Small Business Commando News

The wife, kid and I recently moved back to Chicago after living in California for 20 years. I suppose wanted to beat the rust belt rush that global warming will cause. After our first real winter, I’d say we’re a millennium or two ahead of the crowd.

We built a house in the city, close enough to hear the Cubs fans wailing at Wrigley Field.

One thing I noticed about Chicago is that the houses are long and narrow.

Another thing I noticed is that this is a bricklayer’s town. They use real brick with mortar and everything. In San Diego, brick is actually stamped plaster that is propped up with two by fours.

San Diego brick reminds me of the fake wood paneling on my father’s 1973 Chevy station wagon.

Real brick is expensive, so builders only put the good brick on the front of the house and use cheaper structural brick on the sides and back.

When we built our dream house (not pictured here), my wife selected a brick that is reminiscent of old Boston. It’s a deep red with character and weather marks.

The builder convinced us to pay more to match the color of the side and front bricks so it’s hard to tell where the expensive brick ends and the structural brick begins.

Chicago houses put their best foot forward leading with the good brick out front.

So what does this have to do with small business marketing?

I thought you’d never ask.

When you’re marketing your business on the Internet, you’ve gotta lead with your best, most compelling benefits.

This is particularly important with when marketing with video.

Attention spans are incredibly short, and if you take more than a few seconds to get going, you’ll lose your audience. Your online video is one click away from dismissal.

When you produce a video, grab the viewer’s attention immediately. You have less than 5 seconds before you’re in the danger zone. If you haven’t grabbed attention in 15 seconds, you’re toast.

We’re finding that the optimal length of a business marketing video should be around 30 seconds. If you have to go longer, you’re better off making two short videos that are each focused on an individual topic.

What are your thoughts, comments, questions, or ideas?