Internet Video Workshop - The Script

When I talk to prospects about creating a video, their first reaction is to take video clips of their new building and interview the owner spewing about how great the company is, and we do this, and we do that, and Yada, Yada, Yada. Your prospects will say ...

SO WHAT!

Your prospect doesnt care about you, all they care about is themselves and their problems. Their attitude will always be ...

WHAT IS IN IT FOR ME?

So change your mind set - try to connect with your prospect.

Frank Kern suggests that you must get into the head of your prospect and create a visual image. He refers to his prospect as BOB. In his market, BOB is slightly overweight, a middle manager with a family, struggling to meet his monthly bills. Bob hates his job. Bob though has an inner core value of wanting to be a drummer in a band. The more that you can visualize what Bob's problems are, the better you can write copy that relates to his problems.

A script is just copy delivered on camera. The fundamental factor to realise however is ...

The PROBLEM is never the PROBLEM.

For example, I had a fax broadcasting business. My sales staff would address concerns over issues of fax broadcasting - lists, artwork, broadcast dates, broadcast demographics, fax transmission costs, etc. These issue are fine for repeat business clients, but my prospect's problems are not one of a fax broadcast nature.

My propsects' problems are to do with marketing, and in fact since the PROBLEM is never the PROBLEM, my prospects' problems are how to increase sales of their products and services to make more money. To service and connect with his prospect, I need to get into the head and the problems of his prospect. Therefore when you create a script, think about your prospects' true problems.

Once you have identified that problem, turn it into a story. Everyone likes a good story. Generating stories takes practice, but is not particularly hard. There are many free resources on the net for copywriting, writers such as Gary Halbert, Jay Abraham, John Carlton, Dan Kennedy and Clayton Makepeice all have material available. These guys grew up in a direct marketing environment. All of them champion the most powerfull message is delivered in the form of a story. A great resource is

http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/

There are over 300 copyrighting tips on this site - all free.

The most successful marketing story of all time is the classic Wall Street Journal Letter. This campaign ran for 28 years.

Words TELL... but Stories SELL!

Now that you have identified your problem and generated the story - it is time to present the solution, YOUR SOLUTION. This solution must be backed with proof that the solution works. Proof is most powerfully delivered in the from of a testimonial.

Video testimonials are increasingly common. They can be recorded at a conference, seminar or workshop and have tremendous value.

You should not be pitching your product at everyone - there are different requirements for the different sectors in your market place. If your script is too generic, you will not connect with anyone. There will be some people that the video is not aimed at. GET OVER IT!

I have a client that sells Underfloor Heating. We created a website that sold the virtues of underfloor heating and shows exactly how much it would cost to install UFH on a variety of different house types. My client came from the retail furniture industry, where price comparisons were expected, and you had to at least be competitive. The PPC campaign worked well, the warehouse was stocked with miles of underfloor heating pipe and the enquiries came in.

One major problem - the enquiries were mostly from people that were building extensions, loft conversions or new builds, that might order in 6,9, or 18 months time when planning permission was granted and building commenced. In the meantime, my client would have gone out of business.

The strategy was changed, and we targeted plumbers that are ready to install now. The message for plumbers is totally different to the end consumer. It is vital to know your marketplace and know that the more narrowly you niche your market, the better chance that you can create a message that will connect with the prospect.

There is an acronym in marketing - AIDA, which has been extended to AIDAA. The acronym stands for:

• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
• Action

The last A in the extended acronym stands for Agitate. Video is great for capturing attention. It is then down to the script to create interest, desire and finally action.

The final point about writing a script is:

People buy Emoitionally - They justify logically

Your script must connect emotionally with your prospect before then can even logically justify a potential purchase.

My mum came home from the sales with 7 pairs of shoes and 4 handbags. She said she had saved a fortune. Because my Mum has long narrow feet, during the sale the shop had put out stock not normally on sale. Emotionally this was to much - and Mum bought, then justified the purchase with logic. How many shoes and bags did she need? None!

In most instances in the first world prospects buy because of want, not need.

Make sure that you bare this in mind.

As an exercise - as you wander around the next 10 websites you visit, count the number of times you see "we" on the home page and compare it with the number of times you see the word "you". Ask yourself are they talking about their products and services or the visitors problems and their solutions?

The next thing to consider is the Action. What do you want the prospect to do? Buy something, click somewhere, opt-in, watch out for further emails ...

When you publish a video to youtube, at least put a website address on the video, then when you chance across creating a viral video you can redirect that website address to a money page.

The most viewed site on youtube at the moment is the evolution of dance and in march 2008 has received 78 million views. Simply adding a URL at the end of the video would generate a massive amount of traffic that companies will pay highly for. When you create a video - you must included a a URL at the end so that when you finally hit a home run, you can capitalise on it.

My name is David Kyte - watch out for the next tutorial, Recording and Editing Audio.