Posts Tagged ‘youtube’

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.

Websites can cost a fortune, or they can be free. I have heard of websites that cost in the millions of dollars to build and require a staff to maintain them. Consider sites like Amazon.com. I would say that most businesses pay a few thousand dollars for their websites. If you are on a tight budget, then spending a few thousand dollars may be impossible. Here are a few ideas that might get you started for nothing, or darn close to nothing.

http://www.myspace.com/ – This is the most popular free website service. Many people identify with MySpace as a hangout for kids. More and more businesses are learning the value of having a presence in the MySpace community. Start paying attention and you will see www.myspace.com/myname plastered on business cards or even on those magnetic car signs. Yes, MySpace is a good choice for a one-page business website. If you cannot figure out how to customize it yourself, ask any teenager to help.

http://www.wordpress.com/ – WordPress is a blogging tool. It is a far more customizable than a MySpace page and you can have as many pages as you like. Because it is a blog, you will have to maintain it by adding new content on a regular basis. You can also point your own domain name to the site if you have one. By using http://www.wordpress.com/, you will not need a hosting account; it is free to use. If you want to download WordPress software onto your own web hosting account, then get the software from http://www.wordpress.org instead. (Notice the ORG instead of COM at the end).

http://www.ning.com – Think of Ning as a more advanced tool that lets you create your very own version of MySpace. Think about it. You can build your own community with registered members, member profiles, blogs, and so on. This is really popular for creating niche online communities. On MySpace, people create a profile page. Your visitors will be able to create profile pages on your Ning site. Basically you become another MySpace. Then you just promote your online community. Building a Ning site is surprisingly easy. This is a great choice if you want to build a community. Maybe you are part of a club or organization and your members would enjoy participating in a niche community site.

If you are willing to do the work yourself, then you can build an elaborate site without spending a dime. Add content to your site using videos from YouTube.com, or use some widgets from other sites. There are numerous content widgets and plug-ins that you can find to put on your site. You can start you own Internet TV station or Internet radio station. All for free.

The buzzwords are changing in the world of Internet marketing.  Your customers do not want to see the big flashy banner ads.  They want to know you as a person.  People want to do business with people they know and trust.  While conventional advertising has its place, being a trusted expert in your industry is critical.