Technology Evangelist went to Tech Cocktail 2006 in Chicago, IL to interview some of the interesting people attending. Mary Beth Hughes founded Big Thinking By The Hour, Inc. in 2004. BigThinkingByTheHour.com helps users bring Internet video content to their web site to help their Internet marketing needs. Their objective is to "become the preeminent creators of strategic Internet video content, designed around the way people Web."
Full transcript after the jump.
What brings you to Tech Cocktail?
Actually, we're up front videotaping everybody's elevator pitches. This is a juicy group of people who want people to hear what they have to say and what they're doing here tonight. So we're actually capturing all of those elevator pitches and getting them on the web.
What does Big Thinking By the House do day to day?
We create strategic content for our client's websites. We've got a lot of clients out there who know they've gotta take that next step into the video world and we're strategically taking them there. We're studying their weblogs and searches that are finding people to their website and we're saying, "This is what people are looking for. Let's answer the door with the content they come looking for." You can't know what they're looking for until you actually study your weblogs and understand what content they're coming to your website for.
We think putting certain video on your website doesn't make sense. Putting your advertisements on your web site doesn't make sense. They can keep those on radio and TV but when people are coming looking for specific content you've gotta give it to them.
What challenges have you faced?
People don't understand. They keep thinking that they have to buy time on other people's websites. We say, "If you're strategic with your content - with your message - that it will have far more impact. Coming from an advertising agency background where clients are spending $200,000-300,000 on commercials, we're saying, "you don't have to spend that much. It doesn't even have to be that highly produced." It just has to be articulate and targeted communication once you understand what people are coming to your site for.
Who are you working for?
We work for Fortune 500 business to business companies who do new product introductions. We're working for a golf marketing firm, and this was particularly interesting because this golf marketing firm is really passionate about the subject of golf. And we said, "Well, then you have to articulate that. You have to make your visitors understand what your knowledge base is about golf and how passionate you are about it." And once that's a video, it becomes intimate. It becomes the vehicle that does the deal.
We're working with a family therapist who's writing a book. She's got her own video. We're working for a high level horse show barn - a horse show trainer. But you know what? People are wanting to buy horses just to bring their horse to that barn because she communicates in such an emotional way. It's only video that can do that. Music and passion: it brings it home.
