Official Statement from UnoDeuce Multimedia
To our valued clients, friends, supporters, and potential customers of UnoDeuce Multimedia:
We would like to inform you that Paul J. Schmidt, Owner and Creative Video Strategist of UnoDeuce Multimedia is currently healing from a medical issue. Paul will be very much involved with the operation of his business. He assures you that in his temporary absence he has assembled a highly qualified and talented team that will carry out the mission and values of UnoDeuce Multimedia. We greatly appreciate your patience and patronage, and will continue to provide you with the excellent storytelling services that you have come to expect from UnoDeuce Multimedia. One company, twice the possibilities.
Guest Post: How Animated Videos Can Help Your Business Reach More Customers
Today, companies have a bevy of tools they can use to interact and engage with their customers. But those same tools can compete for the attention of the same target audience, posing a unique challenge for companies and their marketing team.
Study after study indicates that the attention span of the average consumer found online has been dwindling. Online interactions can be cut short by a variety of reasons, ranging from slow loading of a website to lack of engaging content.
Another tool to add to your arsenal
When it comes to drawing (and holding) the attention of your target customers online, whether it’s on your social media pages or even on your website, one powerful tool that you can use is the animated explainer video.
Why should you invest in the production of an animated explainer video?
As the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Videos engage both the senses of sight and sound, making these superior to text or even infographics.
Humans are physiologically and psychologically wired to take in and process visual information thousands of times faster compared to a block of text. But apart from that, that processed information is more likely to be retained compared to merely reading something.
It doesn’t take much to reap the benefits of an animated video. Even just a few minutes of footage can pack in much information. Compare that to reading a 700-word article that can take anywhere between three to five minutes to read.
How can you use animated videos?
Another unique advantage of animated videos is their versatility.
Marketing is one key aspect where animated videos shine. With these videos, your imagination is the limit. Untethered from the limitations of ordinary videos, you can tell your animation studio how exactly you want your brand to be represented.
Animated videos are almost peerless in terms of storytelling. Whether you are introducing your company to the public or new employees, or telling customers how your products work, the diversity of animated videos makes other platforms pale in comparison.
Animated videos can also be used to boost your SEO rankings. For one, these videos can increase the time a user spends on your website. And the more time site visitors spend on your website, the more search engines like Google see this as a sign of the quality of your website and its pages.
And if you post these videos on YouTube, the second largest search engine, your search engine ranking is more likely to move up.
Live vs. animated
How do animated videos compared to live videos where you have human actors? In order to better answer that question, it is critical to look at a few factors.
Animated videos contain various elements. Typically, the process of making one begins with a script and a storyboard. From there, the process moves toward the actual animation and the addition of music, voiceovers, and sound effects.
Production times can range from weeks to months, depending on a few considerations, including requests for revisions. Live videos can take just a few days to shoot.
Like animated videos, live videos start with a script and a storyboard. From there, you will need to cast actors and put together a production team for various elements, including props, costumes, and sound.
In terms of savings in both time and money, animated videos almost always win over live videos. That’s because everything is made from scratch. An animated studio does not have to deal with hassles like the fickle weather, finding a suitable location for a shoot, or even the temperament of actors.
On top of that, animated videos have a higher click rate compared to their live counterparts.
On the converse side of the coin, live videos exude an authentic vibe. When viewers hear and see emotions from the actors, your company can quickly gain their trust. Live videos can also be produced faster.
However, these videos can be quite expensive and can take a substantial amount of work to produce.
Which should you choose?
That will depend heavily on your budget and intended purpose. For companies that aim to reap the benefits of videos, but want something that can be produced quickly and at a fraction of the cost of a live video, animated is the way to go.
AUTHOR BIO: Anthony Lam is the founder of Punchy Digital Media, a creative agency that helps organisations grow using animated videos and creative visual content. Punchy has a team across Australia and Asia and has worked with clients such as Apple, Westpac and the Australian Government, running campaigns and reaching millions of people.
New Video: Cristo Rey Community Center – Kalena’s Story
Kalena Baldwin discovered she had thyroid cancer in 2015. In 2017, she was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. In order to take care of her five boys and herself, she leaned on the Cristo Rey Community Center for assistance. The CRCC were able to help her with getting food, clothing, and more while she was dealing with medical bills.
For more on the Cristo Rey Community Center: https://www.cristoreycommunity.org
#BetterCallPaul – July 2019 Recap
ICYMI – Five new videos went up on our main channel for five different organizations, each with their own unique offerings. Between barbecues, VR home searches, and helping the community, we covered it all this month.
Check out our main channel to watch all of these and more: https://bit.ly/2I6AGWr
Guest Post: The Importance of Evergreen Content
Creating content that is unique and relevant to your business and will drive traffic to your site is an important part of any business’ marketing strategy. You want to create quality content that people will appreciate and keep coming back to over and over. This type of content is called evergreen content.
This article will discuss what evergreen content is, why it’s important for your business, how your businesses can create and incorporate evergreen content into their marketing strategy.
What is Evergreen Content?
While you may have never heard of the term evergreen content, you surely have browsed the internet and came across some examples of it before. So, what exactly is it? Evergreen content is simply relevant, quality content that will continue to be relevant even years after it’s posted. The type of content that you keep coming back to and referencing time and time again.
This type of valuable content can include actionable tips, how-to guides, case studies, resources and tools, everything you need to know about a niche, infographics, lists and more. Avoid time-sensitive subject matters such as seasonal content or content related to a specific date. The more information you can provide to your viewers the better. People like having all the information they need to know at the tip of their fingers.
While this may seem challenging for businesses that need to constantly update their site to show no longer available or new inventory, such as a car dealership site or an online furniture store, there are other places they can house evergreen content. For example, Audi Bellevue has all of their current inventory on their site, but also hosts articles on their site that will remain helpful to readers, such as an “Audi Wiper Blade Replacement Guide”.
When creating evergreen content ask yourself if it will still be relevant in a year or two. Of course, it may need to minor updates from time to time depending on your industry trends, but evergreen content is timeless. Remember to think long-term when creating these types of pieces.
Why Evergreen Content is Important for Your Website
If you’re creating a high-quality post, chances are you’ve taken the time to optimize it for it to rank higher in search engines. Because of the quality content and its relevancy, it will continue to move its way up on search engines. Evergreen content is never outdated, so search engines will continue to view it as valuable. Which brings us to our next point, higher rankings in search engines means higher website traffic. When your content remains relevant, people will keep coming back to it, which means a high volume of eyes will see it even after you’ve published it. The higher you rank in search engines, the more traffic your content and website will receive, which will lead to more potential leads. Creating great content can always generate leads, but evergreen content will continue to bring in leads over time. Think of it as a piece of content that keeps on giving. Since it will continue to remain relevant, people will continue to search for it, link to it and share it.
How to Create Evergreen Content
So now that we know what evergreen content is and why it’s important, let’s dive into how you can create your own evergreen content that will continue to drive organic traffic to your business. When thinking of topics of focus to create content around, make sure you’re coming up with ideas that are relevant to your specific industry. There will always be multiple versions of a topic, so it’s up to you to put a unique spin on it.
First things first, brainstorm topics you want to center your content around. Focus on topics that are niche-specific and receive consistent traffic. Do keyword research for that topic and see what keywords you will be able to rank for. Again, when looking up keywords, make sure the topic you are searching for has a high search volume over a long period of time.
After you’ve decided on a topic, you need to figure out what angle you are going to take that will make readers read your content over others. Once you start creating the content, whether that be an article or infographic, make sure the content is of high-quality. High-quality content is easy to read, provides useful advice or tips, is interesting and provides readers with actionable takeaways.
For example, let’s look at this hiring process checklist infographic created by ShareAble for Hires.
For starters, this is a handy guide for employers that will always remain relevant, and the title and content don’t include any jargon that will go out of date. Since it’s an infographic, it’s a piece of content that websites can easily integrate into their blog posts.
The content provides readers with actionable steps, is easy to read and is visually appealing- a great example of evergreen content.
Promote Your Content to Uphold the Evergreen Status
So now you have a great piece of evergreen content that you know will stand the test of time, but how can we get it to uphold its status long after it is published? It’s up to you to put in the work to get the content where it needs to be, and the rest will follow. Here’s how you can get more traffic to your evergreen content:
Build Links
In order for your content to gain the exposure it deserves; people need to be able to find it. Build relationships with other bloggers and websites that would benefit from your content. Obtaining backlinks from other relevant, authoritative sites in your niche can drive more traffic to your content.
Refresh Content When Needed
Take the time every few months to refresh any of your content to ensure it remains relevant. This could be as simple as changing the publishing date, reposting on your blog or social media, or adding new, high-ranking keywords into the piece.
Share on Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool, so take advantage of it. Post your content across all social media platforms to reach a wider audience and drive traffic to your business. Many businesses also create content within their site that include social media share widgets, making it easier for their audience to share their work. One perfect example of this is I Am Net Worthy’s website. Within their site they have a comprehensive blog, then from the information fund on the blog, they create finance “nuggets” for their readers to share on social, in turn increasing their brand recognition and SEO.
Track Content Rankings
Check the rankings of your content often using tools like Ahrefs and SEMRush. See what keywords you are currently ranking for, how much traffic your content is driving to your site and who’s sharing your content. These tools are a great way to figure out what adjustments you need to make to your content in order to uphold its evergreen status.
In Summary
To get consistent traffic to your site over time, evergreen content is the way to go. By taking the time to create this valuable content, your business will continue to reap the benefits for a long time to come.
Author Bio: Emily Banks is a Bay Area native who got tired of San Francisco’s cold beaches, so she moved to San Diego. She is currently the Editor for the HR section of 365 Business Tips. When she is not typing away on her keyboard, she can be found eating street tacos in the sunshine.
New Video: Shiawassee Community Foundation – Celebrating 45 Years
45 years ago, the Shiawassee Community Foundation started out as a small group of people wanting to make a difference. Over time, it has turned into a much larger community outreach program. Food drives, grants, scholarships, and caring for the environment are only a few of the ways they are helping serve their community. Congrats on 45 years!
To learn more about the Shiawassee Community Foundation:
https://www.shiacf.org/
Mike Bass Podcast #61: Paul J Schmidt of UnoDeuce Multimedia
Paul comes talking about UnoDeuce Multimedia, 2nd Brain Collective, The Foreign Fork and The Drinking Lunch.
A couple of months ago, our Creative Video Strategist, was on the Mike Bass Podcast. Here’s what happened….
I’m glad my bud Paul J. Schmidt from UnoDeuce Multimedia could stop by for a podcast! 🎧🎙
UnoDeuce Multimedia is a video production company that focuses on working with non-profit organizations. We talk about how Paul started the company, where he is now, along with his future plans for UnoDeuce.
He’s also involved in a number of other projects. He’s one of the co-creators of the 2nd Brain Collective, which aims to provide people with pillars of expertise for whatever needs they may have — video, social media marketing, web design — through the collaboration of various independent businesses. They’re also the group that puts on The Drinking Lunch every month, which is one of the more relaxed networking events in the Lansing area!
We talk about what new in the video industry, life, UnoDeuce, a new cooking YouTube series Paul’s involved in called The Foreign Fork, and more! Enjoy!
Here’s how to find Paul J. Schmidt or UnoDeuce Multimedia online 👇
UnoDeuce Multimedia: Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn
Paul Schmidt (Personal): Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn
Paul’s Other Projects: The Drinking Lunch | 2nd Brain Collective | The Foreign Fork
Guest Post: Ditch the Desk: Becoming a Digital Nomad
Working on the go and leaving your desk life behind probably sounds pretty good. Even better? You can make it happen with Bestow’s guide on becoming a digital nomad.
Ten or even 20 years ago, working from anywhere would have sounded like a total pipedream. No, an impossibility. Now? More than 70% of workers telecommute at least part of the time. Even more amazing? Some work from anywhere, 100% of the time.
Welcome to the life of a digital nomad.
What is a Digital Nomad?
Unlike regular telecommuters, digital nomads work remotely full-time while also traveling. Many of these nomads will use their freedom to travel all around the world, while others may stick closer to their home base and travel around their country. Regardless, all of them are enjoying their love of travel while still earning a living.
What’s more, many digital nomads are professional travel bloggers, so their travels fund their travels. This is done through affiliate marketing, advertising, and sometimes even sponsorships.
Becoming a Digital Nomad
It’s not all play, though. Digital nomads work hard and have to carefully balance their travel with their jobs, making sure they don’t shirk their responsibilities.
There’s also an intense amount of discipline that comes with traveling and working at the same time. Working too much can result in neglecting the destination they chose, while enjoying their short-term home can result in their job falling apart.
Beyond discipline, digital nomads also have to think about finances – a lot – and make sure they’re always budgeting correctly for their destination. What lasts months in one country may only last weeks in another, so careful research and planning are a must.
This is only scratching the surface of what goes into becoming a digital nomad. To make things simpler, Bestow has created an in-depth infographic on becoming a digital nomad to get you started!
John Shieldsmith is a writer based out of Austin. He has several years of content marketing and freelance writing experience spread across numerous industries. In his spare time he enjoys chasing around his son, running his website, and trying every food under the sun.
New Video: 360 Photo and Design – Virtual Tour Testimonial
Our friends at 360 Photo and Design do an excellent job of developing virtual tours for a variety of properties all over Michigan. Hear how DTN uses them successfully for a number of their apartments.
If you would like to experience them for yourself, go to:
https://360photoanddesign.com/