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Today marks the one-month anniversary of the new mobile app Vine. Since its release, it has received a lot of buzz as well as dealt with a variety of issues. Businesses did not hesitate to jump onto the app for marketing purposes, while amateur users haven’t been shy about testing it out for…other reasons.
Introduced to the world by Twitter, Vine is a simple video capturing application that allows users to film quick 6-second looping videos by holding their thumb on the capture-frame. The looping quality of the Vines results in something very similar to a GIF, while the ability to capture and share moments on Twitter or Facebook makes the app very similar to Instagram.
In fact, Vine is considered to be to Twitter what Instagram is to Facebook. And as such, the snappy in-one-ear-out-the-other characteristic of tweets has been transferred into video form with Vine. The quick-snippet format is a great tool to have for stories that can be summarized simply in 6 seconds, but so far it has mostly been used for fun and games (and in one case, for a resume). Of the “Editor’s Picks” that top a users Vine feed, the best vids have made creative use of the loop-function, or the easy stop-motion capabilities.
Another result of Vine being an extension of Twitter is that while users can post Vines to their Facebooks, they can’t search for contacts through their Facebook friends. This is directly related to Twitter’s restrictions which disallow Instagram users to connect with their followers via Twitter. A statement from Facebook implied that Vine was guilty of replicating Instagram’s “core functionality.“ by stating in 1.10, “You may not use Facebook Platform to promote, or to export user data to, a product or service that replicates a core Facebook product or service without our permission.” A resolution is unlikely given the 2 mega social-media sites’ ongoing battles to top social site rankings.
Although Vine is still only available to iPhone users, the increase in the number of Vines showing up on Twitter feeds makes it something to keep an eye on. While it is still so new to the scene, most every creative Vine vid is getting recognition – but, that means so are all of the bad ones. If your business deems this mobile application’s capabilities fitting to your brand image, by all means, try it out! In order to get the most out of the platform, here are a few guidelines to get you started:
1. Promotion
If you’re going to use Vine as a promotion, it can’t be a straight sell. It has to be more of a tease. “Look what we’ve got in the works but aren’t going to show you, yet…” If you do show what you’re selling, make sure there is another point of interest, like…
2. Story
Use your 6 seconds to create and resolve a conflict. Keep in mind that your story will loop, so it needs to make sense to a viewer who could come in at any point. Don’t try to tell a story that needs more than 6 seconds.
3. Point of View
Make use of the motion and multiple scene capabilities. This is not the medium for Panoramas. If you can think of a creative way to splice your video to give it an awe-factor then this app was made for you.
Vine is an exciting new tool that can be leveraged to generate real results for your business, but if you are on the fence about it, don’t feel pressured to be an early adopter just so you can say you lead the pack. Like any mobile application, there will always be updates. Best just to wait it out until inspiration strikes and voila, Vine turns out to be the perfect outlet. When that happens I wish you a rainstorm of views and fruitful growth to your business. Pun intended.
The world is changing rapidly, and people all over the world are struggling to keep up. As technology grows more and more advanced every year, new solutions to old problems are continually presenting themselves. Data backup has come a long way from the traditional methods to which many businesses have become accustomed. Many businesses are now taking their backup needs into the cloud for remote storage, and there are many great reasons to make this jump.
- Optimal Security
Security is a primary concern for businesses everywhere, especially when it comes to data storage. Loads of important information are traditionally stored on backup tapes on-site, which has worked for many years. Lots of businesses are skeptical of the security that cloud backup companies can offer. However, all of your backed up data in the cloud is encrypted and channeled through secure servers, making it safer than traditional storage methods. Using a cloud backup service is, in many cases, more secure than any other option.- Incredible Ease of Use
Traditional backup processes are difficult and time consuming, leading to inconvenient and infrequent backups in many cases. On a cloud platform, backing up data could not be any easier. Cloud storage software is easy to install and use, and backups can be scheduled for fully automated data storage. Let your IT team focus on more important matters by automating the tedious task of backing up data. You won’t even have to think about your data backups and storage when you make the move to a remote cloud based service.- Protection from Natural Disasters
When all of a company’s data is stored on hard copies on-site, there are numerous advantages and disadvantages to consider. One of the biggest down-sides of this traditional method is the threat of natural disaster. A single fire outbreak can wipe out huge amounts of data which can be impossible to recover. Cloud backup is your ultimate insurance policy against the elements. Your data is stored on secure servers in well maintained facilities that are designed to guard against any possible threat from outside forces. Spare yourself from catastrophic data loss for good.- Maximum Portability
Cloud storage makes your backed up data portable, so that you can access it from anywhere in the world over a secure connection. You can access your data from home if you want to spare yourself unnecessary trips to the office, or log in from around the world if you need to keep working while you’re on vacation. This is a great asset to businesses in the modern age, when everything is going mobile and moving quicker than ever.- Budget Friendly Solutions
There are multitudes of online backup providers all over the world to choose from, and they offer a wide variety of cost effective solutions for your data storage needs. Start shopping for cloud backup services today to see what’s available and within your means. Cloud backup services offer some of the most budget friendly solutions for businesses everywhere, making this new tech development a great asset for you and your company.
How long should a video be? Well, that reminds me of a story. Last week, I spoke at SES London 2013 at a conference session entitled, “Keys to Success with B2B Video” and during a ClickZ express clinic entitled, Optimising Video for Maximum Visibility.” I also participated in two Roundtable Forums that enabled attendees to Meet the Experts: one on “Branding Through Social Media” and the other on “Video Optimization.” And one of the questions that I was asked again and again and again was: “How long should a video be?”
Is There A ‘Right’ Answer for Video Length?
This isn’t surprising. This has been a popular question since at least 2009, when I tackled it in the first edition of my book, YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day. (I said, “Keep videos 2 to 3 minutes long.”) And it was still a popular question in 2011, when I addressed it again in the second edition of my book. (I said, “Long enough to reach a point.”)
But the question took on a new urgency in October 2012 when “watch time” replaced “view count” in the YouTube algorithm.
As Eric Meyerson, YouTube’s head of creator marketing communications, explained back then,
“Now when we suggest videos, we focus on those that increase the amount of time that the viewer will spend watching videos on YouTube, not only on the next view, but also successive views thereafter.” He added, “If viewers are watching more YouTube, it signals to us that they’re happier with the content they’ve found. It means that creators are attracting more engaged audiences. It also opens up more opportunities to generate revenue for our partners.”
Get it? Got it? Good.
So, how long should a video be?
I thought that I had answered this question three months ago when I wrote a column entitled, “What’s the Ideal Length for a YouTube Marketing Video? A look into Video Duration vs. Social Sharing.“
In that column, I interviewed David Waterhouse, the Head of Content for Unruly Media, who had just compiled some interesting stats on the average length of the ads in the Top Global Video Ads Chart. He found that the average length of the Top 10 most shared ads of all time is 4 minutes and 11 seconds, if you exclude “Kony 2012,” which is 29 minutes and 59 seconds long.
And the day before SES London 2013 began, I visited Unruly Media’s new digs at 42-46 Princelet Street in London to get a tour of Unruly’s Social Video Lab. I spoke with Ian Forrester, Unruly’s Global Insight Lead, and we discussed why the shorter the ad, the fewer shares it tends to attracts.
Recent research has found that the number of shares a video gets is linked to the strength of emotion it elicits from its viewers. The stronger the emotion, the more likely it is going to be shared. So, it appears that 30 seconds may not be enough time to tell a compelling story that generates a very strong emotion.
Forrester and I also discussed David Ogilvy’s classic book, Ogilvy on Advertising
Widely hailed as “The Father of Advertising,” Ogilvy said back in 1985, “For all their research, most advertisers never know for sure whether their advertisements sell. Too many other factors cloud the equation. But direct-response advertisers, who solicit orders by mail or telephone, know to a dollar how much each advertisement sells. So watch the kind of advertising they do.”
A generation before the advent of social videos, Ogilvy observed, “General advertisers use 30-second commercials. But the direct response fraternity have learned that it is more profitable to use two-minute commercials. Who, do you suppose, is more likely to be right?”
So, I thought I was ready to answer the question: “How long should a video be?”
Then, Oliver Snoddy, the Head of Planning at Twitter UK, gave the morning keynote at SES London 2013 on Wednesday, Feb 20. And he quoted John Hegarty, one of the world’s most awarded and respected admen and the author of Hegarty on Advertising.
According to Hegarty, “Creativity in advertising is all about the power of reduction. Write less, say more.”
And Snoddy added, “Constraint inspires creativity.”
He demonstrated that “a single Tweet can tell a story” with an example from the Oreo Cookie account on Twitter.
When the power outage stopped this year’s Super Bowl for 34 minutes, Oreo posted a simple ad that was retweeted more than 16,000 times on Twitter. The message: “Power Out? No Problem” accompanied with a picture that said, “You can still dunk in the dark.”
But instead of a picture, imagine if that Tweet could have been accompanied by a short video from Vine, the new iPhone app that lets you create and share looping videos that are 6 seconds long. You can dunk an Oreo cookie in the dark in six seconds.
Or use Tout, which ups the limit to 15 seconds. What can you say in 15 seconds? Check out “Oreo Fudge Cremes Commercial – Indescribably Good! (15 sec)”
And, if you mistakenly think that a B2B brand can’t tell a compelling story in six seconds, then check out “Happy 540th birthday to Nicolaus Copernicus!” General Electric made with Vine.
So, how long should a video be?
After SES London 2013, I now think that the right answer is: “Long enough to reach a point.”
That’s also the advice provided by the video, “NPR’s Scott Simon: How to Tell a Story” which is part of the YouTube Reporters’ Center.
Simon says, “A story ought to have a point. I don’t mean a lesson or a moral or even a punch line, but a point – something that people can take away from it.”
So, how long does it take to reach a point?
Like “Happy 540th birthday to Nicolaus Copernicus,” it can take 6 seconds. Or, like “Kony 2012,” it can take 29 minutes and 59 seconds. Or, like most videos, it can be somewhere in between.
In other words, put away your stopwatch and start making great videos that your audience will love and share. Then, check early and often on the Time Watched report in YouTube Analytics.
You can use this data to better understand what your audience wants to watch. More time watching content means a more engaged audience and more ad revenue. That’s what YouTube’s focus on watch time is all about.
Get it? Got it? Good.
This week we’ve heard from blog sellers, and blog buyers. Whether or not you’ve been inspired by what they’ve had to say, I’ll bet that the conversation has raised one key question in your mind:
What is my blog worth?
These days, we’re seeing blogs being recognised as valuable business tools, both for business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer connections. So if you own and run a blog, it makes sense to understand its value.
Today’s challenge is to do just that.
The basics
If you’ve been following along this week, you’ll already have a few of the key metrics for a blog valuation in mind:
- the age of your blog
- uniqueness and quality of blog design
- traffic levels, sources, and quality
- visitor stats: bounce rates, time on site, conversions, and so on
- current monetization approaches and levels
- associated social media footprint.
Andrew Knibbe of Flippa recommended that we use the marketplace as a yardstick by which to value a blog, but what other factors should we take into account before we start doing research there? Let’s step through the process of getting a rough idea of your blog’s value.
Vital stats
First, make note of these vital stats for your blog. You could do this on paper, but I recommend a spreadsheet, because that’ll make it a bit easier when it comes to comparing your site to others down the track.
- Blog age: Andrew from Flippa mentioned earlier in the week that older blogs tend to be given higher valuations.
- Domain: If you’re selling the domain with your blog, a shorter or more memorable domain is probably likely to be looked on more favourably than a longer domain, or one that contains hyphens, for example.
- Platform: The platform on which your blog is hosted might not in itself raise or lower your blog’s value, but it might impact the types of buyers who’d be interested in it.
- Theme: If you’re on a WordPress blog, paid or unique themes are more likely to attract more serious buyers.
- Alexa rank: We saw earlier in the week that Alexa rank also contributes to a blog’s value, so if you don’t know where yours sits at the moment, find out.
By this point, you should be off to a good start.
Traffic stats
Next, it’s time to open up your Analytics tool and take a critical look at your blog stats not just for the last month, but over the last few months.
- Monthly traffic: Note down the total traffic levels first.
- Traffic sources: Next, allocate portions of traffic to the relevant sources of those visits.
- Landing pages: Look at your key landing pages. Shahzad mentioned yesterday that some of the most popular landing pages on the blog he was buying were off-topic posts. How relevant are your main landing pages to your blog’s brand and niche?
- Bounce rates: It’s important to look at this data over time, and to work out which traffic sources have lower or higher bounce rates. This can help you get an idea of the overall value of your blog’s traffic.
- Time on site: This is a good measure of engagement and, again, it’s worth looking at the average time on site for each different traffic source, to see which visitors are more engaged.
This information should help you get a feel for the value of the traffic your blog attracts, and the content you’ve developed. It might also help you identify places where there’s room for improvement, but for now, let’s keep going with our valuation.
Monetization
If you’ve monetized your blog somehow, you can be sure that potential buyers will be interested to know how you’ve done it, and how successful you’ve been. Let’s pull together the data—if you don’t already have it at your fingertips.
- Monthly revenue: Add up your revenues for the last three months and divide by three to get a monthly average.
- Monetization sources: Make a note of the ways you monetize your blog. Have you created unique products from scratch? Do you use certain advertising or affiliate networks?
- Conversion rates: Look at your conversion figures for the last three months, and compare them with your last three months’ traffic to calculate your average conversion rate.
- Value per visitor: Take your average revenue figure for the last three months and divide it by your average traffic figure for that time period. This will give you an average visitor value, which will be really helpful in assessing your site against others for sale in your niche.
- Profit: You might not be able to calculate this figure until you complete the next section, but do be sure to subtract your costs from your revenue figure to get a profit figure. Again, this will make for easy comparison between your blog and others. If it’s good, it could also go a long way to tempt potential buyers.
Note that at this point, you can calculate a valuation based on a multiple of your revenue—either 12 or 24 months, say. This will give you a good reference point for the research we’ll do on Flippa in a moment.
Costs
Whether or not you’ve monetized your blog, potential buyers will want to know how much it costs to run, so they can compare it with other blogs they might be considering buying. Make note of the costs you pay for:
- Hosting: Note monthly or annual figures.
- Design and development: Unless you have regular maintenance charges, you might want to add up what you spent on your blog’s design and development in the last year as a more objective figure than your expenditure for the last three months.
- Content: Do you pay writers? Buy content? Add up those costs—along with your own time cost for writing and editing your blog’s content.
- Marketing and customer acquisition: If you spend money on advertising—or time on guest-posting and content marketing—again, add up those costs for the last three months.
- Time: Don’t forget to tally your time for other blogging tasks, like social media, affiliate and ad management, and so on. Try to get a clear and honest picture of how much time it takes you to run your blog on a monthly basis.
Comparing blogs in your niche
This basic information shouldn’t take you too long to collate. And once you have, the real challenge begins! Try to find at least two other blogs for sale in your niche to compare yours with.
- Go to Flippa.com. You can, of course, search for sites for sale in your niche on Google too. That can be a good way to find out what’s for sale, but as those sites may not give you an indication of how much they’re hoping to sell for, a visit to Flippa for research is a good idea.
- Find sites for sale and auction in your niche or a similar niche. I’d recommend you look at finished sales, since that’ll give you the figure the sites sold for, rather than just their current bid price, or Buy It Now price. Recent sales will give you the best indication of what the market is actually willing to pay for a blog like yours.
- Assess the sites. Go through the checklist above again for each of the sites you’re looking at. Make a note of the prices they sold for. See if you can spot any trends that can indicate what the market values in blogs within your niche, and think about how your blog stacks up on these points.
- Settle on a price range in which you think your blog might sit. Rather than picking a single figure that you think you’d accept for your blog, I think it’s probably a better idea to use your research to work out a range in which that price might reasonably fall. You’ll have a figure you wouldn’t sell below, and a range in which you can set your expectations.
- Compare the range with your multiple-of-revenue price. If you calculated a multiple-of-revenue price above, compare it with the price range you’ve arrived at to see if the figures are in the same ball park.
By the end of this challenge, you should have a rough valuation on your blog. If you’re game, share it with us in the comments below. Or, if you’d rather, you can just let me know if you were surprised—or disappointed, or inspired!—by the price range you arrived at.
Single family home tenants are 18 percent more likely than apartment tenants to stay in their current homes five years or longer, suggesting that demand for single family homes, the fastest growing rental category, will be more stable than multifamily demand, according to a new national opinion survey released today by Premier Property Management Group.
One of every four (26%) single family tenant plans to stay in place five years or more, compared to one out of five apartment dwellers (22%), according to a new national survey of renters by ORC International for Premier Property Management. Founded in 1938, ORC International is a leading global market research firm and since 2007 has conducted the CNN|ORC International poll.
One factor contributing to single family stability could be high marks renters give the quality of single family property management. Some 80 percent of tenants in single family rentals said their property management was good or excellent compared to only 63 percent of apartment renters One out of four apartment dwellers (26%) rated their management as only adequate,
“With the emergence of the single family rental option, American families have a new housing choice that brings them the aspects of associated with owning their own homes important to families such as living space, privacy, safe neighborhoods and the sense of community- without the cost and risks of homeownership. Single family rentals can be found in virtually every community today and more and more families are choosing single family rentals either as a temporary stop on the road to becoming homeowners or as a permanent solution to their housing needs,” said Chris Clothier, director of sales & marketing and partner of Premier Property Management.
Over half, 52 percent, of renters, including 60 percent of single family renters and 44 percent of apartment dwellers, said they anticipate becoming homeowners in the next five years. Families with three or more members (64%) and children under 13 (69%) were more likely to become homeowners than the 43 percent who don’t plan to become owners.
Clothier said near term interest in becoming homeowners among single family tenants reflects the new roles single family rentals are fulfilling as a stepping stone to homeownership for first-time buyers and as a sanctuary for large numbers of families displaced by foreclosures but who plan to buy again when they can afford to do so.
Despite reports that difficulties getting financing are keeping many U.S. renters from becoming homeowners, the survey found that the inability to get a mortgage ranks only third of among the reasons renters don’t plan to become homeowners. Among those who do not anticipate becoming homeowners (43 percent of all renters), 29 percent say they can’t get a mortgage. More renters report that they don’t want to buy a home because they enjoy being renters (40%) or they simply don’t want to be homeowners (39%).
Short term turnover rates for both multifamily and single family rentals over the next two years are 56 percent for multifamily and 59 percent for single family rentals. Apartments typically experience an annual 50 to 60 percent tenant turnover.
The survey also found:
- Single family renters make more money and are nearly twice as likely to have children as apartment dwellers. Median income for a single family renter is $75-100,000 (66%) versus $50,000-75000 (51%) for a multifamily tenant. Single family households are larger; some 65 percent have three or more members compared to 32 percent of apartment households. Some 63 percent of single family households include children; only 34 percent of apartment renters have children living with them.
- Most single family tenants are older, aged 35-44 (53%) compared to 14-34 (46%) and 65+ (61%) for apartment dwellers.
- Compared to apartment dwellers, single family renters value neighborhood features important to children, such as parks and playgrounds (65% to 71%), good schools (72% to 82%) and safe neighborhoods (97% to 98%).
