I’m going to share with you  20 successful ways businesses are using video on their websites, and the internet.

1 – Interviews – You could interview a thought leader in your industry, or you could have someone interview you (you’re a thought leader in your industry right?)

2 – Frequently Asked Questions – If there is something that you have to explain to people over and over again and it’s important that they feel the “human touch” in the explanation, why not record a video to show them how much you care that they understand the answers.

3 – Product Demos – You can use video to show people HOW to use your product or you can show how people are using your product in unusual ways

4  – Generating leads – You can explain your program and then create a sign up box to anchor to one side or the other of your video where you can direct people to fill in the box to get more info … and voila, you have captured their info and now have a new lead.

5  – Branding – Every impression that people see of you and your logo or your brand visually increases the recall rate for your brand and video is a great way to do this.  A video that goes viral by being unique or sensational is another way to spread your brand far and wide.

6  – Advertising and Commercials - Think of a straight commercial like the ones you see on TV.  You can create the same type of awareness for your business, product or service using online video

7  – Book Reviews - You could do book reviews on books that are complimentary to your business.  If you are a travel website, perhaps you would do video reviews of different travel books.  If you are a chef, you could review cookbooks as an example.

8 – Authors - as an author, you could promote your book using video.  You could showcase the theme of your book.  You could tell the story of how your book idea came to being.  You could read an excerpt from the book to entice people to buy the book.  Get creative.  You created your book now find ways to use video to market it!

9  – Speaking - As a speaker, you want to let potential clients SEE you in action.  video gives you the opportunity to let folks see how you speak, what you speak about, and experience your personality in action.  If you are an author, this is a great way to let potential clients see the author behind the book.

10  – Educate – You can use video to create courses that teach people how to do anything.  Map it out step by step and create a series of videos that show people how to do what they want to learn.

11  – Infomercials – Every night owl knows this one.  Infomercials are the king of late night tv.  You can sell your product, program, or service via the same strategies used in this medium for  years.  Take your product on the road via infomercials

12 – Company Training – You can mix live video in with either powerpoint presentations or with still images to get across training concepts for all levels of employees within your company.

If you are a direct seller, you can create training videos that you can share with your team as they progress through certain levels and in this way you won’t have to always teach the newbies how to do what needs to be done … you can have them watch the training video of you instead.

13 -  Clients Testimonials – this ones huge. You can ask your clients who are raving fans to share their testimonial in video so that more people can learn about the good work that you do.

14 -  Real Estate – You could create a video profile on each real estate agent in an office, or you could create a real estate show where you give weekly tips on the local economy, local and national trends, and tips on how to prepare your home for sale.

15 -  Video Sales Letters - You’ve seen the big internet marketer’s doing this and now you can too.  Create a sales letter online and then drop your video in.  Video drastically increases the click through rate on sales letters so this one is a definite must for those of you who are marketing online.

16  – Video Resumes - This is a powerful tool to stand out from the crowd when you are looking for employment.  It’s a great way to get your foot in the door and be noticed and it is a powerful way for you to let your personality shine through in ways that a paper resume just can’t.

17 – Tips and Advice - you could create a series of tips or advice on a subject that coordinates with your program, product, or service and then do a drip campaign over time to get the information out.  This is a perfect way to also increase your ability to generate  leads.

18  – Industry News Cast - Whatever industry that you are in, you could create a weekly or monthly video cast that showcases information pertinent to your industry and in that way you become THE expert on the topic and you have your news show to validate your expert status.

19  – Video Newsletters - why take the time to type out what you want to say when you can record a video newsletter.  Or you can combine the two formats with a online newsletter that incorporates video as an educational component or as an entertaining addition to your news.

20 – Your Own Online TV Show - you could create an ongoing online tv show. What a great way to build  exposure and your reputation as an expert in your field.

So there you have it, that’s quite a list and hopefully it has helped to get your imagination working on ways that you can put video to use for your business today.

This is Zita Gustin with Biz Talk Video Lab and now that you’ve got some ideas I hope to see you in the studio and let’s get busy creating video for your business very soon!

There are good reasons why you should use a teleprompter, and why you wouldn’t.

Interviewing

You would use the teleprompter for a short introduction of your guest. You wouldn’t use it while your conversation is in progress, but you may have notes on a sheet of paper that you would reference while your guest is talking.

An interview is a conversation between two people, so you need it to flow as natural as possible.  Using a teleprompter during the interview would make the conversation look staged and stiff.

“How To” Videos

You would use a teleprompter for the welcome and introduction of your video. This information is important and sets the tone for the rest of the video, and needs to be scripted.

The remainder of  the video may only need prompt words on the teleprompter. These prompt words give you a lead into your segment. You may know your product very well and know what you are going to say about it.  Prompt words can keep you on track during your segment without the need to read every word of a script.

Get your script tight and ready with this free teleprompter software.

Download free teleprompter software

Watch video below before  downloading software

If you know of any other resources, please email me the link and we’ll include it on this page.

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Capturing  the passion and honesty of your client’s testimonials is a powerful vision tool, but how do you make that video testimonial look real and not scripted?

Here are some formats to use for your testimonials.

Firstly,  you can  have an off-screen person ask your client questions. The client would answer the questions while looking at the off-screen person.

You can also have your client look at a person off-screen without that person asking any questions. They would be there to make your client feel comfortable while giving their testimonial.

Lastly, you can have your clients look directly into the camera as if they are talking directly to the viewer.

Here are some sample testimonial videos.

Make sure the information you provide doesn’t bore or confuse your viewers. You want them to understand what it is you are trying to convey. When they have finished watching your video you want them to be more informed and understand how to do what it is you are explaining on video.

Consumers have been conditioned to watch commercials and infomercials for a certain period of time. If you give them something too long to watch, you put them in an uncomfortable situation and possibly lose them.

For “How To” videos you should stay under 5 minutes per segment. This means if your video needs 15 minutes to explain how to do something, then you will need a maximum of 3 segments with less than 5 minutes per segment.

Here is a timeline I suggest for a 15 minute “How To” Video

I’ve decided to make the segments only 2 minutes long. (5 x 2 minute segments)

10 seconds - title Graphics (this is the intro to your show) The name and logo

1 minute - welcome and introduction

This is where you welcome your viewer, tell them who you are, explain what is on your video, and also set the tone for the remainder of the video. You can also provide any disclaimers.

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10 seconds – Title to first segment
2 minutes – First Segment with review graphic

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10 seconds – Title to second segment
2 minutes – Second Segment with review graphic

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10 seconds - Title to third segment
2 minutes – Third Segment with review graphic

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10 seconds – Title to Fourth segment
2 minutes – Fourth Segment with review graphic

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10 seconds – Title to Fifth segment
2 minutes – Fifth Segment with review graphic

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2 minute – Review each segment with graphics

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1 minutes – Thank you for watching etc – Display resources web address etc

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10 seconds – Closing Graphics

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This is a sample template you can follow while preparing for your own “How To” Video. It may be longer or shorter depending on your product and the information you are presenting.

Need help with your script? Contact us now and we can help you structure a winning script

Here a a few tips that will help you when deciding what to wear in front of the camera.

1. Don’t wear green or green-blue as you’ll be in front of a green screen.

Shooting in front of a green screen allows us to key the back ground out and put photos or videos behind you. If you wear greens you will disappear  and become transparent.

Have you have ever seen a movie where a head is floating in the air while someone is walking down the street. This effect is possible because they are draped in green.

2. Other colors  and fabrics that  don’t work on camera

White, stripes  and shiny metallic fabrics. White can be used under a garment.

3. Noisy accessories that may clang about. The  noise can be  picked up by your microphone

4. Bring a couple of change of clothes. What looks good on you on the street may either wash you out or not work on camera.

5. Keep flyaway hair to a  minimum. It will disappear when we key out the green screen.

If you have any question about what to wear or what not to wear you can contact us on 206-391-8300

Contents

Chapter 1 – Understanding Web 2.0

Chapter 2 – Quick Look at Using Web 2.0 Sites for Marketing

Chapter 3 – How to Use Web 2.0 Social Networking Sites to Maximize Your Marketing Efforts

Chapter 4 – Using a Web 2.0 Blog as Marketing Avenue

Chapter 5 – Marketing with Social Bookmarking Sites

Chapter 6 – Video Submission Sites

Chapter 7 – Web 2.0 Marketing for EBay Sellers

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Using media outlets like YouTube and another user-generated media sites have given business a platform to market their products and services in a way that has never been seen before. With some knowledge of how these sites work, you can successfully use them to brand and market your business.

Video is a powerful tool, and the search engines love video, but submitting one video just won’t cut it. You need to produce multiple short videos that market your message, target your audience, and give viewers a reason to visit your web site. Once they’re there you need to give them a reason to sign up for something. More information, newsletter, white paper, whatever it is, you need to collect their email address. Once you have it, you move into relationship-building mode.

Carol Carini

Is it optimized for the search engines?

Just because you have a blog doesn’t mean it’s optimized fully for the search engines. There are many more ways other than including tags on your posts.

If you have a wordpress blog here’s a little tip. Use a WordPress plugin called All-In-One-SEO-Pack

The installation is easy, and it will help optimize your WordPress blog.

Carol Carini

A modifier is a word that in combination with your core keyword, creates your long tail strategy.

Organizing your keyword lists will allow you to have full control of your search modifiers by keeping them in a word-per-category structure.

The two categories are general and niche specific, with multiple sub-categories.

For example, a general category may be fitness. A specific sub-categories may be, age, gender, location.

You should also list transactional keywords like, get, find, buy, purchase, and more informational keywords like info, tips, learn, ideas, plan, samples and examples.

If you use modifiers you’ll dramatically increase your chances of ranking higher on the search engines.

Carol Carini