How to create more business buzz

Got your YouTube channel up and running yet?

Maybe you should have. Maybe the rest of us should, too.

Spreading the word through video messaging is not something many small businesses do, which makes the video experience of Evanston-based 4aBetterBusiness Inc. worth noting.

Even though the company has been on YouTube for not much more than a month, "The response has been really satisfying," says business founder and President Paul Vragel. He adds that the videos already have generated "more conversations" about the business and what it does - and has brought three speaking invitations to boot.

Briefly, what 4aBetterBusiness does is build client results through what Vragel identifies as a transformational process that blends the practical knowledge of client employees who actually do the work and the processes they use.

Research indicates that, collectively, we learn differently than we once did. "People have different ways of absorbing material," Vragel says. "Let's recognize that we all have shorter attention spans (and that) written material that takes 45 minutes to read is too long."

Vragel's approach is to build on the fact that much of our learning process is visual. His YouTube videos so far are short; fact based but intended to generate interest; and visually simple - straight on shots of Vragel delivering a well-honed message. Considerable time is spent on planning, and there is a "fairly long list" of potential topics.

"The YouTube process is not too hard to do," Vragel says. "There are alternative video delivery channels, but everyone knows YouTube."

Vragel's message may well fit many businesses' needs, but the point here is that video can be a good selling tool. Although he puts time and effort into 4aBetterBusiness YouTube videos, Vragel's production process is something many smaller businesses could duplicate.

"Video is a more effective way to communicate," Vragel says - although, he cautions, "A selfie in your backyard doesn't fit." (I would note, however, that a backyard selfie might be the perfect setting for a landscape company using video to tout its work.)

What is key to Vragel's approach is his ability to meld lighting, sound, background and how he as spokesperson looks on camera in a carefully structured presentation of both the visual impression he wants to make and the information he seeks to provide.

You likely can do much the same.

Of course, the image you will want to put forth on YouTube requires an awareness of your audience - which is the same awareness you would have for any type of presentation - and, in Vragel's words, "a pretty good camera." (I've used phone cameras for web viewing, but real cameras work better.)

Vragel's videos are aimed at company decision-makers, so what you'll see when you link to his company's YouTube channel is a business presentation. It's also an example of what so-far is an effective marketing-selling effort.

Here's the link to use: http://bit.ly/2Y6wfB5.

© 2019 Kendall Communications Inc. Follow Jim Kendall on LinkedIn and Twitter. Write him at Jim@kendallcom.com. Read Jim's Business Owners' Blog at www.kendallcom.com.