Knowledge is the Key to Success

Success requires having a fundamental understanding of the environment within which you work. The element that has the greatest impact on your success is knowledge. You must know more than your competitor and be able to apply that knowledge in a more productive manner in order to acheive greater success. You must know what is expected and how best to maximize that expectation. You must know how hard you can push yourself and you must constantly test your limitations. With the experience of time, you will begin to understand your limitations and in the end be able to maximize your potential. The phrase 'endeavor to perservere' has most relevance when you near your limitations. There is no greater test of your limitations than taking on mother nature. Her awesome power and energy is unvanquished. With nature things are never the same, they are always unpredictable and often unforgiving. At Full Throttle Media, we love to film in the great outdoors. There is no control and you never know what you are going to be served up on any given day, but that is the challenge. In order to come out on top, knowledge of your equipment and it's limitations in critical. Being able to quickly adapt to the conditions is the difference between success or failure.


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FTM
Seth Horne

Don't Let the Monkeys Fly the Plane

Don't let the monkeys fly the plane. Now, this is a simple adage about not letting people who have no idea what they are doing take control of a situation. But, I will be damned if I do not see this taking place quite often. Why? Usually because some corporate exec does not know enough about the subject at hand to know that he is appointing someone who does not know their ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to that very subject matter. Wow, is there a better way to waste time and money than ceding control of a department or project to under-qualified employees and then continuing down that same path even when it becomes obvious that is what has occurred? With little or no practical experience in the given field, self appointed know-it-alls and control freaks manage to crash projects with out even realizing what they are doing and all with the blessing of those higher up. This is a brilliant strategy for execs who want to get themselves fired or, at the very least, exposed for lacking any modicum of management 101 skills. The saddest part is that there is, 9 times out10, usually a far smarter and better qualified person ready and willing to step up to the task. Why is this better candidate not chosen? Well, I will throw two words out for you to chew on. Ego and fear! Ego: in the sense that, I know what I am doing better than anyone else. Fear: because I don't want to look weak or "stupid" when I have to make the necessary and beneficial changes to correct my first mistake. So, if you are going to let the monkeys fly your plane, strap yourself in because "You Are Going To Crash".



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Seth Horne

The Best Social Media Tool: Film

When I evaluate all the available social media tools available today, the one that stands out as the most effective in its ability to reach an audience is video and especially online video. As of 2010, YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. That is an amazing statistic. What does that mean? Well, people are spending a whole hell of a lot of time searching for video or while watching video. Either way, you are way behind if you are not currently using video or seriously thinking about using video in relation to whatever message you are trying to get out. It's time to get in the game.

We all recognize film and video as entertainment, but beyond that what is it? Moving images are engagement objects that audiences find entertaining, instructional, educational, or may be used for marketing, sales tools, interview series, research, live events and more. The possibilities are endless. So, how does this benefit you? With the proper film or video, you are able to tell a story, share an experience, enlighten and inform others. Now the big question, how does a film or video become social media tool? What do we do when we see something fun, informative or engaging? We talk about it, share it, buy it, save it and if we made it we post it online. Once something visual makes it to the internet, it is there forever to be watched over and over.

As I mentioned last month, it has been found that audiences are far more receptive when receiving a message from an emotional level rather than a rational level. Most ads or marketing messages force people to examines the advantages, benefits and features of whatever is being thrown at them. When watching something entertaining or informative the emotional gate is open and this relates more to trust, love, identification and belief. It has been noticed that films or video operate at the emotional level.

So, if you are trying to convey a particular message or position a brand in the minds of your audience, be a little more creative and place your brand within the context of a story. The best and most cost effective way to get that story out is with film or video that you disseminate online. Full Throttle Media can help you develop that film or video to reach your audience.



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FTM
Seth Horne

Market Reach with Full Throttle Media Films

In order to reach, I mean really reach, your audience you have to entertain them rather than approach them with a hard sell.

Film is one of the most elaborate examples yet of the intersection of the entertainment and advertising industries, with the internet shaping up as the main distribution crossroad.

We are seeing more sophisticated techniques, such as short films, where the aim is to sell a product, but to cleverly do the advertising in a subtle way. These short films can be very entertaining and exciting, but also promote a product behind the main theme.

There is evidence of shortened attention spans and a greater effort to break through the clutter of multitudinous brands and media vehicles. The best way to deliver the message is to catch the customer off-guard when the rational defenses are down. The best way to do so is to use the emotional gate rather than the rational gate. The rational gate examines the advantages, benefits, features and seeks value for money; the emotional gate is all about trust, love, identification and belief. It has been noticed that films operate at the emotional level. These aspects can be leveraged by super brands.

Thus, the prime value of Full Throttle Media projects is reflected in the tremendous opportunity available for advertising exposure through our sophisticated approach to contextual brand placement or themed media campaigns associated with our film projects.

Sponsors find our programs extremely valuable marketing vehicles through which they can target the various demographic rich sports enthusiast communities where Full Throttle Media has developed relationships. All our film sponsorship packages can be customized, specific to the corporate strategies and/or the institutional guidelines of your company’s interests.

Advantages of brand placements in Full Throttle Media films:

• Diminishing cost due to the longevity of video online and in DVD form
• Brand exposure is revived and revisited several times as film's are watched
• Lower cost relative to broadcast or print media and the ability to reach target audience
• With the average 30-second spot costing $50,000-$400,000 or more, product placement is a minor expense
• Ability to integrate your product and/or theme into the production
• Achieve significant increase in brand awareness amongst audience
• Film is a clutter-free environment
• Not subject to surfing, zipping or muting (unlike in TV and other media)
• Since your product is integrated into the show, you have a 'captive audience'
• Ads catch people in a receptive mood
• Tremendous opportunity for cross-promotions

Our films are an extremely valuable marketing vehicle for power brands to target the demographic various rich sport enthusiast community and related recreational enthusiasts.

Go Full Throttle Media! Share the experience, sell the dream...
FTM
Seth Horne

Cancellations

This is just a follow up to last months post. I am left shaking my head. After spending a solid year putting together a ground breaking film series, the jackass who was handling the financing tells me the country who was to be the principle financier is unable to get their business together. In a nut shell, they were so busy trying to figure out how to steal all the money that they did not realize how they had driven the process into the ground. What can you do except Go Full Throttle.

Go Full Throttle Media! Share the experience, sell the dream...
FTM
Seth Horne