MotionMasters Blog/News

Meet “Mo,” the MotionMasters mascot who turned 25 on 2/2/12— Groundhog Day—the day we were founded in 1987! If he looks remarkably young, it’s because he’s had a few facelifts over the years. Different artists have rendered Mo in many likenesses, some of which are shown here.

But since this is our 25^th anniversary of multimedia storytelling, we decided to give Mo more of a global look. So we went to Romania. We didn’t really go there, we just contracted the art with a Romanian artist, who, while not really understanding the big to-do over Groundhog Day, did turn out a very handsome version of our beloved Mo.

Happy birthday, Mo, and happy anniversary to MotionMasters. We couldn’t have done it without the support of our many friends and clients! Thank you and here’s to an early Spring—because we made sure that Mo didn’t see his shadow!

Read more about Mo’s and MotionMasters’ progress during the last 25 years in this Daily Mail article.

According to comScore, 183 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 20.5 hours of online video in November of 2011. It also reports that the total U.S. Internet audience viewed 40.9 billion videos in that same month.

In his recent book, “Beyond Viral,” Kevin Nalty (a career marketer who doubles as one of the most viewed YouTube comedians) writes that “the ROI of reaching customers via online video is surprisingly high.”

His statement is supported by this finding from emarketer.com in feedback from businesspeople surveyed by Forbes: 75% of all executives said they watched work-related videos on business websites at least once a week. After viewing, more than 42% made a business-related purchase.

That’s because a video on your site can tell your story—it’ll bring your firm’s history, capabilities, staff, products and services to life—right before your audience’s eyes. Online video takes you from a static yellow pages listing or words on a web page to an engaging, memorable entity. Just ask those Forbes respondents—60% of the business executives said they’d watch video before reading content on the same page.

What are your clients and customers watching when they come to your site? Can they even find your site if they’re searching for your services or wares?

Affordable, creative and fun to produce, put your story on your site and start landing 50% more first-page search engine results–immediately. We’ll show you how it’s done.

—Call Christa Hamra, Director of Marketing & Sales, at 304-345-8808 email inquiries to chamra@motionmasters.com.

Both! The Quick Response code was created in 1994 by Toyota to track motor vehicle parts on the assembly line. It’s taken a while to go global but right now, it’s on fire in the marketing world—for good reason: Smart phone-users are snapping up QR codes left and right. Magazines, print ads, brochures, transit kiosks, tee-shirts, tattoos and even cupcakes (that’s right—cupcakes with lacey chocolate wafers stuck into the icing) feature the codes to attract new eyes to websites and provide bonuses or rewards to those who follow the QR trail.

Part of the reason QR codes are so hot is that they’re fun and easy to use. It takes literally one minute for someone with an iPhone or Android phone to find and install the reader app—many varieties are offered online for free. Then it’s just a matter of seconds for the phone to scan a code and deliver information: Data, url links, geo coordinates, discount coupons and more. Plus, you can create your own QR code with any number of programs offered on the Internet—again, for free!

Recently we created a business card with a prominent QR code and then created a web video for an industry trade show to accompany it. How do you reward people when they scan your QR code? How about a great-looking, affordable web video? We’ll shoot it for you and we’ll even create the QR code for you at no extra charge!

From left: Ellen Cappellanti, Jane Cline, Lois Crichton, Diana Sole Walko, Nelle Chilton, Georgette George and Betty Ireland tell it like it is at the CAA “Elevations” event on 9/13/11.

They sat on cushy couches and chairs and dished on “The Best Advice I (N)ever Got: Business Insights from Women at the Top,” but they all lined up for this formal shot at the Tuesday, 9/13 Charleston Area Alliance event at the Embassy Suites: “Elevations Enrichment and Leadership Academy.” Our CEO (Diana Sole Walko – 4th from left) joined Ellen Cappellanti, Jane Cline, Lois Crichton, Nelle Chilton, Georgette George and Betty Ireland as a guest speaker for the 9 am session.

With about 250 attendees, the half-day event is part of CAA’s professional women’s network designed to enrich, empower and elevate women’s roles in the business community. Let’s hear it for the women in the workforce!

Read the article in Charleston’s Daily Mail.

You’d think that since she landed her first job as a teenager and started her own business early in her career, she would have received plenty of tips and opinions on how to succeed. But our CEO, Diana Sole Walko, didn’t get much advice as she climbed that ladder (maybe the sound of crashing through the glass ceiling drowned it out).

That’s just part of the criteria that qualifies her as a speaker tomorrow in a 9 am discussion entitled: “The Best Advice I (N)ever Got: Business Insights from Women at the Top.” It’s part of the Charleston Area Alliance’s 2nd annual Elevations Enrichment and Leadership Academy devoted to “Business & Balance,” which kicks off at 8 am at the Embassy Suites in Charleston. Joining Diana on the panel discussion (moderated by Lois Crichton) will be Ellen Cappellanti, Nelle Chilton and Betty Ireland. Look for the MotionMasters display at the event and register to win a nifty golf polo among other prizes.