Feltpad

Video is one of most powerful tools to share your message, but producing a video can be a pricey undertaking for a small business. On the low-end, if you’re lucky, you might have a professional friend who could get a video shot and edited for $2,500 – not counting paying actors, renting physical space, and wardrobe. Even “cheap” services like Epipheo or MotionCrafter will set you back a minimum of $4,000.

The alternative that Feltpad chose was to produce a video using an old version of iMovie, free software programs Gimp for image editing and Audacity for audio, and stock photos from Fotolia. The total cost of the video was $55 for the photos plus approximately 7 hours of development and experimenting time – but you also gain some knowledge along the way.

Here’s the result:

While it might not be as pretty as a video with a $5,000+ budget, it gets the job done for whole lot less money.

Here are the general steps that we took to produce the video:
1. Layout a basic storyboard on paper
2. Simplify the storyboard, think about what you want the images to look like
3. Write a script
4. Start looking for images on Fotolia
5. Take your time and pick the right photos
6. Revise your script
7. Use Gimp to edit the photos as needed
8. Drop the photos into iMovie, add transitions, etc
9. Record your voiceovers using Audacity
10. Use Audicity’s “Noise Reduction” tool
11. Export your audio files
12. Import your audio files to iMovie
13. Rework the timing of your video in iMovie
14. Export and upload to YouTube

It seems that everything I have been reading lately talks about gamification – gamify your life, gamify your job, gamify your dog.

I have taken two aspects of gamification – points tracking and rewards – and started to apply them to my business.

Points Tracking
Each quarter for the past year I have created a spreadsheet that tracks Feltpad’s different sources of income, along with how much income I expect from each of those sources each month.

As the quarter progresses, the numbers start to add-up (or not) and I can give myself a grade, for the month and for the quarter, based my performance. When I’m doing really well, it motivates me to see that I am close to hitting 100%. When I’m not doing so well, it is at least interesting to see where I should be.

Example Spreadsheet:

Rewards
People love rewards, even if they are meaningless. Look at Foursquare. People love getting badges – digital badges that appear on their phones.

This quarter I have implemented a rewards system for myself. I will get a bonus at the end of the quarter, based on my rating at the end of the quarter. The rule is that I get to spend this money on something fun that I would otherwise not purchase.

The rewards are based on a grading scale. The highest reward is for an A+ (97%+) at the end of the quarter and quickly reduce for each lower grade. If I get a C or below, I get no reward.

One of the best business books I’ve peeked at this year is only 56 pages long and free to download. It demonstrates how an organization of any size can be fun, all-inclusive, and thrive. I am talking about Valve’s Employee Manual.

The manual hints at a lot of things I would like to know more about (How does an electrical socket know which computer is plugged into it?) and is an incredible display of design, hard work, and passion.

One of the biggest drains on my productivity is the (sometimes worrying) impulse to check email, check Facebook, check Twitter…

After a bit of searching, I found an application that is ironically named “SelfControl” for Mac. SelfControl lets you set a list of web domains to blacklist, then set an amount of time that you would like to block access to these domains. Closing the program, deleting the program, or restarting your computer will not undo the timer.

I have been using SelfControl for a few days and it has been great.

For Windows users I found Cold Turkey but I have not tried it.

Both applications are free to download.

The easiest way to get a free phone line for your business is to sign up for Google Voice.

If you have an iPhone or Android device, you can make and receive phone calls through your Google Voice number – or do it all over you computer. I have been using Google Voice over WiFi while traveling internationally, which allows me to make and receive calls to/from the U.S. for free.