Tag Archives: You Tube

What Do I Do With This Darn Video??

Video As Content, Video SEO and Optimization, Video Web Series, , ,

If you’re new here, I create videos as web content for small business in Cincinnati, Dayton, and Northern Kentucky. And I help both my clients, and non-clients understand video’s powerful impact. A lot of that is knowing what to do after the video is created. Where do you put it? How do you put it there? What else can you do to make sure folks see it? This video series was born from that. I’m going to give you the tips you need to make your videos work for you. Don’t have any videos yet? Call me. I’d love to talk with you.

I will upload a new episode about twice each month. To begin, here are the first two episodes. I’m really interested in your comments, so leave one, or connect with me.

Enjoy and have fun!

Watch time (4:56) Link to transcript


As a bonus, here is Episode 2. If you’d like to be notified when new episodes are added, be sure to click the “Subscribe” link at the end. (I’ll show you how that’s done in a future episode)

Watch time (4:16) Link to transcript

5 Ways To Get More Sales With Business Videos

Uncategorized, Video As Content, , , ,

Everyone is watching. Have you noticed? Everyone is watching more videos online. So if you’re in business – whether it’s B2B or B2C, you need to inside video in your marketing strategy.

1. Do you need “face time” with your prospects to turn them  into customers? Start with video. No matter who you are, when someone is referred to you, 8 times out of ten they go online to check you out.  Videos give you that face to face meeting you need, and it works 24/7.

2. Before my wife buys and, she researches like crazy. When you make that easy by showing demonstrations or enhancing your expertise, you also make it easier to buy. You make it easy for a customer to become comfortable doing business with you. 65% of folks watch a video before deciding to buy.

3. Tell your customers what they need to know. Most folks would rather watch than read. We remember more of what we see and hear. Engaging business videos can entertain and educate. Last year, I did a series of videos for a product that could eliminate odors. There were so many uses, we had an endless supply of ideas. We highlighted it in a smelly refrigerator and a baby’s bottom.

4. Build trust. Answer questions. Give value so customers understand more about your product sooner. In radio and television it takes a message 3 to 5 repeating plays before its gist sinks in. That’s the frequency in “reach and frequency.” But website videos for business help convert prospects to customers. Unlike broadcast, you don’t pay each time the message is played. And if there’s anything the viewer doesn’t understand, they can playback just that section.

5. Videos last and last. Your strategy for writing and producing videos for your business should be long term as well. Not only that, but older videos can be repositioned with new titles and tags or new body copy on the page. The use of YouTube’s annotations is a cool way of adding information or a new call to action.

Remember, the use of video on business websites grows every day. Be an early adopter in your category if possible. When you have videos on your website, and your competition doesn’t…you win.

— that’s a wrap.

YouTube? You Should!

Uncategorized, Video As Content, , , , ,

Every January, Las Vegas hosts the Consumer Electronics. Show. The CES is where new and just thought of gadgets make their debut. It is also a lively conversation on current trends. Here are some facts about YouTube that came out of a session at this year’s CES.

>>YouTube now reaches more adults than any network. ANY network. So says Neilsen whose job it is to measure things like that.

>>100 hours of new content is uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s more than four days every sixty seconds.

And the most watched videos? Authentic. Content that is about something very specific. If you have a niche, you should be telling your story with video. And you should also put that video on YouTube.

It’s watchable, it’s searchable, and its shareable.

Yes you should YouTube. Because if you don’t, your competition will.

–that’s a wrap.

7 Mind Blowing Things You Can Do With Video

Uncategorized, Video As Content, Who Uses Video, You Tube for Business, , , ,

First off, you and I both know there are way more than just 7 in this list. For example, it’s mind blowing to me that videos can touch someone so personally that they get choked up. There is one piece particularly that no matter how many times I see it, I need a tissue at the end. It blows my mind that almost 30 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every MINUTE!

So let’s get to the list. And be sure to tell me what you think.

1. VIDEO CAN OFFER COUPONS.
It costs a few hundred dollars a month to get coupons included in that blue envelope that gets delivered in the mail. You can do it for free with video AND change them anytime you like. With YouTube annotations, you can control where the coupon code is placed in the video. Remove or change the annotations whenever you want.

2. VIDEO CAN MAKE AUDIENCE SPECIFIC MESSAGES.
I did this in radio all the time, and now it is possible in video. Create a custom open and close – also called a wraparound – and address a specific audience, need, or event. This works great when you have multiple targets, or multiple locations. The body of the message stays the same, but each one has a unique feel to it.

3. VIDEO CAN PUT YOURSELF IN ANY LOCATION.
Want to be in a beautiful, modern studio or in front of the Eiffel Tower or even miniaturize yourself to show someone the inside details of your thingamabob? Do it with a green screen. The same technique that the TV weatherman uses to stand in front of the map can put you almost anywhere.

4. VIDEO CAN DEVELOP YOUR OWN REALITY / DIY / COMEDY SERIES
Ten years ago if you wanted to get your message in front of a mass of people, you had to have a major publisher or network behind you. All that has changed. The gates are wide open for anyone to produce whatever content they wish. YouTube has spawned its share of stars: folks who are actually making a living writing and producing these little videos. You can too. What would you do with your own network?

5. VIDEO CAN KNOW HOW MANY FOLKS ARE WATCHING.
What can newspapers, radio, television and even direct mail never do that online does very well everyday? Tell you who’s watching. Print and electronic media know how many people they reach, but not the engagement. And when someone clicks to start a video, they are choosing to consume that content. Many analytics can tell you the communities those folks are from.

6. VIDEO CAN MAKE SMALL BUSINESSES LOOK LIKE THE BIG GUYS.
It’s not a budget statement anymore. With the right video, your only limit is your imagination. Remember the Coke and Pepsi challenge?
You can pit yourself against your competition all day and show how you’re better, safer, cleaner, greener. Tell your story to the folks you want to reach. Make them care and they will share.

Any one of these techniques has the power to blow your mind when applied properly. And if you’re not using video at all, your competitors will.

–that’s a wrap.

How To

Video As Content, You Tube for Business, , , , ,

I’m really amazed at the number of videos out there that are not taking advantage of the words and phrases folks are searching for. If you want your video, and ultimately your website, to be found by people who are searching for what you do, then use one of the most powerful phrases in search engines: “How To…”

Whether you are creating new products and services, or updating existing ones, make it easy for your customers by showing them How To… select the proper (fill in the blank), How To Use… (your product) Correctly, How To Troubleshoot….(what they currently have). The list is endless, literally. Then, be sure you have that magic phrase in your title, in your tags, and (if you’re embedding the video on a separate page) in your page title.

If people buy from people they trust, you can turn yourself into a ally with compelling and credible “How To” videos. Just remember to keep it simple, use numbered steps when possible, and aim for a recap at the end of your video that wraps everything up neatly. Studies have shown that it takes just three videos for a website to raise their credibility score to Expert by their viewers.

— That’s a wrap.

Advertising Or Engagement?

Video As Content, You Tube for Business, , , ,

Last week I was talking with a small business owner when the subject of videos for websites came up.
“We’ve talked about doing some videos, but we don’t need to do any advertising”, she said.

Website visitors and customers already understand what advertising is and what it isn’t. Unfortunately, most businesses do not. For example: some fervently believe that their website is advertising, and they pay for it out of their advertising budget. But even Amazon – one of the largest e-commerce websites isn’t advertising, for they also inform and entertain as well as sell. This is engagement.

If your website is nothing more than an online brochure for your business, then you’re losing the battle.

Business coaches advise that it costs more to get a new customer than to keep a customer. If you can convince an existing customer to buy more, your profit margin is higher. You can do that through engagement. Actually, you can also qualify and close more new customers that way. And there’s part of the difference.

While advertising implies a direct offer, engagement is more about establishing and building a relationship – one that, over time, will lead to sales, brand loyalty,  and a perception of expertise in the marketplace.

Video is the quickest and the most affordable vehicle to drive engagement.  Video for websites should not be advertising. People don’t search for commercials. Your visitors want to be engaged. Those businesses that provide that engagement will win. I hope you’ll be one of them.

–that’s a wrap.

How To Make You Tube Work For You

Behind The Scenes, DIY ?, Uncategorized, , , ,

Many businesses who use videos don’t have the time or the tools to host their videos on their own server, so they opt for loading their productions on You Tube and using the embed code. If you really don’t have any other options, it’s still better to have something on You Tube than nothing at all. So here’s a list of tips and tricks. The more of them you can accomplish, the better off you will be in placing your content where the search engines will find and display it.

GIVE YOUR VIDEO A GOOD TITLE. Use keywords. Make it compelling. No one will watch, nor will they search for “October video.mp4” But they will watch “How I Saved Money and Solved My ——- Problem In Three Steps.” Get the picture?

PAY ATTENTION TO THE DESCRIPTION FIELD. The very first thing should be http:// and your website. Not just your homepage, but a page that gets the viewer closer to doing business with you.

UPLOAD A TRANSCRIPT / CREATE CAPTIONS This is a relatively new feature, but it is possible now to upload a transcript of your video to You Tube. There is also a feature that will let you create captions so the video can be watched, instead of heard. There is an entire list of best practices for these actions themselves, so ask for help, or search for tutorials. Big hint: don’t use WORD to create your files. Use WORDPAD so you can save them as .txt files without all the format encoding. Or, if you understand video time code, create a .srt file and you’re able to more precisely control your captions. The ability for the search engines to read videos due to transcripts is really a game changer.

CREATE A NEW PAGE FOR JUST THE VIDEO If you can whip up a single page on your site, and embed the video, surrounded by keywords and phrases that would be great. Then you can put THAT URL into the You Tube description field. If you have one video optimized for a key phrase, and a different video optimized for a different key phrase, you have increased your chances of being on top of a search and having that search lead back to you.

TELL EVERYONE. Put the You Tube Share code on every social network you can. Your promotion needs to run like a good ad campaign. Maybe not everywhere all at once, and maybe some places more than once. But get it out there and create some talk. Ask folks to share. Ask for comments. Ask for subscribers.

BRANDING. FYI, as part of it’s newly launched “In Video Programming”, you can upload an image that You Tube will use as a “bug” in the corner of your videos. You can also pick which corner of the video it appears in, and for how long. There is also a seldom used workaround for the You Tube embed code that removes You Tube branding.

Some folks don’t want to be associated with You Tube because of its “pedestrian” image. But You Tube is the second largest search engine. It’s a great place to put your videos. And by following some simple steps, it can be another tool in your arsenal for getting noticed.
–That’s a wrap.

Showing Our Stuff

Behind The Scenes, Uncategorized, Video As Content, Who Uses Video, , , , , ,

 

The past three years has brought a lot of new friends our way.  Every project we do is different and exciting.  The new year gives us an opportunity to take a look back and put together some of the work we’ve done for our clients. Here’s our 2012 demo reel. I hope you enjoy it.  When can we get started on YOUR project?

–That’s a wrap.

Don’t Hide Your Videos

Behind The Scenes, Video As Content, , , ,

I’m starting to see a few websites with a YouTube logo in one corner or as part of the site menu.  I take that to mean there’s a company YouTube channel linked to it.  But you shouldn’t stop there. If you make YouTube your sole source of video traffic, you’re missing the boat.

Here’s how:
1. Videos hosted on your own server get “liked” by the search engines quicker.
2. If you don’t show some of your expertise – in the form of videos – on your site, you’re asking your audience to jump through another hoop in order to get them.

Instead:
Post your best – the ones that answer questions or solve problems – on a page or pages that are dedicated to solving that problem.
Use your YouTube embed code to play your videos in email newsletters, and other communication tools.

Put your videos out front, and let them work their magic.

— That’s a wrap.