Posts Tagged ‘traffic’

In case you have not noticed, video is exploding over the internet.  YouTube.com is one of many sources that have made video simple and affordable to produce.   We have all seen the skateboard accidents and other funny videos.  Have you also noticed the number of commercials and information videos?  Have you noticed how many video blogs are out there?  Yes, video is here and it is time for you to get in on the action.

Your First Video

Video is a big topic if you want it to be.  How do you reach your customers?  How do you make it interesting?  Should you hire a professional?  Can you do your own thing with a webcam?  These are all great questions and all have the same answer, "it depends".

If you are already accustomed to giving your "elevator pitch" about your company, that’s a great start.  You can also prepare a quick elevator pitch for each of your products or services.   If your business is centered around you and your personal credibility, then do your own videos.  If your business is built around the products and services, then at least consider using someone attractive with a captivating personality to represent your company.

For most companies, your video should be focused on marketing and not too educational.  No showing off!  Tell people that you can help them and focus on what they need and why they need it now.   No video resumes.  Focus on your client’s needs or on your differentiators.

Shoot several versions and change them up a bit.  Then ask your friends and colleagues to help you choose the videos that work the best for your business.  You can have several.

For web video, any camera will do.  Take the time and trouble to work on sound quality, lighting quality, etc.  You do not need special equipment, but you do want your video to look fairly well done.  It is not necessary to focus on high definition or tricky special effects.  Just get a video online and then upgrade it when you are ready.  It you want something really fancy or if you are producing a companion DVD, etc., then spend the money on professional help.

Publishing Your Video

Your video should be from 30 seconds to five minutes in duration.  These are easily hosted on YouTube.com.  Upload your video to YouTube.com and they will provide you with the codes to help put it on your website.  It is very simple.  Put a different video on each page of your website and make sure the YouTube.com descriptions include keywords, product names, or whatever else.  Google will read the YouTube.com descriptions and use those to drive traffic to your videos and to your website.

If you do not use YouTube.com for your video, there are easy ways to have your video placed on your website.  The important thing to do here is to create the XML required to teach Google.com what the video content is so Google.com can send you search engine traffic.  Google calls this XML file a "Google SiteMap".  To create a Google SiteMap, go here:

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=80472

I am sure that Google SiteMaps are generated by some video editing software.  There are probably other tools to help you do this as well.

Great Video Commercials

If you go to YouTube.com, you can search and find all sorts of videos.  One of my favorite examples are the videos from the BlendTec blender company.  These videos are built as a cross between a video blog and an infomercial. Search youTube.com for "Will it blend" and you will see well made videos of a guy grinding up all sorts of crazy things in his BlendTec blender.  These videos are designed to do several things:

Create a viral marketing buzz.

Demonstrate the quality of the product.

Sell blenders.

These commercials do all that well.  It is worth a look to get some ideas on how to do it right.

Have you ever searched the internet for a specific product or service?  Of course, you have.  But have you noticed how many results come back on your search?  There are usually hundreds of thousands, or even millions, or results.   That is a lot of competition.  Focusing your internet marketing strategy on a tight niche market will reduce the number of competitors.  Your campaign will reach less people, however you should have a higher success rate.  Finding a good niche could be a goldmine.

What is your Niche?

You may have more than one niche.  We are discussing a single niche campaign in this article.  Just repeat the process for each of your niche markets.  Do not mix them together.  Combining niche markets means you do not have a niche anymore.

If your company sells computer hardware, for example, you will have a lot of competition.  Focusing your campaign on one brand will help you rise above the competition.   If you want to focus on HP, for example, you can target HP Color Laser Printers as one niche, and create more niche campaigns for other products.   Alternatively, you could focus on a particular client, such as doctors’ offices, etc.

Setup Niche Pages

After you identify your niche(s), create special pages on your website that target that niche.  You might even create special websites that target that niche if the niche is lucrative.   Have one or more pages focused on “HP Color Laser Printers” and run ads and link building campaigns to drive traffic to those pages.  These specialized pages will help you gain credibility in that niche market.  You will be able to establish yourself as an expert in those areas.

Grow Your Niche

Visitors who came to your site from one of your niche ads or niche links will end up on your special niche landing page.   As soon as they hit your landing page, set a cookie.  Use that cookie later to flag their customer record.   You will be able to use that information to send targeted ads to them via email.

Have you ever been to craigslist.org?  You probably have.  But have you really considered the powerful possibilities of promoting your business on craigslist.org?  I have been digging into this lately and it feels like I just struck gold.

The background story is this.  I recently sold a car.  I took it to CarMax because everyone says CarMax pays the best.  However, CarMax did not offer me nearly what I wanted for the car.  I decided to try CraigsList.org.  CraigsList.org is free and very popular.   I took wrote a compelling ad and added a few photos.  I crossed my fingers.  I know that the price I was asking was slightly higher than I expected to get, so I was not sure if I would get any calls or not.  I ended up selling that car within four hours and the buyer paid in cash.  That was a great success.

A few weeks later, I decided to look into Craigslist.org and see how other businesses are using this service.  I learned a lot.  Would you like to drive more prospects to your website?  Craigslist.org can be more effective than the Yellow Pages.

Why Use Craigslist.org?

Craigslist.org is extremely popular and it is free.  Further, the user community expects you to place ads there.  Place ads in your own city, or in other cities, and people will click on the ads and visit your web page.   Driving free traffic to your website is always a good thing, right?

Getting Started with Craigslist.org?

Register your free account on Craigslist.org and explore the site for a bit.  Look at how people write other ads and what types of ads are in what categories.  Check other states as well.  Once you are comfortable with how things are organized, go ahead and place your own ad.  Your ad should include a link to your website.  You will have to form the link using proper HTML codes.   You should also include a picture if you can.  Get some help putting together your first ad.  Save the ad and you can place it again in a week or so.

Powerful Tips for Craigslist.org

Use Landing Pages – Create a special page on your website that is linked to only by your Craigslist.org ad.  This way you have precise statistics and it helps you build targeted offers, etc.

Special Offers – Create special time or quantity limited offers.  People really respond to limited time or other restricted offers.  When someone fears they might miss out, they are more likely to take action.  Don’t forget to offer free offers.  Get your free e-book on how to make a zillion dollars!  Then get them to sign-up for your newsletter and send that e-book to whomever signs up for your newsletter.

Use Posting Software – Once you determine that Craigslist.org is working for you, consider buying specialized software to help you post ads.  Most can be scheduled to post your ad on a regular basis and will help you with other time-saving features.

Different Ads, Different Categories, Different Cities – You can run various ads across the country.  The rules for Craigslist.org don’t allow for posting the same ads in different cities.  You can run different ads in different places.  Know the rules, then create several different ads for different products or services and post the various ads in various places.  Just stay within the guidelines.

Don’t Spam – Craigslist.org has rules about how many ads you can post and other restrictions.  You want to do as much as you can, but if you violate the rules, you could have some problems.  Read the rules and abide by them.

Write Good Ads – Remember your marketing rules.  Write ads that compel people to visit your site and buy your products or services.  Try different strategies and study your success rates.

Use these techniques and before you know it you will know what role Craigslist.org plays in marketing your products and services.   Who knows, maybe Craigslist.org will be your best marketing value.