Going Virtual Is Not Going Away

The right mindset, equipment and preparation can make a great virtual expereince.

I wrote an article in February about the importance of conducting professional virtual meetings and digital content.  

Since then, I have added even more equipment, learned more and wanted to share them both with you.

Since going virtual is not going away, even as people start entering back into traditional workplace environments, it is important to make sure you are equipped to provide the best virtual experiences that you can.

These best practices can be applied to meetings, virtual presentations, recorded content and more! 

If you do any professional speaking, being able to execute virtually is as important as being able to execute and deliver value on stage.

I realized on a flight back from an event in Atlanta in March of 2020, right as Covid started making its waves, that I don’t have to be present with someone in the room to bring them value.  I could do it virtually. However, the more I did it, the better I got and the more I realized that just like on stage, delivery matters.  There is an art to keep someone engaged for an hour or 8 hours.

Here are some tips and advice that I thought would help cut your learning curve and make a virtual meeting, virtual keynote or creating content a better experience for both you and your audience.  Now that everyone has gotten “used to virtual” the experience is becoming more of a representation of you and is incredibly important to reflect your professionalism.

**This is an updated list from the February article

Virtual and Social Content - Audio & Visual recommendations and best practices

Technology recommendations

• Stable internet connection - I recommend doing a speed test prior to connecting and resetting your router if the upload and download speeds are below 10 MBPS for bandwidth

• Quiet space for your on-screen appearance, background noise suppression should be on if available.

  Content Creation – can widely vary based on the type of content you are creating and where you want it to exist

  •  Your cell phone will work

  •  A quality USB camera, Logitech Brio for example, connected to your computer for “live” social engagement

  • Use any of the below recommendations if you want a higher quality finished product to share

  Quick meetings:

•  Audio options - In front of computer

  • Built in microphone on a laptop will work

  • Headset or microphone will provide clearer sound

• Audio Options if away from Computer or device

  • Built in microphone on a Camera

  • Attached Microphone

• Camera so you can be clearly seen

  • Laptop camera will work if in front of computer, although often not the best quality

  • A quality USB camera, Logitech Brio for example, will provide better picture quality 

A lot goes on behind the scenes that the audience never sees.

Presentations, keynotes and content creation:

• Audio options - In front of computer

  • Headset or microphone connected properly

  • Wireless mic attached to a switcher, camera or the computer

• Audio Options if away from Computer or device

  • Built in microphone on a Camera, depending on distance and sound quality

  • Attached Microphone to the camera or switcher

  • Boom mic that is out of frame

• Camera so you can be clearly seen

  • A quality USB camera, Logitech Brio for example, at minimum

  • A HD camera that can connect through a switcher or like device that is able to be read as the camera with your meeting software. (see the Sony Camera I purchased below)

• Production

• Switching unit that will give you multiple camera options, including your presentation as an optional input

• Additional monitor in order to have your presentation up to share

• A third monitor, if desired for your speaking notes

• Professional White board

• Professional interactive presentation Monitor

Have a stable surface that the camera or computer is sitting on in order to minimize shaking, especially if you are writing or typing during the meeting. If you are going to type on the same computer that you are connected with, definitely try to use a camera on a stand that will not shake.

Best experience recommendations

• Camera should be eye level or just a above eye level

• If you are using your camera in your laptop, if needed, place something under your laptop to lift it so the camera is eye level

• If a camera is mounted on a stand, then set that to be at eye level

• No windows or bright lights behind you

• Have good lighting in front of you so your face is not in any shadows

• Watch for reflections of lighting in glasses

• Sit or stand, whatever is most comfortable for you, just make sure the camera has you in frame and in focus

• Check your background for reflections of lighting, and any distractions.

• Do not have a messy background

• Lock doors if possible and place a sign outside the door if needed to help minimize interruptions

• Invest in some basic “sound-absorbing” panels and ascetics like fabrics to help reduce echoes and bad acoustics

• Find items that can become “recognizable” with you, similar to extending your brand.  This can be done if you have a designated studio to use or you are using a space in your home or office.

Best preparation recommendations

• Unless the desire is to have an immediate, raw, unrehearsed piece of content, practice, and then practice some more.

• Place a post it with some bullet points directly under the camera if you need to have something to help you make sure you hit your points.

• Complete a dry-run.  Click through your slides, test the technology. Take into consideration sharing the screen, pulling in other organizers and playing videos that have audio.

• Make sure everything is connected and on properly.

Now that you are ready to create some content or maybe you are ready to venture out in a “live” video, here are some tips to help.  Remember, this is all about getting attention.

1. Focus on getting attention. You are building a brand that will allow you to turn that attention into Sales.

2. Don’t create content for “likes” create content because you like it and it will bring value to others

3. Create and share value-added content that your buyer or the influencer of your buyer will find valuable, even if it has nothing to do with your products directly

4. Make sure your content is properly directed to the audience of the platform you are placing it on. Edit the written text accordingly.

5. Give attention to others and gain attention in the process

6. Activity should be focused on both existing customers and potential new ones or those that can help you grow your business.

7. Drive attention to your website and social sites in every way you can

8. Create a video ending slide / image that you can drop into the end of created videos that have your social links, website, call to action, etc.  Put that at the end of every video you create and share if you can.

One final thing, please, create value-added content.  The only way to stand out in the massive amount of content that is being created everyday, is to create content that brings value to others.  

Finding all of the hardware and things you may need to create content can be a task in itself, so here is a list of items that I have purchased and use.  I hope this saves you a lot of time searching and reading.  NOTE: I encourage you to buy from your local shops as much as possible. The Amazon links are there to help show you what you need and if you can’t find it elsewhere.

Good Luck!!

I hope to see your content in the future!

Screenflow for Mac

https://www.telestream.net/screenflow/overview.htm?gclid=Cj0KCQjw-4SLBhCVARIsACrhWLWow_IEuC5QBaIaPzXAkBNvrZTuz3IdF52BHOUDkGzH1nSFowIdfgsaAkO9EALw_wcB

Brio 2 web cam

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-BRIO-Conferencing-Recording-Streaming/dp/B01N5UOYC4 

Lighting and green screen set

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LV46738/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Light halo & camera stand

https://www.amazon.com/UBeesize-Ringlight-YouTube-Photography-Compatible/dp/B07GDC39Y2/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3NAMI4U9T2VZD&dchild=1&keywords=halo+light+ring+with+stand&qid=1603560519&s=electronics&sprefix=halo+light+%2Celectronics%2C177&sr=1-5

Rode mic and lapel mic

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/WirelessGO--rode-wireless-go-compact-wireless-microphone-system

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LavalierGO--rode-lavalier-go-professional-wearable-microphone

Cabling to connect Rode to Apple devices

Jack input - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SC7--rode-sc7-coiled-patch-cable-angled-3.5mm-trrs-to-angled-3.5mm-trs

Lightning to jack adaptor - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LightHpAdapt--apple-lightning-to-3.5mm-headphone-jack-adapter

Headphone splitter to connect to a Mac - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078PZ1BGN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Go Pro 8 or 9

https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/cameras

Go Pro Media mods - 

https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/mounts-accessories/vlogging-camera-mods

Extendable selfie stick tripod, portable

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NWC3L95/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sony a6100 mirrorless camera, with two lenses

https://genescamera.com/shop/sony-a6100-interchangeable-lens-camera-with-e-pz-16-50mm-and-e-55-210mm-oss-lenses-black/f4260540-abf4-0137-4a52-00163ecd2826?variation=2085906

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 Contemporary Lens for Sony E-mount

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C3SCKI6/ref=cm_sw_r_em_api_glt_fabc_DXEHCCW4RKBRK80F6S7R

Geekoto tripod

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DC48V5H/?coliid=I27VG62Q7Y0ABE&colid=2ABVVKM8I99MX&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

DJI Osmo Mobile Gimble

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dji-om-4/6420407.p?skuId=6420407

Black Magic Atem switchers

https://genescamera.com/shop?query=atem

https://genescamera.com/shop/blackmagic-design-atem-mini-pro-iso-hdmi-live-stream-switcher/d79eaec0-c38f-0138-9a84-00163e90e196?variation=2853200&query=atem 

Elgato Cam Link 4K

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K3FN5MR/?coliid=I2A25EAMVBDPR2&colid=2ABVVKM8I99MX&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Cables

4k micro hdmi to hdmi - 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HGT9T6M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

USB C to USB C cable pack

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087M2K64S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Godox Light – SLB60W – with remote

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074MH91P9/ref=cm_sw_r_em_api_glt_fabc_VAVNWC91CB3EJNJV3BX2

Along with this light, I purchased a used, heavier-duty tripod to be mount it to.  I also use one of the diffuser umbrellas from the above lighting and green screen kit set up on another tripod to diffuse the light.  You may want to consider purchasing a box diffuser that would mount to the light.

Presentation clicker for Mac

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HKZD2ZM/A/logitech-spotlight-presentation-remote?fnode=71d782abdc68b8f09999ca1db76ebda25bd4e83aa9d4a25bdc9585adc0b8fa7001993162e3a72cb38ff56516f88e887dbb622e22aeb8279a5e1b9c1b43692fbc9ad716c3c0f57f86d8b1b5b3fcdc60998e77efc6a2cf17cfcc5166cf2ce3a544

Media Cart 

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-7460/Media-Carts/Plastic-AV-Cart-with-Cabinet-27-x-18-x-3

Trident 21 blog – Marketing vs Sales

Trident 21 blog – Marketing vs Sales

Businesses, entrepreneurs and managers tend to over complicate “marketing” or “sales.”  This often leads to frustration, missed goals and expectations not met.  You may end up with individuals in roles or performing functions that they shouldn’t be and a strategy that cannot be properly executed.

The first step to uncomplicating this and really putting together an action plan that will help you grow your business is to understand the fact that they are two very different functions and operations of your business.  They do work in hand-in-hand as part of your growth strategy.

The second step is understanding the basics of each. Before I dive into each a little more, I want to clarify how they each should be interpreted.  Marketing needs to be replaced with the word “ATTENTION.” When you start to look at marketing as getting attention and sales as what takes place once you have that attention, every action will appear more clear and execution more attainable.

Marketing is the act of getting attention, period.  It is not sales, it must understand sales and support sales because the attention that is gained must strategically tee up the sales process or team to make the sale. Depending on the business model, that sale does organically take place because of the attention it received.  Another big piece of shifting the mindset of marketing as getting attention is that you can get attention with spending significantly less money than you may have spent in the past on “marketing.”

I want to give a few examples of attention that can be performed at zero cost to a business owner or in fact help drive growth.

1.     A local restaurant that normally has the owner or head chef perform a public cooking event, where people can come in, pay for their experience and ingredients and learn to cook that meal with the chef.  This experience can be marketing through social media, their website, in their restaurant, etc.  It will drive attention to not only the event, but also and more importantly to their business.  This entire concept can be pivoted giving the circumstances that we face today.  When doing a live class is either not able to be performed due to timing or situations, that same chef can do a recorded cooking lesson.  That cooking lesson, done the same as if there were several live participants, is posted on YouTube and attention to the video is driven by social media, etc. That cooking lesson now is not held back by the walls of a business, but for local viewers and patrons of that restaurant, that business can make all of the ingredients available to purchase in their raw form so the meal can be cooked that weekend at home.  Shoot the video and post it on a Monday, take orders through Thursday, have the orders ready to pick up on Friday.  

2.     A business owner that has a clothing store starts posting pictures of products being worn, videos with fun fashion tips, or more that brings value to their customers digitally.  When content is created that is valuable, engaging and entertaining, people will share it and engage with it.  When a business owner understands the platform that they are using to drive attention and create content specific for that platform and what users expect, the attention and response can be incredible. 

3.     A salesperson who focuses on business-to-business sales is looking to grow their personal brand (reputation) in a community can bring value to existing clients and potentially new ones by providing FREE advice, valuable business content and more. Become someone that is a business resource in your community.  Create a blog, share information on social media, interact with businesses digitally and respond to their activity with your activity.  All of this will help you get attention that you can use later.

These are all some simple examples of how to get attention without spending a dime.  Now that you have gained attention, how do you turn it into sales?

As you see in the examples, the content and action provided were based in providing value to the person that consumed the content.  If you executed on getting attention properly, the sales that the attention has gotten you will come easier.

You action of getting attention can directly or indirectly create the next step for the person consuming it.  For example, let’s use example #2, after the fun fashion tip that got someone’s attention, was shared and reshared on social media, the video could be concluded with “want to see more fashion tips, check us out on our YouTube channel or visit us at XYZboutique.com.” and point to an e-commerce site.  

Finally, let’s look at your sales process. Is your sales process built to continue to provide value and a great customer experience?  If not, you should really reevaluate that sales process. 

If you can build an experience that adds value, truly aligns the growth and interest of the potential customer with yours and creates an incredible experience, then that sale will continue to yield more attention for you. It does not matter if you are in business to consumer sales or business to business sales, aligning yourself with the needs of your customer truly provides more than just a “sale.”  It builds a relationship and people talk about relationships.

You can learn and hear more about this concept from the podcast The Garyvee Audio Experience.  That podcast has me verbalize much of what I have done and taught for years in a more eloquent fashion.

WHAT DOES COMMUNITY MEAN IN A PANDEMIC?

I am sharing a blog from Mudlove.com that I had the privilege of being a part of. We are in this together.

WHAT DOES COMMUNITY MEAN IN A PANDEMIC?

Apr 09, 2020

As the shock of suddenly social distancing wears off and the weeks of pandemic turn into months, we feel the loss of our ties to work, family, and friends. Now, right in the middle of this world-wide crisis, we're all trying to find our new normal. We recently caught up with our friend Keith, and he shares his story and how he's rebuilding his community today. 

HEY KEITH! TELL US WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU DO!

My name is Keith Sampson. I am originally from Maryland, outside of Washington DC and came to Indiana in 1995 to attend Grace College. Since graduating in 2000, I have stayed in the area making it my home. I am married to my wife, Keri, and have three kids; Ava, Finn, and Cove. A pivotal point in my life was when my dad was diagnosed with ALS when I was 19. When I went home the first time after the diagnosis, my cousin, Ray, told me “Keith, you have two choices, go through this or grow through it. What you choose will determine everything.” I chose to grow and it changed my life. I have carried that with me in life and business. I am the National Sales Director for North American Bancard as well as own my own company, Trident 21. My passion is helping people, specifically businesses grow and if possible, adopting a culture of achieving a greater purpose than profit.

LOVE THAT! HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT MUDLOVE?

I have known about MudLOVE for years. I knew Luke when he was in junior high and high school. I was a youth leader at the church he attended. Whitney was a friend in college and beyond. I have always loved and admired the way they have successfully combined passion with a greater purpose and supported Water for Good as a focus of their business plan.

HOW HAS THIS PANDEMIC CHANGED YOUR OUTLOOK ON COMMUNITY?

Let me start with the fact that I LOVE community. Community is essential to the way that we were created. As an extreme extrovert, I need it. Community often means putting yourself last in a lot of ways. It is important to look at community with the mental position of giving without expectations. I see how this pandemic has elevated community and togetherness in a similar way to 9/11. We all need to support our community and find new ways to participate in community.

TELL US ABOUT THE WAYS YOU'RE TAKING ACTION DURING THIS TIME.

First, it goes back to the idea of giving without expectations. One of the first things was coming up with a way to help local restaurants, especially those that are newer or smaller and may not have the financial backing to weather this storm. If we want to enjoy them later, we must support them now. Out of that pure desire to help, several of us acted and Giftcardsurge.com was born. What started as buying gift cards with donations to inject cash into area restaurants and sell them discounted to the area residents so they can have a cheaper meal, is turning into a full business. It’s pretty amazing.

One of the biggest actions I personally took was to have “in this together” bracelets made by MudLOVE. I am sending them to all my clients with a letter of encouragement and giving them to the area restaurants that we are working to support. Frankly, I will give one to whoever is in my community that needs it.  

THESE ARE AWESOME WAYS OF HELPING OUR COMMUNITY! WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THE PHRASE "IN THIS TOGETHER?"

It is the best description of that feeling inside of you when an outside force pulls us all together for one common purpose. Race, gender, background, it doesn’t matter. When I started posting on social media I used it as a hashtag and saw that it was a growing hashtag. I am someone that is overly positive and optimistic and really desires to spread that hope and positivity. “In this together” truly is the war cry against this crisis. We must all have that feeling and take the actions that are necessary to keep others safe and support our communities.

WE TOTALLY AGREE. WHAT HAS THE RESPONSE TO YOUR INITIATIVES BEEN?

It’s been fantastic so far. Most of the time when you give without expectations, that is what happens. Gift Card Surge nearly sold out of gift cards in the first 30 hours and we were able to buy a second round of cards. More “in this together” bracelets are going out this week. I have been on social media promoting the bracelets in all channels with great responses. Everyone is struggling in one way or another. When we can spread positivity and hope, that is a real success story.

HOW CAN OUR READERS JUMP IN AND SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES?

Start with the simplest thing: thank them. Email them, message them, write thank you cards and send them. Secondly, without financially straining yourself, support them. Buy a gift card that you can use later. Order a meal that can be delivered or responsibly picked up. Save your money to spend with them when their doors reopen. Order online if they have an online presence. There are so many methods to show support, but it comes down to one message: if you want to enjoy them later, you must support them now.

Thanks for sharing your story, Keith! We learned a lot from our conversation.

Check out the "in this together." bracelet we created, inspired by Keith's story. Send it to a friend or business and let them know you're on their team. Personalize them further by choosing to receive a free mailer with your purchase. Include a note, treat, and even decorate the mailer for a boost of encouragement. 

To read the full MudLove blog, visit: https://www.mudlove.com/blogs/blog/what-does-community-mean-in-a-pandemic