1. Know who your target audience is. “Think how your video can help your end user, the customer,” says John Sarkisian, CEO, SKLZ, a sports training product manufacturer. In SKLZ’s case, its how-to videos, which showcase its sports training products, are geared to customer representatives at sporting goods retailers. That exposure – or brand awareness – led to SKLZ getting increased shelf space at national sporting goods retailers, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, which boosted sales.

2. Script it. “A script for a video is like a blueprint when building a house,” explains Edward Schlesinger, script writer, OnlineVideoScriptwriting.com. “It will let you see what the finished product will look like before you start.” In addition, “changes on paper are much easier and cheaper to do than once production starts.”

3. Have a clear call to action. “What do you want people to do after they’ve watched your video?” asks Schlesinger. No matter how short your video is, “make it clear what you want people to do – pick up the phone, sign up online, walk through your doors. Don’t throw away this opportunity to convert potential customers.” (For a great example of how to get your message – or call to action – across in 1:34, see Dollar Shave Club’s recent viral video, which was viewed over 2 million times in just over 48 hours, and is prominently featured on Dollar Shave Club’s home page.)

4. Shoot in a quiet place. “Always try to shoot in a quiet place away from machines, large crowds and traffic noise,” says Rob Ciampa, vice president of Marketing, Pixability, a video marketing company and the authors of Video Marketing for Dummies. Also keep in mind that “putting the right [or wrong] microphone on your subject can make a big difference.”

5. Light it well. “Make sure you are using all available light sources,” advises Ciampa. Remember that right – or wrong – lighting “will shape the mood of your video.”

6. Choose the right music. “A widely ignored but great way to move the needle for brands through video marketing is to integrate music,” argues Bryan Boettger, Chief Creative Officer, The Buddy Group, a digital engagement agency. Brands “should budget at least 5 percent of their video spend on professional music,” he argues. Though that doesn’t mean you need to feature The Who or One Direction; someone no one’s ever heard of is fine – better even – if it’s the right song to help get your message across. “By choosing the right music, brands have an opportunity to not only… engage consumers, but they also come across surprisingly relevant if they break an artist who has yet to connect with a larger audience.”

7. Less is often more when it comes to effects. “Building a story is the editor’s number one objective,” explains Ciampa. “Stay away from snazzy effects and [focus on delivering] a professional and polished story.”

8. Keep it short. Try to keep your videos to around a minute and a half. Although if it takes 30 seconds or two minutes more to properly demonstrate your product, use the extra time. Just remember that many (if not most) of the people you are trying to reach are at work, and have short attention spans.

9. Use your customers – especially if they are well known and/or social media influencers. Do your customers love your product or service? Ask them to star in a video for you. In order to reach its target demographic, young first-time home buyers, Oak Mortgage Group of Dallas, Texas, shot video testimonials of every loan it closed with clients who fit its target market. Then the mortgage bank inserted the video testimonials in its newsletter and posted them on its Facebook and Twitter pages (with the customers’ permission). Clients loved it and shared the videos – and told their friends about Oak Mortgage Group. Indeed, because of the customer video testimonials, “word of mouth grew and Oak Mortgage Group became a leading mortgage bank in Texas,” says Merrick Pickens, PR & Marketing director, Oak Mortgage Group.

D’Artagnan Foods, an international fine foods purveyor, also has enthusiastic customers, many of whom are well-known celebrity chefs. So in order to help promote D’Artagnan, its owner and founder, Ariane Daguin, a personality and chef herself, enlisted fellow chefs Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert and Marcus Samuelsson (among others) to star in a series of how-to videos with her – showing food lovers how to recreate some of their favorite dishes, using D’Artagnan products. To date, the videos have been very successful, helping to increase brand awareness and sales for the company.

10. Use humor – if or where appropriate. To advertise the fact that its food is fresh, not microwaved, Moe’s Southwest Grill created an entertaining video titled “Microwaves Ruin Everything.” The video reached more than 1.5 million views on YouTube in only a few weeks, going viral faster than anyone anticipated. Soon after the video’s release, sales jumped 8.5 percent. And while Moe’s Southwest Grill cannot directly attribute that increase in sales to the video alone, the company believes it definitely contributed.

11. You don’t need to hire James Cameron to produce (or direct) your video. While it’s a good idea to work with a professional videographer or video production agency that knows what they’re doing, if you don’t have someone on staff, don’t go overboard. “Too many organizations feel compelled to produce Hollywood-grade corporate videos,” says Ciampa. “Unless you’re a luxury brand, most prospects not only don’t care,” they may be turned off by over-produced, overly slick videos. “Focus on great content and clear presentation while ensuring the proper lighting, audio and camera techniques. With this approach, you’ll be able shoot more video much more economically,” he says.

12. Include a video sitemap on your website. “Ensure videos are indexed by Google by submitting a video sitemap,” says Melody King, vice president of marketing for Treepodia, a provider of e-commerce video solutions. (Instructions for how to do this are available on Google’s Webmaster Tools’ page.)

For more information about video making and marketing, read my article, “How to Make Video Marketing Work for Your Business.”

To find out how specifically Pinterest can help small businesses (and really visual businesses of any size), I interviewed dozens of Pinterest pros. Following are their top 12 tips for using Pinterest for business.

1. Get invited — either by asking someone you know who is on Pinterest to invite you or by requesting an invitation to join Pinterest directly from the site.

2. Get pinned — by adding “Pin It” and “Follow Me on Pinterest” buttons (available via the Pinterest Goodies page) to your product pages.

3. Create pin boards that are geared to your customers — that speak to their lifestyle and interests, not just your products.

4. Categorize your boards — using titles that are easy to find. For example, if you sell items for brides-to-be, make sure you have a board titled Weddings, or something similar.

5. Tell a story — make sure each board has a unique theme.

6. Create content just for Pinterest — instead of adding images you already posted on Facebook.

7. Make sure the images you post are “Pinteresting” — meaning well photographed and visually appealing. Poorly lit or uninteresting images don’t get “like”s and repinned.

8. Include a URL and a description with each pin — and don’t be afraid to list the price. Make it as easy as possible for people who like your product to buy it.

9. Follow others — and “like” and repin those images that fit in with your brand or image.

10. Invite your coworkers, friends, and family to Pinterest — and encourage them to repin and “like” your pins.

11. Time your pins for when your customers will be on Pinterest — just after the kids go off to school, lunchtime, just before work ends, and before bedtime are typically peak times for Pinterest’s mostly female audience. Though if you have customers in multiple time zones, timing can be tricky. So experiment and see which times yield the most repins and likes.

12. Find out who’s pinning your products (or images) — by typing “http://pinterest.com/source/WEBSITEURL” (inserting the URL of your website instead of “WEBSITEURL”).

For additional information on how to use Pinterest for business, read my article, “14 Tips for How to use Pinterest for Business.”

Have a Pinterest tip I didn’t include here? Please leave it as a Comment.

Happy pinning!

On a related note, are you more likely to buy a product or service if you like the video?

Let’s take, for example, this brilliant YouTube video for Dollar Shave Club:

I love this video ad — and it did make me go to DollarShaveClub.com, which has a very attractive, easy-to-use e-commerce site. Another big plus. So, will I subscribe? Would you, based on the YouTube video?

Let me know what you think about the Dollar Shave Club video, and if it caused you to subscribe — and your thoughts on whether a great video can generate great sales numbers. I am particularly interested to hear from business owners as I’m planning on writing a feature article on this topic and could use sources.

Following are nine ways Google+ can help your small business.

1. Improves your search engine ranking.

2. A plus for collaboration.

3. Video chat with customers, colleagues and media — for free.

4. Get your message to the right audience with just a click.

5. Free focus groups.

6. Good for B2B marketing.

7. A potentially powerful PR tool.

8. Can help promote brand awareness.

9. Another way to advertise promotions.

For more details on the above, as well as additional information about Google+ for business, read my article, “9 Ways Google+ Can Help Your Business.”

1. It helps if you are famous or well-known outside of Facebook or Twitter. The reason celebrities, athletes, successful entrepreneurs/business owners and venture capitalists have so many Facebook and Twitter followers? It’s not because they’re Facebook posts or tweets are so brilliant or informative. It’s because the people whose names are on the Facebook and/or Twitter account are famous, and people (both famous and not famous) love to attach themselves to famous people. So unless you are a star in your industry, don’t expect people to follow you as if you were one, even if your Facebook posts and/or tweets are stellar.

2. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Not famous or well-known outside your family and circle of friends? If you have a famous or well-connected friend or family member — people Malcom Gladwell referred to as Connectors (well-connected people) and Salesmen (people who are good at influencing buying decisions and opinions) in his book The Tipping Point — that’s almost as good. Just make sure these Connectors and/or Salesmen (or Saleswomen) believe in your brand and are comfortable posting about your products or service on Facebook and Twitter. You don’t want them sounding like paid endorsers.

3. It’s not quantity but quality, though quantity doesn’t hurt. Let’s face it, we’re all impressed (at least most of us) when we see someone with lots of Facebook and/or Twitter followers. But as many small business owners (larger ones too) will tell you, it’s not the number of people following you, it’s the quality. That is, it’s better to have 500 Twitter followers who believe in your brand, have lots of connections, and retweet posts they like than 10,000 followers who each average 100 connections, never retweet, and are unlikely to buy from you. So instead of focusing on the number of Facebook and Twitter followers you have or would like to have, focus on getting the kind of Facebook and Twitter followers you’d like to have, by following them and thoughtfully commenting on their posts.

4. Delegating only goes so far. While it’s perfectly okay to hire someone to regularly update your Facebook page and post on Twitter, especially if they love your business or products or service, you should be monitoring what is being said about your business on social media — and making sure whomever is managing your social media presence is doing a good job and accurately portraying your business. Also, try to post yourself, as much as possible. People like hearing from the boss.

5. It’s not what’s in it for you; it’s what’s in it for them (i.e., your customers). Instead of telling customers how great your business or your products are, provide information that will peak their interest — make them think or laugh or reply (to a question). For example, if you own a bakery, maybe ask “Which pie should we feature this Friday: Key lime, Boston cream, or cherry? The pie with the most votes wins!” And be sure to let people know which pie was chosen. Similarly, if you are on Foursquare, think about offering people who voted for the winning pie a free or discounted slice. Another good social media tactic: offer Facebook or Twitter-only discount codes or promotions.

6. Be prepared for a lot of criticism and vitriol. When you use Facebook and Twitter for business, be prepared to hear a lot of negative things — and have a strategy for dealing with complaints. Facebook and Twitter can be wonderful customer relationship management (CRM) tools, but you have to know how to use them — and not ignore or rebuke those customers with negative things to say. Instead, turn negative comments or complaints into opportunities, using Facebook and Twitter to find out what’s wrong and make it right.

Have additional tips for how small business owners can successfully use social media? Please leave a comment.

[To learn more about each marketing tool, read my latest article, "Small Business Holiday Wish List: 11 Marketing Tools and Services" on SmallBusinessComputing.com.]

• An SEO strategy
• A video camera — with a good light sensor and microphone
• A YouTube channel — dedicated to your business
• A mobile website
• A business Facebook page
• A Google Places page
• A LinkedIn profile and company page (especially for B2Bs)
• A wiki for online collaboration
• A business blog
• A free app
• Online scheduling software (such as Schedulicity or Appointment Plus)

Have another must-have marketing tool for small business owners that you’d like to recommend? Please leave a comment.

Wishing everyone a prosperous New Year!

For many aspiring entrepreneurs, who thought running their own business would be fun, having to manage a budget often comes as a rude awakening. But balancing books and making ends meet are two very real concerns that every small business owner needs to contend with — and many simply fold under the pressure. Many see a budget as a fixed target that needs to be met no matter what. From this misconception stems many problems that small business owners face: from a lack of funding, to getting too hung up on unnecessary spending, or simply going overboard with the expenses. But with some careful planning and help, managing a budget can be quite… manageable.

Following are 10 tips on how to rein in your cash and stay within budget.

• Don’t think of a budget as set in stone. In its essence, a budget is simply a way for you to keep track of how you’re spending money. It’s unthinkable to let a huge order pass you by just because you have limited capacity and expansion is not permitted by this year’s budget. You can’t plan for events like these and an inflexible budget can cripple your decision-making process. There is a fine line that separates a spending restraint from a business constraint. A budget is supposed to be the former and never the latter.
• Don’t let last year’s figures be your sole guide. A better guide for drafting a budget would be your business plan. Your short- and long-term goals should dictate the funds that you will need. Your budget should yield to your goals and not the other way around. The opportunities that open up to you now are never the same as last year. So why allot for the same potential expenses?
• Be transparent, especially with budget cuts. Nothing saps employee morale more than finding out that your funding is going to be less next year. If times are tough and you can’t avoid making cuts, at least keep everybody informed. Make it clear to everyone involved why the cut was necessary and where the money will be diverted. If the reason is acceptable, and if it’s for the greater good of the company, most employees will accept it.
• Get input from others. It’s not a good idea for a single person to set a company’s budget alone. Gather representatives from every division and let them plead their cases. This way, you draft the budget utilizing different perspectives. Even if you only have a handful of employees, a budget meeting is always in order. Also, don’t be afraid to consult with other small business owners in your industry who have been in business longer than you have.
• Get everybody on the same page. How can your cost-cutting methods work when nobody’s doing them? Plans to cut utilities spending, for example, have to be made clear to everybody. You have explain why turning the air conditioning off a lot earlier or keeping the thermostat at a certain level is necessary. Small sacrifices to get through tough times are made clearer when employees are made to see the greater scheme of things.
• Be familiar with your lifelines and know when to use them. A businessman can never fully get away from debt. But in the world of business, debt is not always a bad thing. Take your credit card, for example. Though always keep an eye on interest rates — and find a card with a low one. Even the most careful planning can sometimes go awry and some financial obligations can creep up on you. By having a few contingencies on hand, you can preserve the working relationships you built with suppliers and avert potential crises.
• Know when to outsource. Many support services are better off outsourced. Even big companies have foregone maintaining a dedicated courier and messenger division in favor of just getting logistics services from UPS or FedEx. The reasoning behind such decisions is that you will never match the efficiency and level of expertise of companies dedicated to specific services. Also, you waste limited resources when you insist on doing something that doesn’t contribute to the bottom line in-house. You save – and make – more money when you get support services out of the way and concentrate on your core business.
• Keep in mind that a budget is also flexible with regards to time. You can stretch out limited funds by getting into a credit agreement with your suppliers. This allows you to take in goods and materials and start profiting from them even without cash on hand. A budget will serve as your guide so that you can time cash coming in with debts that are getting close to their due dates. The ability to juggle funds is a requirement for all successful businessmen. Budgeting allows you to perfect this skill and use it to your advantage.
• Make your spending leaner and more streamlined with the help of last year’s budget. Through hindsight, you can prune unnecessary expenses or those that turned out to be duds.
• Keep business expenses and household expenses separate. You may want to pump money into your business for expansion, but the mortgage is calling for your attention. Nobody said that you have to spend your own money. The U.S. Small Business Administration acknowledges the economic contribution of the more than five million firms that employ less than 20 people. The government offers many loans with different terms suited to every need. Learn what applies to you and get some help in expanding your budget.

Budgeting is a necessary business exercise. Trying to get around it will only net you hardships and more confusion. Instead of avoiding the issue, gain some experience and have your budget work for you. Learn from your mistakes and adjust accordingly. Before you know it, you already have complete control over your expenses. All it takes is a little practice.

Ashyia Hill helps small business owners find the best business credit cards at CreditDonkey, a comparison website.

1. Invest in Google AdWords
2. Try Facebook Ads
3. Look into StumbleUpon Paid Discovery
4. Publish articles online
5. Donate products or volunteer services to a worthy cause
6. Cultivate bloggers
7. Claim local listings on Google Places, Yahoo Local and Bing Local
8. Use community sites and local directories
9. Link up with LinkedIn Ads
10. Distribute flyers

For additional, detailed information about each SMB advertising tip, read my article for Small Business Computing titled “10 Inexpensive Ways to Advertise Your Small Business.”

Have an additional advertising tip you’d like to share with small business owners? Please leave a comment.

So how does a small retail or service business decide which web-to-local service can best serve their business needs and deliver the right kind of customers, the kind who actually buy stuff and tells their friends about you? First you need to formulate a web-to-local strategy.

Start by asking yourself the following questions:

• Is my main goal to acquire new customers or to retain existing customers? (Ideally, you want to do both, but which is more important right now?)
• Who is my target customer — and which sites or services do they use?
• What’s the cost (both from a time and money perspective)? Do I have to spend a lot of time on this? Is it a laborious process?
• What are the benefits of using a particular service? Will using it put me in front of 100, 1,000, or tens of thousands of nearby, potential customers? And are these customers going to be one-time bargain hunters or the kind of people who will become loyal brand advocates?

Next, ask fellow small business owners which web-to-local services and/or tools they have had the most success with.

Then do some research — including reading my latest article, “3 Online Tools to Drive Traffic to Your Local Business.”

Finally, try a few no- or low-cost web-to-local services, such as foursquare, Milo, and Yelp, out for yourself.

“Probably the best way to look at it is as a simple cost-benefit analysis,” said Jack Abraham, the founder of Milo and director of Local for eBay.

And remember, the best way to attract customers is to have a multi-pronged online marketing strategy, which means having an attractive, user-friendly, search-engine-optimized (SEO) website with great content; being active on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter; and using tools such as foursquare, Milo, and Yelp.