Fighting Depression and Making Videos
Last week I talked about how important it is to use real people in your online videos and allow a mistake or two to remain in the final product, if for no other reason than to give your marketing video a little authenticity. I must thank blogger David Meerman Scott at WebInkNow for alerting me to yet another example of this technique – the Kongsicle video. Say what now? You’ve never made a Kongsicle for your dog?
Scott tells the tale of Mary McNeight, who started making low cost videos in her Seattle kitchen a couple of years ago. She’s a great example of the power of online videos, and it all started when she couldn’t find a service dog.
Mary was diagnosed with major depressive disorder when she was 29 years old. She contacted the SPCA and got a dog named Jasper who eventually became her psychological service dog. But Mary soon realized that there weren’t any dog training videos available online in 2010. Apparently the people who knew how to do it weren’t sharing the information for free.
Finding a Niche
Mary went through service dog training herself, then started shooting and editing her own videos with a Flip camera and a Mac. She posted them online and immediately started generating high search engine rankings. After all, there wasn’t much competition!
Now, just by putting together videos that cost her little to nothing, Mary has grown her home-based business into the very successful Seattle Dog Academy, and she gets up to 40 emails a day requesting her dog-training services.
Which brings us to the Kongsicle video. It’s not a short movie about a giant ape who likes frozen treats; Kongs are natural rubber-food toy for dogs, and Mary’s Kongsicles are toys with frozen food inside.
What I found fascinating, and what really gets me excited about the impact of online videos, is how smooth and professional Mary is during the shoot. No notes, a few stumbles, and plenty of information presented in a ‘chewable’ format.
If you’re a dog owner yourself, you should also take a look at some of Mary McKneight’s other videos. She’ll teach you about puppy socialization, airplane travel, showing your dog how to bite softly, and even what to do when your dog gets ants in its pants.
This is how amateur video is supposed to be done.
About Ted Schellenberg
Ted Schellenberg has held positions in communications in the corporate, academic and public arenas, with specific experience in IT. Ted contributes a twice-weekly post on the online video marketing industry to LDRK Media's blog.