Hilltop Video Services

26/04/2023

This is a great bundle for any herbalist. Make it a gift for the herbalist in your life

Printable eBooks are available of my new titles: Herbal Recipe Logbook, Materia Medica Plant Study Journal & Mushroom Foraging Journal. Or, get the Green Bundle of all 3 ebooks at a discount! Shop now at Hilltop Arts! https://www.hilltopgrp.net/hilltoparts/store/ebooks-printables/

07/10/2022

Hi Folks,
I just dropped a new blog regarding how to create a 3D logo animation without breaking the bank.

If you are a small business owner looking to stand out from your competition, then please take a look at this free training post. You can find it here: https://hilltopvideoservices.com/2022/10/07/how-to-easily-create-your-own-3d-video-animations-using-templates-without-breaking-the-bank/

Be safe and be kind.

Michael

Yes, you can create your own video animations for advertising, announcements, or digital greeting cards with just a few clicks of your mouse.You do not You can create engaging, Hollywood-style video animations using existing content. This article will show you how to create a simple logo animation w...

14/03/2022

In my humble opinion firefighting is the best career on the planet! It’s not like Hollywood portrays in the movies. It is tough, dirty, and exhausting work. But it is also the most rewarding of careers. You do get to fight fires, rescue folks and their pets, save lives, and run down the road in a big red truck (BRT) with your hair on fire looking for a dragon to slay. But you have to earn that privilege.
There are so many ways you can go in the fire service. When I was working at the National Fire Academy, I created 16 competency models for each career specialty within the definition for “fire-recue services”. Everything from basic firefighter to company officer, specialty technicians and administrative officer positions.
It has been my honor and privilege to serve my community, my state, and lately my nation as a firefighter, a paramedic and a fire education administrator.
The path to becoming a safe and respected first responder can be pretty daunting. Unlike Hollywood (Except for the movie Ladder 49), You don’t just show up at the firehouse and go right to work.
There are really two ways to go about getting the education, training (yes, they are different) and experience you need to enjoy a safe and successful career.
This video briefly outlines those paths: https://youtu.be/_oU-kvh53f0
If you, or someone you know is interested in joining the family, then please direct them to the resources contained in the video. If they are in school have them speak with their career advisor and visit your local fire/rescue station.
You’ll be glad you did and so will the firefighters waiting to greet you.
Be safe and be kind.
By the way, I am beginning a new YouTube series on home safety and community risk reduction...Stay Tuned!
Michael

Ask any firefighter when they started thinking about becoming one and you'll find most started the first time they saw a BRT (Big Red Truck) rolling down the...

06/03/2022

Hi folks.
Content calendars are important to keeping your social marketing videos fresh and engaging.​​
Here is another installment of my video planning ideas for the second week in March 2022: ​https://youtu.be/wtjCVV_Uua4​
You can use these as starting points for your own social marketing plans. You can also find hundreds of video templates for little or no cost.
Remember, you can do this yourself by just learning the resources and a few production tricks. Or you can hire a professional editor to help. Or, finally, you can do nothing and watch as your ship sinks in the ocean of anonymity.
Be safe and be kind.
Michael

March is full of traditional and some surprising unofficial holidays.We celebrate everything from meatballs to girl scouts to daylight savings time.Here are ...

22/09/2021

Hi Folks,
Ok. So, what does a "big box" hardware store have to to with user generated content, video animations, and the holidays?

Take a moment to read my next blog: https://hilltopvideoservices.com/2021/09/22/christmas-already-are-you-kidding-me/
and find out more.

I am really looking forward to our next launch academy live event! Last year was such a virtual gas! Now that I know more, I am really going to enjoy learning from Kim, her staff and the great experts who have been where I am today.

Be safe and be kind.

Michael

03/08/2021

Hi Folks,

Here is something to think about as you are trying to balance the workload with your life load. Remember your health is more important than your business.

Just Be?

I read an interesting quote from Alice Walker: “You don’t always have to be doing something. You can just be, and that is plenty.”

What a concept…” Just be”.

I think, too often, I feel guilty sitting around “just being” when I have so much to do. I am either creating new content at Hilltop Video Services, creating new glass art, learning a new skill or working around my house. The cognitive and physical loads of starting a new business, learning the marketing for it and homeownership upset the work-life balance, so many folks(like me) are pushing the edge to maintain mental health.

It takes a conscious effort to give myself permission to “just be”.

I don’t think I am very good at it (yet). When I was younger, in Catholic school my teachers tried to teach me how to “center”. Centering is, to my mind, what “just be” is. When I was in the Air Force, in Southeast Asia, I went with a friend to his Buddhist temple. We were in a ceremony when we stopped to just meditate for a while…I fell asleep. (yes, I am probably that boring…even to me.)

But it takes practice to set aside time during the day to just sit and be. I am always in contact with my God and my spiritual self as my mind races to solve the next problem or issue. Not good if I want to “just be”.

So, when is the right time during the day to just be? Dr. Benjamin Hardy suggests a good time is in the morning when I first wake up. He said I should start my day with internal reflection, prayer, journaling and a little exercise. This routine is supposed to get my mind, spirit and body in tune with my environment and ready to “be” in my world.

I have learned through lots of study that this is exactly the pattern used by most successful folks.

Since I am one of those described by Steven Jobs as crazy enough to think I can change the world, I think I’ll try this approach and change myself first and the world second.

How about you?

Be safe and be kind.
Michael

27/07/2021

Hello folks,
I believe we all agree that personal contact with our clients is an invaluable tool to securing a trusting relationship.

We can also agree that getting our faces, voices and personality on the screen, in front of real-life human beings can be a painful experience for many of us. And it will take lots of practice and internal fortitude to build up to that first digital production. We cannot get around it…. that first “live” presentation is a daunting specter looming before us, worse than a trip to the dentist (Sorry Dr. Samuels).

So now there is a way of getting a person to speak for us, in our ads and funnels, while we work to ratchet up our courage.

Please watch the attached video I made this morning.
Then, if I may be of assistance, DM me the word “Humatar” to [email protected] and I can tell you more about doing it yourself (saving you money) or do it for you (still saving you money and time!).

Please feel free to like and share this with anyone you feel could use it.

Be safe and be kind.
Michael

16/07/2021

25/05/2021

Hi Folks.

Just me again with another tip for your video social marketing.
Remember when you learned K.I.S.S. (Keep It Socially Simple, or something like that). It is no less important to keep your social marketing videos as simple as possible. This fact lends itself well to force you to use as few, but impactful, graphics as possible.
I know for me I must keep text in words of one syllable or less, or I lose track. 😉

Here is an engaging sample I made this morning. It has all the important information, photographs, and sound in one simple template that is less than a minute long. Keep in mind that with most template agencies you can change the branding colors and logos as well.

Be safe and be kind.
Michael

12/05/2021

HI,
We have reformatted our web page (hilltopvideoservices.com), worked on the SEO, and setting up our forms and email systems.

This process has two parts: the business and marketing stuff and the actual video production stuff. I think the business administration is much harder than the video productions.

Anyway, please take a look around our new website and drop a comment on how it looks, how easy it is to navigate and anything you would change.

Please feel free to like and share this request.

Thank you. You are helping shape our future.

Be safe and be kind.

Michael

30/01/2021

Hi Folks!

I want to thank everyone who "Liked" and Followed my attempt to build followership at Hilltopvideoservices.com.

The ad proved much about the reach and feedback.

As a thank you, I would like to invite all who joined this attempt to please visit my website and fill in the opt-in information.

If you are a business I will build for you a free animated logo. If you are not, then I will build for you a free digital holiday card.

I will contact you for a design interview to get the information I need to build your animation.

You guys are the best!

Be safe and be kind.

Mike

PS: pass this on to anyone you know who would benefit and I will make them the same offer. (Yeah I know shameless self-promotion.)

25/01/2021