Internet Marketing Tools

Here’s another inspiring video for your to ponder during your day.  Enjoy and prosper.

Jacqueline Novogratz on how to recognize a linchpin from Seth Godin on Vimeo.

Would you like to see for yourself what flip video camera may be the best for your usage? Dave Kaminisk’s in Web Video University compares the four popular pocket cameras…the Flip Ultra HD, the Kodak Zi8, the Creative Vado and the Canon SD 780.

You are not going to get technical aspects from this review. Instead you will get a side by side comparison of each camera recording the same scene under a variety of lighting conditions. Then you get to choose  which camera performs best for your video making.   Watch this 2 minute video before you invest in a pocket size camera. Enjoy and prosper.

http://webvideouniversity.com/podcast/video/2010/03/05/4-way-camera-shootout-wvu-75/

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal

Here’s your inspiring video for the day from Sunny Bates.  Enjoy and prosper.

Sunny Bates on Linchpins, Passion and Fear from Seth Godin on Vimeo.

The more entertaining you make your marketing video, the more likely they will be passed from person to person.  Creating an entertaining video montage is much easier than you think.  You will have fun and success the first time you try it.

Start by going to http://www.onetruemedia.com

This is a free program.  You start by clicking on the Create button and adding photos to your montage. These can be photos and or videos from your computer or if you have already created montages on the One True Media site. you can select from previous photos or videos.

Once you have uploaded photos and videos, you can click on the Edit and Sequence button.  This allows you to see your uploaded videos/photos and arrange them in any order you want.  You can also add a text slide at the beginning or anywhere in your sequence of photos.  You have the ability to change fonts, sizes, etc. in the editing portion.

In the next step you want to pick your Style or template.  If you just played your uploaded photos, they would appear one after another.  By using a style or template you can create a cool mix of other images blended together.  You have about 40 different styles to choose from.  You can preview them and see which one fits the montage you are creating.  When you find one you like, click Select.

You will notice that you get different music with each style or template.  You also have the choice of picking your own music.  You will see a complete list of songs that you can use to accompany your montage. Experiment until you find a combination you like.

You can then go back and edit your sequence of photos again.  Mixing and matching the music you want for various parts of the montage.

Once you complete your montage, you can Share it.  One True Media gives you many ways to do this.  You can down load it.  You get the embedded code and URL so you can place it on your website.  You can send it to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube; you can also email it.

This program is free.  They do have a paid version that costs about $39.99 per year.  With the paid version, you get fancier options for all the steps involve.  Try the free version and see what you think.  Below is a montage I created with a few vacation photos and a video.  It took me 20 minutes to create.  Enjoy and try this for yourself.

This program is free. They do have a paid version that costs about $40.00 per year and give you fancier options for all the steps involve. Try the free version and see what you think. Below is a montage I created in about 20 minutes. Enjoy.

In this post I share with you a way to capture those inspirational thoughts you used to write down with pen and paper.  Capture them in video and share them with your customers.

Here are some additional thoughts on ways you can optimize your small business marketing videos.

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

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Video marketing is more engaging, more entertaining, and a more effective, if people see your videos!  Like all aspects of the internet, your marketing videos need to be optimized.   If only a few people see your marketing  video, how will this serve your marketing purposes?  Let me share with you some techniques you can use to optimize—get more people to view—your marketing videos.

Your video title is your headline.  The purpose of a headline is to get people’s attention and get them to click on your video.  Your headline needs to be strong enough to get the visitor to click on the play button.  People don’t view videos with boring titles.  Your title should also include key search words to help search engines find it.

Take advantage of YouTube’s descriptive and Tags to describe your video.  See my earlier post on for more information on how and why to do this.  http://budurl.com/YouTubetips.

Use YouTube’s key word search.  Did you know that YouTube has its own search engine?  Right at the top of each page, you can type in your key words or categories.   The search will show you all the videos for the key search words.  Put your key words into this search engine and find out what words others are using to find videos in your niche.  Use these words in your YouTube description and Tags so others will find your videos.

Keep your video length to 1-3 minutes.  You get a longer and broader viral effect if your video is around 1 minute in length.  People are starved for time.  See the example below of a short viral video that is making its way around the internet.

Make your videos entertaining and educational.

Try the Zeigarnik effect.  This is a technique where you open a subject matter; create some mystery around it; and they force your viewer to go to your next video or to your website to complete the loop.  Psychologically, people don’t like to leave things up in the air.

Increase the quality of your videos, both the audio and the lighting.  People do not recommend bad video to others.

Subscribe to your competitions video channels so you know what they are doing with their videos.

Write channel comments on YouTube everyday.  This is similar to participating in forums and writing comments on blogs.  This is how you get you noticed and gain a reputation.  People use your comments to get to know you and like you.

Make use of video sharing with sites like TubeMogul.  See my earlier post on this technique.  http://budurl.com/mogul.

Linchpin: GaryVee from Seth Godin on Vimeo.

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal

Put video on your website with stylish popup video effect! Now for Windows and Mac!

Video LightBox JS is a free wizard program that helps you easily add video to website, web page or blog, in a few clicks without writing a single line of code.

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!

To see a demonstration of this technique, see Dave Kaminiskl’s Web Video University.

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

Have you ever wanted to do video screen capturing?  Capturing a sequence of computer screens shots into a video? Here’s a free program you can use to make a screen capture video. http://www.screenr.com.

I did the following screen capture video in about 30 minutes, the first time I ever used the program. First I used Google Documents to create a step by step presentation (slides) about an up coming talk I am giving.  I took my talk and divided it into eight parts and used Google presentations to create a simple slide show.  Following Google Documents instructions, I downloaded my slide show to a PDF file.

I then went to screenr.com and clicked that I wanted to record a screen capture.  You size your screenr capture to the size of your pages you want to capture.  I plugged in an external microphone to my computer.  I recorded my comments as I moved each slides forward.  I made a few mistakes I would correct if I was doing a finished product.

When I was done (you are allowed 5 minutes) I saved it.  Then I was allowed to publish it directly to YouTube.  I look the embedded code from YouTube and that is what you can view below.

It was fun, easy, quick and best of all free.  Try it yourself.

To be continued, your comments are most welcomed…

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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