By Karon Thackston © 2013, All Rights Reserved
In part 1 and part 2 of this series I’ve been outlining alternate ways to build targeted traffic without Google. Too many webmasters are frustrated with the Google Monster’s hijynx. You work your tail off to build steady traffic to your site only to have Google yank it back again through one of their infamous updates. These articles will help you outline a self-contained marketing plan that allows you to rely less on Google.
In part 1 of this series, I showed you a simple way to set up a very effective, automated list-building system using a special report. Part 2 introduced you to the real world of affiliate marketing. And in this installment, we’ll talk about promoting with video.
The Popularity & Reach of Video
There’s no doubt that video is enormously hot right now. People from all walks of life are clamoring around their computer monitors to view all sorts of clips from hilarious to educational.
You’ll even find video on web pages working with (or sometimes replacing) the sales copy. What’s even better… when people spot a video they love, they share it with all their friends/associates. Thanks to the huge reach of social media, it’s oh-so-simple to launch a video and have it go viral within a matter of hours.
Guess what else? People actually visit the websites mentioned in videos. Because the promo struck a chord, your prospects are more likely to click to your site to check out your offer. Just how big of a reach are we talking?
Video is Growing by Leaps and Bounds
According to Website Monitoring:
- YouTube, the biggest video search engine, exceeds 2 billion views every day.
- The average person spends 15 minutes a day on YouTube.
- 3 million people are connected to YouTube and auto-share to at least 1 social network.
But that’s just for individuals, right? Wrong! Businesspeople are just as into video as everyone else is.
MagnetVideo.com compiled some stats from various sources that show corporate folks watch their fair share, too.
- Forbes reports that more than 75% of C-Suite Executives surveyed said they watch work-related online video on business-related website at least weekly. 65% of C-suite Executives report visiting a vendor’s website after watching their online video.
- Online video usage by the leading 100 retailers increased by 18%.
Sounds Great, But I Don’t Know How to Make Videos
Yeah, neither did I. That is until I took a few courses and found some awesome resources online to help. I can honestly tell you that it isn’t as hard as you’d think. There are so many shortcuts and programs that do most of the work for you these days. In fact, you can literally be ready to produce and upload your very first video within a few hours.
If I – little miss non-tech – can create and produce videos, you can, too.
Then, I found a whole boatload of cool templates, graphics, music and other stuff for cheap at Screencast Studios.
What, Exactly, Am I Supposed to Do With the Videos?
The options are limitless.
- Give away training videos as a list-building technique.
- Promote your products or online events with talking head videos.
- Start a viral campaign with cute, animated videos.
- Make webinars or products to sell with PowerPoint videos.
- Show people how to use your product or how to solve a problem with screencast videos.
- But videos on your sales page to enhance your copy.
- And way more.
Want to see some of the videos I’ve done? Click over to my YouTube channel for a little inspiration.
Seriously, it didn’t take me but a few minutes each to make the videos you see here. And they’ll live on YouTube, my blog and other video sites forever generating qualified traffic to my site.
Want to learn more and find out just how easy it is for you to get started in video? I’ve put a few of my best resources below.
Additional Resources
Screencast Studios – Super cool (and cheap) stuff to enhance your videos including graphics, music, templates, etc.
Animoto – Make videos out of photos or slides with just a few clicks. Animoto does all the hard work for you.
Jing – Free screen capture software that lets you record your computer screen. Make tutorials, how-to videos and more.
JibJab – Make funny animated videos using your face or someone else’s. Not just for personal use. You can create cool business videos, too.
Hi Karon, I posted a comment after reading your first post on the subject of using other resources to drive traffic to your blog other than Google. I asked if there were ways to make list building work for niche sites. After reading your third post on this subject you gave me a great idea how to use youtube to drive traffic to my niche site. Thanks so much for the inspiration.
Yours Truly,
Rob
I LOVE Animoto. So inexpensive and easy to use. I used one mp4 on a landing page (www.enhancingromancing.com – in progress!) I wish I had all the time to check out all this cool stuff that could turn into web content. BTW, Karon, I got the Wordtracker year subscription and used your name.
I know! It’s cool. You’ll love Wordtracker! Thanks for that. 🙂
That’s a good idea. I’d never thought of that before. Just been too focused on Google.