Do you remember that Indiana Jones movie when Indy was chasing the bad guys through the crowded city streets and a man jumped on top of those carpets and had his swords drawn?
He continued to display a magnificent show of swordsmanship, dashing his cutlasses through the air with cool swishing sounds.
He was clearly going to kill Indiana.
Then something hilarious happened.
Indiana Jones pulled his pistol from the holster and shot the man standing 20 feet away.
Problem solved.
Clearly, the “baddy” didn’t get the memo that he shouldn’t bring a knife to a gunfight.
This is what I want to discuss with you today. It’s showmanship that is happening on hangouts that brings negative attention to all Google Hangout hosts.
Plus, there are other aspects of the hangout that people are using that is throwing off the way you are representing your show.
#1-The Hangouts Notification
There are literally tons of ways to build your Google Hangout audience on Google+ and getting people in the door has and will always be challenging.
Some of these challenges may include the Google Hangout creator to resort to some negative, if not desperate, actions.
You may have noticed an influx in your Google notifications recently.
Hangout hosts of all kinds are putting you in a notification circle and inviting you to their show when you didn’t opt in.
I realize that most hangout hosts have a disclaimer (I have one) for their show that says If you came to the show and commented in the events page, you will be put in a notification circle to be invited to future shows.
Super cool.
That doesn’t really bother me.
If I’ve attended someone’s show and placed a comment, that usually means I’ve enjoyed myself and wouldn’t mind getting a notification from these people of their future shows.
However, and I’m personally seeing this and so is a lot of my friends on Google+, people are adding us to notification circles when we’ve never been to the show, never commented or engaged, nor do we care anything about their show.
Maybe that’s a little harsh, but it’s happening.
If you have a Hangout show that you want to build traffic to, then follow the steps to grow your Google Hangout audience above.
Don’t resort to spamming invites to people.
It may prompt them to turn off invites from you.
My own personal show has a group of over 400 people that get invited.
You may think that’s a lot, however, you also have to understand that I’ve been doing the Relationship Marketing Show since December 5, 2013.
If you are a little worried that there is no one in your HOA invite circle to notify when the time comes, don’t just throw people into this circle.
You’re not doing yourself or anyone else any favors by including people that didn’t opt in or engage with you on past shows.
This number will get built over time and consistency with putting out your show.
Include the HOA invite inside of your event description and let people know that they can (or will) be placed in the circle.
Simply placing hundreds of people in your invite circle that shouldn’t be there is bad etiquette and should be avoided.
#2-The Google Hangouts Trailer
You never get very long to make a good impression.
That’s why its always a great idea to implement the “trailer” feature for your show. It lets the audience know what your show is about, plus you get the opportunity to entice them a little with cool graphics and video editing as well.
My good friend Jeff Sieh is a master at building some of the best HOA trailers that I have ever seen. This is the way it’s supposed to look.
You have to know your limits though.
As you can see, my personal show on Google Hangouts doesn’t come with a 10-15 sec trailer. Even though I understand that people respond to this very well, I choose not to put it up there for a simple reason.
I’m not proficient enough at video editing to create an awesome trailer.
I don’t personally think a talking head makes a great trailer, and most people won’t either.
I do however, understand that you can pay to have these done. Which is what I’ve done.
Just waiting on it to be finished…
If you’re going to opt in for the trailer feature, and you don’t have a video editing plan, then you should hire someone to create one for you.
You’re hurting your image and your brand when you do sub-par work. It reflects heavily on you and the way people will see you if you have something that doesn’t look right.
So, if you’re like me and can’t edit, you can always create a great image and place it on the video box in place of the trailer. The dimensions are 1280×720 and that’s easy!
Plus you will be doing yourself and everyone else a service by not putting something crappy on it.
#3-You Don’t Have An i5 Processor?
[Disclaimer]–This next area is simply a personal beef I have when or if someone goes into a hangout and doesn’t have these things[/Disclaimer]
Finally, I want to talk more about the technicalities of Google Hangouts.
We’ve been talking about professionalism and how people see you and your show.
Did you know that YouTube and Hangouts can be viewed in HD?
Well, they can.
I had to learn this the hard way, but, in case you didn’t know this, your computer has to have certain things in the hardware before you’re going to look great on camera.
Make sure you have the necessary things that will enable you to do the HD video:
#1: The Camera
If you’re going to be successful at Google Hangouts then I suggest you use something other than your computer camera.
I recommend, and use, the Logitech c920 webcam because it gives you a clear picture and you can access the webcam’s functions and set up white balance and enhancing features that make the video better. You may also want to consider the Tripod Stand that goes with this camera too for better adjustment.
#2-The Computer
I’m not very much into tech, but I do know that in order to create awesome video’s that aren’t “grainy”, you need to be compatible with Google Hangouts.
A compatible computer is one that has 4 logical cores or higher. I recommend getting something with an i5 processor. An i7 would be better, but then you get a little pricey.
More info on HD from Google Hangouts
#3-The Connection
Not only does the computer play a big role in video quality, but the connection does as well. You should have an upload speed of a 3 or higher if you want to successfully create HD video.
Head over to SpeedTest.Net and check your up/download speed. If it’s a 3 or higher you’re good.
Check your bandwidth settings and Video call settings
Video Marketing is Smart Marketing
You’re on the right track if you have chosen video marketing as a basis for your strategy.
I realize that this last point was a little bit different than what I normally write about. However, I think it’s a legitimate beef that I have with some people that want to make Hangouts an integral part of their strategy and don’t adhere to any of these standards.
The only bad part about this is, there are a lot of moving parts that you have to connect before you really can be deemed a professional.
These are things that I am still learning, but at least we know the basics now.
Create your Google Hangout for the people. Learn what they want to know and then build a show around it. You won’t have to fill in invites hoping people will come, just be consistent with it, have HD quality, and people will show up when the time comes!
Wade Harman
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