All Entries in the "Startups" Category
If Content Is King – Video Is The Emperor
Let’s face it – we’re obsessed with consuming video content. We’re all guilty of it – perusing YouTube, watching recommended video after recommended video, or watching one too many Facebook Tasty videos. The number of Snapchat users now exceeds Twitter users. We all love video, so why are so many small business owners still hesitant to invest in video marketing?
As we mentioned in last week’s blog, if content is king, video content is the king’s king! Video marketing is no longer up and coming – it’s a proven successful strategic marketing tactic, and it looks to be here to stay. But don’t just take our word for it. This infographicboasts a lot of impressive statistics about video marketing (who doesn’t love infographics?). For example, YouTube reports video consumption has risen 100% each year. Additionally, after watching a video, 64% of users are more likely to purchase a product online.
Video is human, which is inherently more engaging. Just think about it – video opens up a world of creative opportunities to tell a story, demonstrate your product, or promote your brand. The brain processes visual stimuli 60,000 times faster than words alone, because video appeals to the senses. Video also has the capability to encourage user-generated content and create positive buzz; when a video captivates us, we share it with our network. And we all know what higher engagement means – better ranking in search engine results.
We hear your excuses – “but video content doesn’t belong in my industry.” In the real estate industry? A 2012 National Association of Realtors study found that 85 percent of buyers and sellers “prefer to work with an agent who uses video marketing,” and that was 4 years ago! Since then, consumption of video content has only become more prevalent.Video marketing has a place in every industry –B2B (use video to explain your product or service offerings), education & learning (animation videos are really engaging to explain a topic), healthcare (video can be a great vessel to simply sensitive topics),technology (to show audiences what your technology is capable of), and so on!
A few video marketing best practices:
- As with everything, know your audience and their consumption habits. Of course, that’s always key, and it goes back to our previous blog: are you where your audience is?
- Get creative, and invest in high-quality. We all love video content, but most consumers have a keen ability to pick up on quality, original content. Be unique, and invest in professional video.
- For Facebook videos, people love the dialogue to be in subtitles. This is for so many of consumers who watch Facebook videos at work, or keep their phone volume on silent.
- Don’t lose sight of your brand story. It’s easy to get caught up in all the creative aspects of creating a video, but make sure to keep in mind everything your brand is about.
- Keep it short. Our attention spans have decreased from 12 to 8 seconds in the last 15 years – so the shorter the better. As a general rule of thumb, keep your video under 90 seconds.
- Video marketing is not a comprehensive digital marketing strategy – it should be used as a part of a larger, strategic marketing plan.
The Weekly BUZZ…
The Hive RI’s Thursday Lunch & Learn:
Join us this Thursday, noon-1:00, to learn ‘Six Steps To Getting Over The Revenue Rollercoaster with Dawn Quesnel’.
If you are a business development professional, a creative entrepreneur, small business owner, or solo-preneur and you feel like you rarely have much of a balance in your work/life, this lunch and learn is for you. Some months your revenue is up, and some months it’s down. You want more consistency from your business and you are tired of riding the revenue roller coaster. In this workshop you will learn exactly what you need to do AND how much time you need to be spending on it each week.
- This method is proven to help you fill the pipeline 50% faster
- Learn strategies to help you work on your highest dollar per hour value task.
- Key insights for developing systems to keep your sales pipeline going while you sleep.
Food Trucks
Food Truck Thursdays are still in the works but a little bumpy for the next couple of weeks! Elwood’s Dog House will be back again this week & I heard the cheeseburgers with bacon were AWESOME. We have to wait until September 15th but we’re excited to announce Open Season Food Truck will be starting then! Stop by the Mill at Lafayette for lunch! *They’ll be parked around back!
Blog
Have you checked out our blogs? We have thewww.millatlafayette.com website chock full of information (including our blogs) in case you’re in the mood to peruse!
Exercise at the Mill?
Check out our Fb page for Pause at the Mill and please feel free to share. We have classes listed as ‘events’ – take a 1/2 hour or more to just ‘pause’ and recharge your battery…*New Schedule here!
Community
Join our Mill at Lafayette community…we are offering a really great special – sign a lease by 9/1 and get your first month’s rent FREE! Reach out to: tuni@trsstrategies.com or call Mike at 401-255-7413. Here’s a list of available spaces open within the mill. There’s a video on this page that shows the 3rd floor that is now ready!
Flex Office
Calling professionals (who only need an office one or two days per week)…we have one furnished flex office available starting 9/1 for $175 per month for 1-2 days per week. If you’re interested please let us know soon. We’re going to cap this shared office at 3 – email: tuni@trsstrategies.com.
Coworking Deal
And…don’t forget we continue to offer our awesome deal at The Hive RI – $100 monthly memberships for our coworking space – total access Monday thru Friday 9:00-5:00 & so much more!
Social Media
Don’t forget to ‘like’ us on Fb – we share information there on a daily basis!
Art
Did you know we’re an Art Gallery? Stop by to see Cindy Wilson Photography (our photographer in residence here at the Mill) a permanent rotating show here at The Hive RI. She is such a busy lady with shows throughout the region on a regular basis, teaching photography to individuals and classes, and traveling the world with her Profundo Journeysgroups but somehow she manages to keep our walls filled with beautiful works of art.
We recommend self guided tours anytime during regular coworking hours (Monday-Friday 9:00-5:00) and if you are interested in purchasing any artwork within our gallery – please email tuni@trsstrategies.com.
2016 Tech10 Awards: Call for Nominations, Applications
PROVIDENCE, RI – Tech Collective, Rhode Island’s industry association for information technology and bioscience, in partnership with Rhode Island Monthly, announced today it is accepting nominations and applications for its newly expanded 2016 Tech10 Awards program. This is the program’s sixth year and the second year it will be run in partnership with Rhode Island Monthly. Established in 2010, Tech10 is an opportunity for Rhode Island’s business and technology community to nominate its exceptional champions, employees, colleagues, clients, and partners.
This year’s Tech10 will not only recognize Rhode Island’s best and brightest entrepreneurs and IT practitioners, it will also showcase the amazing individuals and organizations driving innovation, education, and growth across the state’s technology ecosystem at large. This year’s program will allow applicants to apply in multiple categories; and multiple winners per category.
Tech10 Categories:
- Entrepreneurship / Startups
- Techies to Watch
- CIO’s / CTO’s
- Corporate Giving
- Community Partner
- Industry Networking/Education Group
- Youth Engagement
- Tech Education
- Workforce Champion
- Women in Tech
Individuals can apply for the awards themselves or submit nominations or applications for colleagues, employees, clients, partners, etc. at www.tech10awards.com. The deadline for all nominations and applications is Monday, August 15th. The 2016 Tech10 Award recipients will be selected by a judging committee of industry professionals. They will be showcased in the November issue of Rhode Island Monthly magazine and honored at an awards celebration to be held on Thursday, November 10th, 2016.
“As an evolving media world embraces convergence and multi-platform providers of information, we are keenly aware of the role technology will play not only in our business but in the lives of all Rhode Islanders”, according to Rhode Island Monthly publisher John Palumbo. “As a media entity that provides an ongoing view of life in Rhode Island for the past twenty-eight years, this partnership is fitting to bring much needed exposure to the professionals who are involved in so many levels of technology development.”
“We are excited to be partnering with Rhode Island Monthly in announcing the sixth year of the Tech 10 awards,” said Tom Falcone, Executive Director of Tech Collective. Over the past 5 years, Tech10 has served as a recognition opportunity for individuals who exhibit not just technical expertise, but who are also contributing to growing and mentoring the tech community in Rhode Island. The 2016 Tech10 Award program will expand our recognition of individuals for their leadership in driving different areas of the IT industry forward. We look forward to celebrating our 2016 Tech10 Award winners!”
Nominate, apply, and learn more at www.tech10awards.com, or by following Tech10 on twitter with hashtag #Tech10RI. To view Rhode Island Month’s coverage of last year’s Tech10 winners and event, go to www.rimonthly.com.
The 2016 Tech10 Awards are sponsored by Amica Insurance and Cox Business. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Giselle Mahoney at (401) 829-8321 /gmahoney@tech-collective.org or Kieran Keating at kkeating@rimonthly.com.
Small Business Develops Affordable Professional Tools for Engineers, Makers and Students
Cranston, RI – Bay Computer Associates, a small contract electronics software design company has launched their first-ever product line via the crowd-funding website Kickstarter. By providing an inexpensive series of cooperative prototyping tools which enable simple and efficient creation one-of-a-kind systems, they aim to bridge the gap between engineers and professional-grade equipment.
This small Rhode Island company has no desire to limit their product to only professionals, however. At a recent Maker Faire, they received a lot of positive feedback from the Maker community and a high level of interest from eager students with an interest in electronics. One professor from the Community College of Rhode Island stated that the series of devices “would be an excellent tool for the classroom” and was looking forward to the Kickstarter campaigns launch.
Traditionally, prototyping electronic systems is complex ad expensive. BCA sought to address this issue by breaking down the prototyping process into fundamental subsystems. From this viewpoint, they have begun to develop various, inexpensive devices which test, actuate, and provide necessary data collection on a modular scale. Additionally, these easy-to-use devices are packaged with corresponding software and examples of use.
BCA’s hope is that by gaining enough interest and funds from the initial campaign, they can support a complete series of related products in the future, expanding the scope of available tools. Help support the engineer, maker, or student in your life, and make their projects more affordable by supporting this campaign:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/baycomputerassoc/bca-keystone-series
About BCA: Bay Computer Associates is a contract electronics and software design firm based in Cranston, Rhode Island. Founded in 1989, BCA has provided design services for both start-up and Fortune 500 companies. Their 26 years of broad-industry experience allows them to handle complex projects in a myriad of application areas, with their permanent and dedicated staff.
