Call it serendipity. That moment when you are working on one project and you discover something huge that applies directly to another part of your business. While working on my third business video, it became immediately clear why most businesses fail within five years: they confuse “intention” with “result”.
Video allows small businesses to directly compete with large businesses. It gives you a chance to reach potential customers anywhere and at any time in the world. Think of your videos as an “international sales team” that works night and day telling people about your business (attribution to John Locke) The key is that you must produce a video that engages, entertains, and enriches your intended audience. Oh, that’s the hard part – YouTube has millions of examples of bad video.
My second video (Never Make This Video Mistake) was an abject failure. My intention was to drive eBook sales (a result, not an intention). Was it professional? Yes. 60 – 90 seconds in length? Yes. Was it fun, engaging, entertaining, and enriching for my intended audience? No! In this case: Failure = producing the video based on my results (eBook sales) rather than the intention to have fun, inform, entertain, and enrich my viewers. With video, two out of three equals “fail”.
I had no clue as to why my video didn’t work until I started reading Steve Stockman’s book: How To Shoot Video That Doesn’t Suck (examples from his website). A business video designed around a desired result has a 99.9% chance for failure. I count myself lucky to have learned this lesson only after producing two business videos and 100+ hours of production!
Stockman explains that a clear “intent” is what guides the making of a successful video (what to shoot, why you are shooting it, what to cut, etc.) whereas “result” is what happens AFTER the video is produced. There are so many possible creative ways to explore a subject that without a specific intent, you have no clear path for making decisions along the way that your viewers will appreciate and rave about!
A business plan helps you identify your intention: whom you will serve, what problem does your product and/service address, and how you will serve them well through your business. Without this clarity, you end up falling prey to making business decisions based on desired results.
Using Stockman’s advice, my third video project starts with a clear intent: Use humor to show how a lack of understanding of golf etiquette produces the same chaos and frustration that a conference call leader faces when conference call etiquette is not established.
If, like me, you didn’t go to film school, and you are thinking about or are producing videos for your business, I highly recommend reading Stockman’s book – even if you’ve hired a professional to produce the video! He’s made the complex simple and gives business people a step-by-step approach to shooting video that will engage and entertain your potential customers.
Now comes the hard part: How will you apply this concept in your business or video?
Please add comments, stories, and video examples so others can benefit.
Byron
PS: Thank you Steve Stockman for writing your book and to my niece Lisa for giving it to me as a Christmas present!
This same message applies to the Tele-Series I will be doing Feb 1. The intention is to engage, entertain and have fun as we explore our gardens, our food and other areas of our life. Now I get to use all the skills I’ve learned in my conference call training. Stockman’s book is on my to read soon list.
Sue:
Good luck with your Tele-Series!
We often hear business people talking about “being of service” to others yet the intention to “engage, entertain, and have fun” seems to be a more robust way of describing “being of service”. Plus, it sounds like a whole lot more fun too!
Byron
Enjoyed this thought provoking article, Byron. The idea of intention as something you aim for seems to produce movement toward a number of ways of realizing the intention; whereas, a desired result is a much more specific. Going for desired results, such as making as much money as possible, may take one away from an intention to provide quality service that customers rave about to their friends.
Gail:
Thanks and it struck me that chasing a result was much like chasing one’s tail – you can always see it and it’s just outside of your grasp! Focus on the intention and the results naturally show up.
Byron