Marketing for Solopreneurs

Look What YouTube Started: Shine in Your Own Online Video

First it was the boring “About Us” website page—all text and no personality. Then some of us, kicking and screaming, were dragged into the still photo stage. The advice: Smile, but don’t look too goofy. Be yourself. Above all, don’t look frozen.

It can be difficult—and a little scary— showing out real selves to our customers. What if they don’t like me? What if they don’t even see the real me? (Does anyone really think that their photo looks like them?)

And just when we think we’ve figured out the photo thing (be friendly, think about what you most love about your job when the camera clicks, look the lens straight in the eye, now don’t forget to be authentic), along comes the newest form of connecting with your customers: the online video.

A friend of mine, Pamela Ziemann, has written an article that helped me understand what a good video needs to do. Pamela, an incredibly talented presentation skills trainer and coach, thinks it’s key in a video to show three traits: your authenticity (there’s that “real you” thing again!), your expertise and your passion.

How to make a video that will make your listener stand up and take notice? Pamela’s advice:

1. Organize and get crystal clear with your message. If you have three points to share, tell them. The more organized and focused you are, the easier it will be for them to connect with your message.
2. Use short sentences. Each sentence should be able to be said in one breath. Think of each sentence as a complete thought and avoid pesky filler words like “um” and “ya know.”
3. When you say your name, make the pitch go down at the end. If it goes up at the end, it sounds like a question and makes the listener wonder if you know who you are.
4. Avoid distracting gestures. Maintain eye contact and keep your feet on the floor, even if your viewer will only see your face. Make your facial expressions show your passion about what you do, rather than making distracting, repetitive gestures with your hands.
5. Use descriptive words. Give your listeners sensual stimulation by using strong verbs and adjectives. It makes your story so much more interesting.
6. Wear solid colors. Cameras don’t respond well to small patterns or vivid colors. Try dark blue or one of the pastels.
7. Before you go on camera, warm up with deep breathing exercises. Shake your body and let it move however it wants to. Think about the passion you have for your product or service, why you started your business in the first place. Speak from the core of your values and don’t be shy about it.

I am preparing to make my first online video and Pamela’s tips were perfectly timed. Hope you can use them, too.

Face Up: Is Your Photo On Your Website?

Judy and I are members of a cool business networking community called Biznik.com. Recently on one of the forums, someone asked: “Should you put your photo on your website?”

How did people weigh in? The original poster said she always looks for a photo on someone’s website and doesn’t like it when she can’t find one. She compared it to starting a book and turning to the back inside cover first to look at the author’s picture. She just needs to see the person.

Another poster felt that photos can build credibility. But she also said that someone she met who sold information products online tested with and without a photo and actually sold more without his photo. Assuming the reason wasn’t that he’s incredibly ugly, I’m curious about those results. Are there certain businesses, services, products, where it’s best to go “photo-less?”

Most biznik posters felt it was a good thing to have your photo on your website. I feel, especially for the solopreneur, it can help in your branding, particularly if you have a service-focused business. But if you are selling a product, marketing the solution to your customer’s problem that your product will provide is probably more important than your personal branding. In short, focus on what you are selling —yourself or a product.

We have chosen to put photos on our blog and websites. Why? The Internet is impersonal and there are so many sites out there offering so many services that sometimes it just helps your customers get a better feel for who you are. It makes you more human. When I visit a site, I ask myself: Does this website show me friendly, approachable, solution-focused professionals, or is it a group of strange dudes in the corner of their basement trying to sell me the world?

At MarketingYourSmallBiz.com, our faces are a key part of our personal branding. Our local clients know us as well, if not better, by our photos as they do by our business name. And hopefully you, our online customers and future customers, know us a little better, too.