The staff of Northeast IT during a video shoot with eTown Videos

Production time for a 60-second small business web video

Short web video profiles are an effective way for small businesses to increase customer engagement.

I will take you through the various steps involved in producing a 60-second small business video profile like the ones we produce here at eTown Videos on regular basis. The typical turnaround time from first client contact to final video delivery ranges between 3-6 weeks.

Step 1: Typically, once you have decided to add a web video to your site, we gather some basic information about your business to prepare you and our professional videographer for the shoot. We would want to know basic information about your business, e.g. location, how many employees, history and background about yourself and your business. If you haven’t already received a quote we will work up a customized video production quote.

Step 2: At this point, we also schedule the video shoot with you, which will generally take place during your normal business hours. It’s best to capture footage of a typical business day. This will help the web visitor envision what it would be like to do business with your company. Many times the video shoot includes an interview with the business owner and/or a manager. We also like to shoot b-roll footage of the business, office staff, the building or the storefront. B-roll footage complements the interview and keeps the viewer engaged with interesting video footage about your business.

Often we provide you with questions and guidelines on how to prepare for the video shoot in advance. We realize that most people might feel somewhat apprehensive in front of a camera. It is always a top priority to make you feel as comfortable as possible. Making a video is supposed to be a fun and enjoyable process.

Step 3: At this phase of the video production we head back to the studio and the editing magic begins 🙂 A junior editor scrubs the footage and does the rough cuts and prepares the footage for a senior editor. Both editors pay particular attention to the art of digital storytelling. One of the reasons we spend so much time upfront learning about your business is because we need to gain a deep understanding of your philosophy, business model, and of course the people working with you. It is critical that we tell your story in a way that reflects your vision and how you would like to be seen.

Additionally, we add titles, graphics, basic logo animation, and an appropriate music track to bring out the desired mood.

Step 4: We prepare the video for client preview. We ask the client to view the video, and two rounds of minor changes are built into the cost structure. If any changes are required we’ll make the adjustments accordingly and resubmit the video for client approval.

Step 5: The video has been completed and accepted. At this point, it’s time to distribute the video as per the customer agreement. In other words, a 60-second business profile is usually a sales and marketing oriented type of video and video distribution typically takes the form of YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, client website, etc. Distributing the video to as many place as possible is important to make sure your video gets seen by as many people as possible. If you’d like to learn more about video marketing please read a blog post which specifically addresses that subject.