Key to great animated video? Get a professional to do it

Every time you go to a new site and want to understand the service that they are providing, chances are that you will watch a short animated video instead of clicking around and reading the text on the page. We all watch them, but most of us don't give much thought as to what goes into them. While videos give short, clear, and simple explanations of a service - they can be difficult and expensive to create.

Most people don’t really think about what goes into producing one of these videos, but most start ups know they need it and dread having to create one. They are time consuming and expensive. In a bootstrapping community, most of us get used to learning new skills and doing everything for ourselves as we get started.

Sometimes, in fact, this is to our own detriment. Creating great tech and knowing how to take it to market are two entirely different skills. One is solving a problem and the other is telling a story. In fact, storytelling is one of the most powerful tools that we have for communication.

While these short videos seem simple, they are not.

Along with all of the geeks in the start up world, there are a lot of creative people drawn to the process as well. My suggestion to everyone with a start up is to draw from the talented pool of creatives around them when they need to do their marketing and creating a video is one of those times.

After failing at numerous attempts to do the video myself, my friend suggested a local Israeli company called Video Sparks and put me in touch with Mordy Rapp, their creative director and owner. They are based in Bet Shemesh and provide the much needed service of creating awesome videos which are also affordable. They create kinetic, vector, flash and motion graphics. (www.videosparks.net)

We provided the storyboard- which is the text and the general direction but they did the rest. In fact, they did it in record time. I think it was about two weeks between the time we got them all the materials until the time we had our finished product. We could then use the video and feature it on our site, use it for investors, and for various profiles.

So, check out our video-