Leveling the Playing Field for Small Business

Part I By Don Rhodes

Go to Part II Streaming Slides

Go to Part III Streaming Video

This article was written by Don Rhodes, owner of WBC Imaging, a company specializing in web site enhancement utilizing streaming media technology. Mr. Rhodes is a broadcast engineer who believes that the Internet is the media delivery system of the future.

Please direct all questions and comments to:
info
WBC Imaging
www.

STREAMING MEDIA

Leveling the Playing Field for Small Business

Part II

In part I of this series, I discussed streaming audio which is the most mature of the streaming techniques.

Just as surely as television followed radio, the rapid advancement of Internet technology now makes it possible to add high resolution images to your audio presentations on the web; they can even be designed to that your images change with audio cues.

Let's backtrack for just a moment. Until recently, the only way to change images on a web site was by using the meta refresh tags or employing a Java applet. The meta refresh tag's reliability is highly dependent on connection speed, and the Java applet is very picky when it comes to choosing the browser with which it likes to work. And, more importantly, neither one of these can handle audio. Now, however, by using the technology developed by RealNetworks, any number of images can be added to your audio presentations and streamed from your site. Visitors to your site are now able to view high resolution, quality pictures while enjoying near CD quality sound. Best of all, it streams smoothly over a 28.8 connection.

I have to issue a word of caution here. Don't confuse streaming slides with streaming video. There is a big difference! (Streaming video will be the topic of Part III of this series.) Streaming slides consist of still images that can change over time or in sync with an audio script. You can utilize existing photos, graphic images, and quality line art for your slide show. (Most encoding companies will also be able to supply television type still graphics at a very low cost if you need assistance in that regard.) Due to the flexibility of streaming slides, your sales presentations take on a whole new look and give your web site personality.

You can now show your products in an entirely different light. Instead of trying to describe unique and/or desirable features with only text or audio, you can actually zero in on those important selling points with pictures! (The old adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" takes on new meaning on the Internet.) Prospective buyers can now more closely examine products that are usually difficult to sell over the web, due to the desire of consumers to "touch and feel." This adds a great deal of credibility to your sales pitch and to your web based business. (Items like antiques, furniture, sporting goods, and apparel fall easily into this category.)

I have to take a moment to mention the impact that streaming slides can have for realtors and home builders With so much real estate activity taking place over the web today, imagine the sales edge that a good slide show could have by showcasing the property's outstanding features. Add an audio that discusses the availability of nearby schools, shopping, transportation, and entertainment, as well as available financing for the property, and you have a property that will surely sell. You will probably also have very grateful and happy buyers, especially if they are trying to locate suitable properties from a city or town far away.

Several publications have called streaming slides a true attention getter! All it takes to put together a streaming slide show is gathering your images on disk, photo or paper. Get your audio cassette ready or have a script available. (Most encoding companies can provide voice talent if necessary.) In your script you will indicate where the slide changes are to occur, or you will provide audio cues on your cassette tape for this to happen. Information will also have to be provided on the sequencing of the pictures. Your encoding company will prepare and digitize your media and send you web ready files or they will offer hosting on their own servers.

Small businesses have always dreamed of having access to expensive media so that they could promote their products tastefully and with style. Now they can at very reasonable costs...and with the 365/24/7 capability that only the Internet can offer. The creative possibilities of marketing with streaming media are endless; streaming slide shows are only one of the many options available to small business.

See a streaming slide show demo

STREAMING MEDIA

Leveling the Playing Field for Small Business

Part III

IS YOUR WEB SITE READY FOR PRIME TIME?? In the first two articles on streaming media, I discussed audio, the maturest streaming technology, and streaming pictures, which marries photos and graphics with an audio presentation. I'd now like to tell you about streaming video, the hottest and most exciting media development on the web today!

Just as television progressed from the black and white, sometimes snowy, broadcasts of the 1940's and 50's to the elaborate home theater systems of today, streaming video is making the transition from tiny, blurry pictures to 1/4 screen color presentations with near CD quality sound. And with surprisingly good quality over the 28.8 connections that most web visitors experience today! I credit this breakthrough to RealNetworks, the creators of RealVideo, which is currently the most popular streaming video format in use. (Others about which you might have heard or read are Vivo and Microsoft NetShow.) At the end of the first quarter of 1999, RealNetworks reported that over 45 million of their FREE players had been downloaded; this number is growing by 15,000 per day!

An online streaming video presentation is another marketing tool that is now affordable and extremely effective. Streaming video adds far more than just a personal touch to your web site; it actually sets you miles apart from your competition. As with streaming audio or pictures, a video presentation guarantees that at least 86% of your visitors will stay to listen or to watch. Statistics have shown that over 90% of white collar workers have a PC on their desks, but only 9% have access to television in the workplace. That means that you can reach more white-collar office workers during normal office hours than all of the network and cable stations combined.

Streaming video enables you to combine the best attributes of web-based media with the compelling nature of broadcast media. On-line advertisers are realizing significantly higher click-through rates with the adoption of streaming media technology. Recent studies have found that streaming media advertising substantially increases brand recall, brand awareness, and positive brand perception. This really gives you the opportunity to deliver a powerful message about your products or services - much like having your own, personal "infomercial. " Unlike a television infomercial, however, yours is available for one fixed price and it runs 365/24/7... thanks to the Internet.

Your streaming video presentation can be submitted on VHS tape, CD, and DVD; most encoding companies will be able to use those formats. (If your presentation is in another format, such as 8mm, check with them before sending the media.) The quality of the finished product will be dependent upon how it's encoded for transmission. Standard practice is to encode video to stream over the Internet at 28.8 connections. In order to stream smoothly at this slow speed, an extremely high level of compression is required for both the audio and video tracks. This compression causes small portions of the data to be "eliminated." (That's why some of the video presentations you now see are not as clear as you would like them to be. With the advent of higher bandwidth, however, this situation will vastly improve in the future.) When completed, your encoding company will provide you with web ready files to place on your site, or you may choose to have your encoding company host your presentation.

There are many businesses that can use streaming video to their advantage. Companies that sell training materials are the most obvious. Because streaming media can be played upon demand, employees and/or customers can view materials when they have time to concentrate on the content. This is a valuable selling tool, especially if your customer has employees in remote locations. Your encoding company can also set up your materials to be password protected; this is especially attractive to corporations who would like to use the Internet for internal communications.

Streaming video is also an excellent choice for product demonstrations, especially when the product's features are difficult to explain using only text or still pictures. Caterers and restaurants can give potential customers tours of their facilities or show clips of some of their "special events" such as weddings. Hotels can show corporate accounts their meeting rooms, accommodations, and leisure-time facilities. Country clubs can take new members to the golf course or have them take lessons from the golf pro. Health clubs can showoff their gym facilities and the amenities in the locker rooms. Realtors can take interested buyers, especially those in cities far away, on a tour of the town in which a property is located. Universities could showcase their laboratories, their libraries, or their dormitory facilities. The list could go on and on...

I hope that in these three articles I've whetted your interest in utilizing streaming media to enhance your web site. Just remember the following: 1. Find a company that is reputable and understands what you are trying to accomplish at your web site. (For a list of companies that are members of the RealNetworks Design and Production Agencies, see: http://www.real.com).

2. Be certain that the samples of their own work meet your criteria for professionalism. (Warning: if a video pauses during playback, this is not the fault of the producer or of the video stream. It could be net congestion or a heavy amount of traffic on the site!)

3. Do not judge on price alone! Turnaround time, hosting capabilities, and technical knowledge have associated costs that are often overlooked.

Streaming media is affordable, enjoyable, and is only going to grow in importance to those of us doing business on the web. Enhance your web site, your business, and the profits at your bottom line with streaming media...it's a sound business decision.

Copyright © 1999

This series of articles was written by Don Rhodes, owner of WBC Imaging, a company specializing in web site enhancement utilizing streaming media technology. Mr. Rhodes is a broadcast engineer who believes that the Internet is the media delivery system of the future.

Please direct all questions and comments to:
info
WBC Imaging
www.