Classic film-inspired YBM t-shirts

“American Flyers” is a film that came out in 1985, and very much embodies certain elements typically associated with a film produced in the mid-’80s (synth-heavy music, teased hair, obvious over-use of ADR).

Some films find a cultural niche that keeps them afloat in cinematic consciousness longer than the integrity of the art would normally dictate. Many consider “American Flyers,” a cycling-themed film, to be a prime example. Even members of the bicycle culture who celebrate the film as a cult classic lament its mediocrity.

As a cyclist I also celebrate it as a cult classic. I, however, think it’s a pretty good flick.

A motif of the film is a t-shirt with a simple Latin phrase: “Res firma mitescere nescit.” The translation offered in the film is, “Once you’ve got it up, keep it up.”  A more academic translation is, “A firm resolve does not know how to weaken.” Either way, we find it inspiring and applicable in most aspects of life, whether you’re pounding up a lung-burning technical climb on your mountain bike, or weathering a down-turned economy as a business-owner.

So we’re offering an “American Flyers”-inspired t-shirt to offer some inspiration, whatever your endeavor might be. The t-shirts are made in USA, from organic cotton. Proceeds from this first round will benefit two organizations, listed below.

Choose a size:

Small Medium Large X-Large

This is a pre-order sale. Shirts will be shipped out/delivered beginning March 20, 2012. This will be a limited edition run!

Benefiting orgs:

• Heritage Conservancy - Preserving our natural and historic heritage, since 1958. (Southeastern Pennsylvania)
• Border Collie Rescue of N. Nevada – The organization that rescued Lance Dogstrong and gave us the opportunity to adopt him.

The merits of video content for your small business

I’ll try to keep this brief.

It’s no secret that a successful Web presence depends on the quality of the content representing your business. Assuming you can get a potential client to come to your site, you have a very limited amount of time to engage her curiosity and prevent her from immediately moving on to something else (like one of your competitors).

So what’s one of the most effective ways to engage a Web user? Video content. People love videos. Studies have shown that if a video is present on the page, it will be the first thing clicked.

That is your opportunity to convey your message to potential clients in a manner in which they will be engaged.

Video is also a very effective method of significantly boosting to your search engine rankings (SEO!). Google gives YouTube results priority in prime real estate on the first page of search results. And YouTube results have been shown to be more likely to get attention than websites ranking several places higher in results.

But what kind of video content could your business create? Effective marketing tells a story. Your business, your products/services, your employees — they all have a story. Tell it.

Video content for any business could be:

• The story of your business (the who, what, why, where and how). People love a business with a face and personality; they love having insight into the people behind the business and what inspires them to do what they do.
• Highlight a flagship product or service (and introduce a new product or service).
• Highlight a significant job or event that may be of interest to the community (as seen below).
• A how-to video. Some of the most searched for and watched videos on the Web are how-tos. Show off your expertise and gain credibility by offering some free advice or instruction. For example, a tow company can offer advice on what steps to take if you break down on the side of the road, or how to safely change a flat tire.
•  Let your current clients tell their stories about working with you or your products (ask a few of your pleased clients if they would mind giving a testimonial on camera).
• Want to get a little more creative with some fictional narratives, “publicity stunts,” etc.? We can help with that, too.

Below are a couple examples of video content we produced for a local business, PhillyJunk.com. The first is an example of the type of content at the top of our list: The who, what, where, why and how. The second is an example of number three on our list: We highlighted a job that was both significant in scope for the company, and significant historically for the community.

It’s also worth mentioning that aside from filming the interviews, the company experienced no downtime to produce these videos. All b-roll footage was filmed and photographed documentary style (as it really happened on actual jobs). We also used a mixture of both stills and motion to produce these pieces. The stills are also available for other venues such as Facebook, PR and print materials.

The great thing about creating video content these days is it’s not just for the big boys anymore. Video content is affordable on even modest small business budgets. And our services range from fully producing content to providing training and consulting so you can produce the content yourself.

Let’s make some video content!

Introductory Social Media Management Program Ending

Many of you know we’ve been offering our basic social media management plan at an “introductory” rate of only $50 per month. The program has been a huge success, and through it we’ve had the pleasure of bringing on some wonderful and fun clients.

Unfortunately, the introductory rate couldn’t last forever (it’s not cheap keeping a high-caliber team member like Lance Dogstrong around).

Beginning March 1, 2012, the rate for the basic social media management plan will go up to a still-great-deal of $65 per month. However, all new accounts established before March 1 can lock in at the $50 rate for six months (the rate will increase to $65 per month after the six month period).

What is YBM’s basic social media management plan?

The basic plan is, well, basic. It represents the minimum a business should be doing on a daily basis to maintain a presence on the Web, regardless of whether or not digital is part of the overall marketing plan: Posting once or twice, daily, to up to two social media outlets relevant to your customer base.

YBM, as the social media manager, posts content relevant to your business and the interests of your clients, to your social media outlets that make sense for your business. This is typically the two major players, Facebook and Twitter. Content ranges from information directly associated with your business, such as a sale/promotion or announcement, to industry news or information that would be of interest to your clients. Frequency is generally twice a day. This keeps your name in front of current clients’ eyes and builds your reputation as a trusted resource in your industry to both current and potential clients. Continuously distributing fresh, relevant and high-quality content to social media outlets improves search engine results and, again, represents your business as a trusted resource in your industry.

While you periodically provide business news (which we translate into Facebook posts, tweets, etc.), we also put in the time to research content that is fresh, relevant, interesting and encourages engagement from your clients.

Also involved in the basic plan is daily monitoring of your social media presence, and evaluation of the metrics. The main objective for closely watching the metrics is to evaluate what works, what doesn’t and make the appropriate adjustments.

And remember, we don’t do cookie-cutter marketing. All programs through YBM are custom tailored to meet your business’s needs.

Questions? Would you like us to elaborate? Get in touch!

2012 Transylvania Mountain Bike Epic

I’m very excited to announce I will be shooting the entire Transylvania Mountain Bike Epic, near State College, Pa., May 27 through June 2.

Last spring I decided to spend a week in the middle of Pennsylvania, sleeping in my car and following around a large group of professional and elite mountain bike racers as they pushed their bodies and minds to compete for seven straight strenuous days.

It was self-assigned coverage of the Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic, “America’s longest mountain bike stage race experience.” For seven days racers — including some of the top professional male and female endurance mountain bikers — race across some of the most technically-demanding trails in the country. I was out there each day shooting both stills and video. My main motivation was to take advantage of an opportunity to shoot, a lot, for seven straight days (we’re talkin’ ’bout practice) — and to shoot something about which I am passionate. I also had hopes of coming away with some decent images for my stock catalog.

In 2012 I will be returning to the Trans-Sylvania Epic, this time working alongside official race photographer Abram Landes, primarily as a motion shooter.

It’s an honor to be asked to join the team, and I look forward to spending another week at what is best described as a professional mountain bike sleep-away camp.

I will be providing more insights into the event and my preparations for it here on this blog over the next few months.

I’ve got three months to get in top shape, plan and practice shots and formulate a game plan in order to capture all the elements of a week-long race on the trails of central Pennsylvania.

Some images from last year:

YOUR Internet depends on it.

Take a moment (yes, just a moment) to lend your voice to the opposition of destructive legislation that is the antithesis of the values upon which the United States of America was founded.

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/ <— Sign it!

Learn a bit:

On newstands now.

(Note: This post also appears on Vince’s personal site, RunVMC.com)

Just under a year ago my lady friend, Natalie, and I were sitting in my parents’ Warminster, Bucks County home for a family holiday party. We had some time to kill before the rest of the family was scheduled to arrive, so I convinced Natalie to throw on some running clothes and take a (very) short walk down to a wooded area nearby. I simply wanted to practice shooting some cold-weather running lifestyle images.

We ended up coming away with a handful of decent images, which I submitted to my stock agency, Tandem Stills + Motion. I had no grand (or even good) expectations for the images.

Ten months later I got an email from Tandem sales director, JP, with the line, “Check out this beautiful full page spread I came across over the weekend. Looks great!”

To my surprise, Competitor magazine, “the world’s leading voice for the endurance community,” licensed one of the images as a full page spread.

I could have sat and waited — maybe caught a quarter of a college bowl game — but instead decided to fit some shooting in. It certainly paid off.

-vince

YBM Web Film Fest

As a pre-launch of Yellow Bat Media, on Saturday October 2, I invited some close friends to the house to enjoy some web-only short films on a big screen.

I complimented the crisp autumn evening with a warming atmosphere, season-inspired food and drinks.

The idea behind this event is to provide a venue in which a digital world and a traditional world come together; Web-only short films typically viewed on a laptop and a theater like setting. This symbolizes a philosophy of Yellow Bat Media: Digital/new media and traditional media should not be at odds with each other, but should be exploited in tandem to effectively reach an audience.

After just more than an hour of indulging in butternut squash risotto, Tuscan white bean soup, hot apple cider, cocktails and regional craft beers, everyone grabbed some traditional movie snacks, took their seats and enjoyed 14 short films. The films were divided into three categories: Animation, documentary and narrative. Subject matter ranged from outdoor adventure to a paranoid ride from the airport. At the end of this post I will list the program with links to all the films.

Feedback was very positive and has inspired plans for other carnations of the web film festival in the near future.

Please comment on whether or not that sounds like something you would like to attend and if you have any suggestions.

The films from the inaugural Yellow Bat Media Web Film Fest:

-Animation-

Parallel Parking | Directed by Yum Yum London
http://vimeo.com/14592941
Marcel the Shell with the Shoes On | Directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp
http://vimeo.com/14190306
Something Left, Something Taken | Directed by Max Porter & Ru Kuwahata
http://vimeo.com/11723415

-Documentary-

Chris Sharma Does Wanderlust | Produced by Prana
http://vimeo.com/14313670
Facts About Projection | Directed by Temujin Doran
http://vimeo.com/8972758
Pong | Directed by ZCDC
http://vimeo.com/15060334
Last Minutes with ODEN | Directed by Eliot Rausch
http://vimeo.com/8191217
Leadville 100/Rebecca Rusch | Directed by Jim Fryer
http://vimeo.com/14364442 Part I
http://vimeo.com/14365833 Part II
Tahoe Adventure Film Fest | Directed by Vince M! Camiolo
http://vimeo.com/13854347
As it Happens | Directed by Renan Ozturk
http://vimeo.com/14622087

-Narrative-

Thrush | Directed by Gabriel Bisset-Smith/Graham Turner
http://vimeo.com/4131811
One Night Stand | Directed by Jack Tew/David Humphreys
http://vimeo.com/12979044
Last Day Dream | Directed by Chris Milk
http://vimeo.com/4155700
The Last Three Minutes | Directed by Po Chan
http://vimeo.com/10570139