I ran across an interesting article and thought I’d share it with my audience. The actual title is “5 Reasons To Include Online Video Marketing In Your Digital Strategy…Or Risk Falling Behind” and is quite a mouthful, so I went for brevity in my headline.
Enjoy!
Jim Duncan is a friend and fellow member in the West Orange County chapter of LeTip. Jim has been active in both Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa communities for two decades and one of his passions is helping kids. Every year, Jim partners with Estancia High School (Costa Mesa), Costa Mesa High School and Huntington Beach High School to recognize kids who have demonstrated excellence in their studies, while working at least 10 hours a week. Each student that is selected receives a cash award, lunch for the student and parents and a certificate of achievement.
Jim has been bugging me to participate for a couple of years now and this time I decided to join in. It was a very inspiring day! These kids had aspirations that ranged from being a military pilot to a child psychiatrist, and everything in between, and I am privileged to have been a participant. Needless to say, I’ll be doing again in future years.
My “student” was Ms. Vivianna Almanza Merida, the aforementioned aspiring child psychiatrist. With her GPA and work ethic, there is no doubt that she can accomplish anything she sets her mind to.
I wish her every success!
In the never ending struggle to acquire reviews that honestly reflect my relationship with my clients, I am taking a different tack today. Once again, Yelp filtered out reviews from real clients who think highly enough of my work to award me with 5 stars on Yelp. Unfortunately, Yelp’s “recommendation software” doesn’t share the view of MY OWN CLIENTS!! But the hell with Yelp! Here you can see comments from several of my SATISFIED CUSTOMERS, that they don’t want anyone to see. That is, until I buy advertising from them, and THAT JUST AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN!!
I don’t work in retail or the restaurant/hospitality sectors who get thousands of reviewable transactions a year. My client list is a fraction of that…and I’m having a good year! So if Yelp hides HALF of my reviews, is there any wonder why I’m pissed? Maybe one day they’ll figure out that they need to treat service sector businesses differently than those in retail/restaurant/hospitality.
But for now, Yelp, YOU STILL SUCK!!
Hyperfine Media, based in the UK, published a great infographic that nicely summarizes several relevant points pertaining to video marketing. You can see the infographic here
Enjoy, and if you’d like to discuss your next project (here in the US), give me a call!
I hear that question a lot. Unfortunately, there are a number of elements that affect the price of a video. No, that’s not a dodge, it’s the truth. What would you say if someone asked you this question:
How much does an airplane cost?
In thinking about the variables in play to answer this question, you begin to get the idea there are a lot of things to consider! I know my way around aircraft and there are easily thousands of questions, like are we talking about fixed wing or rotary wing (helicopter)? So let’s dump the airplane example and get back to video. Let’s start by posing a few questions that should be addressed before we answer “that other question.”
So there you have just a few of the key elements of a video. Truthfully, anyone who would just throw out a “ballpark” quote without reasonable consideration of the variables I’ve shared here is asking for trouble. I would much rather take a modest amount of time to talk about those elements so I could provide a quote that would be meaningful for all parties involved. I may miss out on a few jobs taking this approach but I’m as professional in my business methodology as I presume you are in yours. Consultations are free, and the result will be a production that achieves its desired results at a rate everyone finds acceptable.
Ordinarily, if I have a beef with a company, I deal with it and move on. But this isn’t ordinary. Yelp has injured hundreds–if not thousands–of small businesses with their wicked “recommendation engine,” and they seem unwilling–and downright cavalier–about not doing anything about it. But make no mistake, there is no let up in the aggressiveness of their advertising sales efforts.
A few days ago, I located Yelp’s “Director of Local Business Outreach” on LinkedIn. With a handle like that, he seemed uniquely positioned to interact with an aggrieved business owner. I sent him an “InMail” message and to my surprise, he actually responded. Alas, having consumed vast quantities of the company “kool-aid,” his response was not a surprise, though he at least used his own words, not company boilerplate. Here is his note to me, and my reply. I replaced his name with initials, but if you want to find him, he’s right there on LinkedIn.
Hi Terry,
You can always find useful information at www.yelp.com/suport or by contacting a member of the Yelp team using the 800 number found on biz.yelp.com during regular business hours. It’s important to note that Yelp’s recommendation software exists to highlight the most useful and reliable content to consumers. More and more people use Yelp every day because they have trust in the reviews. There are several components of a review that the software evaluates (including things you can’t see on the front end) but some reasons why a review may not be recommended include:
- They are written by a less established user so the system doesn’t have enough information about the user to make a recommendation
- They suggest a bias (like reviews written by the friends and family of the business owner)
- They are possibly fake (like the ones the software detects coming from the same IP address)
It looks like you already have a five-star rating on Yelp, which is great. To build on that, it requires a few crucial steps, the most important of which is engaging with your customers:
- Provide great customer service offline because our data shows that a review is more likely to be 5 stars when the user mentions “good customer service”
- Claim your business page so that you can use the free tools to acknowledge and engage with your customers directly
- Respond to positive and negative reviews promptly and diplomatically
- Instead of personally asking for reviews, let them build organically by using storefront signage, website badges, and promotions like Gift Certificates and Yelp Deals.
All of the above can easily be done by registering at biz.yelp.com to get started and none if it is based on advertising of any kind. I hope that information is helpful for you.
Thank you,
DH
# # # # #
Hello, DH…
First, thanks for actually taking the time to reply. I’d be dishonest if I didn’t say I was surprised to hear from you at all. Your response was thorough and comprehensive, and I appreciate that you didn’t resort to boilerplate. As you may have read in my original note, I worked in digital marketing for a dozen years, so I understand algorithms better than most.
That being said, I have issues with several things you said and would like to address them:
- Your first point speaks to “less than established user(s).” One of the reviews that was suppressed was from an attorney I did a video job for. He has been on Yelp for years, with dozens of reviews and is actually a fan. I would consider him VERY established, so this argument is inaccurate.
- Bias? If someone tells the truth, and doesn’t inflate what was stated, how could that be bias? Isn’t the truth the truth???
- I can’t comment on “fake” reviews coming from same IP addresses…I don’t have enough for that to be a valid point. I do know the folks that have posted…hell, I worked for them!
- It’s nice that you acknowledge my 5-star rating, but ain’t that what I’m supposed to do??
Now to your other points:
- If I work hard to provide the “great customer service” that you allude to, why should it matter whether it’s online of offline?
- I already claimed my business page…did that months ago
- If I get a less-than stellar review, I would address it. See point #1 and bullet points 2 and 4.
- I DON’T ask for reviews…I am far more sophisticated than that! There are subtle ways to do it, but again, I’m not attempting to game the system, I just want the reviews I earned the old-fashioned way! As for “build organically,” I know what that means but it doesn’t make sense. People post when they post and if I don’t do anything to affect that, what is the issue?
Your last paragraph is a stumper because you allude to “registering at biz.yelp.com,” which implies that I hadn’t even created a biz page. I did. I trust you saw it.
So again, I want to thank you again, DH, for responding. Unfortunately, we are still on opposite ends of this discussion, and my opinion of Yelp hasn’t been changed one bit.
Regards,
Terry
I received no further communication.
My advice to anyone contemplating using Yelp for their business: Don’t. You won’t get ANY cooperation from Yelp to help you do anything but buy ads. If you are in the restaurant, hospitality or other types of retail businesses, it may be a necessary evil, but if you are in the service sector, tread lightly. Apologies for the long rant — twice — but if I help one other business owner better understand the machinations of Yelp, it will have been worth the time and effort.
Now back to doing what I love…shooting and editing video!
Here we go again! This time, scammers posing as Amazon have attempted to foist their evil tricks on unsuspecting humans. Remember: we have to be vigilant all the time, and the scammers are simply “playing the numbers,” and it works for them!
Please folks, DON’T TAKE THE BAIT!! These messages look real, but when in doubt, ALWAYS go to directly to whatever account is in question and see if you have mail in THAT inbox. Look at the sender of this message: “amzdomain.com.” No, I DON’T THINK SO!! Unfortunately, some less-than-web-savvy poor souls will click a link like this and unleash all kinds of misery. Don’t let that happen to YOU!!
That is all.
For the last year or so, I have reluctantly created a Yelp business page for my business. A friend of mine is a huge fan, but I have followed the hundreds (if not THOUSANDS) of complaints logged by business owners. Just listing such complaints would take a separate blog posting, so I will confine my remarks to yesterday’s interaction with Yelp. I try real hard to not use profanity in my interactions with companies, but this was the last straw! As business owners, we all strive to get great reviews and recommendations from those for whom we do business. Sometimes we don’t get it right, but we always have a chance to make “lemonade out of lemons.” But when we do get it right, and then get penalized for doing so…well, you just read the thread and make your own conclusions. The thread is in reverse order, so it reads from the most recent comment to the first (oldest).
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
From: Me
Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2016 12:48 PM
To: Yelp HQ
Subject: Thanks for contacting Yelp! [ 4559203 ]SHAME ON YOU!! All you do is respond with bullshit boilerplate…you can’t even craft an individualized reply. Frankly, I would feel better if you just DELETED my business listing because going forward, I will never have anything to do with Yelp. I did what I was supposed to do and got penalized for it. You DON’T care about the small business owner and your response just proved it.
I will now go very public with this case.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
From: Yelp HQ
Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2016 9:54 AM
To: Me
Subject: Thanks for contacting Yelp! [ 4559203 ]Hi,
Thanks for writing.
We use automated software designed to recommend the reviews that will be most helpful to the Yelp community. The software applies the same standards to every business and every review, and we can’t manually override the results for any single business or review. If we could, people might think that we favor some businesses over others (we don’t).
Nevertheless, it’s always helpful to get feedback – we are continually working to improve the algorithm so that it can recommend the best reviews for our community.
-The Yelp Support Team
Original Message:
Additional Information:
——————————–From: Me
Sent: Monday, May 9, 2016 3:22 PM
To: Yelp Customer Service
Subject: I am being penalized?!?!OK, so now I am REALLY pissed!! I have worked hard in the short time I’ve been in business to nurture good feelings among the clients with whom I’ve done business. I reluctantly set up a Yelp page for First Impressions Video because I’ve had my suspicions about how you guys work. Well today, I discovered something that set my blood boiling and provides proof why I will NEVER buy advertising from Yelp. Two very gracious reviews, including one for a job I recently did for an attorney, have been disabled from view by your so-called “recommendation engine.”
I don’t give two hoots about this algorithm as it dehumanizes the whole process and again, I worked hard to EARN the trust of clients who say good things about my business. And if your system penalizes a business owner for doing the right thing, how could you, in good conscience, even THINK about trying to sell me anything–let alone advertising!
Just so you know, before starting my business, I worked in digital marketing for over a decade. I know how things work and this kind of “punishment” will NOT serve Yelp well. Should anyone ask, I will be sure to tell them how I feel!
Thanks for a crappy start to my week! By the way, I originally sent this note to Chris H****, but received a bounce back message that his “email account has been disabled.” I’m sure he’s moved on, but it doesn’t change how I feel. And I doubt that I’ll hear from anyone at Yelp about a resolution to this. You guys SUCK!!
I’m curious…what would you do? I even tried sending a LinkedIn “InMail” to Yelp’s “Director of Small Business Outreach,” but doubt seriously that I will hear from him, or any other human that isn’t trying to sell something! **SIDEBAR** The “Chris” in this thread called to pitch advertising at least twice a month.
**NOTE** This article was originally published last July, but as I’ve been doing lots of “talking head” interviews and testimonial shoots lately, I thought it timely to re-share a neat story of how to help non-professional on-camera talent to get comfortable in front of the camera.
One of the kindest testimonials I’ve received came from Elizabeth Fairchild, of Accurate Background, here in Orange County. I was tasked to shoot a series of interviews of company employees representing various departments, and the videos would be used as part of their exhibit at a national human resources convention. Some of the candidates were very comfortable being in front of a camera; others, not so comfortable. There are a number of techniques that I use to distract an interviewee from the camera and related equipment, and aside from some warm-up banter before we begin, we tried to focus on what excites them about their position in the company. I often roll the camera before we “start” because sometimes, you can get some real gems in the commentary. I also use the off camera style of interview popularized by shows like “60 Minutes” because again, if the interviewee is looking and speaking to a person, they tend to be less conscious of the gear in the room. Introverts present their own challenges, but by investing a little extra time, once these folks open up, their contributions are truly invaluable!
Part of Liz’s testimonial follows, and the next time you want to schedule interviews for your company or organization, give First Impressions Video a call! If you want to read her entire compliment, scroll down through the comments on my home page, and you can see it there.
“The day Terry came into film went off without a hitch. We had scheduled a full day of interviews with eleven employees. For many of them, this was their first time in front of the camera, and they were quite nervous. Terry did a great job making each interviewee feel comfortable – offering advice on how to ignore the camera and coaching them through their responses. At wrap, I think everyone felt like Terry was a part of our company family, and we were able to capture natural, authentic testimonials.”
Jon Spenceley wrote an excellent article (including a short video clip) for Vidyard last month that was so to-the-point, it’s worth sharing with my audience. You can see it here. Because nearly 
all my video work is “non-studio,” I am keenly aware of optimum surroundings for shooting. Jon’s “tip number 2” speaks to something I am adamant about: quality audio. I have a full array of microphones, including several full wireless kits, that ensure I am capturing the best sound I can.
I do lots of conferences, seminars, political forums and other gatherings where there is lots of activity, and this can actually enhance the video I’m shooting by presenting an energetic environment. But before cameras start rolling, I make sure all the key aspects of the video are taken into account. That produces good video and happy 
clients.
And that’s as good as it gets!
Proud to be a member of this prestigious organization
First Impressions Video 