Video in an email leads to 200-300% increase in click through rate [→]
75 million people in US watch videos online, every day [→]
Video on a landing page can increase conversions by up to 80% [→]
Embedded video on websites can increase traffic by up to 55% [→]

Video is already important and will continue to become more so, especially on mobile devices. Nobody with an online presence can deny this importance and all small business and brands should be looking at ways of engaging with their audience and customers through video.

"Video is the future of content marketing. People want information that is bite-sized, easier to intake and faster. Video ticks all three of these boxes. A one minute video showing all the ingredients needed for a vegetable lasagna, how it is cooked and for how long is much easier to digest than reading through the recipe or viewing a slideshow of images. By the end of this year Video will represent over 69% of all online traffic"

Aires Loutsaris - Award-winning SEO Consultant

I have seen it written that video is more effective at creating emotions in an audience than the written word. Whilst, as a book worm, this saddens me I also realise that (thankfully) not everyone is like me and recently I have started testing some video content on social media and on site.

Given that the mere mention of "video" in an email subject line can supposedly increase open rates it would be silly not to!

Last week I was walking in the Azores and the first video below is my first attempt at editing using iMovie for the MAC. It is the record of a hike up Pico da Vara, the highest mountain on the island on São Miguel. I have mixed various view points, such as chest-mounted camera, front and rear shots as well as elevated side angles, to try to show a bit of variety. It was all filmed on a GoPro Hero 4.

I am thinking of doing more 2 to 3 minute videos of mountain and hill walks so I posted it on Mini-Adventure Community on Facebook to get a bit of feedback and the general feeling is that I should include more panoramic shots en route and I will probably have to find ways to do something differently in the videos to ensure they are not too monotonous.

Below is an example of a more immediate type of video, of which I have posted a few across Social Media. This kind is filmed on the iPhone 6s and intended as just a snapshot of what is happening.

In this video I was being mobbed by seagulls whilst hiking up to Lagoa do Fogo!

Whilst the number of my followers across, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook is still very low, my experience has so far confirmed that the short video snapshots receive a lot more attention than any written content, although it is important to combine the two to tell a story if you wish to truly engage. I will continue to post more video and in turn I hope my filming and editing skills will improve.

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Cleveland Way - Scarborough to High Hawsker

In October 2020, my friend Dave and I walked a section of the Cleveland Way in Yorkshire over a couple of days. We started from Scarborough and walked to Ravenscar (18 km). The next day we walked to High Hawsker (15 km).

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Packrafting the River Tamiš

In July 2020, in a brief respite from the worries of the covid pandemic, I had the good fortune to be able to escape for a little adventure, spending 3 days paddling down the Tamiš river in northern Serbia, in my packraft.

Interview with Emily Woodhouse - Founder of Intrepid Magazine

I recently had the pleasure to interview Emily Woodhouse, someone who is well known and someone who has been somewhat of a pioneer in giving a voice to many women in the adventure / outdoor sports world.

In this interview Emily gives me some insight into her whirlwind entrepreneurial journey and how much there is to learn from diving into a (business) adventure.

Not only has Intrepid Magazine provided something that was missing in the outdoor space but it is doubly satisfying to know it was the vision of someone who cares passionately about the subject matter, saw the importance of it and had the courage to go through with it… although I am not sure Emily herself see it as “courage”. As she says in the interview: “I looked at the hole in the magazine world and thought: I can do that”.

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Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the wallaby)

The loch was like a mirror as we set off from Luss on Friday to explore. Having walked to the high point on Inchtavannach to admire the views, and paddled around Inchmoan, watching the deer come down to the water’s edge, we agreed to spend the night on Inchconnachan for no other reason than it appeared absolutely idyllic as the sun began to sink and the evening light bathed the lake in a silvery light.

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Weekend Adventure - From lying in the sun to crying on a plane

I have mentioned a few times that my daughter is neither naturally sporty, particularly active or indeed fearless. She is perhaps the opposite. So I was especially proud that she decided on the Saturday morning, as we dithered whether to have an hour in the water at Buzz Active Cuckmere, that this was indeed the ideal opportunity for her to go solo in a kayak for the first time.

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Canoeing the Wye: Happiness V Social Media [Video]

I had so much fun this weekend that I didn’t tell anyone about it. Imagine that! The moment was way more important to me than broadcasting about it. Yes, I know it should be, but if we are honest with ourselves, it isn’t alway, is it?

I spent Friday and Saturday canoeing down the Wye with my 7 year old daughter, from Hoarwithy to Symonds Yat. It is the first time either of us has done this kind of trip and to share this adventure together was the sort of experience that makes me go all mushy and emotional…

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Wild Night Out 2019: The Whining

Travelling in ultra lightweight style (we only carried four cricket stumps instead of the full compliment of six) Emma and I marched along the coast path, over the dunes and onto the vast sands of our beautiful coast for a perfect Wild Night Out 2019, until the high-pitched whining started…

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30 Days Wild: Suburban Springwatch

One thing I decided to do this year was leave one corner of the garden wild. I don’t know how long it will last as pressure builds from within the family to “do something” with that corner but while it does last it has had a positive effect in terms of wildlife.

Perhaps the best aspect of this experiment is the fact that every night around 9pm we have a fat hedgehog who comes through our front gate, wanders through the garden to this unkempt patch of land and roots around for a couple of hours before waddling off to check out what the neighbours have to offer.

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30 Days Wild: Freshwalks: Networking in the Outdoors

This filthy-wet month, I am trying to spend time outside in nature during my working day as part of the Wildlife Trusts 30 Days Wild. I cannot pretend it has been as easy as last year’s sun-drenched June when gently swaying flower meadows and deserted Norfolk beaches called out to me.

However, recently a client of mine drew my attention to an innovative and inspiring initiative getting business people into the outdoors, for Freshwalks. The benefits of which might surprise a few…

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30 days Wild: Welcome to my office

“Can you repeat that please sir?” I could hear a slightly exasperated tone on the other end of the line.

This morning, a few days into June and woefully short of what I hope to achieve during 30 Days Wild, I ventured out into the meadow to make a few phone calls. I took my office outdoors! The helpful assistant from Barclays Business Banking went off for a few minutes to find out some information, and probably to curse me as my microphone was buffeted by the breeze, that bent the tall flowers surrounding me and repeatedly flicked my hood over my head.

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30 Days Wild: Switch off with Nature

We are just a few days away from June and the start of 30 Days Wild; the Wildlife Trusts amazing initiative to get people outside, enjoying and appreciating nature.

This year, as part of 30 Days Wild I will be focussing on how nature can help alleviate the stresses and strains of work and how to get more of it into the working day.

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Do you want to live more adventurously?

The decision to change my life and live more adventurously was utterly instinctive, borne of exasperation, a last resort. I was burnt out, suffering from anxiety, depressed.

How I got to the point of changing the direction of my life was a couple of years of mental wrangling and torture, until I stumbled across some inspiration.

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