Activating Your Business Miracle
By BizVid Communications partner Caz Taylor

Does your business need a miracle of “biblical proportions” to survive and even thrive in challenging times?  If so, here are four insights that are true and proven, whether you embrace those “biblical” principles or not.

Faith- It is very likely that some type of “faith” has gotten your business to where you are right now. For our definition of “faith,” let me use the idea of having an inner confidence that your original business plan was valid. Those steps that you originally took for licensing, preparation, the development of relationships, and taking advantage of any “good fortune” along the way need to be more than maintained, rather, enhanced. Your faithful company “point of view” will not only keep you stirred up, but it will inspire peers and employees to foster similar attitudes. Believing in yourself and believing you can succeed when others fall back, is perhaps your greatest asset. Start displaying the attitude that a greater success than ever before is upon your doorstep.  

Persistency- Assuming your business strategy is solid, perseverance is another key. Some may tell you that the definition of insanity is expecting different results from the same actions. While this may be true in some situations, if your business idea is a good one… and you persist when others give up, then, “expecting better results” may actually define your “faith” and be your pathway to excelling when others give up too soon, or come up short.

Consistency- To fell a large oak tree with one blow from an axe would be preposterous. But the number of planks created from this one tree will strengthen your building more than a smaller tree. Let’s say that the tree’s diameter represents the extent of your desired outcome in building your business structure. The bigger the tree, the bigger your potential success. The consistency of your well-delivered swings will determine the level of success in the building of your business. Some people say “go big or go home.” For our purposes, one might say to be consistent or go home. Having good intentions without consistency is fruitless.

Activation- Once you have dedicated yourself to the three previous steps (faith, persistency and consistency), it is time to look into the mirror. Ask yourself, “Am I willing to go where no one has gone before? Am I willing to solve customer or client needs where others have languished or fell by the wayside?  If the answer is yes… than, it is time to activate your company into higher, deeper and more profound ways than ever before.

In summary, pandemics and governmental restraints have caused many to abandon their hopes for great success. While the pathway is strewn with business failures, this actually poses a unique benefit for companies and visions like yours. Has there ever been a better time to forge forward when many of your competitors have walked away? As a video producer, BizVid Communications has employed this same strategy. If we can help you in your further activation, great. Regardless, join us as we stroll into our greatest futures ever.

by
Caz Taylor

If a business like yours cannot afford to alienate big portions of your consumer/client base due to politics, allow a few insights which you may find helpful. This, from a video producer who doubles as a journalist.

As a member of the media, complete with a number of press credentials, I was privileged to cover events that happened in Washington DC during the first week of January 2021. Here is my business “take away.”

Unless making your stand on one political side or the other is more important than (or defined by) your consumer/client base… it is best not to indulge in that conversation, whenever possible.

In my coverage, I witnessed levels of rhetoric on both sides which could take your “Covid-challenged” business and decimate it all the more.

In fact, it may be advisable to revisit your business statement and premise. If customer service is a cornerstone, stick to that as if your company’s life depends upon it. It just may.  Typically, your clientele are not patronizing you for your political stand, but for your product or service. Or people. In fact, your bigger draw may be in that you are a “politics free zone.”

My BizVid Communications partner and I treat every client and prospect with the highest respect and integrity, regardless. We try not to get sucked into fruitless debates. In the end, cool heads and hearts will prevail and foster your greatest success.

To this end, I conducted a little experiment during my DC media coverage. Understanding that my press badges could illicit comments, even vitriol from either political side, I engaged with people from both political points of view with my press passes showing. Then, I engaged with the same kinds of people without my press clearances on display. I was the same friendly person I always am, but as soon as I allowed myself to be defined by my press badges, the receptivity was split, depending on the polarized side with which I interacted.

As a customer/consumer dependent business, the message should be quite clear. Do what your company or organization was built to do. Don’t alienate, serve. Do not proselytize or seek to change someone’s mind, promote the kind of experience or environment for which someone will desire to come back.

In this current business climate, both you and your employees should be keeping and growing your business, and not making a political stand. Here is to your great success in the midst of challenging times. If that success could use proven video approaches, you know where to look.

Welcome to another BizVid Communications Premiere Pro video tutorial.  Today I’m going to show you how to create bullet points inside the Essential Graphics panel. 

Before I learned this technique, I found that the creation of bullet points for me was stressful and tedious. As you will see, making a bullet point is very simple… so let’s get started. 

Let’s imagine that a hypothetical client has asked me to add some bullet points to their video. We’re editing with Adobe Premiere Pro, so we start by locating the Essential Graphics panel. 

First, ensure that “num lock” is turned on.  (The “num lock” key is the top left key of the numerical keypad.)

Next, hold down the “Alt” key and press “7” on the numerical keypad. 

Then, type any desired text for your bullet point and press “enter” to finish.

To make another bullet point, simply repeat the Alt+7 keystoke.

That’s all there is to it.

In other words Alt+7 = Bullet Point

So simple and stress-free.  I hope that you’ve learned from this tutorial.

Until next time, thanks for watching and happy editing.    

By BizVid co-owner, Caz Taylor

Writing to you, as a business person, I suspect you have more question marks than exclamation marks in your plans for maintaining and growing your company in these “COVID-ified” times. In many ways, you may feel that the deck has been unfairly stacked against you and fellow small businesses. Perhaps it has been.

Please allow this brief blog entry to serve as an encouragement. An inspiration. A motivation for you and your organization’s enhanced success moving forward.

Sometimes, the best communications tool is to use examples and stories of others learning to survive and even thrive in antagonistic environments, as we are in. May I draw your attention to a beloved friend of my partner, Bill Gruber, and mine? This person and his “roaring twenties/mafia themed” restaurants, Notorious Burgers, are located in Carlsbad, California. His name is Brian Gruber.

You have likely observed that Brian’s last name is the same as my associate’s last name. Partner Bill is Brian’s father. This relationship puts us in a position to observe, provide video support and otherwise encourage, when possible and appropriate. This relationship gives us firsthand knowledge of the ebbs and flows in a promising business model and the threat of seeing a great idea snuffed out by a debilitating pandemic and less than compassionate regulations.

Bear with me as I present the story and provide a closing “moral to the story” to end this blog. If the “business closing” plague crippled commerce, the seemingly unfair local and state regulations nearly terminally strained the comeback of many businesses like yours and Brian’s.

Brian is one of the most creative and resilient business owners I have seen. As are you. To people like him and you, devastating challenges should really be taken as exhilarating opportunities to give you benefits and approaches which will separate you from the competition and enhance your success, rather than hamper it.

I will give you two examples born by Mr. Gruber and his restaurants. Government mandates to restrict inside dining afforded Brian the opportunity to expand his primary location by enhancing his tables and service to include an outside experience. This was presented to customers not as an inconvenience, rather a benefit of taking their dining experience “to the street,” almost literally.

His second location was within a “restaurant row” kind of a setting named the “Windmill Food Hall.” While the whole restauranteur clientele braced for the impact of COVID restrictions, and many closed down, Brian made lemonade out of lemons, so to speak. Instead of being “grilled” by restraints of COVID and government bureaucracy, Brian’s strategy turned to “barbeque.”

Discovering there were no longer any restaurants in the area offering barbeque, Mr. Gruber altered his menu to command the attention of hungry and cooped up diners. He revisited his menu and marketing approach when he realized he could tastefully corner the “barbeque” market. This decision and his flexibly creative strategy is being met with resounding success.

By BizVid Communications Partner Caz Taylor

Through the life of your business, you have likely experienced challenges which war against your greatest success. The Covid-19 issue is just another such combatant, how be it, more robust than many of the others.

Take heart. The values that have proven themselves successful in past combats will pay off in today’s battle for your company’s surviving and flourishing.  Here are a few top-of-mind traits employed by successful women and men, along with their businesses.

Keep in mind that these BizVid Communications viewpoints are from personal observations, and less from today’s bloviated and so-called facts. This point of view, however, comes from a faith and confidence that doing what is right within your business acumen will win over the elements that threaten your company’s failure.

We are reminded of ancient words of wisdom, the likes of which will be the springboard for this blog. Hopefully, they will be a springboard for your heightened success in contrary times. By paraphrasing, the saying goes: “Displaying the heart of godliness will produce fruitfulness in our lives (and businesses): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

The last sentence in these words of wisdom is most curious. Neither the constitutional laws within America, nor the greater, supernatural laws of the universe violate the aforementioned precepts.  This should present an added comfort as you decide your best ways of sustaining and even expanding your business within troubled times. Though nay-sayers may challenge your proactive business decisions, if the annotated precepts are followed, “there is no law against them.” Being bold and confident in these times will carry great promise of reward. Watch and see.

While the nine precepts mentioned carry great weight and promise of success for you and your business, this missive will focus on only two of them. This duo are perhaps the most difficult to achieve and maintain, which makes them all the more important to your success.

I am speaking of your application of “patience” and “self-control.” As the current threat abates, we are likely to see the landscape strewn with large numbers of businesses in ruins. Two of the most significant causes of this ruination deal with a lack of business patience and self-control of the leader(ship).

Patience. What is the most truncated version of your business which can survive? I am reminded that many of today’s great organizations began in someone’s garage. What is your equivalence of that garage? Is it a single room office? One-desk? One clipboard? One faithful vision? This may not be a time to fully abandon the ancillary elements of your earlier successes, rather prune them back for a season. A pruned tree will be more fruitful when the season changes. Keep your relationships with the people who helped you become successful in the first place. Though those relationships may need to be in storage for a season, as the promises of fruitfulness come back, so can the fullness of those relationships. Nature would suggest that this pruned tree will become even more fruitful. Patience, indeed, is a virtue.

Self-control. The operative word here is “self”. One rarely can command full control of others. You, however, carry the clear responsibility for controlling yourself. Your perseverance or lack thereof in light of YOUR company will either help relaunch your success or assure its failure. Winston Churchill was credited with saying “Never (never, never) give up.” We are reminded of a cartoon showing a troop of soldiers trudging over barren dunes and across the desert, with the leader saying, “I give up. Let’s go back.”  From the cartoonist’s vantage point, we see a beautiful oasis just on the other side of the knoll which inspired the troop’s retreat. This troop leader is you, my friend. Your reenergized success is much nearer that you can even imagine if you never give up.

In this brief BizVid Communications blog, we reveal a secret to success which we have observed in some of finest businesses and the most endearing people throughout this nation, and world.

Simply put: focus yourself and your communications based on what you would like to be, rather than what you are not. The following insights embrace our personal work ethic. We hope you find them helpful.

As the whole world tries to find its way in the midst of troubling, even contrary times, there are a few communication techniques that have proven to outlive the braggadocious, self-elevating, often demeaning babble that one hears (and sometimes self-professes) as businesses like yours strive to survive.

Over the decades, BizVid Communications has worked with a variety of people and organizations. Businesses whose actions exhibit a level of contrition, humility, and concern for others have enduring staying power. Businesses with more-critical and less-compassionate attitudes for others may find that their successful days numbered.

A prophet once said: “A word fitly spoken is as ‘apples of gold in pitchers of silver.’” 

Our present day interpretation: “Choose your words kindly and wisely when communicating with others.”

This also supports a well-known quote from Bambi’s friend Thumper who said, “If you can’t say nothin’ nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.”

At BizVid Communications, we have dedicated our company’s principles to giving everyone with whom we work (staff, contractors, and clients) the benefit of the doubt.  We find grains of goodness within all aspects of our production crew, and we expand on those as we communicate to achieve a common goal.

Sometimes it may seem that the human psyche seems to relish hearing about only the bad stuff, it’s been our experience that positive and sustaining messages are tied to what is actually good and helpful for humanity.

Someone once said that when you point the finger at someone or something, the majority of your fingers are pointing back at you.  Perhaps the best recipe for finding the good in others is by taking a brutally honest look at ourselves.

Have we gone out of our way to serve and help others, even when this high ground is best attained from being on our knees? We have found that when one has the attitude of elevating others, we ourselves are elevated. 

This opens the door for examining the difference between true compassion and humility versus and acting with self-serving, false humility and insincere compassion. As we each look in our personal mirrors of self-reflection, we should let our unfiltered conscience have its say. From personal experiences, when one must weigh between “what is right” against “what is best” for one’s self and company, “what is right” should ultimately win out.  I know this may be hard when faced with some business decisions. 

Bottom line is this: your peers and clients are watching. When you and your organization personify grace, compassion, and honesty, the truth-seekers who really count will sustain you and your company in challenging times. 

When the rules and regulations for running your businesses seem topsy-turvy and out of your control, I offer the following advice:

Don’t abandon your innovation.

Through the years, BizVid Communications has partnered with businesses of all sizes. We don’t focus on the businesses as much as we focus on the individuals that have inspired the businesses. We use video to help businesses personify their character. The resulting video delivers those insights to a public in need of that business’s services or benefits.

As a company owner or manager, much of your own character has been embedded in the strategies which have made your business successful. During times of stress, employee anxieties, or faltering finances, you may feel a tendency to abandon your good business sense. You may feel a desire to acquiesce to people who know very little about your industry, and even less about you.

Don’t abandon your anchors.

During troubled times, we at BizVid are impressed by companies who place great emphasis on the well-being of their employees. Often, your employees are the people who helped your business become a success in the first place. Faithful employees are the metaphorical anchors of your successful business. Employers who make modest-yet-heartfelt efforts to lessen the suffering of their employees will likely discover that such efforts are the best possible investment.

Don’t abandon your innovation.

We are heartened to observe restaurants and the innovative work-arounds that they devise in order to continue serving their patrons. Food deliveries, catering, take-outs, plastic booth dividers, and the development of sidewalk tabling are all examples of “how to make the best situation out of the worst restraints”. In his writings entitled “Republic,” the Greek philosopher, Plato, observed that “necessity is the mother of invention.”

As a business owner, take note of what happens when you depend on the anchors who surround you. Your employees are likely to be a stabilizing force, and they may even inspire more innovations that steer your business from “surviving” into “thriving”. In so doing, you can and will redefine your industry and succeed like none other.

In this blog’s Part 1, award-winning BizVid Communications offered insights regarding your smartphone videos, along with video-delivery tips. 

In this blog’s Part 2, we will outline a few ways to maximize your voice delivery, and tips to make your video presentation more desirable and believable. 

Audio tips

There are external-microphone options for smartphones, but most users are assumed to to not be using them. If you are using your smartphone’s built-in microphone, you will like your audio outcome better if you try to keep the camera/ microphone within a few feet of your subject who is speaking. Audiences can be distracted when a video’s audio is inconsistent in volume, or far-away sounding. 

Whenever possible, stay close to your subject and your viewer will stay close to the message

Regarding the content of your video, remember that very few people can string more than a few sentences together. That is completely normal.  To make your video as impactful as possible, we like the idea of crafting a few “glance-worthy” bullet points.

Don’t make your glances obvious, but steal a look at your bullet point as part of your normal head movements. Study the delivery of lines from a soap opera. See if you can locate where the actors have stashed their lines during a rather lengthy diatribe.  

Regarding delivery, stay away from too many “uhhhhs” and “ahhhhhhs”.  Brief silence to collect your thoughts is always better, and substantially adds to your believability.

Also, converse rather than announce. Be yourself.

Practice makes… perfectly believable.

Practice these aforementioned tips, and toss in some purposeful eye contact with the smartphone camera. You will see a marked difference in your delivery, along with higher viewership and greater viewer retention. Fine tune your skills in delivering your message. It is generally okay to have a few takes. Remember, the little things will make a big difference. 

At BizVid Communications, we often tell our clients that it is not the big budgets, but the big ideas that make a great video.  So much the more with your smartphone productions. Go create something memorable.

Smartphone Videos

You may be among the multitudes who have discovered the value and fun of smartphone videos. When it comes to making unforgettable video messages with your smartphone, here are a few tips from one of the producers at BizVid Communications. 

As multiple-time Emmy winners, we know how to craft effective powerful videos using reasonable budgets. But, in this case, smartphones are a good way to put forth a memorable message with no budget whatsoever. With the “increased down-time” recently, we have had the opportunity to see smartphone videos used for all kinds of purposes. Some are even being used to promote small businesses. Here are some tips on how you can “use your smartphone to make smart videos.”

Visual Tips

When recording smartphone video, a horizontal orientation is the most functional. Horizontal smartphone videos allow for more people to be on-screen at once, compared to vertical videos. More background can be displayed in horizontal videos, while showing less of the spokesperson’s lower body. Finally, horizontally-oriented videos allow more flexibility in typical presentations since most display screens (projectors, televisions, etc) are also horizontally oriented.

Starting with a horizontal smartphone orientation will allow more space for the on-screen talent to move their hands or move props. If you are your own on-camera tablet, it is advisable to mount your phone to a tripod or gimbal, rather than hand-holding it. Hand-held video is often shaky, and those shakes can distract your audience from your message.

Regarding lighting and positioning, pay attention to the pre-existing light at the location where you are recording. Frame your shots so the lighting falls on your on-camera subject. Use your smartphone’s manual exposure mode and lock the exposure, if possible. 

Position your subject far enough from the background so that their own shadow doesn’t fall on the background behind them.  Separation between the subject and their background will make both elements more appealing.  

In this Blog’s Part 2, we will discuss some audio tips and the value in taking strategic practice runs. Have fun with your smartphone camera. Go create something.

Welcome to this Premiere Pro tutorial from BizVid Communications, a video production company based in San Diego. Today you will see how to correct an overexposed section in a video clip.

Often during post, you will find various exposure ranges within a scene. This video clip example shows a restaurant server placing a food item on a counter top. Overall, the scene is dark. To correct the exposure, I will use various Lumetri controls to adjust exposure and contrast according to the Lumetri scope.

Once the adjustments are made, hot spots emerge, specifically the counter top. However, the server looks good and is properly exposed. Not to despair because the counter top exposure can be corrected while keeping the rest of the scene in tolerance. To do so I need to duplicate the video clip.

I hold down the ALT key, then click and drag the duplicate clip up to video Track Two. Next, I will create a mask around the counter top by using the Opacity pen tool. In this example the countertop has straight edges so masking is not as difficult as it might be in other scenarios.

Next, I turn off Video Track one, select Video Track Two then use the Lumetri controls to dial in the proper exposure settings for the countertop. Once that is complete, I turn on Video Track One to fine tune the adjustments. Mission accomplished.

The scene has a balanced exposure in all quadrants and the issue is solved. Masking is great tool.