Create a Video

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youtubeVideo is becoming more and more popular because it is fast, entertaining and engages our eyes and ears.  However, a video on it’s own isn’t going to get you the results you want.  Your video needs to be an integrated part of your overall marketing strategy. Social media, email marketing, video marketing, articles…all of this integrated together in the right way will help you build your brand and our business.

Here are the basic steps to creating and marketing your video.

1.  Script it – figure out what you want to say, write it down, make sure you repeat key phrases so the viewer remembers them. Practice it.  Say it out loud.

2.  Record it – Now there are several ways to record a video. The easiest and cheapest way is to use a video camera that is built in to you computer.  OR to use a video camera you already have.  Test the lighting, background, and look for shadows.  Do a couple of tests – get comfortable with the camera and practice your script.  Practice until your delivery is smooth and comfortable.  

3.  Edit it – There is a ton of editing software available and much of it is free or comes with your computer. These are the key elements of a great video:
•    Visual look & feel – use your existing brand colors or theme to help integrate the video into your marketing activities.  You can certainly add other images, but don’t create something that is visually disconnected from other things on your website.
•    Timing – It must be under 2 minutes.  2 minutes of online video can seem like forever if the content is dull and the presentation is slow.  Keep it fast, change the graphics every 5-10 seconds.
•    Music – you need a soundtrack for your video. Don’t use popular music  or songs from well known artists as you can get in trouble.  But there are some resources for copyright free music that are really great.  Again, I’ll include this in my email.
•    Graphics – create graphics in your editing program that use key words and phrases. Time them to coincide with the script to reinforce the points you are making in the voice over.

4.  Promote it – The most obvious place to promote your video is on your web page or blog.  So clearly you want to do this.  The easiest way to get your video out to as many people as possible is to post it to YouTube.  YouTube is one of the most visited sites on the internet, worldwide.  So leverage it’s power. Create an account if you don’t have one. Upload your video and use their capabilities to post, share and promote your video.  Here are a few ideas:
•    Embed it on your webpage or blog – YouTube provides a simple embed link that you just paste into your webpage.
•    Email the “share” link to your opt-in email list and email them the link to the video OR direct them back to your webpage or blog to view it.
•    Post it to your social media accounts – LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter are obvious.  But you may also want to consider posting it to StumbleUpon or Digg or other sites.

Publish Articles

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articlesPublishing articles is very similar to blogging.  The advantage to articles for some people is that while the effort required to create the content is very similar, the time requirement is very different.  What I mean is that a standard article runs between 400-1000 words, the same for standard blog posts.  So, writing a blog or an article is basically about the same amount of work.  What’s different about articles is that they don’t have to happen regularly.  Blogs need to happen regularly – several times a week, or weekly at a minimum.  Articles can happen whenever the mood strikes you, or whenever you have something you want to write about.  The pressure is definitely less.

The disadvantage to articles is that a there is no way of capturing subscribers or followers, like you have with a blog.  Articles do generate traffic to your site as there is always a “promo box” at the bottom of the article where you put your bio and a link back to your site.  But at that point, your site has to be working for you to turn the click from a published article into a registered user either through a subscription or an opt-in email.  You will get the traffic, and it is up to you to capture it.

Like blogs, articles are well liked by search engines.  The content of the article will be indexed by the search engines allowing people to find your article linked with your name.  But there won’t be an immediate link to your site – rather back to where the article was published.
To get started here are 4 steps to marketing yourself with articles:

1. Identify your topic. Choose topics related to your area of expertise.  If you have content already developed, leverage it for your articles. Look for connections to current events and take existing content and “spin” it into something new and exciting for your audience.

2. Write your article. You want to shoot for between 400-1000 words.  There are many different ways to structure your articles, but some of the more popular are Top 10 Lists, How To Guides, Tips and Tricks, Seasonal or Holiday tie-ins.  Make sure to include your short bio and a link to a webpage in the “promo box” usually at the end of the article.  The link can be to your business web page, blog, or social media profile. Use whichever one is most up to date and relevant to the article topic.

3. Publish your article: There are 4 major articles distribution databases.  You can submit your articles to all four services.  Each one of them has a reporting mechanism where you can see how many views your articles have received.

4. Promote your article: Now that you have your article published, tell people about it.  When answering customer questions, or talking to prospective clients, it adds a degree of credibility to include a link to an article you’ve written.  Don’t forget to post them to your social media accounts.  Use these as a way of establishing your credibility. Having your articles published on a 3rd party site is validation of your expertise.  It’s like a great reference for you.

Start a Blog

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blog boardBlogging, like social media, seems to be the hot topic right now.  A blog is a type of a website, with regular entries usually posted in reverse-chronological order – meaning the newest stuff is on top. Blog topics range from  commentaries, to descriptions of events, and uses media like graphics or video.

Some blogs function as personal online diaries – this isn’t the type of blog you want to start if you’re using a blog to build your business.  Most business blogs are topic specific – real estate, photography, gardening, small business marketing.  These blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject.  A typical blog combines text, graphics, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to the topic. One of the key features of a blog is the ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive way.  Readers comments and the blog owner responds.  Everyone can see the comments and the responses so a natural conversation develops.

But how do you know if blogging is for you?  If you like to write, then you should immediately start a blog for your business.  If you don’t like to write – think long and hard about whether a blog is right for you.  Most blogs are primarily text – which means you will have to write it.  However, depending on your business and your style there are still options that involve less writing.  You could create a photoblog, a Video blog, a music blog, or an audio blog – like a podcast.    For example if you wanted to create a video blog, you could record 5 minute segments 1-2 times each week and post them.  This is still a blog in concept, but you’re not writing.

There are a few reasons blogs have become so popular:

1. They are really easy to setup and maintain – unlike traditional websites which required a PhD in computer science.  Blogs are dead easy and most blogging platforms are free.  Check out WordPress or Blogger if you are just starting.

2.  They are completely searchable by Google.  Because blogs are primarily text – they are completely indexed by the search engines making them great at organic search.  There are some tricks to this of course.  Keyword usage is critical – meaning you need use keywords in your content so that the search engines find it and put you in the right category in their search results.  Be careful not to overdo it.  The content has to read naturally and sound like a person actually wrote it. Otherwise, Google can tell you’re trying to stock up on keywords and they don’t like it.

3.  Blogs can scale really well.  Blogs can be 1 page of pure text and very simple functionality. Blogs can be comprehensive websites with amazing features and functionality.  My two primary websites are both created as blogs using WordPress.  Lauralowell.com is a pretty standard blog with 2-3 entries each week, categories of content, specific pages with fixed content, readers can subscribe to my newsletter, offer comments, etc.  One the other hand, 42rules.com is a whole different thing.  It is a complete website with multiple page owners, a backend database, user-based security and tons of other stuff.  The point is – blogs can grow and expand without much effort.

Use Social Media

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Social-Media-LogosSocial Media is a topic I blog about quite frequently. FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter are the top 3 social media platforms.  Social media isn’t for everyone.  It can take time to get started, but if your target audience uses social media, then you should too.  The great thing is that with social media you open yourself and your business up to new opportunities, new people and new possibilities.

Social media marketing covers everything from the top three, to YouTube, blogs, podcasts, webcasts.  Basically any online media where viewers can comment or share are really social media.  And that’s the whole point – that people can offer ideas, others can comment and a discussion can follow.
And that’s the biggest benefit to social media marketing.  It gives you the chance to have a conversation with your customers and prospective customers.

You can ask them questions, test new ideas, get feedback, learn from them and share your expertise with them.  Plus, it’s free.  How cool is that?  To learn more about the specifics of social media – I have created 3 webcasts – LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter.  I’ve also developed two e-books, one on FaceBook and one on Twitter, which you can get on my website.  All the links will be in my follow-up email.

Give Something Away

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packagewithbowIf you want to attract customers and build quality relationships, a great way to start is by offering something of value for free.  The idea is that you can start building a relationship with prospective customers by earning their trust.  You earn their trust by providing them quality information and assistance and asking for nothing in return – except their first name and email address so you can send the info to them.

Consider what you can give away – information is power.  You prospective customers are looking for information that you probably have.  Go ahead and give it to them.  Now, I know that some of you are freaking out about this idea.  You’re thinking “but why give it away when I can charge for it?”  You can’t charge people for stuff if they don’t know you exist.  People aren’t going to do business with someone if they have no idea who you are?  You need to start by first earning their trust.

It’s really not that hard to get started either.  Do you have a few articles you’ve written but never done anything with?  Compile them into one document, edit them together and create a .pdf file.  Tada…you now have an e-book you can give away for free.  Those templates you use to manage projects, clients or other operations – put your logo on them and offer them to clients and prospects – free.  They will see how much work it is to manage all that stuff, and not want to do it themselves – so they will hire you to do it for them.  Or, more often…they will try to use the template, realize how much work it is and then call you to help.  30-minute consultations are also a great idea.  They help you get to know your prospects, and it helps them to get to know you. Plus, you’re going to do the business development discussions anyway…this is a great way to do them.

When you are giving something away, there are two things to remember:
1. Make sure tt has your name and contact info on it
2.  Make sure it has a real perceived to your clients – and never say things like “oh, it’s nothing really…just some stuff I threw together”.  Never say that.  It is valuable information that you are willing to share.

In order for this strategy to be successful you need to make sure people know about it.  Here are some promotional ideas to try… issue a press release using a free press release distribution site (I’ll give you the link to several in my follow-up email).  You can announce it to all your social networks (FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.)   You can put an announcement in your local Chamber of Commerce email distribution.  Send an email to all the Associations, Networking Gropus, industry groups that you are a part of. Most of the associations and groups have discussion boards…post a discussion topic and offer your Freebie to anyone who comments.