By Cheryl Currid

HOW do you advertise your business? Do you send out mailers? Make cold calls? Work with groups to explain your product or service?

What if you could tell your story on the Web and have it available 24 hours a day? Well, it's not only possible but well within reach of anyone with a camcorder and digital editing software.

I know because one of the research projects at my company has been to develop a multimedia method to reach potential clients. While this project is new, we've seen great results already.

According to the business people who have tried it, they find a short video clip streamed across the Web site can open doors.

Here's how it works.

First we take a look at the product or service that a company provides. We talk about the problem that its product or service solves or the business need it meets.

Next we write a short script, anywhere from 200 to 500 words -- the shorter the better. The key is to focus the message, knowing that viewers of the segments don't have time to waste.

Then we record our actor using a digital video camcorder. The key here is to make sure that it has a 1394 port so that the recorded video can be easily transferred to a PC. In fact, we sometimes shoot directly into a PC disk file and avoid the tape completely. Models like the Panasonic PV-DV901 or the Sony DCR-TRV30 Mini DV Handycam can be found for $800 to $1,600, depending on features.

After the recording, we edit the file on a PC using software like Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.5 or Adobe Premiere 6.0.  At this stage, we add titles, transitions, special effects and even other video clips. We've found that messages are more powerful when additional video is used to explain the concept visually.

In fact, we've even found royalty-free media for just this purpose. Ulead Pick-a-Video is a way to insert high-quality footage into our segments at a very low cost.

When the editing is complete, we quickly export it into a file format that can be streamed across the Internet. The most popular formats are Windows Media, RealOne, and QuickTime. Conversion software is available from each site.

After we convert the media file into the format of our choice, we post it on our Web site or a professional streaming site like Sorenson Media at www.sorenson.com.

Then, we simply direct potential customers or partners to that link, or even include the link as part of our e-mail signature.

To see our research in action, go to the Your Digital Minute Web site www.yourdigitalminute.com. You'll find examples of this tool, as well as links to Web sites where others have put these tools into action. They have found these online, on demand multimedia vignettes to be a great addition to their sales toolbox. And the videos are always accessible at anytime and from anywhere.