Ya… It can certainly get confusing with so many “tactics” around and new, shiny video widgets. And even easier is to lose focus of the “big picture” and end up wasting your time making videos that don’t serve a valuable purpose.

Videos themselves don’t mean squat without:

A profitable business strategy to use them!

I know…very unsexy, right?

But believe me, one of the top problems I see every week with what students and customers are trying to do is they focus on the flash and forget the function!

Strategy IS important but it’s hard to find good information on what that should be and how to implement it. There is so much crap out there now from guru after guru and their stupid “Easy Button” solutions.

How about some straight forward, common sense, battle-tested, no fluff stuff you can use?

Last December, I hooked up with a guy named Lee McIntyre and I am so impressed with his business model that I’m dropping almost everything else and fixing my business. Check it out here:

This is good stuff!

Even better? It’s not some $2,000 pig with lipstick on it. It’s one of the smartest and most focused guys I’ve seen doing a brain dump marathon for…$20.

Why so little? Well, that’s one part of the strategy! “Deliver MASSIVE value and create raving fans”…I’m a raving fan.

Even better that that? If you don’t agree with me, get a refund and keep all the videos anyway!

Beware, there will be some upsells / downsells etc…you can see if they are a fit for you but I recommend focusing on one thing at a time. This is actually my second product purchase from Lee and I’ll be buying more but only after I take action of this awesome content.

I’d love to hear your feedback especially if you pick this up!

==> Click HERE to check it out for yourself

We can compare notes and strategies to start working smarter and not harder this year…

Lon Naylor

They all appear to be sooo…ummm…scamy?

Here are a couple of apps I’m currently evaluating that look like they may have some useful potential to help jack up all the powerful social community aspects of YouTube in a logical, controllable, and more ethical way.

The first is an app called TubeFool from Alex Goad and Mark Dulisse that they first came out with as part of their Dominating Video Course and the feedback from it has been that TubeFool was the single biggest hit of all the content in their very decent training program.

They are re-launching that program on Feb. 1st, 2011 again and giving away this interesting tool as part of their launch.

There will be the typical launch sales funnel deals…several upsells  offered etc. but this tool is the sweet “gift” and they have a $77 special offer in the funnel (I think it will be the second upsell offer?) for a VERY interesting tool called Google Video Sitemaps. I’ll be picking that up to evaluate shortly…

I’ve signed up for the Launch Process as usual and, as always, I recommend that video marketers follow all of these well done video launches to pick up ideas!

Jump in HERE:

TubeFool and Dominating Video Re-Launch

The other YouTube community building thing is called Tube Toolbox. I just got an eval copy and will be checking it out also.

Again, the developers claim that, when used properly, the software and the functions it performs within the YouTube TOS and won’t do anything stupid like get you banned!

Get a trial copy at:

Tube Toolbox

I haven’t gotten all the way through with checking it out because I’m creating new YouTube accounts for each for tracking & testing…so, I can’t make “must have” recommendations yet but I wanted to post what I’m working on to see if others are checking them out and get some discussion started.

YouTube will be a MUCH bigger part of my marketing work (along with Facebook) in 2011 so stay tuned for updates, tips, and tutorials…

If you’ve used any of these tools and have comments, let’s hear ‘em!

Lon

It’s a Master Resell and Giveaway Rights package from one of my favorite sources for snagging content and products – Aaron Danker.

Check out the details HERE:

Why do I like these and what do I do with them?

Resell rights products can be an outstanding way to build up your product portfolio but a LOT of what you find out there is complete crap. I love GOOD resell rights products because I don’t have to create from scratch…and can highly leverage in multiple ways…

Here’s what I look for:

1. Awesome graphics – eye catching, interesting, fresh, and professional. Big bonus? Any PSD source files!
2. Pages I can REALLY use – A killer sales page, download / Thank You page, Privacy, Disclaimer, & Policy pages, and a bonus: Squeeze Page for opt-in list building.
3. Decent Content – most are PDF eBooks. I want the content to be adequate but it doesn’t have to be a cure for cancer.
4. Extra Goodies – any pre-built email auto responder series, up-sells & down-sells, article content, payment processing scripts, etc.

Here are some top tactics on how I use them:

• Use the ebook text as a script and make a video to include in the product.
  Online Pharmacy Comprar

  Voice over talent can be used here as an option.

• Use the graphics elements in PowerPoint as video content.
• Create a video for the Squeeze Page and increase conversions.

Those are just a few ideas.

Here’s the cool thing about this particular package. It has all that stuff…AND the content is generic enough to be interesting and useful for ANY niche you are in:

New Year’s Resolutions! Everyone knows about them, thinks about them this  time of year and if you can offer some great content to your subscribers and customers as a gift?

That’s an excellent relationship building thing to do for your folks.

Oh…and the best part? The whole package is $10. Ya…10 bucks for a bunch of good content, great graphics, video scripts…heck, the Disclaimer, Privacy, and Policy pages are worth that!

Get your own Master Resell Rights and Giveaway Rights package HERE:

2011 New Year’s Blowout

CLICK TO CHECK IT OUT

One quick disclaimer though: You’ll be getting your Blowout Package from Aaron not me and will need to go to him for support. I simply won’t be able to provide full support for things like modifying graphics or web pages, installing, etc…

I would, however, love to hear your ideas and questions on using the content or package to make Camtasia videos that add value!

Post your questions and comments below!

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Lon

This stuff is awesome!

Here’s the scoop:

• 5 New, original, fresh, pro quality royalty-free music tracks each month
• $2 a pop for these 60 tracks…instead of upwards of $30 for other sites
• Ya…10 bucks a month for studio pro work for your library
• Additional options like a jumpstart library (100 tracks for $100)
• Check out samples

One thing I REALLY love about this music resource is that, unlike most providers, Mike understands that people don’t just need the music content…they need help in how to use it.

So, he also provides:

• A member forum for questions and music requests
• Video tutorials every month on how to use your music tracks

And you can get 2 full tracks with a no obligation trial membership for…a buck. Sweet!

Mike is a master at creating and using audio content for all kinds of creative things besides just video too. Some great ideas to be had from a complete pro.

Check it out at:

$1 Dollar Trial Membership

This is one of the best deals on royalty-free music tracks that I’ll actually use. No crappy sounding stuff…top notch. Highly recommended.

Lon

It’s called Easy Video Player and as the clever name suggests it creates video players…easily.

The product was developed by Josh Bartlett and is a standalone piece of software that is installed on your web server so it’s accessible from any computer…Windows or Mac

And what it does is make the rather complicated task of creating very useful customized video players…ummm…easy!

Here’s what I got:

This player includes some very interesting things especially relating to video marketing…

The actual “player” itself is an open source piece of work called Flow Player.

I like this player and have used it before…it looks good and has lots of your standard “nice to have” player features…

So…what does all this have to do with the Easy Video Player software?

You see, it’s all about taking your video produced in either FLV, MOV, MP4, or M4V and easily…

Putting it into the Flow Player WITH…a bunch of cool additional features!

And what are those?

Here’s what it will do for you:

Here are a few sample reasons why this software has grabbed a spot in my video toolbox.

1. Opt-in Form in Video

Normally, if you want to collect a name and email after presenting your compelling video content you need to put an autoresponder opt-in form somewhere on the page that contains your video.

That usually works ok but means a lot of work creating the page with proper formatting and all that and if I post the video on a blog, I have to be very specific about where the form is…

It can be quite a formatting and html or php challenge!

With this player, you can embed the opt-in form right IN the video player itself…so you can have any video, placed on any web page, act as it’s own listbuilder!

This is…NICE!

I’ve created a sample video of this feature below:

I’ve created a special mailing list where I’ll be sending out more tips and tricks on using EVP as I work more with it…

Just watch the very short sample clip and try out the form. This list will ONLY get video tutorials on EVP…how I’m using it, how to use it with Camtasia and WordPress, what my results are, stuff like that.

2. Buy Button code right inside the video.

No more messin’ around with watch this video and scroll down and click the buy button…boom!

Right there…done!

Again, the real power of this is that you can create “stand-alone” sales videos.

Sample video: Help Buy Lon a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT? Please?

3. Automatic Redirect Sample.

In this video sample I use the Redirect feature to automatically send the viewer to a sales page. Notice how I tell the viewer what’s going to happen at the end of the video…

The Cons

I haven’t really found much that I don’t care for in this product. Most of the things are limitations of other software or platforms like WordPress. For example:

* If you use the Visual Editor in WordPress after pasting your player code into the HTML view, WordPress strips out the script code rendering your video unviewable. Uggg….the workaround is to NOT use the visual editor ever. You can use any external HTML editor to write your posts and then just copy / paste the code into the HTML view on WordPress…or…my preferred method, use a plugin like EmbedIt.

* The software “times out” and will log you out. I guess that’s a security feature but it’s kind of a pain if you are working on uploading, customizing, and messing with getting the player just right and all of a sudden…boom! You are logged out! Be sure to save early and often to keep this from affecting your workflow. I’m not 100% sure what the timeout period is but it did hit me a couple of times in the beginning…

* Some things may not be cons…I’m just not sure about them yet. For example, I don’t see a way to increase the preload buffer time to make sure enough of the video is pre-loaded to ensure smooth streaming and playback. I’ll let you know what I find out. This, again, may be a limitation of FlowPlayer and not EVP…

* Not really a drawback but something to be aware of: If you want videos with a Table of Contents I haven’t seen a way to configure that. In this case, you’re better off using Camtasia’s player or the JW player.

The Value

The product currently costs a one time fee of $127. There is a Mastermind membership that you get to check out for free and then continue with if you like but this is completely optional and you can quit at any time! The software may also go to a monthly cost structure in the near future so grabbing your own copy quickly to use as much as you like might be a good idea.

Considering all you get and what it will do for you, I think this is a great value. Compare this to the JW Player which is about $80 per website and doesn’t really do any of the embedded marketing functions…

Overall, nothing in this list is anywhere close to a show-stopper for me and I can heartly recommend this player.

Here’s what you can do next:

To check out all the features and grab your own copy before it goes to a monthly fee to use it, just click the graphic below:

Have a comment or a question?

Post it and I’ll see if I can help!

Thanks,

Lon

Well…yes! There are! I’ll be covering several in upcoming issues but here’s one that I’m playing with right now:

ScreenToaster

Now…generally I don’t associate the words “screen” and “toast” used in the same breath as being a positive thing but this interesting completely web-based app seems like it has some promise.

Just create an account, log in, hit the big red Start Recording button and go!

You can watch a demo here:

ScreenToaster Demo

Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

Tags are keywords that describe videos. For example, a surfing video might be tagged with “surfing,” “water,” and “waves.” Users who enjoy watching surfing videos can then search for any of those terms and that video will show up in their search results. Tags help you label videos you upload so that other people can find them more easily but the problem is that YouTube only allows single tag words and NOT keyword “phrases”.

Here are some Top Tagging Tips:

1. Research other videos in your niche that have lots of views.

What tags are they using? Checking these can give you some ideas…but more importantly:

“What combinations of tags do they use that users may be entering in to get specific results?”

Think of these combinations as keyword phrases used in Adwords and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

So for a surfing promotion, if you went surfing in Waikiki in your video, you could include “surfing” and “Waikiki” in your tags. Users who search for “surfing Waikiki” find your video more easily than users who search for “surfing” or “Waikiki.”

2. Use your Tags in your Description text.

Including them in the text likely makes your video appear more “relevant” and more desirable for YouTube to return as a search result.

3. Do Keyword Research to find good tags.

Another great tactic is to do good ‘ole keyword research for what your market is searching for. AdWords ads can provide valuable info in this area. Why? Because, if someone is spending money to advertise for specific keywords & phrases then you can bet it’s because those words are getting searched…and are profitable.

People search YouTube the same way they search Google.

Here are my favorite tools for keyword research:
PPC Web Spy
This new tool from keyword legend Brad Callen integrates with Firefox and provides outstanding data with the click of a button. I totally LOVE this tool! Oh…and it’s yours – FREE!

Get it here: PPC Web Spy

SEO for Firefox

Another Must Have tool I use is called SEO for Firefox from SEO Tools. Their motto is: “Learn. Rank. Dominate”

Soooo appropriate! This thing has a laundry list of features as long as your arm and I use it on a daily basis to see check trends, PR rankings, backlinks, find potential partners…tons of stuff!

Enjoy and don’ t forge

t to do your homework!

The new JW Player is version 4.3 and it expands the area for Plugins, allows plugin buttons to be added to the control bar, supports background transparency along with a host of other new features…AND…a new HD plugin.

You can download it here.

If you are using it for commercial purposes, you’ll need a commercial license.

I almost always try to put some kind of visual spark to keep the video interesting. Lots of folks have asked me where to get graphics to use for this little tactic. I have several sources but here’s one that’s fun, interesting, and has just released a “Commercial” account membership so you can use them for marketing and commercial purposes.

ImageChef offers some creative ways to customize stock images with whatever text (and/or images) you like. It’s a quick and easy way to whip up a “just right” message into a nice image you can put into Camtasia videos, PowerPoint slides, post to web and social sites…cool!

[viddler id=d16f4b98&w=437&h=370]

The site allows for searching by Category (wedding videos, real estate, event, TV ads, etc.) as well as by Geographical Location and price.

Video professionals can create profiles, post demo reels, get indexed in the search results, host content, and create custom players.

Content can also be distributed via a service on the site called VideoVine. The creators of the video content “seed” the vine and as more content is added…it grows. Kinda cheezy sure but the content can be added to websites, blogs, and email via this syndication. The works can be licensed to companies, social networks, and other video professionals and create branded video players and custom video channels.