There is a good chance, if you have been involved in online business for a while, and are tech savvy, that you have used video and audio, either as marketing materials on other sites or platforms, or on your own site, as interesting content for your visitors.
However, if your business involves proprietary software or processes that you need to demonstrate to your viewers, you may have found that that easier said than done. Thanks to the flicker on monitors, traditional video tends not to work too well, and you may have thought that creating user guide videos for your products or services would be expensive and difficult.
That is not necessarily the case, however, thanks to a special software known as Camtasia.
Camtasia is what is known as a screen video capture software package. It allows you, as the user, to define an area of your screen that you would like to record, and add features like an audio track or voice overlay. It runs on both PC and Mac, and while there is still some effort involved in completing a professional user guide video, it is a reliably inexpensive, user friendly alternative.
But who would use a software package like this, and how could it help your business?
The first and most obvious answer to that question would be software developers. Being able to sell a software package along with a video users guide would be a major draw card, as it would allow the buyer to use the package almost instantly.
Another application for software developers would be to use that sort of video in their marketing efforts, posting it, along with reviews, on a variety of sites, or even on video marketing platforms like YouTube.
Computer game developers are another group that would be able to use Camtasia to market and promote their products, but capturing scenes of the action in their games, and including it with their marketing materials.
What about less obvious applications, however?
Well, let us say, for arguments sake, that you have a computer skills training school, or you would like to set one up. Using Camtasia, you could capture videos of your lessons on various platforms, package them into individual courses, and sell them online to a greater client base than you could serve in a classroom. Since you would only need to create each course once, instead of delivering it over and over again, you could create a residual income stream, simply by selling more courses to more people, using the same footage.
Another option would be if you were running a service business, and your client struggled to understand a particular problem or process. Instead of trying to explain the issue over the phone, which could take hours, and lead to frustration by both parties, you could create an on screen demonstration, which you could email to them.
Camtasia is just one of those software packages that prove that technology is making all of our lives, particularly those of us who are in business, easier.
It allows you to capture real time images of what you are doing on your computer screen, on virtually any software package you could imagine, and share them with the world. It creates potential in terms of technical support, marketing, and even business opportunities in its own right, and it is a great way to add visual elements to the text content on your site. It is even useful if you are trying to explain a process to an employee in a different office, city, or country!
Like any specialized software, Camtasia can be a little tricky to get the hang of, but once you do, it is easy to create your own custom screen capture videos, that you can use for whatever application you need them for. Whether it is sharing them online, or to be sold as a demonstration or tutorial disk along your own software package or system, it is a valuable tool in any business arsenal.
Why struggle with complex text based manuals if you do not have to? Why make your customers struggle, and allow them to get frustrated? When you use software like Camtasia in your business, none of that is necessary, so why not look into how new technology can help your business grow?