Public speaking is the number one fear reported by people in the U.S.  That's probably why some companies have challenges making corporate videos.

In Why the Contest Prize is a Flip Camera for the Blacksburg Foursquare Swarm Party, we restated the bottom line about online marketing with videos, though:  Gotta do it.

Sometimes if someone else goes first, it helps us get started.

We asked Allen Fuller.  He went first.  And his friends went, too.  That's leadership.  Thanks, Allen.  Great friends, too.

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Allen Fuller is a freelance writer, photographer and aspiring entrepreneur.  He blogs at AllenJFuller.com, you can find him @AllenJFuller, and read more Allen Fuller on Handshake 2.0.

***

We invite you to share your company video on Handshake 2.0 with a Warm Handshake.

Cecile Newcomb, Business Director of Energy Check and Blacksburg, Virginia Town Council member, shares a Handshake 1.0 with Cory Donovan, Executive Director of the NewVa Corridor Technology Council (NCTC).

Photo Credit:  Allen J. Fuller, III

Cam Cole with ALI, Inc. and Joe Mugavero from Energy Check share a handshake at Bull and Bones during an engaging conversation.

Photo Credit:  Allen J. Fuller, III

Photo Credit:  Allen J. Fuller, III

Coldwell Banker Townside REALTORS (R) is a client of Handshake Media, Incorporated, parent company of Handshake 2.0.

Photo Credit:  Allen J. Fuller, III

Photo Credit:  Allen J. Fuller, III

Patti Smith is with the Virginia Veterans Care Center in Salem, a little-known service for Virginia's military veterans.  She is featured in the May 2010 issue of Valley Business FRONT.

Valley Business FRONT is the monthly magazine for in-depth business news in the Roanoke Valley and the New River Valley of Virginia. You're invited to read moreFRONT and to follow Valley Business FRONT on Twitter, @vbFRONT.

Photo credit: Susan Ayers

We invite you to the Foursquare Swarm Badge Party in Blacksburg, Virginia - 50 people, same location, same time - on June 1, 2010 at Bull & Bones in Blacksburg, Virginia.

That "we" doing the inviting has multiplied, just as we hope the swarm of those on Foursquare will multiply past 50 on June 1 at Bull & Bones!

Phil Buehler of OgilvyOne - the largest direct marketing and interactive marketing network in the world - will just happen to be in Blacksburg on June 1 for our Swarm Badge Party.  He already has a Foursquare Swarm Badge and would like to help us win ours.  He's going in with Handshake 2.0 and Coldwell Banker Townside REALTORS to offer free beverages to the first 50 people on Foursquare who check in at Bull & Bones. 

Handshake 2.0 and Coldwell Banker Townside REALTORS and OgilvyOne
Foursquare Swarm Badge Party
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
6:00 PM
Bull & Bones Brewhaus and Grill
First & Main on South Main Street
Blacksburg, Virginia

Free beverages for the first 50 people on Foursquare to check in at Bull & Bones!

For everyone, a business-card-in-the-fishbowl drawing and a chance to win a brand new Flip UltraHD Camcorder, $150 value!

We invite you to let us know you'll attend on the Foursquare Swarm Badge Party on Facebook.

These posts offer more details about the party and useful links to posts about Foursquare and location-based social networks:  "Checking In" to Location-Based Networks, Foursquare Swarm Badge Party, Location, Location, Location - Geolocation, That is!, and Why the Contest Prize is a Flip Camera.

Our Swarm Badge Party made SwarmBadgeParty.com!

Jeremy Hart wrote a thoughtful piece on Foursquare, business and real estate and mentioned the Swarm Badge Party.

We look forward to sharing a swarm of handshakes with you on June 1 in Blacksburg, Virginia!

Directions to Bull & Bones

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Coldwell Banker Townside REALTORS is a client of Handshake Media, Incorporated, the parent company of Handshake 2.0.

Fantastic graphic of the Handshake 2.0 and Coldwell Banker Townside REALTORS graphic by Kelsey Sarles.

"Not only are video results increasingly common in Google's search results, but your videos stand a much better chance than your text pages of being shown on the first results page."
- Forrester Research

"You have to see it for yourself."
- Morpheus, The Matrix

"It's still who you know."
- Handshake 2.0

At the Foursquare Swarm Badge Party in Blacksburg, Virginia, we're giving away a Flip UltraHD Camcorder. 

It's not a "re-gift" that someone gave me that I'm passing off as a prize.  I took this cheesy picture to show that I ordered it directly from Amazon.com brand new for the contest winner. (Yes, I did want to open it, but the plastic tab closure is intact. I hope the contest winner will let me have a look!)

Why is the contest prize a Flip Camera?

We cited the stats in Should My Company Use Online Video Marketing in 2010?

According to experts, to know us and to know our companies - and to do business with us - people want to see us for themselves.  So we have to video ourselves.

Okay!  Our Flip Camera contest winner will get us started!

We'd love the contest winner to take a company video, upload it to YouTube, buy a Warm Handshake for $49, and let us feature the video on Handshake 2.0.

How are we doing as a company with video at Handshake 2.0?  We have a Handshake 2.0 YouTube channel and a magnum opus, The Handshake Video.  The Energy Check video is solid.  After that, we're a work in progress.  We continue to experiment, including with bad hair days, Handshake 2.0's cat and Mr. Handshake 2.0's cat.

Is making corporate videos sometimes hard, sometimes embarrassing, sometimes baffling? Yes.  But, first page matters. According to iProspect, 68% of search engine users click on first page results.  For 32% of search engine users, results on other pages essentially don't exist.

We exist!  First page, here we come! We've got another Flip Camera in the game!

Whether we're talking bricks and mortar and real estate location, location, location or a cell phone's geolocation, location matters.  Why?  The Carpenters said it best.

Why do birds suddenly appear
Every time you are near?
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you.

We're delighted to announce that Coldwell Banker Townside REALTORS is co-sponsoring the Foursquare Swarm Badge Party!  We issue you a joint invitation!

Handshake 2.0 and Coldwell Banker Townside REALTORS
Foursquare Swarm Badge Party
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
6:00 PM
Bull & Bones Brewhaus and Grill
First & Main on South Main Street
Blacksburg, Virginia

Directions to Bull & Bones

50 people, same location, same time!  Shaking hands to celebrate winning a Swarm Badge!

Here's more about the Foursquare Swarm Badge Party.

Whether you're on Foursquare or not, you're welcome to our Swarm Badge Party!

Free beverages for the first 50 people on Foursquare to check in at Bull & Bones!

For everyone, a business-card-in-the-fishbowl drawing and a chance to win this brand new Flip UltraHD Camcorder, $150 value!

Let's locate in a swarm on Tuesday, June 1, 6:00 PM at Bull & Bones!  Can't wait to get close enough to shake hands with you!