Project Management by the Numbers

Project Management an interesting subject always a challenge, ever-changing and something you can be very passionate about and at the completion of a successful project you can be proud about what you have achieved. I have done over long periods of my career working in part in Major Projects for a multi-national and running projects globally for other organisations and have been involved with pretty much most of my life.

However, we seem to be moving into an era of Project Management by the numbers.

So rather than running projects it seems we now seem to let software do it for you, today companies look for qualifications in and rely on processes and software such as Prince 2 and Agile/Scrum which have come from software industry. The problem is that they were derived from the software industry and do not necessarily fit with “real world” projects.

And based on what I see from the likes of Apple with their latest debacle with the release of IOS10 and the regularly defective Windows systems and the constant updates and patches, which as we all know are just covering up major flaws in their systems. So do these project management systems actually work?

Certainly, Prince 2 being derived from the IT industry and the Government you have to wonder why such “religious fervour” is given to it, with the poor success rate of government software projects I will let you decide based on the billions that have been wasted so far.

Though as a start point for someone with no experience it will have its benefits in giving structure to a project.

There are other systems such as the PMI’s (Project Management Institute) Project Management Professional (PMP) qualification that take a wider stance. PMP is the most widely known certificate, which originated within construction industry. It covers a lot of ground but not everything is needed for all projects. In fact, each project needs its own customization, which is general based on risk, and I hate to say it but also budget.  What I mean by that is you do not use the same approach for building an aircraft vs designing toothpick.

So are we too reliant now on systems rather than actually being able to run projects, inspire staff and communicate with suppliers, team members and the wider project network.

Running a project is as much about communication and building a team that all have aligned goals from different disciplines as it is about systems. You can build a beautiful Gant chart with all the resources, risks and critical path identified, but that does not mean your project is going to be a success.

Good project management is like good science and engineering. Certainly, you have to follow a process so that projects don’t become chaos or fail, but without the ability to drive a project, inspire confidence, control budgets, pick the right team and crucially have the ability to adapt and be flexible then you will have serious problems.

Many of the old adages will still apply “if it can go wrong it will go wrong” no matter how much planning you do and yes every project “will fill the time available” and usually more.

I know some will disagree, and they will say follow the process and it will always be perfect, but in my experience projects can be upset from everything from political upheaval, change in direction at board level, un-expected resource issues or supplier problems even earthquakes or war. Most of which could not have been predicted or factored in, unless there is an unlimited time and budget, which is never the case.

You do not need any certificate to practice good project management as long as you are well organized, you can lead a team, control suppliers and budgets and your communication and inspirational skills are good, and lastly you have a lot of experience and are flexible enough to deal with all things that will inevitably blow your project off course.

Certainly, the qualification will help if you have little or no experience, it will help you to build a working framework and understanding of how to take any project and put effective, communicable structure to it.

However, sometimes the tools and knowledge resources and tools can be so numerous that you get lost in them, which is where much of the experience comes into play.

You need experience and a clear end goal in mind and to derive something that fits what you’re trying to achieve in a way that you grasp and your team grasps, and that fits your environment best.

Very much like the football manager explaining his tactics to the team, if they don’t understand it, the entire process will fail.

A project manager should have all the tools and techniques needed to run a professional project. However, in my view completing a year of dedicated study to gain a certificate without many years of hands-on project experience will not make you a project manager.

Project management is not simply a case of arbitrarily “running the numbers” it is much more, involving interpersonal skills, organizational skills, finance skills and determining the best use of resources and team fit at the very minimum.

This can’t be done in the classroom alone.

I am certain there will be many that will disagree, and I welcome your comments.

 

By Ewart Dudko-Richardson

 

Email : info@guvnormedia.co.uk

Web Site: www.guvnormedia.com

Phone : +44 (0) 843 289 4742

Email : edudkorichardson@guvnormedia.com

E-mail: info@guvnormedia.co.uk

LinkedIn Profile : http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/ewart-richardson/11/288/429

Twitter : @EwartRichardson

Can any Car Dealer afford to ignore over 150,000 new customers?

I have had a few interesting conversations in recent weeks with potential clients and yes the though the headline statement is controversial it is also true, certainly in the car industry, it certainly would appear that the dealerships we have spoken too really are not interested in new customers from sources other than the traditional ones, the ones they understand.

Certainly, many do not see the Internet as somewhere they can do business or even raise awareness of their business or brand.

This, despite being told by clients that they first saw the cars and their dealership via a search engine or via the likes of YouTube in a car review.

Now either the car market is really buoyant and car dealers have so much business and don’t care about future customers, or they just do not understand the Internet and how to use it and how to leverage new business and customers from it.

However, unfortunately that is going to be the future for car dealerships and pretty much all businesses.  Certainly the Millennial’s coming through to become the buyers of the future will only ever use the Internet and the growing rise of smart phones and tablets will drive that even faster.

So how can I make such statements, what are my credentials, well I have worked around the globe and have involved in marketing and sales for many years in the difficult world of B2B, a far more testing environments, and quite often with old out dated ideas.

Anyway, I now run my own company serving the B2B market and have proven data and proven success generating business for companies in terms of £millions in terms of revenue.

I have proven case studies backing what I say, anyway back to the case in point, our company was given a 2016 Evoke Black Pack by Jaguar Land Rover to provide a video review of the vehicle. The film got the blessing of JLR, so we put it out with no publicity on YouTube to see what would happen. We now stand at 147,000 views on YouTube – that means around 1 million hits and its still climbing.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/lQHZBMq99is

Now there are a lot of car reviews out there, a lot very poor, some fantastic, however, we know that you can, at the very least with a good-quality car review, get at least over 100,000 plus views and a lot more hits as well. We have the data to prove that.

So as we work in the commercial sector (Creating video content for clients, leveraging their video to generate sales and driving online marketing) we thought let’s apply this data and use some of the practices and processes we have learnt from the B2B side of business and apply them to the to the car market.

So we created a business model and started talking to car dealerships to discuss what we could do to help them.

And don’t just take my word for it. Feel free to read this article to http://bit.ly/1lrn6P6 which states that 70% of car buyers are influenced by YouTube.

Our proposition estimated that based on actual sales that the impact on the price per car in a typical dealership would add around £21 to the cost of a new-vehicle sale, run that out across two dealerships selling the same brand, and that halves and so on.

We based that on a one-year cycle, in reality, models are changed every two years or so and then the same business model could be applied to the pre-owned market reducing the cost per vehicle even lower so it is not a big expense.

Now I am not going to give away our marketing/business model for all the obvious reasons, but what we do know is that our model will reach over 100,000 new customers per model, the more models the greater the reach. We have the figures to prove that.

For most businesses to be able to market to over 100,000 or more (Possible over 1 Million) potential new customers would be something that most companies would be interested in.

However, that’s when things started to unravel, not because the numbers don’t stack up, not because we are wrong, BUT because I suspect that the Car Dealerships businesses and those that run them do not understand the Internet and are very much in the past regarding online marketing and what the future will hold for them.

We have seen the same in the world we normally inhabit. Some clients embrace change, some are terrified of it. It’s partly because the pace of change is outstripping the marketing/business model they have of the world.

We believe that some even think the Internet and all it brings in a fad, yes I have had that said to me in 2016!

Some even refuse to accept their own data, we always benchmark where are clients are now so we can see the effect our work has their business, so some are happy to carry on with an outdated business/marketing model taking the Ostrich Approach, if I put my head in the sand, then the lion won’t eat me!

The one thing I do know is that those who embrace change will succeed, those who don’t won’t, as the history of business tells us will fail, look at Kodak to name one company that failed to embrace change.

As I said I have the proof, I just look at our most-recent project. Our work has seen their Alexa rating over 1 million places, and they have seen their website engagement double, that will lead to business growth.

Another company we have helped has seen their profits double.

Are we miracle workers, no we certainly are not, BUT we do know what works, we embrace the future and drive change which is fully measured?

Remember the Internet is in a constant state of flux, so what works today may not work tomorrow.

Certainly traditional marketing and business methods still play a part, but the business world is changing and changing fast, figures suggest that by 2020 70% of Internet content will be video (Source – http://bit.ly/1RUUoym  ), so you either get on the train, or you stay at the station.

For businesses that want to thrive, I suspect staying off the train will mean one thing, like the dinosaur you will become extinct.

So like car dealers you can either ignore the potential 100,000 to 1 million new clients because you either don’t care or are happy where you are, or you can embrace change explore new ways of reaching out to your customers and grow your business.

It’s your call.

If you want to know more feel free to make contact either to challenge me, ask advice or discuss your businesses future.

 

Written by Ewart Richardson

Email:  edudkorichardson@guvnormedia.com

Website: http://www.guvnormedia.com

LinkedIn:  https://uk.linkedin.com/in/ewart-richardson-42928811

 

 

Is Your Business Fit? Get your 52 Point Health Check and Find Out.

I am pretty certain that these days every company has an online presence of some sort.

If you don’t or you have not invested wisely then you may go the way of BHS or before that HMV and a litany of others.

Even the most humble of retailers now has an online presence however, have you invested wisely?

In fact, do you actually know if the money you have spent is working for you?

I hear many say it’s the customers, they don’t understand my message, or well, I put a video on my site two years ago, and it made no difference or from one Estate agent selling houses that cost over £1 Million “Well the video’s I filmed that cost £30 each they really didn’t work for us”

That sort of argument I hear a lot, but no wonder, it’s probably less than you would spend selling your second-hand iPad on EBay, so why would anyone trust a low quality poorly made video costing £30 on a ticket item costing over a Million.

Think about it why do the likes of Apple, Land Rover and others majors invest in high quality Online Digital Marketing, simply because it works.

However, I guess the estate agent I spoke with and perhaps many of our customers, until now, had no way of knowing how well their websites or indeed their digital marketing campaign is actually going.

Certainly to understand how the Internet and its users see your site was, up until now, very expensive and required a lot of work and understanding.

So we had a long think and tried to think how we could help our customers understand their problems.

How could we give them a start point something they could understand and something that could be measured, something that would start to solve their problems and improve their bottom line, something unbiased and independent using independent data, their data.

So we have created a 52 point Digital Health-Check report for our clients online marketing activities to see if their businesses were actually “Fit For Business”.

The report looks at everything from the effectiveness of your website and SEO through to social media integration. We look at how our client use video content, in some cases if at all, whether what they do is mobile friendly – meaning suitable for Smartphones and Tablets.

We check how many people look at their site, how long they are there for and much more.

For some holding up this mirror and being confronted with your own data, which is fully independent, is quite frightening and often painful as it really does tell you where you are, which for some is not what they expected.

For others it has been incredibly enlightening and allowed them to rapidly progress their business and increase their sales, authority and presence.

Though it depends if you have the Ostrich mentality, or you want to improve and make progress and in the end, grow your business.

 

In our experience, it is about 50/50 as there are many that are happy working with what they have regardless of what the data is telling them or indeed how well their business is doing.

For us, it is good to as we only want to work with progressive companies that have a vision for the future and want to improve move forward and build their business into something special.

For those that are progressive the major benefit is that they now have a real start point as they can actually track and measure improvements,  they can see that they are getting more engagement and in the end more sales.

They can measure success in real terms.

If you fall into the camp of wanting to improve and grow your business and your online marketing strategy then get in touch, and we will run our 52 point check and report on your business to see where you are.

Then perhaps we can help you as we have helped others.

 

However, if you want to be an Ostrich, then good luck, and I suspect in the end you will end up with the dinosaurs – extinct because the internet is not going away.

 

 

 

 

Ewart Dudk0-Richardson

@EwartRichardson or @GuvnorMedia

Email : info@guvnormedia.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 843 289 4742

http://www.guvnormedia.com

When is it OK to post Poor Quality Video on your Website and your YouTube Channel?

The answer is simple – if you don’t want anyone to watch or you simply don’t care about your company brand, sales or business image.

We have had an interesting few weeks with video content with one of our recent video’s raising more than £1.5 million for a client and another video on YouTube heading towards 130,000 views and picking up around 5,000 to 10,000 plus views a week meaning its been hit over a million times.

We have asked the burning question with two very different films why have they been so effective?

I think the answer is very simple, they were made by our professional team, presented by professional presenters, edited incredibly well with lots of key information that resonated with the audience that they were intended for.

The film that has had the larger viewing figures of the two is a review of the new 2016 Evoque, the film was approved by JLR and has no doubt “tipped” a few more customers over the edge into buying the car, that said it was and is a review, not an advert.

Why has this video been successful and why have similar video reviews by others that have been shot on iPhones not been anywhere near as successful?

Certainly, we all know that a video of a cat doing something crazy will get thousands of views, pretty much any “cuddly” animal doing something crazy will get high viewing figures on YouTube and they are often shot on a “wobbly handheld iPhone” so why wouldn’t say a car review or something more substantial not be watched and not fill the audience with confidence about the product when a “cuddly cute pet” would?

I think the answer simple, a 15 second cuddly pet is a one off “accident” that is not important and is not judged or expected to be high quality, it is what it is, an amusing accidental one off short video.

Whereas a car review is something you are considering investing in, something you might buy, a high ticket item and the quality of the video and the information in it will be judged against its piers from say Top Gear, Fifth Gear, AutoTrader etc. who invest substantial budgets into producing high quality polished video reviews, that very quickly exposes the poor quality ones.

Also would even consider buying a car over £40,000 from a review shot on an iPhone with bad sound and camera shake? I am not sure I would take the content seriously would you?

So anything that you produce for your product has to match the expectations of your customers, so if you sell low quality product and it low budget then fine make video to fit that niche, but if you want to exude quality and something that is worthwhile then your Video content will have to match.

Would a “wobbly” iPhone video with poor sound quality get you into the show room to spend £40,000 plus?

Oddly enough the same goes for the second video but for entirely different reasons, this video was not intended for a mass market and it is about a specialised piece of equipment that will have a major impact on all our lives but is for a small market. However, the company needed to make sales and get investors interested to put money in so that the company could expand.

So how do you get investors to be convinced enough to put over £1.5 million into a business?

You make sure that the story you tell is in a language the investors understand and this is where the production team that can produce high quality video comes in. Our team created a narrative that allowed a story to be told to a wide audience, financiers and business people who perhaps are less interested in what the technology can do but about what it can achieve and where its niche is, where it can generate business.

Even the UK’s largest Crowd Funding organisation AngelsDen will tell you “no video, no crowdfunding”.

So in that case why do so many companies persist in putting out low quality video to sell their products, again I think the argument is very simple, they do not believe they are being judged by the market and they think “anyone can make good quality video” and simply that is not true.

If it were, we would all have Hollywood great movies to our names or a string of TV shows, and simply people haven’t. It is a very difficult and skilled job to product a Video that will work for your business. It takes care time and thoughtfulness to understand what you want to achieve, to whom and why. Then to craft a video that works for you showing your products and services in their best possible light.

It’s very simple if you are not getting the views or you are not getting success from your video then probably you are not doing it very well.

Even some of the big companies don’t do it right, how many times have we seen a “talking head” on a finance site? Do you watch or listen? I know I don’t, so why do they persist in doing them? It’s more probable lack of knowledge of how video works and perhaps the ego of the person in the video.

“I must be great because I am on the board, so everyone must want to hear what I have to say ?”

Unfortunately, that is not always the case, not everyone is a good speaker on camera, it is a skill that has to be learned, practiced and worked at, it is not 5-minute job.

We meet many executives and senior manager who tell us they don’t need a script and that they can deliver everything first time perfectly. That is normally a sign that we are in for a very long day of “Umms” and “errs” and much more besides including a very long editing job.

I would think that Russell Crowe or Brad Pitt are probably not good at banking, but they are very good actors. So they stick to what they are good at and perhaps others who think they are great on camera should stick to what they are good at?

I would hope that this will help a few of you to decide that making quality video’s that will affect your bottom line is best left to the experts, like most things in life.

However, for those who still want to do it themselves we are in the process of creating a number of training courses that will help you a little.

The first will be available later in January it will be presented by our Creative Director Mark Alexander Todd who has produced programmes for the BBC and several other major organisations, several feature films and has worked in Hollywood and the UK so his insight and knowledge helping you will be vital for you to make video that is not only of decent quality but also something that will help your bottom line.

But you won’t be Steven Spielberg overnight.

Alternatively, if you would like help with your video content from a company with a long track record in success perhaps give us a call.
Ewart Dudko-Richardson

http://www.guvnormedia.com

@EwartRichardson or @GuvnorMedia_

info@guvnormedia.co.uk

Tel : +44 (0)843 289 4742

Sandler Trainings Marcus Cauchi Lectures on RECRUITMENT – HIRING BOND NOT BEAN – A MUST WATCH webinar event

This Week we are running another WEBINAR PLUS EVENT on behalf of Sandler Training.

This time Marcus Cauchi will be lecturing on RECRUITMENT – HIRING BOND NOT BEAN in this is a compelling and MUST WATCH webinar event.

It is FREE on the 9th of December at 15.00 BST (UK) but places are limited, they go fast so book now to avoid any disappointment.

Certainly, if you have to recruit because it’s your job or you are a professional in HR then this really is a MUST WATCH for you.

Even if it is a rare event in your working life there may come a point when you have to recruit someone, so why not learn from the best?

Marcus, who is very much an expert in this field having worked and consulted for most of the major companies and advised those a little smaller. He will be taking you through the “do’s and don’ts” and ensuring that you don’t pick the wrong candidate.

We all know that picking the wrong candidate for any position is not a good thing for you or your business so why do it?

Learn from the very best and make your recruitment process a little easier.

Marcus will be looking at

• The most common mistakes in the recruitment process

• Clues to competence

• Giving you his bespoke hiring template

• Discussing interviews skills and techniques

• How to scoring your candidates

• How to remain objective

• Onboarding

And Much More

And at the end of it all you will be able to have a live Q and A session with Marcus, whether you agree or not Marcus will be as ever inspiring, interesting and though provoking.

All of this is Free – so book your seat now for this fantastic opportunity to learn from an expert in this field.

9th Dec at 15.00 BST (UK)

Register Now

Book Your Seat at

http://bit.ly/1m19QB2

For further details contact info@guvnormedia.co.uk or call +44 (0) 843 289 4742

£1 million in extra revenue for one client, Video Content with over 1.5 Million hits, was 2015 a success?

At the end of each year you tend to look at what you have achieved and t this time of reflection we have looked back at our business and who we have helped achieve success.

It’s not been an easy year, is it ever in reality? It’s not been a story great success achieved with ease, it has however been story of success because of a great deal of hard work put in by our team on behalf of our clients.

In terms of our team I would like to thank them for their efforts and in terms of our clients I would like to thank them for being patient and listening to what we told them and the way things tend to work.

If I look at the highlights some of our clients as a direct result our video campaigns and the way we structured their message in video format have made over £1 million (around $1.5 million) over and above what they would have made.

That makes us feel proud that we have done great job and if you look at what they invested to achieve that success, it was just above £10,000 so not a bad ROI.

We have clients that have raise around £1/2 million ($750,000) for the same level of investment and some investing now that will raise who knows what next year.

We have created videos for clients that are now on YouTube that with a little push are now hovering around the 10,000 views and rising.

In total our video content we have created is being hit by around 32,000 per week so that now equates to around 1.5 million over a year.

So someone is watching something and engaging with the content we put out.

Let’s be clear not every video is a great success but many are and many are starting to raise the profile of our clients.

You may ask how we do this, it’s not just one point of attack, our team are very much from the film industry and TV and not only understand how to get maximum engagement in our client’s message but our team also understand that you need to promote your video, your message and have a plan to do that before you start.

There must be a clear goal that is to be achieved with a clear message with the use of every medium in this multi-faceted marketing environment, to promote the video.

We pride ourselves on getting a simple message from a complex subject, even very difficult concepts for most people to understand, but it can be done, who didn’t understand our film on Liquid Liquid Counter Current Chromatography? Perhaps you didn’t until it was titled “Finding a Cure” and the film spoke about the way the technology is being used to find new cures for cancer, diabetes and more.

That engaged with the company’s market and raised them over £1 million because people understood what the company did.

It has turned their business around.

https://vimeo.com/143812822

Also unlike perhaps other video companies we just don’t film what you ask and walk away knowing you look poor, with a weak message and ultimately leaving you with something that will damage your business.

We look to build long term relationships, we look for success and failure and if a film or video is not working we work with a client to review that message or video and perhaps re-edit it to gain more viewers and more potential customers, its all about attention to detail and maximising every opportunity no matter how small.

Something the major advertising houses have done for many years.

Each view is another potential customer or investor or key influencer.

So has 2015 been a success most definitely for our clients and I think long term it will be seen as a success for us to because the sort of confidence we are building with our clients can only ever lead to long term success a growing business and the belief that you really can make a difference.

If you think we could make a difference to your business then get in touch at info@guvnormedia.co.uk or tel: +44 (0) 843 289 4742

By

Ewart Dudko-Richardson

On Behalf of Guvnor Media

Twitter @EwartRichardson

LinkedIn : https://uk.linkedin.com/in/ewart-richardson-42928811

Who else wants to save money, give better customer satisfaction make extra sales by better training?

Training, should it be written, verbal or visual or a combination of all three?

With technology available now my view it should be a combination of all three so why is there a persistence amongst many of the companies that supply us with instruction manuals or leaflets with equipment or units that require some form of assembly to ignore the visual and the verbal?

It has always struck me as odd particularly in the retail sector that these two primary methods of communication are still ignored. For one it must cost thousands in dealing with returns when a simple video, which gives both verbal and visual communication, would leave very little to miss-interpretation and therefore give a shop or show room a satisfied customer and no returns to deal with.

Worse still even when retailers are selling communication devices such as a TV you still get a huge manual to wade through, why not have a set of simple video instructions available on the TV or from a Website or embedded on the TV itself or via an App?

Pretty much everyone now has access to the internet via a mobile device or PC and it is unlikely that someone would buy an internet ready TV without actually having access to the internet?

So why not use video as part of the instruction set, why spend out all that money on printing when it is not required, if you want a manual simple have it in PDF form available for download, but surely a simple set of instructional videos available on a mobile device would be far better and far more useful most people.

Even take a new car purchase, you get a huge hand book which you have to deal with, why? I understand that there is a legal requirement but do we really need a big printed book to wade through to tell us how to check the tyre pressure? Surely a simple video could be used which would make things much clearer and remove the miss-interpretations that happen when people read a manual.

I can hear some people say that producing a set of videos for each model car will be expensive, well actually it won’t.

Because like all equipment produced now many of the components are common across each range therefore the number of video’s required will be less as many will fit every model.

Meaning the cost per video is down into pennies per car even if it has to be shot in different languages, without the printing and distribution costs.

The same is true for domestic appliances and a host of other items on sale.

Certainly if you look at self-assembly furniture there are many common elements.

It will just take a little thought, rather than just being an after-thought.

Even updates become simpler because if the video “pack” or “deck” is broken down into small sections so updates can be applied from a library very simply and quickly without any of the associated re-distribution costs.

Even simple tools could be applied such as QR Codes or Augmented Reality such that when your mobile device is shown an areas of a piece of equipment it recognises it can show the appropriate training or instructional video.

None of this is “rocket science” all of the technology exists now, so why is this not being adopted?

Don’t we all jump to YouTube if we can’t fix a problem? Normally someone has made a video about how to fix just that problem, so why is it not being adopted by the manufacturers themselves?

Because unfortunately I think there is a problem of technology lag, the staff who are tasked with providing the “instructional documentation” are probably out of step with what is available as well as being out of step with their clients.

Companies do not think holistically, there really is no “joined up thinking”, so where the engine management section of a car company is say working to the very latest fuel mapping software available, the section providing the manuals is working with systems that are perhaps several years out of date without thinking to match.

It really is thought of as an after-thought.

Why have say Ikea or B and Q not adapted the video approach to save on the huge number of returns from customers who just cannot understand written instructions, why do they not understand the money saving opportunities they are missing?

And by using the visual medium you also have the chance to cross-sell and upsell your offers for free, advertising costs and there they are missing huge upsell opportunities.

It is something that other more forward thinking industries have recognised for a long time, look at the likes of Apple and Microsoft, with an iPhone or iPad there is no manual but there is a website with Video Content and upsells/cross sell or even trailers of new products.

The same model could apply to Ikea, B and Q and even your local Ford dealer if they could think holistically.

So perhaps now is the time for these companies and others to step up to the plate and catch up with the technology that surrounds us all and help your clients and customers.

If you are not sure how the inclusion of video in your training, online instruction manuals and product sales and demonstrations can help your business grow and make you extra sales then perhaps have a conversation with us at Guvnor Media and we will show you how we have done this for many of our clients.

 
Ewart Dudko-Richardson

 
@EwartRichardson or @GuvnorMedia_
Email : edudkorichardson@guvnormedia.com
Tel : +44 (0) 843 289 4742
http://www.guvnormedia.co.uk

Please make your own video content, its important, it plays a big part in our customers success

It might be an odd thing to say as a company that has built its business as video supplier, but we actually encourage people to make their own films.

I had a conversation this morning with a prospective clients and they said “Yes I called because I wanted a quote to do a short promo film, but the chap I work for has an expensive camera and we were out last night got a bit drunk and we decided we would probably do it ourselves – save a bit of money and I can throw a few words together as a script and it will do for our website”

There you have it anyone can make a film and we actually are really happy for them as they will save a money, in the same way you can save a bit of money if you fix your own car or do all your own DIY.

I am pretty certain today with access to smartphones with pretty good lenses on them and some pretty good tech including DSLR’s etc. that actually anyone can make a film.

In fact, YouTube littered with video that all sorts of people have made and there are lots of videos on Websites all around the world with someone talking to a camera.

However, and here is probably the kicker, how many do you watch and take seriously and how many would inspire you to buy a product or have confidence in the company or follow through on the training course?

I suspect very few, now the question you have to ask would you buy a high ticket expensive item such as say a high class car if the video was made by someone who is not trained, on a script thrown together and ill lit footage?

Would that convince you that the company was serious? That the product was high quality and would you part with your hard earned money to buy such a product?

I suspect not, I suspect that probably you would give companies with poor quality video on their site a wide berth.

If making crafted high quality video with a strong script and message was easy to create after a drunken night out I would suspect that the entire advertising and film industry would have been dead a long time ago.

I don’t think the latest John Lewis advert was thrown together after a night down the pub, or the latest Samsung TV advert was derived after 10 minute at the coffee machine or indeed Bentleys latest advert was made during an oil change.

No they were all heavily crafted well thought out well filmed, crafted and made by professionals.

To put it in perspective would you trust anyone to service your car, the one that takes your children to school safely every morning, to say a neighbour with no skills or training but they did have a shiny new tool kit. Again I suspect not.

So why would you trust your company videos, which tells the story of your business and is a critical point of contact or indeed part of your sales strategy or even part of a product, say training to someone with no skills either?

Why would you even think you could make your own films with no training or even if you had the right equipment?

Because if that were the case what is the point in University or College or even the most basic training?

If that were the case I could give a complete novice a toolkit and absolutely no training and send them out as a Plumber? Why would they have to serve many years as an apprentice?

Would I trust my life savings to the chap I met at the station this morning because surely he doesn’t need to be a qualified IFA does he?

No I wouldn’t and neither would you, and the same goes for creating high quality video that will generate money for your business and keep your company safe and your customers inspired to buy and trust in what you do and what you say.

So yes I actually encourage people to make their own video for their business, why, because it gives our clients and clients of all those time served professional video and film makers a great chance of taking your business away from you.

 

Ewart Dudko-Richardson

Tweet @EwartRichardson and @GuvnorMedia_

Ewail at : edudkorichardson@guvnormedia.com

Or call +44 (0)843 289 4742

Have you made over £2 Million more in sales this year? Is your message as strong as Apples?

In today’s world when no one wants to waste money on un-necessary spend for advertising, sales or promoting their company, when everyone is looking for a return on investment it’s really good to be able to report that so far this year in our own small way we have generated our clients close to £2 million worth of extra business over and above what they would have normally received.

That proves to us that strategic advertising works, good quality video works and that, integrated with a Website and a sales message that fits your business and is congruent throughout business along with a Social Media campaign that has the values of the company at its heart, then the sales will follow.

Guvnor Media, currently known for our award winning Video work, our Biz To Biz TV channel on Bizminds.tv work very hard with our clients to ensure they achieve results, these recent figures prove this to be the case.

The clients that have done best with us have invested fully in our ethos and listened to what we have told them and employed many of the techniques we have discussed and advised them on.

Some of this has lead to some of our clients opening pipelines across Europe and into the USA and in one case to China.

We have a team that can deliver Video Content as well as advice and the projects from Website Development through to Business Coaching and Mentoring, Social Media Management and more besides.

I wrote an article this year that spoke about not doing Video unless there was a Financial Goal in mind a Return on Investment, and the recent news we have received from our clients reflects this.

At Guvnor Media we would rather turn away work from a client that has not thought about the ROI than create content or any other media that does not have a purpose or will generate revenue.

All Video Content or indeed media of any kind must have a purpose, that purpose should always be to bring in sales, whether that is via the direct route such as an advert or whether it is indirect such as an informational film, training which can save or generate money. It must be something that brings people to your Website/Webinar your shop/showroom virtual or real  or to a landing page to encourage people to buy.

It must have some form of ROI or what is the point, but media, video or otherwise must also be integrated and congruent with the message your company is looking to deliver.

My view is look to the best such as Apple, they use every medium to sell their products and educate and train their clients, but they have a single ethos everyone knows what Apple stands for.

Apples Website reflects their video content which is reflected in their staff, their shops, websites and showrooms and this follows through throughout their product range and their back up service and beyond.

Their entire message is congruent with what they do and sell and company ethos, what has that meant? A massive return on investment because everyone what they stand for what they sell and how to buy their goods and invest in Apple.

So ask the question why are you not as successful as say Apple, for most of our clients it’s very simple, when we meet many of our clients of our clients for the first time often there is no clear goal of what they are trying to present what they want a video or series of videos to do.

That is the first thing we look at, what is its purpose?

Often we look deeper at their entire message and many do not understand that video and its congruence to a business is a “moments of truth” to a client.

Your video maybe the first thing a client sees when they land on your website or find you on YouTube, it may be the first thing on your website home page.

So it’s critical that its message is clear simple and in tune with your business.

And if your company sells high ticket items it’s even more critical, would you buy a car or a £1 million house or even a TV if the video was shot on an “wobbly” iPhone on a Selfie Stick with a confusing website and no clear message?

Is that how Apple do it? The answer is clearly no.

So those customers we have had a great deal of success with this year, those who have listened taken our advice and looked at congruence, their message, the quality and delivery of the message across all parts of their business have gained nearly £2 million in extra business.

So if you want success it cannot be done for nothing, it cannot be done without thought BUT it must be done with a clear view on ROI, a business plan and strategy.

Look at your business and is your message as clear as Apples?
By Ewart Dudko-Richardson

Tweet @EwartRchardson or @GuvnorMedia_

Email : edudkorichardson@guvnormedia.com

Or Call +44 (0)843 289 4742

Will this technology save our lives as the current antibiotics begin to fail?

In life things work in mysterious ways and perhaps in my life the one constant is that I am surprised.

I regularly get the news from the BBC and this morning after being at meeting all day with Dynamic Extractions, a UK technology lead company, I get sent this article sent through from the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34857015

It is worth a read because it is something that affect us all, in fact, it’s something that David Cameron has spoken about along with many others.

It is something that will affect us all in the next few years, if it hasn’t already.

By that I mean people, family members, will die and are dying around the world now because we are pretty much watching “while Rome Burns”.

We will all be touched by this problem as the article says. That is the continued lack of effectiveness and development of anti-biotics. I suspect many do not understand the seriousness of this, because we have forgotten what the world was like before anti-biotics, our generation has forgotten that un-challenged disease could and did rip through communities, even a country and kill thousands and in some cases millions.

Far more than any war including world war could muster, the flu virus pandemic in the early 20th century killed up to an estimated 50 Million, World War 1 by contrast was only 17 million. So this is so much more dangerous and perhaps should be the main focus and remember a virus does not respect borders!

At the moment there are hot spots appearing around the world with diseases that are becoming pretty much resistant to all current anti-biotics.

Why is this happening quite simply government and health organisations have taken their eye of the ball, money is tight, pharmaceutical companies do not see this area of research and pay back from it as a worthy investment.

Also those people with the power to influence the situation do not understand the time it takes to develop new anti-biotics. A new cure is not something you can just “pluck” out of the air. It takes time along with the “discovery” process.

I suspect government ministers, even though they have been warned about this problem for some time, have both not understood this or have not wanted to understand this.

They probably think it’s better wait until the next elections because who want to invest in something that the next elected government will take credit for, the usual short sighted attitude.

Particularly in the current financial climate where there is a pull on resources in all areas.

However, ultimately when one of the virus’s hits and there are thousands of deaths then the tide will rapidly change, as it did with the Ebola virus, but that was just one virus, not the plethora of treatment resistant viruses that are coming.

But perhaps by then it may be too late for the millions who may die.

So where does that leave us? Well thankfully there are some people despite lack of interest and the fight for funding may be giving us the human race a fighting chance. This new technology, or should I say revised, re-worked and rebuilt technology is finding new anti-biotics from natural products now.

These cure are out there and they are now slowly being uncovered, nature has the solutions, as it has had for millenniums.

This technology is giving scientist and researchers the step change they need in the fight.

The technology has just been commercialised by Dynamic Extractions from years of Research by Professor Ian Sutherland and his team at Brunel University and being based on proven technology there is total confidence in the process.

The process is called Liquid Liquid Counter Current Chromatography (CCC), the chemists among you will say yes but that has been around for years, BUT if you think you know CCC then you really don’t this new iteration has been developed over 10 years making it as much like the old systems as the Model T Ford is to Lewis Hamilton’s Grand Prix winning car.

And just to open your eyes even further the new business is already winning contracts in China and in Europe for the class leading equipment.

It is currently being used to extract quantities of high value products from all things such as Algae’s through to new cure for cancer from the bark of Magnolia through to new cures for Alzheimer’s.

This new industry is driven from the UK and is being exported around the world into key pharmaceutical research establishment, Dynamic Extractions can also help with Method Development and even have a contract services section.

So this is real and happening now.

It is backed by such luminaries as Sir Richard Sykes ex CEO of GSK and Sir Roger Jones one of the UK’s leading Pharmacists.

The new Dynamic Extractions CCC unit is most certainly not the answer to everything but with its proven method development (in some cases this can be done overnight on the integrated software that runs the system), its scalability and its efficiencies in terms of process, purification and reduction in waste streams it certainly provides many of the answers that existing technology just cannot solve.

If you want to know more then watch this film that we have recently produced https://vimeo.com/143812822

It might open your eyes and in the end it might go a long way to saving your family and loved ones from some of the diseases that will inevitably come our way.

Let’s just hope for once the UK government and politicians will wake up and start investing in this area before it’s too late.

If you want to know more or have your own opinions, then contact me.

 

Ewart Dudko-Richardson

Tweet @EwartRichardson or @GuvnoMedia_

Or Email at edudkorichardson@guvnormedia.com

Tel : +44 (0)843 289 4742