December 2011

Dec

10

Coverage is King: Shoot Video at Your Fundraisers to Raise More Money (video)

Marketing Articles Posted by Phoebe Chongchua / 1 comments

So you’ve likely heard the saying “content is king”. Well, so is “coverage”. At Live Fit Films, we often cover red carpet events, gala dinners, and celebrity golf tournaments/fundraisers.

It’s important for non-profits to understand that in today’s world, coverage is king. That means that if you’re going to the trouble and expense of hosting an event, you should make sure you have quality coverage. The photos were taken at Forman’s Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament. Live Fit Films set up a booth at one of the holes and filmed golfers and celebrities as they played our Breast Cancer Trivial Pursuit game while on the court. This creates fantastic video to help promote and attract people to the next event.

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Bringing a TV reporter and crew out to your event offers that quality coverage. It’s like hiring a professional MC to host the event…sure it’s extra money but the end result is a quality video that allows your organization the opportunity to share your message with the world in a highly credible and newsworthy style.

Once you have videos you can use them in many ways: on your website, create a YouTube channel, send out links in email blasts, in newsletters, in video press releases, on FaceBook, on TV, and many other ways. There are also many different styles of covering your event. Watch the videos in this post to see a few options or view our portfolio of videos.

You can also join online fundraising organizations like Razzo. The organization’s mission is, “To better the entire cause marketplace by elevating social fundraising practices, and strengthening relationships between nonprofits, donors and fundraisers. Inspiring Generosity covers social fundraising trends, news, and case studies; democratizes traditional development best practices; and provides other relevant information.”

As a video journalist who has worked with hundreds of non-profits, I’ve been impressed with their mission and effort. Social media is key to building greater awareness and communicating your message. Razzo touts that it has raised more than $73,000,000 for worthy causes.

Make sure you’re video documenting your next fundraising event and most important putting the video story together in a compelling way that will allow your organization to share your message with the world and potential donors.

Dec

09

How to Shoot Good Video, Even With A SmartPhone (video)

LFF Fit Tips Videos Posted by Phoebe Chongchua / 0 comments

These days practically everyone is armed with some sort of device to capture video. It might be their cell phone, a flip camera, or even a real video camera. However that doesn’t mean that what is being produced by these devices is good video. Obviously, the story is what makes a video but if you have poor equipment or you use it improperly that can ruin your video.

Now, there’s two schools of thought here: I come from the TV news business where getting a story first on the air is typically the most important thing. However, in marketing and, likely with your business, there isn’t quite that mad rush. So, you can plan and produce something meaningful that will help consumers understand your products and services and ultimately lead them to become customers.

So, if you’re not hiring a professional video storytelling company like ours…here’s tip number one for the do-it-yourselfers…if you’re shooting video with a smartphone hold the camera horizontally. It looks so much better. Watch the video below to see what I mean. That video was shot exclusively with my iPhone because that was all I had on me at the time. I was out on a hike when I stumbled across the Komen 3-Day Race For a Cure story and I didn’t want to miss it.

Tip number two…if you don’t have a professional external microphone to attach to your camera…position yourself close to the interviewee. You’ll see in this story, I didn’t have an external mic and I had to deal with some wind noise…plus for the documentary-style shooting, I wanted movement…so in some cases, I hiked along with the walkers. The video, of course, is not as steady but you have a feeling of really being there and for this type of story it worked. What I did for audio was try to get as close to them as possible and to pay attention to where my microphone is located on my iPhone. Then you can also do some post audio work in FCP. It’s not as good as a professional mic, but for this type of story and the spontaneity of it…it worked.

Tip number three don’t pan. Hold your smartphone in place and don’t pan, IOWs, let the scene unfold in front of you. Most people tend to move the camera too quickly when they’re trying to pan and you end up with shaky and blurred video.

Tip number four. Keep your arms tucked in at your sides, breathe slowly or some cases take in a breath…hold it, get your shot and release your breath. This will help you get stable shots without a tripod. You can also lean against something but still keep your arms tucked in.

Tip number five. Shoot a scene for at least 10 seconds. In other words, stay on the subject even if it’s just crashing waves for no less than 10 seconds. Make sure you have a steady shot. When editing your video these 10-second shots will come in handy.

And, finally, have fun, pick up a camera and start shooting. I’m Phoebe Chongchua with LFF…we’ll see you on the air!

Dec

08

How to Do an On-Camera Read Without a Teleprompter (video)

LFF Fit Tips Videos Posted by Phoebe Chongchua / 0 comments

We’re going back in time to the old days in this video tip to show you a simple technique that you can do on your own for an on-camera read that will look like you’re simply talking to the viewers. Watch the video tip to learn how.

Dec

01

Get Media Coverage For Your Company

Marketing Articles Posted by Phoebe Chongchua / 0 comments

I have been a journalist for 20+ years. I have found that every good business has a story, but not every entrepreneur behind that good business knows how to sell that story to the media. Consequently, some businesses never get media attention while others seem to be favorite resources.

While blogging, creating YouTube videos, your own Internet radio show, video podcast, and RSS feeds are great ways to gain exposure, being quoted in a traditional news source adds credibility. Becoming the “go-to expert” on a media list can equate to powerful exposure.

Utilizing the media to grow your business is nothing new. All businesses can benefit from the exposure and attention and the media daily turns to companies and entrepreneurs for expert advice.