The Lynbrook Chamber of Commerce is offering its members a new promotional opportunity through the Spotlight video program, which features short-form business videos designed to boost local visibility on social media and the internet.
For a production fee of $50, current Chamber members can have a 45- to 60-second promotional video filmed at their business or a location of their choice. The Chamber will post the video on its website and social media channels, and participants will also receive a broadcast-ready copy for their own use.
Chamber board member Lloyd Chrein said the initiative was developed by the Economic Development Committee, a subgroup of the board.
“Our mission at the Chamber of Commerce is to help promote businesses, and we’re looking for ways that would make membership in the Chamber more valuable,” Chrein said.
Eric Donaldson, of Eric Francis Studios, produces the videos for the Chamber. “We started offering it, and so far it’s been very well received,” he said.
In the first two months of the project, Donaldson has filmed eight business promotions around Lynbrook, including Unicorn Jewels, on Atlantic Avenue, and Lynbrook Baptist Church, on Earle Avenue.
Donaldson, who uses a Canon EOS Mark II mirrorless digital camera, said the project began after he started creating content for his wife, Audrey, and her business, Touched by a Rose Massage Therapy, on Atlantic Avenue.
Her following on social media increased from 100 to 1,800 in a span of nine months.
After that success, Donaldson was invited to speak at a Chamber networking breakfast on social media, and later asked to replicate promotional videos that had been produced by the Floral Park firm Corbett Public Relations, which worked with the Chamber previously.
“In terms of the filming, it’s something that people need to really stop overthinking so much and just make a commitment,” Donaldson said.
He described the Chamber video program as a good entry point. “It’s essentially a commercial, but for somebody to be successful on social media, they need to do much more than one video,” he said. “I basically treat your social media page like a channel, and we come up with regular content to help build your brand.”
Eric Vissichelli, owner of UpDog Pet Services, a traveling pet training business, said he relied heavily on social media when launching his business.
Navigating online advertising, Vissichelli said, has been both essential and difficult because of his lack of technical experience and the sheer time and energy required.
“It can be pretty intimidating and complex,” he said. “It takes a long time to learn these things and figure them out, and it almost becomes like a job in itself.”
Vissichelli took part in the Chamber’s Spotlight program, and said the exposure has had a direct impact.
“It’s on my website. It’s all over my social media,” he said. “A bunch of people have already contacted me and told me they’ve seen it.”
Chrein said the program is part of a larger effort to support and grow Chamber membership. “We want to encourage people to join the Chamber,” he said. “These kinds of things are starting to work. It brings visibility, but it also is valuable.”
