Video Marketing Strategies for Small Business by Colin Martin - HTML preview

Video Production and Marketing Fast Track Guide By Colin Martin and Marc Bullard

Who are we and why should you listen to us?

Both Colin and Marc have been helping hundreds of small business people from all over the world produce and market their short videos. They both have trained under and been in the employment of Tom Antion, at Antion and Associates, for years: Colin since 2007 and Marc since 2008. As you may know, Tom Antion is one of the most successful and prolific Internet marketers on the scene today and his use of videos has made a huge impact on his business.

Colin's title is Marketing Manager and Marc's is Head Video Producer.

Together, Marc and Colin have shot, produced, edited, uploaded and marketed hundreds of videos for the mentees of the Great Internet Marketing Retreat center plus dozens of other authors, speakers, coaches, consultants and small business people. Video is the fastest growing and most powerful online marketing tool available today and they know how to do it inside and out.

Their expertise in unsurpassed and their experience has been proven over and over again. Always staying on the cutting edge of technology, Marc and Colin are the experts that can walk you through points A – Z in every aspect

of your video production and marketing needs.

Video Marketing and Hosting Sites

Video marketing is one of the fastest growing and powerful ways to spread information around the Internet. Online video has become easier to use over the years with better quality players and more vivid video formats. With the ever growing advancements in software and technology, you can get a consumer level camera and inexpensive video editing software to create informative productions to use on websites, advertising and marketing of your business.

Web based video productions are usually short and informative. They can be produced to drive traffic to your website or business and to welcome visitors to your website home page. They can be made to offer customer service ideas, training for product use and even to advertise specials, discounts and promotions.

Due to the limited attention span of Internet users and to limit the file size of videos for quick web page loading, video productions are best kept to 2 - 5

minutes. That's a lot of time however, to train or advertise a particular topic.

The key to efficient video marketing is to produce many small shorts based on keywords that a searcher will be looking for.

In the past few years there have been a large number of free hosting sites where you can upload your videos for sharing. Sites such as Youtube, VideoGoogle, VideoYahoo, Revver, Vimeo and DailyMotion let video makers of any size or professionalism to create an account, called a channel, where you can upload and share an unlimited number of videos that are easily searchable on search engines. In your account you can build a subscriber list, brand your channel with logos and information about your business, make friends and promote your videos by sharing them via email with other users.

You can use a mass video uploading and distribution tool like the one at: http://www.tubemogel.com to upload a video to multiple hosting sites Simultaneously. The advantage above just saving time is that you can have a presence on multiple sites to get more views: 50 videos x 100 views each x 20 hosting sites = 100,000 views total!

And videos work for you 24/7. You shoot the video once, upload the video once and people all over the world can view it for years to come, each one with a clickable link to your website in the video description.

By creating a video that has a sensational, humorous, outrageous or unique title and content, you could get your video to go "viral." Going "viral" is a good thing and means that viewers share the link to the video on their websites, blogs and email. Youtube and other hosting sites provide an "embed code" that viewers can simply copy and paste into any blog or website and the video will play.

This can create hundreds of thousands of views in a short period of time and send valuable visitors to your website. using what is called a "lower third", your video has basic copyright protection from someone stealing the content and claiming it as their own. A lower third is a watermark with your website address or telephone number that is placed in the lower third of the space in the video. You have probably seen examples of this on television during commercials or infomercials.

E x a m pl e o f a lo w er third

Simple editing techniques that can make a video more professional looking and create interest are the use of fade in/fade outs, light intro or background music, titles for the opening of the video, ending credits or ending "slate"

with website or contact information and basic yet dramatic lighting techniques. You can accomplish a majority of these editing techniques with a simple video editing program such as Sony Vegas.

The two basic types of videos for the web are ones that drive traffic to a website and the ones that welcome visitors to a web page. Here's a simple formula for YouTube videos designed to drive people to your site (as opposed to videos where people are already on your site):

=> "Hi, I'm [insert name]"

=> "I know you're here looking for information on [insert keyword]"

=> "Well you've come to the right place."

=> Add some of your credibility. Example: "I've been working in the field of feng shui for 22 years..."

=> Give them a tip.

=> "For more great tips like this visit [insert your website and spell it out if necessary] where you can download [insert your freebie here]"

=> "I hope to see you at my site!"

This is effective website traffic generation for people interested in learning more about your products and services. Once the visitor arrives at the website, here is a simple formula to welcome them:

=> "Hi, I'm [insert name] and welcome to my site!"

=> Tell them what they will find at your site

=> Remind them to sign up for your freebie so that you build your database and give them a command to do so. You could also give them a call-to-action to buy something.

Here are some tips when shooting your videos to make them as professional as possible:

• Tilt eyeglasses forward to prevent a reflected glare from lighting.

• Avoid clothing colors that are bad for video: Black, white and red.

• Avoid clothing with stripes or tight patterns.

• Avoid wearing jewelry that may make noise when you move.

• When possible, have a spotter to check for neatness of hair and clothes.

• Have a mirror handy.

• If your sitting, prop a pillow behind your back to prevent slouching. Or stand up if that feels more comfortable.

• Use a wireless lapel microphone and a camera with microphone input capabilities. This will give you much better sound quality than using the microphone attached to the camera.

• If you mess up your dialogue, don't panic. Simply go back to the most convenient spot at the beginning of a paragraph, pause a second and start over from that point. If the mistake is close to the beginning of the video, it makes sense to just start from the top.

• Always smile and wait a couple of seconds before speaking at the beginning of the video. This gives you time to create a nice fade in.

• Always smile and wait three seconds and the end of the video, looking directly into the camera lens before looking away. This gives you time to create a nice fade out.

• Speak clearly and directly while looking into the lens of the camera.

Use bullet points taped just beneath the camera lens if you need them, but avoid reading a script. The camera will see your eyes moving back and forth.

• Show products such as books, CD's, DVD's you have created when you can. Encourage viewers to contact you for customer service questions, comments or input.

• Show your staff, offices and product manufacturing techniques when you can. This builds needed credibility and trust with your viewers.

Post your videos wherever you can. Social networks such as Facebook give you the ability to upload and share your videos with your friends. Post them to your blogs, landing pages, sales letters, website home pages, bookmarking sites and of course, the dozens and dozens of free video hosting websites.

Be sure to watch the 1 hour Video Creation and Marketing Webinar recording absolutely free at: TopInternetConsulting.com/FreeVideoTraining

What Kinds Of Videos Can You Make?

What kinds of videos are best for your business?

Well, it depends on what you do and who your target audience is. Each profession has a clientele that reacts to visual advertising in different ways.

This is not to say that we all are not processing the information the same, but different industries usually promote or sell their products and services with a similar pitch. Look at these examples of different professions and how they might use a video production:

Artists and craftspeople - you can use video to show off the artwork, get testimonials from customers and even demonstrate your art right on the video. You can teach 1 - 12 part lessons as a money making course or as a lead generator. Each of these video types have different lighting concerns, however.

Authors - you can create a book "trailer" just like you would see for a movie. These can range from very expensive productions to very cheaply made, without sacrificing quality. It just depends on how much of your book will be "brought to life" by actors or if you simply want to read parts aloud as a voice-over with nice visuals.

Coaches and consultants - A professional setting where you are portraying yourself as an expert makes people feel comfortable. The main product a coach sells is a results-based solution within someone's life or business.

That's when testimonials really work the best. Get your happy clients on film.

Musicians - interviews with band members, footage shot at a club or gig or even a full blown music video is what your fans have come to expect growing up on MTV and Youtube. As a band, you may have tons of footage lying around that needs to be cohesively put together. Bands are signed to major labels everyday from just being seen on Youtube alone!

Public Speakers - you know all that footage of you onstage? Learn to divide all those shots into a "video brochure" that you can use on your website to market your services. Sending a link to meeting planners and bureaus gives them a chance to see you action without creating costly one-pagers that probably get tossed into the garbage by the secretary anyway.

Manufacturers - show your products in action for your prospects! Have you ever seen the "Will It Blend" series of videos on Youtube for the BlendTec Corp? Those entertaining videos get hundreds of thousands of views and have turned the companies profits around.

Retail stores - use videos to answer customer service questions, interview happy employees and customers. Show off your store inside and out and create videos that inform your customers of promotions and specials.

Real Estate Agents - use videos as a "parade of homes" and take your clients on a virtual tour of the properties for sale. Seeing a property online before driving all the way out to a location gives the client an idea of what they are looking for and increases sales conversions.

Online Marketers and Trainers - use screen capture videos to show off software, teach people how to use programs and show off money making sites that you want your students to know about. Set up a "live TV" so people can ask questions and you give your answers right on your video channel, making you the expert in your field.

Blossoming Actors and Directors - there is no better venue to show off your talents than online videos. For most people starting out in this industry, there was no way to show your acting skills, directing talents and video editing techniques just a few short years ago.

There are videos for every kind of business ranging from infomercial style ones to performance art to comedians. The common thread here is, no matter what kind of business you have, people are using the power of videos to promote, share and sell their products and services. Just browsing a site like Youtube for all of the examples of video style could take a century.

Video marketing continues as the go-to technique for businesses large and small who want to make a quick and effective impact on their sales.

In fact, a recent University of California study discovered:

- A small business can instantly increase their credibility over 50% in their customers and clients eyes by placing a video on their website.

- A video can give a small business a decisive marketing edge over their competition if their competitors have no videos.

- The marketing message can be communicated and visualized more easily from a video than from the written word.

- A client is more prone to believe video messages over a written one.

That's because video will give people more opportunities to analyze body language, voice inflection and other physical factors the written word can never convey and as a result proves more convincing and credible.

All these facts are not that surprising, why? Because a whole new generation has been raised with online videos. We now have a generation who not only accept video messages, but expect and even demand them. That's why a business who ignores video marketing will be in danger of playing catch up with their competitors.

Many small, unknown companies have literally leap-frogged over larger, more established competitors because of the power of video marketing. In fact, this may be one of the last frontiers for the little guy to level the playing field with larger competitors.

Stories continue to abound of tiny no-name businesses who catapult to fame and fortune because of a well placed marketing video. The good news is, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Video marketing is still in its infancy, that's why those who can effectively use video messages will reap the largest rewards in the future.

Video marketing is a part of the formula companies who have the competitive edge enjoy now. That's the quiet secret most companies who effectively use video marketing hope their competitors never find out.

Here's The Top 3 Video Marketing Secrets That Attract Eyeballs and Sales, according to our latest study. Does your company, product or service have these in place. If not you're leaving huge amounts money on the table and quietly falling behind.

1. A Video That Introduces A Product or Service This type of example doesn't attempt to sell directly from the video, it's merely an introduction. For example, introducing the company, product or service to the consumer. Then next, quickly introducing a short list of how the viewers will benefit, then ending with an effective call to action. For example, writing for more information, signing up for newsletter or calling for more information, etc.

2. A Video That Sells A Product or Service This type of video clearly explains and demonstrates how the customer will benefit. This where video shines. Why? Because no matter how good the written word is, you can't demonstrate like video can. A video can help smart marketers to show and tell, which makes selling easier. This is also a place where it's helpful to have video testimonials of satisfied customers. Studies show a video testimonial is almost ten times more effective than a written one in convincing customers to buy.

3. A Video Newsletter Customers or Prospects Can Subscribe To Video newsletters continue to grow in popularity. Why? Because they're more personal than written or printed newsletters. Video newsletters help to establish relationships quicker and more effectively with customers than written or email newsletters. In addition, people tend to stay on video newsletter lists longer than email or printed newsletters.

Marketing your videos takes time and dedication, but it's easy to learn.

With a few little known techniques you can have literally thousands of potential prospects viewing your business videos. But just learning how to spread them around is only half the picture.

Videos are powerful tools for creating dynamics and intimacy with your viewers. Commercials do this all of the time. The way they look and how they are lighted, framed and edited make an explosive impact on the viewer and push emotional or psychological triggers to get them to buy or sign up.

Learning the techniques to making a Hollywood looking video using cheap equipment that you can buy at Wal-mart is amazingly easy. But the information can be hard to find. Most movie and video directors and production people don't want you to know this stuff so they can keep charging expensive hourly rates to do it for you. Our friend Craig Sexton, a 25 year veteran director of movies, commercials and television shows taught us some amazing secrets to get the perfect lighting, framing and dynamics to

make your videos look super professional. Videos with intimacy, music and great lighting convert 200% more than amateurish looking productions.

Building Viewers!

Video Marketing is great way to instantly build a rapport with your prospective customers. A further way to keep your customers engaged is to run a series of videos. The concept is like a television series. Each video is a story and is able to stand on its own, but it leaves a cliff hanger which leaves the customer keen and eager to watch the next episode.

An easy way to achieve this is to record one video and then split it into short, sharp clips or smaller videos. Splitting your video down also allows you to expand the information you are able to provide in a range of ways and to try out different marketing video methodologies.

Keep your videos short and sweet and keep to the point. Don't ramble on.

Anything longer than five minutes will definitely send your prospective client to sleep. A person's attention span is short, so make sure your video is captivating and punchy.

YouTube

Youtube is one of the most popular and highly trafficked Internet sites ever.

Alexa ranks it as the 4th largest website in terms of traffic just behind Google, Yahoo and Facebook. It consumes as much bandwidth as the entire Internet in the year 2000 and generates almost $1,000,000 a day in bandwidth costs. There are over 20 hours of video uploaded every minute and the site hosts nearly 1 billion videos to date. This is a marketers dream.

Youtube is considered a social networking site for the fact that acquiring subscribers and making friends is the key to marketing success. Networking with other users, leaving comments on user channels, uploading video responses and emailing users are effective ways to gain viewership.

The search engines love videos. Google's Universal Search specifically looks for videos to include in their results to give the searcher a choice of media for their needs. The combination of keywords in your titles and tags and gaining subscribers for your channel can create a marketing powerhouse to show off your products, make entertaining presentations, produce customer testimonials and exploit your expertise.

A great way to piggyback off of the high views on other videos is to leave a video or written response on that channel, leaving your URL in the comment box. Viewers love to read the comments and the activity that takes place there is lively. You can use the Youtube search engine to look for channels and users that would be interested in your subjects.

Youtube has released a free stats tool for your videos called YouTube Insight.

This great new and easy to use tool tracks important stats for each of your videos. Information includes:

• Which videos are being watched the most.

• Age group of viewers.

• Countries in which your videos are viewed.

• Male vs. Female demographics.

• Percentages of videos watched based on the whole.

• and many more interesting facts.

This information is important to you because you need to know if your hard work is reaching the targeted viewers you had intended. Every business has targeted marketing strategies and this tool will show you if you are reaching those goals. If a certain video with specifically chosen keywords are getting more targeted views than others, you will know what new videos to create for additional leverage.

We have really been pushing video production heavily for quick search engine positioning results. Video marketing has been the big results winner and we have heard many great testimonials to how fast the strategy is working.

YouTube Insight is a great tool to have for your video strategies. It's free and there is no download or sign up. You can access it from your YouTube account.

• Select "account"

• Select "My Videos"

• Select "YouTube Insight" from the bottom left of page

• Page loads automatically

Be sure to watch the 1 hour Video Creation and Marketing Webinar recording absolutely free at: TopInternetConsulting.com/FreeVideoTraining

Video Production Basics

In order to create the best video you can, you need some equipment to make it happen. The most important pieces of equipment you will either need to buy, rent, or borrow are:

• Camera

• Lights

• Mics

With just these three things, you can create a professional looking video to market your products.

Lights - Before you record your video, it’s a very good idea to set up some lights. Setting up lights is an art form to perfect, but there is a common lighting set up that you can use in order to create a very nice shot. Here is an example of a three point lighting technique: Camera - Of course you will need a camera to record your video; but what kind of camera? Well, that depends. You have to decide what you are shooting for. Are you creating videos only for Youtube or do you want to create DVD products and sell them? Answering that question will help make your decision easier and cheaper.

Microphones - Believe it or not, audio is one of the most important things to have perfect when making a video. If you shoot a video and the audio is bad, there’s no fixing it. If you shoot a video and the audio is good but the picture is bad; you can cover the bad picture up with a cutaway. You really need to invest in a microphone to make your videos the best they can be.

Video Post Production Basics

Once you have your video shot, you will need to put all the pieces together.

After the pieces are put together, you have to save the video as a file that’s ready to be uploaded to the Internet.

Editing - Editing software is what’s used to put all the pieces together. There are many different companies offering video editing software. What we use is a program call Final Cut Pro. This is an extremely powerful program and also expensive. Luckily, there are other options that are a lot more cheaper and almost as powerful. What editing software you use is up to you, but since the learning curve can be a little steep, you should make sure you get training in how to use it.

Titles - When putting together you video, one important element that should be included in it is a title. Putting a title in specific spots on your video can help viewers distinguish what it is and how to get more information.

Lower Thirds - Lower Thirds are graphics that contain text at the lower third area of your screen near the bottom. These usually contain the name of a website, a phone number, a name, or some other form of contact information.

These are very important to have in a video, not only for information purposes, but also for protection of your video.

Exporting - Exporting your video is taking your final edited video and converting it into a file that will be accepted online. It’s fairly easy to export your video. Most people have problems with it not because it’s hard but more-so because there are just so many exporting options that it gets overwhelming. Once you know the proper export settings, everything else becomes a whole lot easier.

Uploading Videos

After your video is exported, you can now upload to video sharing sites.

Youtube is the largest video sharing site and I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s free to sign up and free to upload videos. You have to use Youtube in order to get the most marketing juice your video has. Youtube is the most important site to upload to. But there are other sites out there as well, and just because they don’t get as much traffic that does not mean they aren’t valuable. You don’t want to fall into the trap of only using Youtube and nothing else.

YouTube exceeds 2 billion views a day, that's more than double the viewers than all 3 of the major television networks combined. The average person spends 15 minutes a day watching videos. 24 hours of video is uploaded every minute. More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than the 3

major networks combined have created in 60 years! After reading these stats, it's pretty incredible to think that it's free for you to create an account and put up there almost anything you want. That is some major marketing power you need to take advantage of.

1. Uploading them to multiple video sharing sites. Just because they might not get as many members as YouTube, sites such as Vimeo.com, Break.com, MetaCafe.com, etc. are still heavy hitters when it comes to viewers.

Break.com receives over 1 million page views a month, Vimeo.com receives over 1 million page views a day, and Metacafe.com receives over 3 million page views a month. These page views all add up, and keywords on these sites may not be as heavily loaded as well.

2. Put videos on your page. Specifically videos for your webpage, not the same thing as what you put on YouTube (and the other sharing sites). These videos can be a welcoming nature, or they can talk about new products, ebooks, etc. that you have to offer. You can also use this video to help direct new visitors to exactly what they want to find.

3. Videos on your