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Today’s question comes from Darlene Moore.  Darlene’s a CPA out of Fresno, California.  She owns a number of my products, and she asks:

“Craig, I have been getting a LOT of videos lately, which I HATE, as I have no time to watch them.  These videos are not just from you.  And I do watch your videos because you give good content, but I prefer your book to the videos.  Written copy I can skim & read only the parts I want to, skip ahead, go back, whatever.

My question:  am I unusual?  Is video the next big marketing thing, along with social media?  Do I need to get on board with this trend?  And, yes, I am older, but not old.  I do not have an account at Facebook, Linked In, Twitter or whatever else is out there.”

To video or not to video… that is the question.

Let’s look at this from both sides, because I’m not sure there is ‘one’ answer here.  I think the best answer is that you need to be balanced with this.

And there are really TWO issues to consider here: One, selling… and 2, Communication.

Let’s talk ‘selling,’ first.

Before the internet, in terms of “ease of selling by media,” it looked like this:

1. In person

2. Television

4.  Teleseminar

5.  Radio

6. In print (direct mail, space advertising – with offline two-step lead generation (free reports) being the easiest way of selling)

And just so we’re on the same page, this means it was easiest to sell in person, then by television, then teleseminar, and so on.

See, the more senses your buyer gets to engage in your presentation, the stronger sense of confidence and trust they can have in what you’re offering.  It’s all about making it easy for your prospects to buy — removing any obstacles they can come up with to ignore your offer.

And so now, what the internet has done, is it allows some more categories to be inserted, like this:

1. In person

2. Television or Online using video

4.  Teleseminar

5.  Online on a web page

6.  Radio

7. In print

8.  On a web page or online using video

Confusing?

Yes, it is.  And here’s why: see, the internet is creating dramatic social and commercial changes.

On the one hand, it’s now become a standard selling medium.  But on the other hand, because the barrier to entry is so low — meaning ANYONE can say or do virtually anything online, because it takes no effort — there’s a lot of distrust and suspicion about what goes on, online.

And so video becomes a good media online, because it engages more senses — as long as you’re doing other things to remove the skepticism that comes along with communicating online.

Things like (I go into this in DEPTH in my book):

* Delivering GREAT content – this gives you the positioning and credibility you are after

*  Consistent communication – consistency and discipline are the hallmarks of integrity, by the way

*  Being compelling – being boring is the kiss of death, regardless of what you’re selling over any media

*  Being more than one-dimensional – you’ve gotta let people know more about you than “I sell widgets and I’m a great widget seller.”

Make sense?

Good, because if you’re doing all these things, video and most other medium’s are going to work great for you.

The other issue, “communication,” works like this:  There are three primary ways people communicate (See Chapter 9, ‘The Best Way To Communicate And Sell’ in “How To Make Maximum Money With Minimum Customers” for more info on this.)

Some folks are visuals, and understand best when they are seeing things… others are auditories and like to hear things… and some folks are called kinesthetics.  This means they go by ‘gut feel’ or instinct.  These people need to ‘feel’ and be highly stimulated from an emotional standpoint, in order for them to react and make decisions.

The best selling, of course, is able to leverage all three types of primary communication, and for many people, using a combination of media is the best way of ensuring they can do this.  It all comes down to pushing your prospects emotional buy-buttons.  If you can do this, you can sell anything.

As to Darlene’s personal situation, seeing an accountant on video — as long as she is on point with all the other comments and strategies in this message — would be nothing shy of a home run for her, since it’s against conventional wisdom when it comes to accountants and their marketing.

Oh, and don’t listen to all the guru-hype about how video or this or that or whatever media is the ‘be all – end all’ of selling.  Most people find it easier to make videos instead of writing copy, so they use videos or whatever else they use, and then they tell you if you’re not using videos you’re going to be screwed.

Look, the truth is, if all you have is a hammer, then everything you encounter is going to get treated like a nail.  Being balanced is the best thing you can do for yourself whether it comes to marketing… your health… or life in general.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.  “Hey Craig, I think the world of your newsletters and I got your book a few weeks back and can barely sit down long enough to read more than a page since I always end up needing to jump up and shout out “Yes!” or to leap off and put a new idea into action.  And you’re certainly welcome to quote me.  All the best,
Stephen Byrne – Ludlow, UK , Williams & Byrne – Designers, Painters and Restorers of Glass!”

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