Archive for the ‘Social Marketing’ Category

Develop a Consistent Video Format

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Do you have a favorite show you love to watch on TV? One element contributing to your enjoyment is the consistent format of that show and the characters in it. A consistent format provides a comfort level that creates enjoyment.

Here’s a simple video tip for your small business marketing. Develop a consistent format for your videos. It may be a consistent topic; it may be a consistent location or setting for your videos; it could be a consistent phrase or a consistent way you end your videos. Do you remember Walter Cronkite and the evening news? He ended each evening broadcast with “And that’s the way it was…” I can still hear him saying those words forty years later!

Consistency provides a comfort level. Consistency creates a sense of anticipation. People look forward because they are comfortable with what is coming. They know what to expect and still can be surprised.

Here’re two examples of a consistent format. The first is called www.beachwalk.tv. Rox has produced over 750 short message videos. Each video was shot while walking along a sandy beach. The second example is www.freezerburn.com where every video is about a frozen food product. Both of these video blogs generate thousands of viewers, in great part because of their consistent format.

How can you create a consistent format for your marketing videos?

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal


Use Videos to Amplify your Marketing Message

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

They still have cheer leaders at college football games.  They still use megaphones to amplify their cheers to get the crowd behind the team.  

Here’s a simple video marketing tip.  Use videos to amplify different components of your marketing process.

  • Videos can amplify your attention grabbing process
  • Videos can amplify your connectiion with prospects
  • Videos can amplify the value in your offering
  • Videos can amplify your call to action
  • Videos can amplify your thank you messages

On the internet with the competition from all of the noise, you can stand out by amplifying your marketing message.  The next time you need to amp up one or more of your marketing components, use a video.

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal


Add Instant Video Content to your Blog or Website

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Are you tired of those “head shots behind the desk” videos?  You know from your personal viewing that videos using the interview technique are more interesting and engaging. Try this video techniques suggested by Gideon Shalwich to get a “interview video” using only yourself and your camera.

Start by creating a list of interview questions that you will answer on your video.  Place the camera on a side angle while you talk straight ahead as if there were a person on the other side of the room from you.  Make sure when you set this the camera that you have the appropriate lighting for the shooting.

Each question will be inserted into your video as a title insert using Movie Maker.  See my previous post on how to do this: http://successfulmarketingtools.com/wordpressblog/740/editing-your-marketing-videos/).You provide an answer to each questions; than another question appears on the screen and you answer that question, etc.  Add a creative introduction to set the stage for your interview video and now you have a interview video done only by yourself.

Gideon’s two videos will help you with this technique.  The first is the end results of the process.  Watch a few minutes of it to see how the end results looks.  The second video, explains in more details how to accomplish this effect with your camera angle and lighting.  Now you have valuable and interesting content for your site.

http://gideonshalwick.com/one-of-the-easiest-ways-to-create-powerful-video-content-for-your-blog/

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal


Stylish Popup Video Effect on Your Site

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Have you ever been on a website or blog where a video box was a stylish image instead of the traditional black box video? You can achieve the same effect on your site without spending a dime.  Here’s how.

Go to www,videolightbox.com where you can download a free program that will add a stylish popup video to your website or blog with just a few clicks.

All it takes is 3 easy steps: 1.Add Video, 2.Select Template, 3.Publish. At the first step, you add a video clip, for example cut-n-paste YouTube url, then select the template for video popup and video thumbnail appearance and, at the final step, publish the result to a local drive or directly to the Internet via a built-in FTP client.

Video LightBox generates a nice image thumbnail for your clip. On click, this thumbnail expands into a stylish overlay window containing the video. No css, html, javascript coding, no image editing, just a couple of clicks to get the your video added to the Web!

You are provided with the html code that you can past into your webpage or blog just as you would embed a YouTube video with its code.  Here are some of the features of this free program.

Features

  • Add Youtube, Google Video, Metacafe, Vimeo, MySpace videos, flv, mp4, 3gp video files
  • Mac & Windows versions
  • XHTML compliant
  • Automatic thumbnail creation
  • Adding caption
  • Rounded corners of overlay window
  • A lot of nice gallery themes

My thanks to Dave Kaminski for his suggestions on this video technique.  See his article for more details.

http://webvideouniversity.com/podcast/video/2010/01/29/how-to-create-beautiful-video-lightbox-effects-wvu-70/

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal


Turn Visitors to Buyers With a Video Spokesperson

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Turn Visitors to Buyers With a Video Spokesperson

By B Murphy

Every business owner has this desire that his business should achieve global recognition and people across the world value the products and services that the business has to offer. Video marketing and internet advertising are considered the best way of promoting a product or service. The concept of video spokesperson has also become very popular. Video spokesperson is a virtual online spokesperson that is used to add value to the web page. The video spokesperson is a very interesting concept used to add value to video. A virtual or animated video spokes person talks to the viewers to help them understand a website in a better manner without interfering with its normal operations, enhancing creative online promotions it is also very useful for a successful video marketing campaign. Video spokesperson is a technology which enables to add a human element to it and connect through most interactive marketing.

Advantages of using a video spokes person are that it is able to grab the attention of the viewers in instantly. Many visitors to a website can be slow in reading but with the help of a video spokes person they will be able to understand the basics of the website instantly. Hence video spokespersons help in attracting the viewers to the product, generating more traffic flow and gaining a better position in search engines. It aids viewer to emulate more knowledge without having to read through information and waste time.

An interactive virtual video spokesperson is able to grab visitor’s attention and the right conveyance of message engages and creates a nice feeling where the visitor feels that he is getting a lot of personal attention. A video spokesperson helps in creating brand awareness and a long lasting impression in the viewer’s mind and hereby increasing response rate. It will definitely have a very positive impact on the sales as well. The video is more a compelling marketing without intrusion, since; it’s more like educating on the product and its enhancements in a very personnel way.

A video spokesperson can be laid in the website for video marketing as a banner ad, email campaign, demonstration, training tutorial, FAQ, client testimonials, Thank you pages, call to action etc. It can be used for internet advertising as well as a live guide/mentor for the person opening the page, by briefing regarding the product and explaining the user instruction, and interesting them with upcoming enhancements as well aids to place orders. The main idea behind using a video spokesperson is to simply inspire and excite the buyer, towards the product, creating necessary awareness. It is a slashed cost service and the pitch is available online 24*7.

Making the viewer leave their contact information as a result of a personal rapport being built is an engagement for further buyer conversion. The faster the viewer deviates to contact/ order page, means the much effective the images worked. Video’s visual power, clarity and visual power attracts international customers enhancing the cutting edge innovation of the product. A real person sliding on a transparent layer is a most innovative way to build trust in viewers and relate them as customers and let the company stay ahead of innovative competences.

Egghead is a leading digital media firm specializing in video production and video marketing supporting a wide range of clients from global brand to small businesses.
Egghead produces cost effective video solutions that deliver results! From building awareness, enhancing brand value, increasing response and conversion rates and reduce operating cost.

Bill Murphy
President/CEO

Video Spokesperson
From Egghead Productions

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=B_Murphy

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal


How to Market Your Business With YouTube

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

How to Market Your Business With YouTube

By Ghyslain Lefevbvre

Back 5-10 years ago, the best way to market your online business was to write articles, press releases. Today, these methods are only compliments to do video marketing online. I will spend a little bit of time on how to effectively market your business with video marketing.

Video marketing today is by far the best way to sell anything online. It gives a chance for your prospects or your customer to get to know you and relate to you. Now this can be great but it can also be detrimental to your business if you don’t do it correctly. Obviously, on a video, people see your image. The way you represent yourself on your video will have a big effect on your results. So if you are for example an online business person but on your videos are showing tattoos or nose ring, this won’t represent a business like personality. I know this is a little drastic but you get the point. Dress accordingly to what you are doing or for what you are selling.

Another turn off when potential customers are watching your videos could be you and how you present your business. If you are still like a brick, you speak in the same tone, if you don’t sound exited about what you do, people won’t relate or believe in what you do. Be professional but also have fun in your videos. You have to show some life and excitement. Practice making your video for hours before you post them. I know it looks easy but making a 1 to 2 minute videos is a lot more complicated than you think. Once you think you have the right clip, have someone watch it before you post it and get their honest opinion.

Next, you need to get your videos uploaded in as many sites as you can. You need exposure to get first page ranking on Google, Yahoo and others, you need visitors, a lot of visitors. Obviously, YouTube is one of the most popular site but there is thousands of sites you can post your videos. You can get on Google and look for video posting site or you can purchase the service of a distribution site like the Traffic Geyser and they will distribute your videos for you in minutes.

Take your time making your videos, do 20 or 30 practices without your camera first. You will find it easier once you get in front of the camera if you practice first. As I said earlier, article and press release marketing are compliment to your video marketing so take the same content that you have your video and put in the form of an article or press release and distribute it the same way as you did for your videos.

When a video is well done, video marketing is by far the best way to market your business online. Follow the steps and you will find your business growing tremendously.

Ghyslain Lefebvre is an expert online business entrepreneur who helps people start their online business and reach their true worth in today’s society. If you would like more info on how you could start and build your own business working from home, please visit http://7figureincomethisyear.com/ or make money here

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ghyslain_Lefevbvre

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal


Use Video Ads for your Local Marketing

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

Video Ads

One dimension of video marketing is video ads.  They are easier and cheaper than you think.  They combine the traditional practice of professional ad help with the increasing popular use of online videos.

You can go to a program like www.jivok.com and get a free account.  They will take you through a three step process to create and distribute your video ad.

1.  Create the ad. You can use your own video or use their templates or stock videos.  Their videos have been professional made and are adaptable to your business ad.  You customize your own information on the video ad.

2.  Select your target market area. You can pick out any city and specific location and use this as your target market area.

3.  Create an ad campaign. They will place your video on 20 of the leading internet websites and news services with high traffic.  They match sites with your key words.  These are premium sites that get lots of views.  At the time of this writing, it costs about $300.00 per month to get 15,000 video impressions.

They will furnish you will a report that indicates how many people viewed your video ad, how many coupons were download or emails were sent to you, etc.  Has any newspaper ad every given you this type of advertising feedback?

Watch the short video from Dave Kaminski (http://webvideouniversity.com) as he explains how easily you can use professional videos or your own videos in video ads.  Now you can market to your local customers using video ads.

http://budurl.com/davidvideos

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal


7 Tips For Marketing On YouTube

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

By Jessica Swanson

YouTube is taking the industry by storm. It seems that anyone and everyone is beginning to make a statement on YouTube.

So the question is, as a small business owner should you market your small business through YouTube? The answer is a qualified yes!

According to Computerworld, YouTube is the 12th most visited site on earth and receives 18 million views every single day. In addition, YouTube is now the 2nd most utilized search-engine (right behind Google). These statistics are absolutely staggering.

Furthermore, many researchers believe that a top-rated video on YouTube will reach 40% more people than a commercial on a national TV station.

So, obviously if you aren’t marketing on YouTube you are clearly missing the boat. And, we are talking about a free boat ride to boot!

And the best part of all of this is that if you are a small business owner on a shoestring marketing budget, Youtube is certainly your dream come true.

Marketing on YouTube is similar to marketing elsewhere. You want to stand apart from your competition. You want to make a statement and have people remember you. This can be accomplished if you follow a few simple steps:

1) Make sure that your video is not a blatant advertisement. Most people that watch YouTube aren’t looking for a “sales pitch.” Instead they are looking for relevant and helpful information.

2) Even though you don’t want to turn your video into an advertisement, it’s still important that people understand what product your represent. You shouldn’t make it a mystery. Go ahead and insert a URL back to your website at the end of your video.

3) Make sure that your video is not too dark. Dark videos are a sure way to turn off prospects.  You should shoot your videos in a well-lit room preferably with natural sunlight.

4) Make sure that the audio reception in your video is audible. You want people to hear what you are saying. If your video is too quiet, your prospects will leave immediately.

5) Don’t expect perfection. Your videos won’t be perfect and you shouldn’t expect them to be. YouTube is certainly not about perfection. In fact, most people find that a few quirks and quibbles will give your video a less “staged” feeling.

6) Have some fun! You should smile and look like you are having a good time while you shoot your video. Add some energy to your voice and a bounce to your step.

7) Finally, although it’s important to present a nice image, don’t worry too much about how you look. It’s absolutely fine if you aren’t a Skinny Minnie or a Studley Stanley. In fact, oftentimes people can relate better to people who are just Regular Joes.  So, remember to comb your hair, but don’t worry if you haven’t lost those last ten pounds. You will do just fine.

Remember that shooting videos for YouTube will take some time to perfect. At first, it will take some time to learn. But, before long, you will have the process down to a manageable amount of time.

Jessica Swanson, “The Shoestring Marketer,” has helped entrepreneurs, all over the world, explode their businesses using cutting-edge, proven and completely free marketing strategies. To receive your FREE Marketing Kit, that has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you, learn the exact techniques for marketing their businesses for no-cost, visit: www.ShoestringMarketingKit.com

Article found in http://www.solo-e.com/library/articles/marketing-basics/marketing-planning/7-tips-for-marketing-on-youtube-4949.shtml

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal


7 Killer Tips for Optimizing Your YouTube Videos.

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

To conclude my series of blog posts on small business video marketing, I will share with you some thoughts from Gideon Shalwick on what he calls  7 Killer Tips for Optimizing Your YouTube Videos. NEQ3FV2N574Q

Gideon identifies seven tips you can use to get more views from your videos on YouTube.  You can get your own copy of this free PDF report by going to http://www.becomeablogger.com/blog/youtube-x-factor/.It’s one of the best reports I have seen.  It speaks in clear language without any fluff.  If you are serious about making more effective videos, read his report.  .

The 7 tips are:

  1. Create outstanding content
  2. Optimize your YouTube Channel
  3. Use keywords cleverly and in the right places
  4. Add URL’s in the right places
  5. Link to your videos from where ever you can
  6. Provide plenty of social proof for your videos
  7. Ping your YouTube channel as soon as you add new content

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal


Inserting a Video into Linkedin

Monday, January 18th, 2010

In previous posts, I have talked about how easily you can add video to your Twitter and Facebook account directly from YouTube.   Linkedin is often the forgotten social media site.  Adding video to Linkedin takes more steps.  Having video on your Linkedin profile will certainly make your profile stand out.  Here is a step by step process, along with two short videos you can watch to master the process.  NEQ3FV2N574Q

Using Google Presentations Within Linkedin

Add an application from Application Direction–a sub tab on the top of your Linkedin Profile page.

Click on the Google presentation application

Go to application and sign up if this is your first time.  Then

Within the Presentation Application Go to “Create a Presentation”

You can give a Title for first slide first picture in your video.

Click on “Insert” to do a search for a video, It will search your YouTube videos.

You will be give an opportunity to Insert a text to go with your video.

Click on Share Publish and Embed

Your video is being store in Google documents/presentation.

Go to your Profile and click on the Google presentation and find your video.

Click “To add to profile”

Click on the video you want added.

It will be posted to your profile.   You can go back and make changes.

If you would like to see a  2 minute YouTube video for adding your video to Linkedin Profile, go to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rTTbDzGnuw.

Slide Show Presentation Application

You can also use the Linkedin Slide Show Presentation Application to add a video.  To see a simply video on how you can do this go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HWWh6ic7Co&feature=related.

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal