Pay attention to lighting. No, you don't need makeup, but you do want the videos to look good. Simply placing a lamp or two nearby can make a big difference.
Pay attention to your background. You can emphasize a background by lighting it, or de-emphasize it by keeping it in the distance and focusing on your face in a close-up. The Sony GC1 has a setting for focusing on images one to three feet away from the camera. A bookshelf with personal finance books is a good background, while a window with a view of the street may be distracting.
Keep the vlog current and common. Make your vlog newsy-about events of the day or week, and post it regularly. If daily is too much, do it weekly. Letting your clients know that you'll post a vlog at least weekly will make them expect comments when major news hits. You'll need to deliver. Explaining new strategies and products can be great content.
Delegate it. A firm's principals are not the only ones who can or should vlog on your site. Spread the responsibility around. You're likely to find that there are employees who are better on camera than you. That can be useful. When you want to announce news about your firm-an employee leaving or starting-the boss may not be the best person to deliver the news. By allowing others to make vlogs, your firm looks like it has breadth. Moreover, if you're grooming a successor, letting that person become the face of your firm may be advantageous.
Keep it short. No one has much time these days. Keep your message under five minutes. You are more likely to do it at least weekly if it only takes ten minutes of your time to record and upload your blog. Some potential clients will absolutely love a detailed written explanation about your firm's methods for researching stocks or funds, but it could be boring to other prospects. A 60-second video about your research process could help you with marketing.
Whenever possible, focus on your niches. The more special your niche, the better. If you cater to executives from the local power company who have stock options, then doing a blog about that is much more likely to get you clients than will a blog about pre-retirement executives.
Transcribe it. Your vlog won't be found in a search engine unless you get it transcribed. By creating text versions, search engine robots will be able to see and index them, providing you with important visibility-especially if you focus on niches.
Remember that it's advertising. Whether you're a registered representative or an investment advisor representative, your vlog is regarded as advertising material and should be approved by your compliance officer. Watch what you say!
Hold a fire drill. Take the time now to record a vlog on a day in which the market has tumbled 5%. Sketch out the main points you want to make to clients. This way, if and when stocks tumble sharply, your message is prepared and you're not thinking about it in a time of emotion.
Invite guests. If you work with an estate planner or CPA who you like, ask her to make a vlog you can post. Asking a CPA to speak about the latest tax rules demonstrates that you adopt a team approach to financial planning and work closely with other professionals. In the next few years, I am sure fund managers and separate account managers will routinely make vlogs of their own for distribution by you. For now, you may want to ask key managers to offer an occasional commentary.
Smile. You don't have to be Tom Brokaw or Katie Couric to know that smiling on camera is important. So try to have some fun with it.
The Vista Fiasco
It's been over a year since Windows Vista was released, and advisors who adopted it know what a headache it's been. The lesson: When it comes to operating systems and applications core to your business, move slowly. And if you're thinking about getting a Vista machine, look long and hard before taking the plunge.
When Vista was released on January 30, 2007, it was hailed as a great leap forward. Its predecessor, Windows XP, had been launched five years earlier, and this was the longest between new versions of Windows since Microsoft launched the operating system in 1985. However, the release was immediately criticized by reviewers and vendors.