Thank you for your interest in doing a video interview with us. Creating a video with SourceSeek is a great way to boost your offshore software team marketing efforts. This page will provide an overview of our video interview process, and how to best prepare for it. If you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
Our interviews have two objectives:
- To provide useful information to software executives and decision makers who are interested in specific aspects of the software outsourcing industry.
- To demonstrate your knowledge and expertise in the industry. By providing useful content to our viewers, both SourceSeek and our interviewees improve their reputation and authority in the software world.
For the above reasons, we are extremely focused on choosing the right topics for our content. There is already too much content with topics like ‘How To Choose A Team’ or “Why Country X Is Best’ – these videos are clear marketing efforts and clients aren’t interested in them. Our videos seek to educate clients on topics they are interested in, resulting in a more effective marketing result.
What is the format of the videos?
Our videos are produced by recording a skype call, then editing the interview and posting it on YouTube. Typically the final result will be between 3 and 7 minutes long.
What Topic Should I Talk About?
Because we’re in contact with a wide variety of clients at all times, we are very experienced at finding topics that will be interesting to clients and also easy for you to talk about. Our basic approach is to find a team’s strongest skills and experience, then have them discuss a topic related to those skills and experiences from a client perspective.
There are 3 ‘best’ types of topics:
Technologies, Practice Areas, or Verticals
Information about specific technologies (such as python or pentaho), practice areas (such as QA, DevOps) , or Verticals (healthcare, gambling) are welcome. It’s best to choose very specific topics related to a decision or challenge a client may face.
Examples:
“When Django is the right (and wrong) stack to choose”
“Hire a dedicated DevOps person, or have all the developers contribute?”
“Outgrowing your e-commerce platform – how to avoid it”
Countries and Culture
Interviews about individual regions are always popular amongst clients, and require little preparation in the part of the interviewee. Rather than a simple overview promoting a specific country’s strengths, we prefer information to help clients choose the right country or succeed in the country they’ve chosen.
Examples:
“Bridging the Culture gap between Russians and Americans’
“The 13th Month: How to manage your team in Philippines”
“How To sign a solid Contract with a Ukrainian Team”
Want more ideas for great topics? Look here.
The Outsourcing Industry & Outsourcing In General
Any kind of relevant topic related to software outsourcing in general will be considered, so long as they are useful from a client perspective. This includes discussion of methodologies, tools and utilities, workflow, or other aspects of software development as they pertain to outsourcing.
What should I do to prepare my content?
Not much. Ideally you’ll already be knowledgeable about the chosen topic. So, you should already know everything you need to know. We’ll ask the questions in a way that is logical and allows you to show your knowledge. We won’t any curveball or surprise questions. So, relax and let your expertise shine.
Our interviews are meant to be casual and conversational. So, we aren’t looking for prepared presentations, visual aids, or rehearsed answers. Be ready to answer basic questions about the topic, and everything will be fine.
How can I ensure good video/audio quality?
Audio
The most important thing is that viewers can hear you clearly. Viewers will tolerate a video with poor video quality, but if they can’t hear the speaker they won’t hang around.
So be sure to choose a location that is quiet. Turn off anything that may create background noise, such as air conditioners. Use a external microphone rather than one built into a laptop whenever possible. It’s also important that viewers don’t hear the sound from your speakers bleeding into your microphone, so use headphones or earbuds if possible. In most cases, the easiest way to get perfect sound is to use a headset with a microphone attached.
Video
Here are 3 easy tips for getting great video quality:
Light your face! To get a great video image, you need to have nice light shining on the front of your face. Turn on as many lights in the room as possible, but make sure your face is especially well lit. If the background is brighter than you are, you’ll look very dark and shadowy. If necessary, move a light so that it’s shining right on you from behind the camera.
Try to use a simple, close background such as a wall right behind you. Complex or very deep backgrounds can be distracting to the viewer and are harder to focus on. Simple is best!
Keep the camera at eye level! This is especially important if you are using a laptop for the interview. If the camera is below you, your image will be less pleasing and not evenly lit. It’s not a flattering look. Put the laptop on a stack of books if necessary, but get that camera up to your eye level.
Network
Make sure you are on a fast connection, and that nobody is doing network intensive activities that may cause interruptions in the stream. We’re using chatting across thousands of kilometers, so taking a few minutes to shut down unnecessary services and make sure you have the connection all to yourself can make a big difference in quality.
What will happen during the interview?
At the agreed time, we’ll call you via Skype. We won’t start recording until we’ve had a chance to say hello and make sure the sound and video are good. After that, we’ll start recording and discuss the topic.
The interviewer will run the interview, asking questions and setting the pace of the interview. Typically, anywhere from 7 to 15 of actual video will be recorded. We’ll be editing the video down to 3 to 7 minutes, so only the most interesting and informative parts will be kept.
This means that you don’t need to worry about making a mistake or having to repeat yourself. It also means that if you are very unhappy with one of your answers, we don’t need to use it in the final video. If we stay relaxed and have pleasant conversation, it will be easy to get 3 to minutes of great content!
Will I get to present my company?
Yes. Because our main objective is to provide useful content to the viewer, each interviewee is allowed to present their company for up to one minute at the end of the conversation. Once we’ve covered the chosen topic completely, you’ll be asked to tell us about your company.
What happens after the interview?
Once the interview is recorded, we’ll get to work editing and polishing it for release. Your interview will be posted on our YouTube channel and website, as well as our email list of 20k recipients.
The interviewee may promote, embed, or otherwise use the finished video for their own marketing purposes. The video must not be changed following release without written permission from SourceSeek. Also, the video must be hosted in its original location on the SourceSeek YouTube channel, but may be embedded on any webpage.
How Do I get Started?
It’s easy! Just send us an email here with your name, company, name and idea for a topic. We’ll get back to you within 1-2 business days.
If you have any more questions about working with SourceSeek, make sure to check out our FAQ page.