emails, DMs on Twitter and conference hallway conversations I've had with others, lots of you are interested in the technology behind the blog as much as the blog content itself.

So today, I'm going to share the tools of the trade -- my iPhone video tools that are powering the project.

Video Editing Applications on the iPhone

• iMovie: this is my primary editor. It's inexpensive, $4.99 in the App Store and works fine, allowing me to inserts a JPEG of my sponsor slide along with arranging and rearranging video segments. Lastly, it makes it easy to place a professional looking title throughout the entire video so that I can put the name and Twitter handle of each interviewee. My only beef is that sometimes I can't get iMovie to see the videos I've shot in my camera roll. So to be safe, I keep a 2nd editor on the iPhone.

• Vimeo: Yes, this app is from the video hosting site, Vimeo. It's rather new but unlike iMovie, this one is free. And yes, it can upload to other places besides Vimeo. In some ways it is better than the iMovie but it is also a lot buggier. It crashes often on me and doesn't always save the work as I go, so for that reason, it's my backup video editing app.

Microphones for the iPhone

• Brando Mini Directional Mic: this little gem is small, lightweight and easily lost. So keep it somewhere in a bag or something because it's greatest benefit is it's biggest downside -- size. I like this mic because it is small enough to comfortably fit in my pocket and you just snap it into to the headphone jack when you're ready to record. Point the mic in the direction of your subject and start recording. What you'll get is audio that is much better in terms of loudness and clarity. BUT -- what I find is that it amps up ALL of the audio. So, while it is directional, you still need a pretty quiet place to record. If you've seen any of my SXSW interviews, like this one with Mack Collier, they were all done with the Brando Mini Directional Mic. For $9.99, it's a great addition to your video capture toolbox.

• Any Spot Wireless Lavalier Camera System from Galaxy Audio: when you're ready to step up to the big time with better audio for your iPhone videos, grab one of these bad boys. It's a bit more pricey coming in around $330, but it's worth every penny. Your subject wears the wireless lav and you have a receiver that you wear and connect to your iPhone. Best of all, the receiver has an audio out too so you can hear the audio live and thus figure out if you're getting too much background, to loud or soft of audio, or interference. And because the unit gives you the ability to switch between 64 channels and adjust the Gain setting, you can fine tune your audio. Lastly, because it's wireless, you don't have to stand right up on your subject, like you do with the Brando mic, in order to get crystal clear sound. Tom Bonus: I do a lot of social media keynote speaking and I've been using this mic and my iPhone to capture some of those keynotes. Normally, when you video yourself doing a talk, you get a lot of table noise because the camera is on the closest table in the audience. But with this mic, that's all gone... you get nothing but crystal clear speaker voice - like I was able to get, even in an noisey hall at BlogWorld, when I interviewed David Murray.

• KV Connection iPhone Microphone Adapter: this is the secret weapon for iPhone audio. You see, the iPhone's connector port uses a special connector style and thus, if you just plug in a wireless lav like the one from Galaxy Audio, it won't work. Care to guess how I know this? This $20 lifesaver is exactly what you need to connect pretty much any outside lav (wired or wireless) to an iPhone.

Lenses/Tripod Mount for your iPhone

• External iPhone Lenses: these can add a bit of flare to your video (and pictures). The set I carry  includes a wide-angle (which I've used for a number of Talking With Tom interviews, like this one with Tim Hayden). The iPhone will shoot in 16:9 but with the addition of this lens, you pick up an extra 2 to 3 feet left to right of image. If you're using a directional mic to capture better audio, the addition of the wide angle lens lets you get up really close to your subject (for better audio) but the resulting image on the screen doesn't really reflect how close you are due to the lens. There is also a fisheye and macro (for really, really close up shots). The entire set is like $40 plus shipping. The only downside, these require you to attach a small metel circle (for the lenses to magnetically attach to) on your iPhone. Depending on the kind of case you use, this may not be doable. A nice workaround is to go get a cheap clip on case, attach the metal ring to that case and maybe cut it in half (to save room in your gear bag) and then just swap the "camera case" for your real case when you go to do a video. You can see my set up in the header image of this post... I call it my Borg iPhone.

• iPhone Tripod Mount: if you really want clean, steady video, you should put the camera on a tripod. I usually don't (shame on me) but I should. The problem is, the iPhone does not have a standard camera mount nor a place to build one. Enter the Glif. This little puppy lets you attach your iPhone to any standard tripod. It also doubles as an iPhone hands free mount, perfect for watching movies on those long, late flights where you're not in the mood to work.

 

 

 And that's about it folks. With these tools above, you can create high quality, social media content for use in your content marketing strategy.

So the only question left to ask is, what did I forget to buy? ;-) What great gadget did I miss? If you know of anything, please let me know in the comments section because I'm all ears.

Tweet

SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL

Thirsty Thursday of Knowledge - Talking With Tom edition

On Tuesday, I finally was able to launch Talking With Tom -- my new video blog project/experiment.

If you missed the announcment post, you can learn more about the background of this 100% mobile based content marketing experiment.

After launching it, a number of folks asked me how I was doing it. They wanted the nitty gritty of programs, hacks, etc. So today, I thought I'd share that with you so you could do your own experiment or just maybe understand and appreciate mine.

Platform
I'm using the iPhone4 for this project because it has both a great camera, but also you can download the iMovie app from iTunes. It's the iMovie app that makes the filming and editing possible.

Editing Software
I'm using the iMovie app for all of my editing. Overall I'd say that it works reasonably well. You don't want to do any really heavy lifting or editing, but for simple clip trims and splices, it works pretty well. Primarily the difficulty is in editing long pieces of video. Because you're working on such a small area you have to zoom the video timeline in order to make accurate cuts. Hence, if you're working with a longer piece of video, it becomes really difficult to keep zooming in/out.

The other tricky thing is the titles. If you go watch the video of Greg Cangialosi talking with me, you'll notice I added a black bar at the bottom with his Twitter handle. It's really easy to add BUT iMovie adds the title to the video SEGMENT. So if you want it to be up for the entire movie and that movie has multiple segments, you have to do a little hack. I'll get to that in a minute.

It says you can add in a title card to the movie too. To do this you'd need to have that title card saved on your phone as a JPEG. I haven't gotten that ambitious yet, and as I don't have any sponsors for the project yet, so I've put this on the phase II tests.

Publishing Software
To publish the blog, I'm using Posterous. I've been goofing with Posterous for a few years now but have never really seriously taken the platform for a test run. Talking With Tom changed that. I have to say, I'm VERY impressed. First, the iPhone app is easy to use -- even letting me tag posts and then when the post goes live, the tags I generated become categories on the site. Very nice. I even learned how to embedd live hyperlinks in the post body copy -- more on that under the Hacks section.

I can also use the iPhone app to manage comments, see how many views I've had on the post, etc. The one thing I do wish it did though, was give me the ability to do some level of formatting, link creation, etc. on the body of a post without having to code it manually. So Posterous, if you're listening... please add that to the Next Update list... thx!

The Posterous site made it really easy to use a custom domain but host it on Posterous' servers. I just had to register my name, go into my Domain Management section of my GoDaddy account and update two fields. Then within a few minutes, presto, I had TalkingWithTom.com up and running on a basic Posterous theme. I then went shopping for a new theme and selected one by Cory Watilo and BAM I was in business. For those of you who can sling a bit of code, you can go in an customize stuff and if you know CSS you can get really fancy pancy. Me, I'm not smart enough for all of that so I relied on Cory's theme to get the job done. And like all good blog hosting sites, Posterous makes adding Twitter/FB Like buttons easy as clicking a button.

Lastly, I like that Posterous hosts the videos on my site vs using a YouTube or Vimeo embed. Maybe the Columbus Dispatch ought to consider using Posterous in the future.... kidding. It forces anyone who is clicking a link shared in social media to come to my home base to view the video, whether they find the site via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or another blogger's blog -- they have to come here to view the content (video). Again, as I think through how this approach can be sponsored, I've got to think that makes the site more appealing to a sponsor than if I was using YouTube vids that could be picked up, embedded anywhere and next to anything (content wise). Any brand managers readinging this? Would love to hear your 02 on the subject.

Other Toys
Half the reason I like my little experiments is that I'm given a reason to go buy new toys to play with. Talking with Tom will be no different. Already I've added a Brando Directional Mic, wide-angle lens and my personal favorite -- a Glif. I'm really loving the Glif because I was part of the group that crowdfunded its development using Kickstarter. And if you're loking for a simple mount that will let you use your iPhone on a tripod, this is the right tool. I've been loving it.

The first few videos that will post were shot before I got the wide angle lens, so watch for the difference in February. It's pretty interesting in that it allows me to get really close to my subject but maintain a view (on the video) that doesn't feel like I'm standing right on top of them. I'm also going to pony up for a wireles lav mic. Hee hee hee... I love buying toys. This one got decent reviews... so we'll see. Again, you probably won't see videos using this until February or March.  If anyone out there is a big audio buff and know of a better solution, please let me know.

Hacks
Ok, with any new endeavor you have to figure it out as you go along. For me, these are hacks and frankly, their half the fun. So far I've needed to do two hacks.

The first is putting HTML links in the body copy of posts. In my fisrt post, a number of folks said they wished I had done that as it would have made it easier to learn more about Greg, his company Blue Sky Factory, etc. Now as I said, the Posterous iPhone app doesn't give you a way to do that...BUT what I've figured out is that if I just code the HTML mark-up into my post and upload, the Posterous site translates my code into links. Presto, now I can create links and make them open in new windows. It's kind of a pain because I don't know HMTL and typing that much on the iPhone can be difficult, but I've got a few ideas for another hack to make my work a bit easier. What about you -- got any thoughts on hacks I might use to make this easier? Trust me, I'm all ears!

The second hack is getting a constant title bar on the entire video instead of getting it fading in and out with each cut of the video. To do this with the iMovie app you simply make all of your edits and get the video finished. Then render it and it will save as a new movie in your Camera Roll. Then, go back into iMovie, import that new movie to edit. Once you've imported it (if you've used iMovie on a Mac, you know what I mean by importing the movie -- it works the same way on the iPhone) then create your title bar and copy. Now, because you've only got a single video it applies it to the entire segment so that you get that desktop professional look. You'll see I figured this out on the second video.

So that's it for now. If you've got an iPhone -- what I hope you're seeing is that you've got more than a phone. Thanks to apps like iMovie and Posterous, you've got a social media content production studio in your hands.

So the only questions left are... what are YOU going to do with it? And of course, does anyone know of any other mics, lenses, mounts, etc., that you think I should try out during this project? Maybe a steadicam or different lens/mic set ups that will give better quality video? If you do, let me know. No promise that I'll run out and buy it (remember, I still don't have a sponsor underwriting the costs to buy equipment, travel to film these folks, etc.) but I'll do my best!

And hey, if you enjoyed this post or just want to keep updated on the project, please consider subscribing so you can have posts from this blog sent directly to your eMail in box. And don't worry, I'll never share your email with anyone and I don't send anything but blog posts... because that's not what your here for right?

Thirsty Thursday of Knowledge - Creating a Branded Microcontent Digital Magazine

 

Tweet

I've been exploring all the fun, cool and useful apps on my new iPad and last week one really caught my eye. That app, Flipboard has been getting a lot of props in the digital and social media world of late. And honestly, while it's an ok way to consume my social media profiles (like Twitter) I'm not a real fan. I still like seeing the platforms the way they were meant to be seen, but hey to each his own right?

What I have found really interesting about Flipboard, and what I talk about and demonstrate in the video above is how Flipbaord is working with brands (media brands for the time being) to create custom digital magazines published via the brand's Twitter stream.

Basically, the brand's tweets, which contain a bit.ly link to the full article, are being custom formatted by Flipboard to appear much like a magazine - complete with interactive ads. It's really very cool.

More importantly, if Flipboard can ever make this technology available (at an affordable price) to any brand or person, they could give brands a vehicle to create customized MicroContent. To me, MicroContent is going to play a major role in brand marketing over the next few years.

But hey, don't take my word for it... check out the video and then let me know what you think the coments section, ok?

 

Tweet

Hey, did you like this post, please consider subscribing so you can have posts from this blog sent directly to your eMail in box. And don't worry, I'll never share your email with anyone and I don't send anything but blog posts... because that's not what your here for right?

9 Things I learned Testing The Livestream/Facebook Integration

Tweet I've been looking for a good way to incorporate livestreaming video into my Facebook Professional Speaker Fan page. The page, Tom Martin Talks is where I post reviews, etc., so that prospective companies or organizations that are looking to hire professional speakers for their events or to hose workshops at their companies can find me, see reviews of my talks and reach out and say hello.

So, I've been looking for a way to stream live talks directly via the page and was very excited when I got an email telling me Livestream had integrated with Facebook. You may recall, Livestream is the platform I used for my 2010 Mardi Gras Social Media Brand Perception Study project. As you know, I'm also quite a fan of launching small marketing experiments to learn first hand what works and what doesn't. To this end, I presented a 15 minute replay of my Why Advertising Will Never Light Your Customer's Fire talk that I gave at TribeCon in October.

So, what did I learn? A lot. Here goes... and if anyone out there has also experimented with the Livestream plug in for Facebook, please let me know what you learned via the comments please.

First the positive

1. To be safe you have to start your broadcast early -- luckily for you Livestream does give you a simple one-click way to share your screen, or a portion of it instead of the live video stream. They also let you mute your audio. I loved this feature. Basically I just created a Keynote title card and muted the sound... that way folks joining could know they were in the livestream but I didn't have to go on right at 11a, which allowed for stragglers to come aboard. Very, very cool feature.
2. If you've never used Livestream, it's quite easy to set up and activate. In the past, I've used the webcaster and I think for my next stream I may try that. I'm pretty sure you can't do the screen share piece noted above but maybe the stream frame rate (FPS) would be better? Not sure, just know in the past I haven't had the audio/video sync issues noted below.
3. There is an embedded FB chat capability, which we didn't test. I did however have a few folks say they would have loved to do that, especially to chat directly to me -- sort of a Q&A if you will. This would have made it more 2-way vs 1-way. 
4. Automatically archieves the video and gives you the ability to download it as a standalone, editable video file for use elsewhere.
5. I got a 10% lift in fans on my fan page (you had to like the page to view the stream) and I got a nice lift in Twitter traffic today with folks kindly sharing the link to the livestream

 Now for the negative

1. I used the Procaster download because it promised better audio video quality. Sadly, more than a few folks emailed/tweeted me that the audio and video where choppy or out of sync. One of the great things about Livestream is that it automatically archives a copy of the talk for you and let's you download it. But as noted in here, the audio/video sync is horrible so it's basically unusable video.
2. For whatever reason, the video was uploading at 11 FPS (frames per second), which I noticed during the presentation but there isn't any way to change it so I had to just hope for the best.
3. There was a bit of poetic irony during my talk -- I was talking about how advertising won't light your customer's fire because it is interruptive vs invitation... as I'm talking, ads are popping up in the feed, in some cases totally covering up me and muting the audio. Again, a few folks let me know this happened to them and they thought it really destroyed the overall effect.
4. The video stream seems to lagg behind real-time by about a minute. We noticed this in our original demo tests here at Converse Digital and again on Friday. What made it especially bad on Friday was that I finished my talk and then clicked stop. Which stopped the feed but what I didn't know, is that it litterally stopped the feed -- which meant the last minute of my talk was cut off. I figured it would continue to stream the last minute until the lag caught up with reality. Note to self: next time, finish and ensure someone else is monitoring the stream and gives you the heads up that it finished before you shut down the stream.

Marketing Implications of the Experiement

Overall, my jury is still out. Like I said, I've had good exeriences with video/audio quality when using Livestream in the past but today was just terrible and now, because I can't use the archive footage, it's a double negative.

The ads are way too intrusive. Unfortunately for me, and likely a lot of smaller brands, the entry level is $350 month or $3,500 a year (if you pay annually) and that may be a bit of stretch for what is likely coming from an R&D budget. Livestream, like many other technology platforms need to figure out a way to develop better onboarding pricing strategies. Especially if they want to reach the masses.

There is a lot more to this opportunity than I'm able to cover here... to really understand the power of embedded livestreaming in your Facebook page, I'd really need to upgrade to a pro plan with all the bells and whistles. This would include more control over branding, quality of stream and best of all - access to analytics, which as I recall were quite good.

So that's what we learned today... let me know what you think. And if you've learned anything playing with this technology on your own, share that too?

Tweet

Thirsty Thursday of Knowledge - Microsoft Code Examples

Tweet

Last week we talked a bit about QR Codes and I shared a number of real life QR Code examples.

But while you've probably heard a lot about QR codes, there are other options out there. We covered JagTags before and they're pretty interesting. The only tag platform we haven't covered yet is Microsoft's MS Code. So today we're going to fix that. On a recent flight home to New Orleans I was surprised to find not one, not two but three advertisements in a single issue of People Magazine, all that used MS Tags.

Ford has been experimenting with JagTags and now MS Tags. If you scan this MS Code in the ad you'll be transported to a microsite for the Ford Edge. Once there you can view videos, see reviews, specs, etc.

So now Ford can put all the really heavy copy stuff in the MS Code and leave the ad space itself to do what ads do best - grab a reader's attention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garnier is using the code in this ad to transport you to a 2 minute commercial for it's hair care line. Given the cost of buying a national 2-minute commercial on TV, this is another good example of how companies can leverge more effecient print media buys AND get the sight/sound/motion impact of TV.

Personally, I think I might have tried to insert some kind of bounceback like having the video dump the viewer to Facebook or Twitter or Garnier web page. Something that would give that viewer a chance to give Garnier an opportunity to continue engaging that viewer in an ongoing digital conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This next example is pretty interesting because it's not one brand. People created this ad to highlight a number of advertisers.

I love this because it really leverages the power of QR, JagTag or MS Codes -- the ability to put a lot of information in a small area -- the code.

If you scan each code at the bottom of the ad you'll be taken to a different video. The video itself provides some fashion advice and then integrates the brand whose tag you scanned into the video.

My only gripe is I think the videos are too much alike from a content perspective, so after you watch one or two, you kind of lose interest in watching the other two.

Also, the product integration is pretty heavy handed... I wonder how much more powerful the videos could be if the brand was woven into the content storyline vs just bolted on in a "sponsor" type approach.

 

 

 

And lastly we have Starbucks. If you scan the code in this Starbucks ad you'll be taken directly to a mobile friendly sweepstakes sign up page.

Given that American's almost always have their mobile phone in their pocket or within reach, this makes it super easy to register. This makes it much easier to sign up for the sweepstakes versus say a traditional URL that I have to cut out, remember or write down so I can use it the next time I'm near a computer.

My only suggestion or wish for this use of MS Codes would be a more social media friendly registration form. If I have a smart phone and I know what a MS Code is or what to do with it, I'd be willing to bet that person is probably on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. So why not give them an option to give you that information and permission to talk to them in that channel. Again, a chance to continue the conversation.

So that's my round up of MS Codes. What do you think? Do you like JagTag, MS Code or QR Code better? Have you seen other great exampels of this technology in action?

Tweet

And hey, if you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing so you can have posts from this blog sent directly to your eMail in box. And don't worry, I'll never share your email with anyone and I don't send anything but blog posts... because that's not what your here for right?

 

Thirsty Thursday of Knowledge - Real Life QR Code Examples

Tweet

There is a lot of chatter going on right now about QR Codes. If you're not familiar with QR codes, maybe take a minute and watch this quick demo video I put together.

If you're up to date on QR codes, then take a look at a number of ways various advertisers are using them. Note: all QR Codes are LIVE -- so if you have a QR reader on your phone, scan away. Just remember, I'm not responsible for what you find on the other end of the code, ok?

Wanna See My R-Rated Ads?
Fashion houses are always trying to push the envelope in their advertising. Always trying to be hip, cool and sometimes a tad dangerous.

Problem is, the TV censors are getting in the way of all the fun. Enter QR codes -- scan this one, located on a billboard in NYC supporting their Fall 2010 campaign.

Warning - you might want to make sure no one is around. Go ahead.. I won't tell. ;)

 

 

Will I like this wine?
Wine shopping is a tough gig. For most of us, wine is unapproachable and confusing. We might know the basics, but when confronted with a shelf of unfamiliar wine lables, we're left to wonder what we should get based on the drinking occassion or our personal tastes. But smart wineries are starting to use QR Codes to help take away the mystery and bring the sommelier right to the palm of your hand. Check out what Cellar Key offers and below, a video from adegga - a social wine discover site.

Dynamic Wine Labels from andrerib on Vimeo.

 

Mobile Coupon Anyone?

Reach is inserting QR codes into their magazine ads and using them to push mobile coupons. Very interesting but in my opinion they got greedy and that greed will lower the value of the effort. First, they don't push you directly to a coupon, you have to click through from a very nicely done mobile splash site. But then when you do click through to get your coupon, they ask you to register. That's like 3-steps to save $1.00? Bye-bye.

 

Hello Trailer
Fox ran a 9-page ad unit in the Fall Style Issue of US Weekly (my wife had it on the plane so stop typing the Twitter joke please) that was pushing their fall line-up. At the bottom of each ad was a QR Code.

Now I had to wait until the plane landed to play with the code but as suspected, each code took you to a mobile friendly site that granted you access to all kinds of content, storylines and special content that was only available here.

My only suggestion to make this approach stronger would have been to anticipate my REAL desire for scanning the code -- to see a trailer that would give me a better idea of what the show was about. While insider content is a great value to the FAN of the show, a better idea of what the show is like or about is far more valuable for a PROSPECT of the show. Had they linked these codes to sites that had a 3 min trailer front and center I would have said - 100% WIN for Fox. As it is, still darn solid effort IMHO and such a perfect integration of QR codes and mobile.

 

 

So that's my round-up of QR codes in action this week. What did you think? Have you seen any really good applications I missed? Wish I'd add to this line of thought? Let me know. That's what the comment section is for... ok?

Tweet

And hey, if you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing so you can have posts from this blog sent directly to your eMail in box. And don't worry, I'll never share your email with anyone and I don't send anything but blog posts... because that's not what your here for right?

Thirsty Thursday of Knowledge - Selling Social Media Internally

Tweet

I've had a number of conversations over the last week or so with companies big and small that all share a similar problem -- How do I sell my organization on using social media? Maybe the person needs to sell their boss on the idea, the CEO or CMO or on a broader platform -- get the entire organization believing in the power of social media.

I've been taking notes on my conversations and I'm putting together a more complete post for next week, so stay tuned. But in the meantime, here is one tip/tool that I found via the incredibly talented Lisa Petrilli who is using Paper.li to create a daily "newspaper" of the content she thinks her MENGonline group will value.

So what does Paper.li have to do with helping you sell in the idea of using social media to your organization? Simple. It's a great Drip Marketing tool. I'll talk more about Drip Marketing next week. But suffice to say, one of the best ways to sell anyone on anything is to stop selling and just let them make a buying decision on their own. Paper.li gives you the ability to create a daily paper of good social media content (that will help bolster your argument) and have that paper delivered directly to the in-boxes of your key decision makers.

A couple of things I really like about the service:

• It looks like a paper. Sometimes when selling something new, I find it is helpful if there is something recognizable or "known" about the idea/product you're selling. Thus, when trying to convince the 60 year old CEO to monitor mentions of your brand in social media, maybe it would help if what he was reading looked more like what he's used to reading -- a newspaper.
• The ability to have multiple "authors" create the paper. By using a unique hastag, you can curate a list of posts/tweets that all find their way to your personal paper even though the original link/tweet may be shared by anyone who knows of and is actively using the hashtag. For instance, Lisa uses the #MengOnline hashtag to create her paper. I've started one using #IandI (short for Insight & Information) that I'm going to use to create my own curated newspaper. If you like the stuff I share on Twitter, be sure to sign up to get this daily digest -- which will be easier than following all my tweets.
• You can create a paper that follows lists of Twitter folks -- this might be really interesting if you want your bosses to see what the Twitterati of your industry are sharing. I could certainly see this as a way to help make the point that your company isn't in the conversation while the competition is... hmmm getting any ideas yet?

A couple of things I'm not crazy about and hope Paper.li will add very, very soon.

• Once you have a paper set up, I don't see how you can delete or edit the settings. Given that you can only have 10 papers per account, this would seem like a much needed feature.
• You can't print the paper out as a PDF or hard copy. Again, thinking about using this as a tool to help non-social media users and likely techno-challenged individuals "get" the need to use social media, having the ability to create a physical printed piece would be nice. Further, if you've ever used a service like HP's Tabbloid, which lets you convert an RSS feed into a daily magazine/newsletter in PDF format, you know that having a printed copy of your online reading can be helpful. It's far easier to carry around all day and read a post or two when you have a few free minutes. It's also something more "comfortable" for those not accustomed to reading RSS feeds.
• You can't create some kind of "private" tag or multi-author paper. While it is nice to be able to use a custom hashtag, it would be easy for a spammer to jump on that tag and start inserting their crap into your paper.

All in all, I'm very intrigued by this service and look forward to using it for clients and myself personally. Take a peek and let me know what you think? I'd be most interested in hearing your thoughts and maybe your own ideas for how you'd apply the technology.

Tweet

And hey, if you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing so you can have posts from this blog sent directly to your eMail in box. And don't worry, I'll never share your email with anyone and I don't send anything but blog posts... because that's not what your here for right?