< hide

Browsing through Inc. Magazine's website, we stumbled upon an article about the new sector of online business networking. We found it interesting and plan on researching this further. But for now we thought we'd pass on the basic idea of websites like SalesSpider with our readers.

The new and trendy way to communicate nowadays is through social networking mediums, such as Facebook or LinkedIn. Forget face to face interaction, while tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language cannot be portrayed through the simple typing of keys, social networking websites make connecting immediate.

Now there's a website to help start-ups and small businesses spread their message through social media. It's called SalesSpider and it gives businesses the opportunity to share their goals and needs and find customers or connect with other businesses. You can sign up as an individual or a business to promote your business yourself or make sales leads for free.

SalesSpider recognizes that it's important for small businesses to have a steady cash flow, especially in the first couple years, because that's what so often makes or breaks their success. Small businesses often find it difficult to reach buyers in the beginning stages and websites like SalesSpider are now addressing this issue.

There are over 800,000 people (and 200,000 more joining each month) networking on SalesSpider, each taking advantage of its services in different ways. One can browse through other individual business members, view sales leads by industry, look through classifieds, utilize business tools, tips, and resources, post a resume, advertise, or create a forum for their business. Individual and company needs are categorized and contain keywords in order to make connections swift and efficient. CEO of SalesSpider, Russell Rothstein says of SalesSpider, "people will always be doing self promotion - but you're getting information for local opportunities and specifically for you. This isn't just about business networking - it's about sales."

Furthermore, SalesSpider is a great tool for a business to maintain an online presence. The realm of the Internet is very important for all businesses to move into, and online promotion can be the key to generating new customers and buyers. It's no longer enough to advertise through print or even television. Businesses and individuals are turning to the convenience and organization of the Internet to find innovative new businesses. It can be a daunting task to move promote your business online - many don't know where or how to begin approaching the abyss of online advertising. But websites like SalesSpider make spreading your business to the Internet easy.

Of course, CLAi aren't marketing or Internet sales gurus, we just make amazing film and video productions, along with advertising spots, to help your company stand out from the crowd - whatever the media!

May 17, 2011 - "From Broadband to Narrowband"

There's a revolution going on in marketing and advertising and it's called the Internet. The difference between advertising on television versus the Internet is that TV advertising is geared towards a wide audience because you never know whether those who would buy your product or service will happen to be watching. The audience could be the perfect person to buy your product or someone who cares nothing of your company. Television advertising is like a shot in the dark. However, now that internet advertising is gaining ground, the rules have changed. Websites track their customer base and have a very specific profile of who is on their site and what they're looking for. For example, a cat food company advertising on TV will not know for certain if their audience has a cat or not. But online this company will know if people who search for and buy cat food are viewing the website they advertise on. For every dollar you spend advertising online, the chances of hitting your desired customers are much greater.

Inc. Magazine shares 4 tips for addressing your narrow-cast audience:

1. Stay Focused - One of the advantages of online advertising is that you have the ability to know precisely who you are speaking to. So it's wise to take advantage of that knowledge and tell your target audience what they want to hear. Focus on standing out to your narrow audience because if you're not differentiating yourself in the marketplace, what happens is the consumer looks at price as being the motivator.

2. Show Your Expertise - Show your credibility through your advertising techniques. Try not to make broad statements, be specific about your product and show that you're an expert. If you convince your audience that you're an expert, they won't turn to price as the main motivator. People want the best in the business - your job is to show them what they want to see. Sharing "tips, industry information, or niche data" will enhance the public's opinion of your business and product.

3. Do Your Research - Now that your ideal target audience has been narrowed down, you can insert marketing and advertising strategies where it really makes sense. Advertising on websites that have similar interests to yours or already know about your business is a good start. This brings potential customers to your company's website that might not have been able to find it otherwise. This is crucial, because once you find your target you'll want to alter your advertising efforts to go after the right places and media to generate new business.

4. Clarify your Mission - Even seemingly simple tweaks to your business strategy can have big pay offs. Inc. Magazine recommends including the purpose of your business in the name. This offers customers with a little information about your product from the beginning. Small things like this can help you stand out in the market. Make your business mission as clear as possible; people don't like mystery when they're picking a product. Use advertising and marketing techniques to share what's special about your business and stick to your niche. As Inc. shares, "it's not just an advertisement that you do. It actually has to become part of everything you do."

Going from broadband (television) to narrowband (internet) has great advantages but businesses still need to remain focused on their target market. It's truly a different way of communicating because businesses must pick a specific audience and sell, sell, sell to their potential customers. The fact that the internet has increased the transparency of who will see your advertising means that businesses must be more innovative than ever before.

Marketing and advertising have moved from broad overviews of information that target the general public to narrow and detailed segments. Now is the time for your company to utilize this change and implement tools that speak to YOUR audience. And CLAi is here to help you do that.

May 11, 2011 - "Reaching New Audiences Through YouTube"

Advertising and marketing

is a dynamic and ever-changing industry that strives to include new interesting and creative approaches to reaching wider audiences. Although video marketing has been around for some time, sites like

YouTube

and Sclipo are helping video marketing reach new customers. Inc. Magazine explains that "uploading video to websites such as YouTube can be a surprisingly powerful tool for gaining visibility in search engines."

No one expected that when YouTube surfaced in 2005 it would take off the way it has. YouTube is a forum for people to visually share ideas, creativity, and new products through video. It has revolutionized the video marketing industry, as it's provided a free outlet to reach people from all ages, backgrounds, and interests. Inc. Magazine notes "businesses who've tried it report this strategy [of posting online videos] offers huge advantages over simply hosting video within their own website."

Inc. shares 4 helpful tips for businesses that hope to reach wider audiences through video media such as YouTube.

1. Provide quality. Nowadays it seems everyone exists in a realm of information overload and advertisements are so common that we hardly notice them. Make your video original and creative. Spark people's attention; don't simply chant "buy my product." Take advantage of the imagination that can explored through video, capture ideas that a still picture or written advertisement could not.

2. Do not write off the text. Most companies figure the video will speak for itself and don't put much thought or effort into the accompanying text. However this is vital for getting views and "likes" because detailed text descriptions help your video pop up in appropriate search engines - in fact, without any text, a video is not seen at all by any search engine.

3. Promote your video. This seems obvious but it's very important in gaining traffic to your video and therefore your product or company's website. Link your YouTube video to any blogs, social media, or other website because gaining views helps optimize your chances of showing up in search engines. Also embedding a link to the matching video on your product's website can be helpful in driving people to your website.

4. Track your results. This can be done by close monitoring of views and "likes." An easy approach is to add a query string to the URL link from the video to your product's website. This shows the traffic to your video.

Today more and more people are utilizing the internet for marketing and business purposes. While television used to be the most effective means of reaching vast audiences, the internet is now taking its place. As television-based marketing and advertising drops, the public's expectation of internet video is increasing dramatically, especially over the last couple of years. Now customers expect to see the same creativity and high quality in an internet video as they would a television commercial. Gone are the days when the kid in the mailroom could shoot a video on his home camera! You really NEED that quality to remain unique and competitive (okay, yes, like the quality offered here at CLAi. along with our understanding of producing for multiple media).

March 3rd, 2011 - "Balancing a Ballet"

Well, friends and readers (and friends who read), we had a rather busy week last week. At 5pm on the Friday before President's Day we received a call requesting us to organize a four day shoot requiring five RED M-X's scheduled for the coming Wednesday. The job: filming Ballet San Jose's production of Swan Lake. Knowing we would lose the following Monday to the celebration of those venerable Commanders in Chief both past and present, our time frame looked quite narrow. With but a weekend and one weekday to amass an able crew and a sufficient slew of equipment, we'd be shaming Ol' Honest Abe if we said we weren't a bit panicked.

Fortunately for us, past years saw the arrangement of a Red Alliance, a veritable coalition of Bay Area Red Camera owners (check out The-RED-Alliance.com for more information!). It has served us well in the past and this occasion was no exception. Already enlisted by default was our own Red camera system and DIT, David Ives, as well as Chris Layhe as the master camera operator. Stephen Lovett of Uroboros Films and an Alliance co-founder blew in from Sunnyvale fully equipped. Arthur Rosato, another co-founder, joined up to provide his experience and familiarity with the venue, ensuring an accommodating work-space. We enlisted as shooters Art Adams and Caroline Harrison, the latter of which brought along her personal RED. To complete the five, we picked up RED M-X's provided by Purebred Productions and Pedersen Media Group, our thanks to them for accommodating us on such short notice.

As much as this may seem like a giant pat on our own backs, it isn't. Instead it is a written appreciation meant to reflect on how quickly and efficiently a complicated, data and time intensive production was pieced together. Over the course of four nights we shot twenty different angles of a performance and logged over 60 hours of footage. Our workflow was indeed augmented to support the huge amount of data to be copied and backed-up each night. We had four units running all four nights and into each next day in order to do so.

The shoot's timeline, variety and amount of equipment, and able camera people allowed us to capture both normal and overcranked footage from numerous vantage points, lensed from 18mm to 300mm. We were able to achieve the highest in quality of content and came away with enough coverage to create what we are sure will be an all-encompassing viewing experience and a truly professional program.

The whole experience has left us confident in the systems we have created and of what is achievable with just one call, or several in this case. A truly great crew came together in a matter of three days and enough equipment came with them to allow for the successful video documentation of an event. In the end, we at CLAi feel very invigorated and thankful to know who we know, to have gotten the chance to work with them, and to have gained an even more detailed vision of what is possible with the RED Alliance.

January 26, 2011 - "Back To Your Future"

You commission an amazing illustration of your logo with the new HQ building artfully framed in the background, as a four and a half foot by two and a half foot graphics board. You display it in your lobby, take it to presentations, feature it at tradeshows and conventions and even reveal it in the foyer of the art exhibit you are sponsoring. It captures people's attention and draws admiring comments everywhere it is seen.

Now imagine the same image on an ultra-high definition video monitor at all of these places at once, but the amazing graphic dissolves into fabulous HD footage of your new building; clients using your products; the manufacturing plant at super high speed to show a full day's progress on a project in just 15 seconds; shots of your green technologies being installed supporting an interview with the new VP of Environmental Impact... shown on that 60 inch display in the gallery foyer, or a huge video screen built from a group of sixteen smaller monitors as the centerpiece of your tradeshow booth.

At it's most basic this is "digital signage" technology matched to totally appropriate program production. The limitation of this technology has always been the quality of the video image - because even the best quality 1080p footage quickly becomes unviewable when the television screen image is scaled up.

But the whole basis of that equation changed radically with the emergence of two technologies - the RED camera system and 4k video monitors that now go up to 152 inch screens and even add 3D to the mix.

Just to be 100% clear, CLAi do not sell monitors or digital signage... but we most certainly do shoot and edit our productions using the RED 4.5k camera and editing technology - creating programs packed with stunning ultra-sharp images that are physically five times larger than the best 1080p footage, and can be shot in 2D or in 3D with a few more bells and whistles. These incredibly high quality images look amazing even on an HD video screen, but on a 4k video monitor they can be five times bigger than 1080p and still look to be the same quality from the same viewing distance.

Of course, just buying or renting a bunch of 4k ultra high definition screens is pretty pointless if all you are going to show on it is stock footage. That's why bringing in a content production company like CLAi from day one is a really good idea. We work out how to best turn the ideas you want to communicate into a cohesive and dynamic program specifically designed for this medium. Then bring in a signage or staging company to pull the technical pieces together, guaranteeing that you are investing in a spectacular experience that actually does tell your story while stopping an audience in their tracks. The possibilities are almost endless if you are maximizing the raw quality of 4k program production that make all this possible!

Today, a new breed of "interactive video productions" is coming from the use of multiple large video screens, programs with very high creative values, and the experience that only a few companies like CLAi have… of course, add the impact RED 4k video to that mix, along with our expertise with this new technology - well, perhaps that adds yet another dimension?

January 11, 2011 - "New Year, New Tips"

With the new year here, I'm sure everyone has made (and possibly already broken) their new year's resolutions... and at CLAi we are no exception! We figured we'd share our little list with you in the hopes that you may get something out of it (okay, so maybe there are a few tips to a smooth production mixed in along the way!).

4. "Keep better control of the finances."
Nobody likes to settle up on the bill- it's just a fact of life. Whether it's paying the check at a restaurant, paying your credit card bill, or paying your kid's allowance, everyone thinks twice when reaching for the wallet, especially these days. Well, paying your production company is pretty much the same thing. The best plan is to decide on a budget and stick to it. If you say how much you are comfortable spending, any (reasonable) production company should be able to give you a few great options that they can do for you in that ballpark. It's a lot easier than guessing games!

3. "Appreciate the simple things in life."
Wouldn't it be easy to describe a project to one person and just have it happen? If a company is capable of handling multiple steps in the production process, it can save time and resources to let them... less explaining, less hassle, less headaches. Its like a game of telephone - the message can start out simple at one end and end up jibberish by the fourth person who hears it.

2. "Plan for the future."
Always, always, ALWAYS, think about how and where the production will be seen, then work backwards. From determining what format the project needs to end up in you can make so many other decisions, like what system you should use as an editing platform, what to shoot it on, who to use as your crew… the list goes on and on.

1. "Try and lose weight."
Okay, I may be kidding about this one, because feeding your crew is very important to a smooth production, otherwise they tend to be a bit mutinous. Remember, a happy crew means a happy you. Enough said.

January 1, 2011 - "Welcome To Our Blogging World"

Hi, my name is Chris Layhe, and I'm the CL part of CLAi - an idea that started back in London, England when I set up the company to make film and video programs way back in 1981... after finally escaping three universities and two employers to get a chance to go it alone. The 30 years of CLAi have been a thrilling adventure ride and education that never ceases for myself and those I have been lucky enough to have around me. The last five years here in San Francisco have been some of the most rewarding, with the challenges of new projects, new skills and new technologies to meet, combined with ways of working which would have seemed unimaginable back then.

We hope you are enjoying your visit to this reinvention of CLAi's web site, and finding all the information that you require (and please do drop me a note at chris [at] CLAi [dot] tv if there is anything that we should add!). I decided (along with m y two associates Corey Sullivan and David Ives) to add a blog page to the design as a way of bringing a few opinions, an idea or two, and a snippet of information that we think might just be useful to our visitors… and decided to call it "Leftovers" because we thought it would be a good opportunity to post all of those little nuggets that we always say we should tell people but never quite have the space or the forum to get out there.

I'd like to hit with you with the first Leftover piece to get the ball rolling, and hopefully we'll keep it rolling with another couple every weeks or so…one little idea at a time.

< hide