David and Bonnie Lelak here from IHI Home Inspections. I recently wrote an article titled “Are you advertising here?” In it I talked about how Youtube is one of the highest searched websites out there now. Most people don’t realize how powerful video is and how much Google loves it and those that do realize it, are not using it to it’s fullest potential. There are tips and tricks to using Youtube and video just like writing your blog. I have learned so many and then I just spent last week learning even more. While I was surfing around on the web I found the following article on how to get started with video. It gives you some great information.
Just when you think you’re catching up with technology with a website or blog, you find that there is now a requirement for video on your site.
It’s not a legal requirement, but one of demand from the consumer and your site visitors. Video on the Web has mushroomed, with YouTube alone hosting almost 100 million videos from 3.75 million user channels. Then there is Google Video, Yahoo Video, Vimeo, and a dozen others in the mainstream.
Not just the Internet, but also mobile technology is moving rapidly. Videos are becoming very popular on cell phones as well. The iPhone is changing the way that the cell phone is utilized. And, what percentage of your real estate customers come from out of your area? They need information about the area, attractions, natural beauty, parks, schools and more. But, they also want to SEE what all of this looks like. Photos are great, but video rocks!
Don’t fret, though. The same rapidly advancing technology that makes video a demand item on your site also makes it easy and inexpensive to do. We aren’t just talking about listing videos for virtual tours. We also should have video of all of the area’s features that make it unique and a great place to live and work. What you need is a camcorder and some video editing software,neither of which must be very expensive.
One of the easiest to use video editing software solutions is absolutely free, and it is probably already on your PC if it’s operating with Windows XP. Windows Movie Maker will take your still photos or motion video right from your camera or camcorder, or off your hard drive. You can add voice-over and music, titles and credits, and even fancy transitions between photos or video clips. Other solutions with more capability are all over the Web, and at prices from $39 to hundreds. It’s all up to you and your requirements.
A higher end software product is Camtasia Studio. Many of the training videos you see or purchase are done in this software. The latest version produces videos in all of the common formats, but the default is MPEG 4, which gives you high definition video with smaller file sizes than the other formats. The smaller file size lets the video play through with fewer of those annoying pauses while the download catches up to the playing. This software will also produce an iPod video format directly.
What about a camcorder? You can spend a lot of money, or you can do a very credible job with less than $150 for the high end “The Flip” video camcorder. It’s really easy to use, produces 640 x 480 video, and has one really great feature. It is called the “flip” because a button flips out a USB connector to plug directly into a computer. Even better, the on-board software will send the video up to YouTube directly, bypassing your hard drive if you want. It will even let you add music in the process. Most of our videos are done with the Flip video, it’s fast, fun and easy to use.
OK, we have a camcorder, and we have editing software. Where do we put our videos?
YouTube — This is the gorilla in the video world. And, it’s free, so very popular. Your videos will get a lot of exposure on YouTube, and you’ll begin to get followers who will subscribe to your “channel” to see your new ones. Once the video is up, you can get “embed” code to place it right into your website or blog.
Google and Yahoo Video — Both of these major players have free video sites as well. Together, they don’t even come close to the plays that YouTube boasts, but they get traffic, so you want to upload your videos there as well.
Vimeo — This is a newer and free service. Vimeo has a nice presentation, and it offers HD quality. They don’t take commercial videos though, so don’t put listing presentations up. They will pull them down. However, if you don’t put promo stuff in your area videos, they should be fine.
Tubemogul — This isn’t a video production service, but a great tool to get your videos uploaded to multiple services at one time and track the views. You start a free Tubemogul account, and give it your logins to services like YouTube, Google, Yahoo and other video sites. Then you upload your video, title and describe it just once, and TubeMogul uploads it to all of the sites at once. It gives you graphs of daily views, and you can even give your listing client a link to keep up with the views of their home videos.
Have fun, don’t spend a lot of money, and make your site visitors happy with video.
Are you getting video testimonials from your clients to upload to YouTube and your website? If not, today is a great day to start. Give Bonnie a call at 404-788-2580 and she will be glad to help you get started. We have been using video for about a year. It works wonders.
Are you getting the biweekly marketing tips on Fridays, if not then you should sign up at the right. Some of the latest titles have been: Surviving in today’s market, 12 ways to say thank you to your customers, The Twitter Plan, and 10 Great Marketing places (did I mention Free marketing places). Sign up today and then watch your inbox.
As the Atlanta home inspectors wife I am constantly looking for different ways to market freely or cheaply, so when I ran across this great article on Twitter and I wanted to share it with you.
In continuing with my series of quick social media tips (check out 5 tips for LinkedIn and 5 tips for Facebook) I’m covering some tips for business use of Twitter here. I’ve actually written about some of these tips in great detail before in this free ebook – Twitter for Business, but this can act as a quick primer for folks who like their info snack sized like this.
1. Tweet great content 3-4 times a day – Follow people who always find great stuff, subscribe to blogs that feature great links and reviews of new tools, scan weekly and daily email news digests such as SmartBriefs, cruise over to the delicious popular page and read print publications of interest. All of these sources (most of which can be scanned in a 15 minute sitting once you have them set up) are rich with content that your followers and the twitter world in general wants to read. One of the most valuable services you can provide is to be a filter for the information overload your prospects, customers and network are feeling. In a way, your twitter stream can become that valuable filter for pointing out the best content, but do it consistently and watch your follower count grow.
2. Reply to conversations (@ducttape) – One of the best ways to get engaged with those you follow is to join conversations where appropriate and offer answers and suggestions. Many common tweets come in the form of a question from someone looking for help. When you offer the solutions to these forms of tweets you automatically become more engaged and demonstrate some of your own knowledge, expertise and willingness to help. Obviously, you can’t sit around all day answering questions, but by focusing on addressing conversations that are related to your industry and field of expertise, you can build a reputation around topics that matter to your business objectives. Use 3rd party tools such as Seesmic Desktop (make sure you look at their browser based tool if you are having resource issues with desktop tools) or Tweetdeck so that you can easily scan conversations and be ready to reply to conversations that are directly related to you.
3. Retweet other people’s content – Another network and follower building practice is to retweet other people’s tweets. This is simply the act of taking someone’s tweet and tweeting it in your stream – with full credit to the original tweeter. This has become a very standard practice on twitter (designated with a RT) and can be overdone, but you can also use it for two purposes. If you are following people who tweet what you find to be very interesting content you are doing your followers a favor by sharing that content with them. In addition, you are, in effect, acknowledging the person whose content your retweeted. This is a nice bit of the culture of sharing and usually comes back in some form to help you build your following. People generally pay attention to the folks that are retweeting their content. However, this can become a crutch as well – make sure you are pushing your own content out in a nice mix. You can use tools like tweetmeme to track the most popular retweets. This can be a way to find new content for tip #1.
4. Use search to meet objectives – For many twitter power users search in the most important feature of twitter. You can use the twitter advanced search tool to create very elaborate searches that can filter out only the tweets that address your specific industry in your specific geography. Or you can find people talking about your expertise, whining about a problem you can help with, or proving a solution you need. Searches you create on twitter also produce an RSS feed so you can set your searches up in a way that deliver the results to your RSS reader on a daily basis. I would also include the use of the #hashtag function (I wrote in greater detail about hashtag use here) as a search tool. Get in the habit of using it to promote your events and promotions and while attending events, in person or online, as it’s a great way to find and connect with like-minded folks attending events. People who follow the event tag from afar will bump into your content this way as well. Once again, 3rd party tools like Seesmic Desktop and Tweetdeck allow you to monitor your searches, including hashtags, on your desktop.
5. Be easy to retweet and follow – This one is both on twitter and off. Sharing great info is the first rule, but you can do other things as well. While twitter allows 140 characters, if you aim for 120 your tweets will be easier for someone to RT. This way people can add their handle and a bit of commentary. Use tools, such as the Tweetmeme Wordpress plugin I have at the beginning of this post (go ahead you know you want to click that green retweet), that make your content off twitter easy to tweet. Add your “follow me on twitter” button to web pages, email newsletters and email signature. Add your @name to your business cards, stationary and invoices.
I am the wife of a busy Atlanta home inspector and I do most of the marketing for our home inspection business.I am constantly online learning about SEO, social network marketing, blogging, Google adwords and anything relating to the internet.I teach classes and tele-seminars about blogging and social media.I am part of an Internet Success Marketing Mastermind group and love helping people in general.You can follow me on Twitter and on Face book.
As the Atlanta home inspectors wife one of the ways I have helped our business is by blogging. I have been blogging for almost two years and to be honest, I too have run out of ideas. When I ran across the following post talking about how to come up with more content for your blog I couldn’t beleive how simple it was. He listed two main points.
1. Sit down and brainstorm article ideas, just write down the titles, that’s it!
2. Look through your list of titles and then create your blog, of course write down new ideas at the bottom and always add to your list.
That was it, that was his two ideas, and so simple. I would encourage you to stop by his blog, Next Level Blogger, and check out the full article, it’s good stuff. I am often out and think of an idea for a blog, and I will record it in my phone notes, if I don’t it’s gone as quick as it came. I notice a lot of the time that the ideas will come and it is not the most convenient time to write the blog, having a list of ideas can save you tremendous time.
I am the wife of a busy Atlanta home inspector and I do most of the marketing for our home inspection business.I am constantly online learning about SEO, social network marketing, blogging, Google adwords and anything relating to the internet.I teach classes and tele-seminars about blogging and social media.I am part of an Internet Success Marketing Mastermind group and love helping people in general.You can follow me on Twitter and on Face book.
I ran across this really great article in my inbox and could not have said it any better. It really brings into perspective how you should treat people that follow you, and a lot of times I see people treat theirs animals better than they treat their friends or themselves. Sonia writes some really great articles and I love it when her stuff hits my inbox, I know I will always get a nugget or two that I can use. You should check her out also, but for now here’s her article below.
Do you want a wider audience, more subscribers, better conversion to paying customers, fanatically loyal readers, and enviable word of mouth?You can have all of them by keeping one simple piece of advice in mind:
Treat your readers like dogs.
If you want to teach your dog to sit, how do you go about it?
Any good trainer will tell you that the smart way is to give him lots of rewards and love every time he sits when you say, “Sit!”
It doesn’t take long before he’s waiting eagerly to see what other kinds of instruction you might have. Would you like him to shake hands? Fetch your pipe and slippers? Take out the trash and wash the dishes?
Positive reinforcement makes an ally of your dog. You’re in the same pack. He wants to do things for you. He’s happy and you’re happy.
How to treat readers like dogs
Every time a reader does something you like (read a post, subscribe to your blog, open a message in an email newsletter, etc.), you want to give that reader a reward — a cookie.
(When I say “reader,” I also include podcast listeners, video watchers, etc.)
That’s what I call “cookie content,” and it has three characteristics.
1. Cookie content makes life better
Cookie content makes the reader’s life better somehow. It might be a funny image, a useful tutorial, or just a really good low-carb dessert recipe.
But in some way, large or small, cookie content makes the reader glad she took a few minutes to consume it.
Reference and how-to content make great cookie content. Inspiring, funny, or heartwarming content can work too, if you’re good at it.
If your readers print out your content so they can refer back to it, or bookmark it on Delicious, you’ve got it right.
2. Cookie content can be used right away
The 60-Year Plan for Getting Moderately Well-Off doesn’t tend to make for good cookie content. 10 Things You Can Do This Weekend to Repair Your Credit does.
No, you don’t want to overpromise quick “magic bullet” schemes. But cookie content isn’t about the long term and it’s not about hard work. It’s about fast, simple solutions that people can use right away.
It’s fine to talk about the longer term too. But be sure you have enough quick cookies in your content to keep things palatable. Your readers have enough complexity to contend with. They’re not looking for more in your content.
3. Cookie content tastes good
Cookie content is highly readable. It brings the reader pleasure. It’s often entertaining. It’s well organized, which makes it digestible.
Cookie content uses your best writing skills. Not to show off how smart and talented you are, but to make the content more delicious for your reader.
Easy reading is damn hard writing
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
Training your readers
In a crowded email inbox or RSS reader, cookie content will tend to attract your reader’s attention first. You’re literally training that reader to consume your content, because the content is beneficial and appealing.
Each time she reads your work, she feels better. It doesn’t take long for you to become a pleasurable habit with that reader. (Even better, you’re 100% fat free.)
Does this mean you never get to promote yourself? Not at all. You can make high-quality offers regularly (and should, if you want to make a living). Just be sure you’re including enough cookies to keep your reader’s attention and interest.
You probably don’t want to create content that consists of nothing but cookies. That can give even the most self-indulgent reader indigestion.
But include enough that you’re always training your audience to open your email, read your blog posts, and pass along your special reports. You’ll find that the more you reward them, the more they reward you.
Are you feeling creative and able to write several post in one day but don’t want them all published one right after the other. Watch the following video and find out how to delay your post a few days or even a year.
Need customized help, contact me today and let’s get started on your next marketing project. Need to know how to start a blog, I can help! Need to learn how to use social networking to build your business, I can help! Want to get started on Facebook, I can help!
Call 404-788-2580 to set up an appoointment today!
In continuing with my series of quick social media tips (check out 5 tips for LinkedIn and 5 tips for Facebook) I’m covering some tips for business use of Twitter here. I’ve actually written about some of these tips in great detail before in this free ebook – Twitter for Business, but this can act as a quick primer for folks who like their info snack sized like this.
