Add video to your site on the cheap

Just the thought of creating a video for your small-business site may be enough to send you into sticker shock.

The high-priced camera crew! The high-maintenance creative director! The high … blood pressure.

Relax. Creating a quality video for your site is a lot easier, and cheaper, than you think. And the rewards can be considerable.

"Web video is catching on really quickly," says Curt Clinkinbeard, director of training for the Foundation for the Advancement of Marketing Excellence in Entrepreneurs. "I think it will expand the way people interact with the Web, and represents an incredible opportunity for small businesses."

How so?

• A video can make your product come alive.   There’s no substitute for seeing anything from a kitchen knife set being used in a real-life situation, to gorgeous moving images of your bed-and-breakfast. Still images and words don't come close.
• Videos let customers get to know you.   They’ll see your eyes and your smile, and hear the sound of your voice. If you’re a natural salesperson (and you are, otherwise you wouldn’t be running a small business), then a video will sell you.
• A video can also take on a life of its own.   Add a little clever writing, creative cinematography or humor to the production, and your video could go "viral" and bring thousands of new visitors to your site.

Here are nine tips for adding compelling video to your site without blowing your budget.

1. Try shooting the video yourself.   Yes, there are plenty of great reasons for hiring a professional videographer to shoot your company video. The end result will be a polished production that makes your company look sharp. But increasingly, Web videos are do-it-yourself territory. Shooting and posting online video is easy and fun, and it’s something you should dabble in yourself before hiring a pro. You could end up with some valuable skills that will save you lots of money over time. (There are many resources online for beginners, such as the Izzy Video blog.)
2. Don’t overspend.   A vast majority of the online videos are streamed at lower resolutions, where picture quality and sophisticated editing techniques are lost on most of the viewers. You can buy a decent camcorder for less than $500, and there are several inexpensive or free programs for video editing. I’ve worked with video for years, and I know you can spend a fortune on the latest edition of Adobe Premiere or Apple's Final Cut, or on a high-definition professional camcorder (confession: I have). But for a Web video, that’s overkill—at least for now.
3. Plan before you shoot.   "The magic simply doesn’t happen by turning the cameras on," says Stephen Rosa, chief creative officer of Advertising Ventures in Providence, R.I. Even a brief video needs careful scripting. "You need a storyboard in which you sketch the action and angles that work best to tell your story," he says.
4. Keep it simple; really simple.   The best online videos are short and to the point: Think 20 to 60 seconds. If you can't convey your message that briefly, split the videos into two or more segments. "Identify the key concept or idea you want to get across and then identify the market or specific group you want to reach," says John Vairo, a partner at Web Nation Video, a video production company in Blue Bell, Pa. Stick to the basics, he adds. In other words, steer clear of fancy transitions, graphics, or sound effects that might not translate well when they stream online.
5. Attention: The amateur look is in.   The Web is changing the way your customers think about video. A few years ago, no one would have released a shaky video shot on a cell phone. But today, these videos with lower production values are often among the most viewed online. "Now I am not suggesting you should put out junk," Clinkinbeard says. "But you also don't have to produce CNN-quality video to leverage the tool."
6. Of course, the fundamentals still apply.   Don't throw out the entire rule book. Some of the basics of good video production still apply, even when you're working online. "Use a well-lighted environment, with most if not all of the light coming from behind the camera, not behind you," says Albert Maruggi, president of Provident Partners, a communications and social media consultancy company based in St. Paul, Minn.

   Also, keep the backgrounds simple, but not boring. Wear solids—preferably blue. Avoid busy patterns on clothing. Use the white balance on your camera. Keep the audio as clean as possible by using a direct feed versus the built-in microphone. Consider using a tripod. The result will be a better-looking video.

7. Outsource the hosting.   Downloading video to your own site can consume valuable memory and bandwidth. Uploading your video to a site such as YouTube addresses any concerns you might have about memory and data pipes. But your video is also shared across the entire network. The odds of it catching on in the Internet community are far greater. (YouTube isn’t the only site that will host your videos. Check out Brightcove.com, Blip.tv, and Vsocial.com, among others. If you need to show something in high-definition, go to Vimeo.com.)
8. Add text.   When you outsource your video, don't waste the extra space next to your display, advises Fred Singer, president of Anystream, a Sterling, Va., company that specializes in streaming media. Insert some copy next to the video that summarizes the clip's highlights.
9. Don't wait.   A lot of businesses have postponed their online video projects because they are waiting for "the perfect camera, the perfect light, the perfect this, the perfect that," says Chris Pirillo, a Seattle-based technology evangelist with Lockergnome.com. "Well, this is the Internet—nothing is perfect. However, doing video is a lot closer to perfection than not doing it at all."

With just a small technology investment and some basic video editing skills, you can bring your business to life on the Internet. But I’ll be the first to admit, it’s not for everyone. I worked with online video for more than five years before posting my first video podcast.

If this seems like too tall an order for your company, don't stress. Hiring a professional may not cost as much as you think. "Equipment costs for professional producers have dropped," says Greg Letourneau, chief executive of Knowlera Media, which runs a video site for producers called MonkeySee.com. "So many business owners will be surprised at how affordable professional video production has become."

About the author   Christopher Elliott is an Orlando, Fla., writer and independent producer who specializes in technology, travel, and mobile computing. His work has appeared in numerous newspapers, magazines, and online. You can find out more about him on his Web site or sign up for his free weekly newsletter.