Video Distribution and Analytics – Send It Out and Watch It Perform

You have staged a stunt, written a script or put together a power point presentation. Next, you have made a video using your ideas and plans. Now you can upload it to YouTube or your website. However, if you want to send out your video faster and to more people, you can use a video distribution service, which might also give you analytics to help you watch its performance.

There are paid video distribution services that sometimes your video to send to up to two hundred video sharing websites, social networking websites, blogs, and other websites. If you want to pay for a service like that, you should be sure that you are going to have an extensive and powerful campaign.

If your budget is less or you want to spend less of it on video distribution, you can go with a free service. Free services still send out your video to several sites for you. All you have to do is get your video ready and click a few buttons to upload it and enter the meta data.

When your video is deployed to all the distribution points, you will quickly see it climb the search engine results pages. Your video will show up multiple times in a search result because it is coming from several places on the web.

Beyond the search engine advantages, there is also the fact that people who go on each of the sites your video is being distributed to will have a chance to see your video. You will get a kind of mass exposure that you could not possibly get from just one website.

Many video distribution services also have analytics. It is easy to see how many people have viewed your video. Data will show which search terms people are using to bring up your video. You can learn which of the sites is showing the most viewers for your video, and how long they are staying to listen to your complete video. Many services go so far as to provide sales campaign statistics for you related to your video, such as social actions and completion rates.

Since you can get the service for free, there is no reason not to ignore the opportunity. It takes no more effort to set up a video with a distribution service than with one video sharing site alone, once you have gotten started. Video distribution and analytics improve your video marketing campaign and take it to a higher level.

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How Facebook Group Chat Works for Your Business

Facebook Groups are microcosms of the Facebook community as a whole. You may not be able to efficiently interact directly with the millions of people on Facebook, but you can have some very satisfying conversations with a smaller number of people who are in a group with you. Facebook Group Chat makes this possible, and you can use it to your advantage in your business.

Set up a Facebook Group by going to the homepage and clicking in the left hand column on “Create a Group.” From there, you do all the setup for the group, including inviting Friends to the group and adding a Group name and privacy settings. Since you can be in up to 300 Facebook Groups, it is a good idea to have several groups so that you can sort your Friends by target demographic. This streamlines the chat experience.

You have two options for how to start a Group Chat. If you want to plan for a Group Chat, you can send out notifications to your Group and request that everyone interested participate at a set time. This is the best way to get the maximum number of people from your group when you want to chat with them. The second option is to simply log on to Facebook and open up your Group’s chat window to see who is available for a chat. You can do this on the spur of the moment, anytime you have an extra block of time.

Once you start the Group Chat, you should talk about subjects that are interesting to your Group members. Yet, there will be times when you can bring in thoughts about your business. They can be serious thoughts about the state of your industry, or frivolous thought about the goings-on at your office. Be very careful about mentioning your product. However, if someone specifically asks what they can do about a problem and your product would solve or help with it, you might have a chance to interest them in your line. Just remember to be informative and not commercial.

The most important thing to do with Group Chat is to develop relationships with people who are in your target demographics. These are your Friends already; you are just cementing that relationship and making it one that has potential for growth. Use Group Chat to widen your contact with your consumer base, and you will reap the rewards over time.

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Target Marketing Challenge – Aiming At Multiple Marks

You might be better off thinking outside the box when it comes to finding your target market. Conventional wisdom says that you should find the group of people who will use your product and market directly to them. That is true – to a point. Actually, you might have more than one target audience for your products. Consider how different people might use your product, and how you might cater to their needs.

For example, you might make plastic shower chairs. Your intended audience might be the elderly because of the fact that elderly people have trouble bathing themselves. The shower chair becomes a tool they use for grooming for the rest of their lives. You could market the chair based on the tastes and needs of the elderly demographic.

However, other people use plastic shower chairs as well. People who have had an injury sometimes use plastic shower chairs during their recovery period. These can be people of any age. You could discern patterns of users, such as accident victims, sports injury victims, or victims of violence. Aim at any or all of these demographics and you will find new markets for your product.

Your product might be much more commercial than a plastic shower chair, but it might have a variety of users nonetheless. The first step in marketing at multiple target audiences is finding them. Go on the social networking sites and notice what categories of people are responding when you happen on a discussion of your industry or types of products. When someone brings up the fact that they use your type of product for a different use than you expected, you might want to Direct Message them and have a private conversation about it.

The way to actually do the targeted marketing campaign is to have a multi-pronged approach in place. If you are doing article marketing, write some of the articles for the people who use your plastic chairs for sports injuries, including using keywords which they might type into search engines. Do the same for each different type of customer you are targeting. You should not spread yourself too thin, of course, but there is a way to do highly specific targeting to a variety of targets for better success.

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What You Should Know About Flash Websites and SEO

There has been a lot of debate over the past few years about the advantages or disadvantages of Flash websites as opposed to HTML websites. One of the topics of disagreement is whether search engine optimization works with Flash websites. The answer is not as cut and dried as many people would make it out to be.

First of all, let it be said that HTML websites are naturally search engine friendly when it comes to recognizing text content and links. The search engines have no trouble crawling and indexing the material on an HTML website because it is in a rather plain and uncluttered form. If you have an HTML website, your webmaster can write basic HTML programming and include your SEO content to bring you your website traffic.

On the other hand, Flash websites have the reputation for being difficult to read by the search engines. Common wisdom says that text and links are embedded in Flash websites to the point that search engines cannot read it. This has been the standard argument by HTML programmers for years.

However, with the use of XTML for the text-based content, a Flash website can be picked up as easily as an HTML site. It is up to the webmaster to get this right. If the proper coding is done, there should be no problem with Flash SEO.

If you do not want to or cannot afford to hire someone skilled in website programming, you can use a content management system (CMS). With the right CMS, you can have a Flash website that is not only search engine friendly, but is also easy to update all by yourself. You do not have to know HTML or XTML either. You just type in the content the way you want it to appear.

All this information is irrelevant if you like the look and functionality of an HTML website the best. Many people prefer it, and like the fact that it loads up quickly and easily even for analog users. However, Flash websites offer a more attractive, eye-catching, and exciting visual impact, with sights and sounds that will keep many visitors on the website long enough to discover and buy your products.

Businesses who are just setting up their websites should consider all these factors. SEO for websites is also important for people who already have Flash sites. You need to know that there is a way to include SEO in your Flash site with the proper programming or a content management system. Otherwise, you will miss a ton of traffic that is just waiting for you on the web.

Video Marketing – What You Do Not Need for Success

Video marketing can bring tons of traffic to your website, leading to the potential for increased sales and profits. It is a great tool for people who want to really create a buzz on social networking, video sharing sites and across the web. You need to put in a bit of time and effort, and a certain amount of creativity. However, there are a few things you do not need to be a video marketing success.

1. Fancy Video Equipment You will definitely need something to take video with, but you do not need top-of-the-line professional video equipment to create a superb marketing video. If you have a nice camcorder, then by all means, use it. On the other hand, some very fascinating and popular video has been recorded with nothing but the equipment included in a camera phone.

2. Expensive Editing Equipment While it is true that there are people who use expensive equipment to edit their videos, there are as many or more people who do not. Between the software you probably already have on your computer and some free software you can download from the Internet, you can put your marketing video together just the way you would like it. 3. A Professional Director Large companies which make marketing videos may hire video directors. If you have a great idea and people to participate in your video who understand you concept, you should be able to manage without an expert director. You can express your ideas and instruct the people who will be shown in the video to follow your prompts. For a short video, you can do the directing yourself. 4. Expert Knowledge of Technology You do not have to be technologically gifted to get a video made and uploaded to a video sharing website. Inexpensive video equipment is easy to use. Once you move the raw video to your computer, you can use simple programs to edit it and make it ready for viewing. Next, you go to a video sharing website and upload it following the instructions on the site. The video sharing sites give such straightforward and simple instructions that even children upload videos with ease. 5. A Large Budget You probably have everything, or nearly everything you need to make and distribute your marketing video already. What you do not have, you can usually get for free. You can get into the business of creating amazing videos with just what you have on hand in many cases. There are so many things that you do not need to make fine videos; it would be a shame not to jump into this special type of Internet marketing. As long as you have an imagination and a desire to succeed, you should do fine.

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Blog Comments – Why You Want Them and How to Handle Them

Blog comments from your readers keep your blog exciting and energetic. They contribute to a discussion. They help you refine your posts until you come down to the exact message you are trying to convey and have explained it thoroughly. Blog comments make your blog more popular as well. Here is how you should approach the subject of blog comments.

1. Encourage blog comments.

Ask questions in the body of your post about your topic. Request opinions on the topics you are covering. People like to have their say, and they will jump at the chance. You can also add a wrap-up question at the end of your blog post to get people in the mood to interact with your material.

2. Comment on comments.

Read the comments on your blog and comment on them if you see fit. Some comments are so much fluff and contribute little or nothing to the conversation. However, if you find a comment that makes a good point or asks a question that you would like to answer, make an appropriate comment. People who know you are reading their comments often come back again and again to continue the conversation.

3. Delete unwanted comments.

You should leave as many comments as possible, but some comments are just not appropriate. They may be offensive in some way, such as obscene language or crude humor. They may be hurtful, such as racial slurs or slander. You really have to think about whether you want your blog associated with that kind of talk.

Other types of blog comments you might want to delete are those which add nothing to the conversation. They may say something as inconsequential as “interesting blog,” without saying what they found interesting or adding any new thoughts to the conversation. They may be off-topic altogether. It is amazing to see when people post blog comments that have nothing whatsoever to do with the subject of the blog.

4. Pick up ideas for new blogs posts.

Blog comments that bring up compelling questions might be fodder for new blog posts of their own. You may have more to say about the idea than you can write out in a short comment. Taking note of this information is a great practice because it sparks your creativity in coming up with new and interesting blog posts. Furthermore, when you use someone’s comment to base an entire blog post on, that reader will often become a regular visitor to your blog. Handling blog comments correctly increases the exposure of your blog each time, and increases the amount of marketing you can do with it.

Blog Letters by Kosta Kostov

Newsletter Marketing – Mixing Fascinating Content with Enticing Ad Copy

Newsletters offer a way to inform, entertain, and sell to your customer base. This form of marketing is great at making the soft sell. You can create savvy consumers who know all the uses for your product and understand all its benefits. Publishing an online newsletter takes some creativity, some technical knowledge and often some research. Here are a few things you need to do when setting up your newsletter.

1. Topics

Start by making a list of all the topics you would like to cover in upcoming newsletters. You can write about how your industry relates to current events in the news. You might want to introduce new products or talk about new uses for long-running products. A newsletter is a good place to launch a promotion or to give a company profile. Brainstorm up a list until you have many options from which to choose.

2. Layout

Make a preliminary sketch of the way you want your newsletter to look. Draw boxes where you will have text and photos. When you have a general layout, work with a newsletter designer or someone in your company who is technologically knowledgeable to create the basic look and template for your newsletter.

3. News

Your newsletter should be informative above all else. Otherwise, it would be called a sales brochure and not a newsletter. Make up a general theme for each regular newsletter and write articles around that subject area. For example, you might sell skin care products. In a December newsletter, you could base your theme on winter weather. You could suggest ways moisturizing products can be used to greatest effect in winter. Another article might be a news item about the effects of sun exposure on the skin during the winter. Finally, you could introduce a new product that would make a great stocking stuffer for Christmas. In June, you could do an equally informative summer theme.

4. Special Features

One nice thing about online newsletters is that you can include links. Because of this, you can use video in your company newsletter. Just place a link in the body of the newsletter along with an instruction to view the video for information on X topic. Of course, you will have to make the video if you are not going to use one you already have on hand.

Another special feature might be a coupon code or special offer for the month. Although the words you put with your featured item technically amount to sales copy, the pitch should be subtle, pleasant and informative. You have a great deal to offer; you are just sharing the news with your loyal customers.

Newsletter marketing can help you build loyalty to your brand. With your newsletter articles, you can make your customers better-informed shoppers. They will want to tell others about your newsletter, and about your product. Ultimately, the point of the newsletter will be served when you make new sales to existing customers and find new customers in the bargain.

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Three Great Ways to Use Twitter Search as a Business Boosting Tool Kit

Twitter Search is like a tool box for businesses who want to get ahead in social networking. If you have not used the search box much before, you will be happy to know how wonderfully it works. You can increase the number and quality of your Twitter interactions just by properly typing in the right phrases and taking the best follow-up actions. Here are a few ways to use Twitter Search.

1. Find people to follow. It is not all about having followers. If you want to be a credible Twitter participant, you need to follow others as well. Besides that, you can benefit from interacting with the people you follow. Look for people to follow who are interested in your business or products. You can do this by typing in related keywords. When you see the list of Tweets, read through them to find the ones that are pertinent to your brand. Then, just follow them. With any luck, they will follow you right back.

2. Spread the good word about your business. Look for Tweets that say something about your business or products. You can find these Tweets by typing keyword phrases into the Twitter Search and seeing what pops up. When you find a Tweet that says something positive about your business, Retweet it immediately. This helps spread the sentiment to all your followers. If the Tweet is interesting enough, it could go viral. If the Tweet is negative or presents a question, reply in a way that helps solve the problem presented by the original Tweet. By using Reply, your answer will be displayed along with the question, so that people will gain new understanding about your business.

3. Find your local target market. There is a local function on Twitter Search where you can find messages that have been posted in the general area near where your business is located. If you find these Tweets, you may choose to follow the people who sent them. This will increase your personal Twitter community and keep you in the loop with people who live, work or visit near you. These people may be the bread and butter of your business if you have a bricks and mortar store.

Twitter Search is a tool designed especially for businesses. If you can use it to improve your interactions with other people on Twitter, increase the popularity of your brand, and succeed locally, you will be glad you tried Twitter Search for your company.

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Using Facebook to Help Your Marketing Video Go Viral

Marketing videos rarely go viral without a little help from their makers. In fact, it usually takes a lot of effort to meet your goal number of views. You should use every means at your disposal to get your video in front of as many people as you can. Facebook is one place you can do that.

Share your video on your Facebook Page for all your Friends to see. Of course, this will not have much of an effect if you have not worked on your Facebook presence. You need to be adding Friends continually and being a regular participant in the ongoing conversation among your Friends. If you are set up with a solid network of Facebook Friends, it is easy to spread your video among them. It is even more likely that they will share it with their Friends and so on, until that viral thing begins to happen.

Have a video launch with the video you want to go viral. Make it a Facebook Event. Invite all your Friends and tell them you have something special on the agenda. If your video is impressive, intriguing, hilarious, or shocking enough, your Friends will immediately share it with their Friends too. By making it an Event, you set the video on its way to becoming viral at a certain point in time, and you can gauge its success from that point.

Post your video alongside other videos on Facebook Video. Add a link back to the YouTube or other video sharing site where it is located. For analytic purposes, this is better than simply having them view it on Facebook because it is easier to keep count on YouTube of how many people have viewed your video but not so easy on Facebook. However, there will likely be signs if you video is going viral on Facebook even though you do not have those numbers. Just like with the old-fashioned grapevine, news travels back to its source.

Remember that you decide who sees your video on Facebook. You can change the settings so that everyone can see it if you want immediate total accessibility across the social networking site. Yet, total accessibility does not always mean total exposure. Sometimes it is better to make the group viewing your video a bit more exclusive in the beginning, letting people know that you are sending this out to your Friends who might enjoy it. You can even choose Friends plus Friends of Friends. Choose a strategy to launch your video, and widen the accessibility if you see an opportunity to interest more people.

If you want a viral video, do not count on Facebook to carry all the weight of accomplishing that task for you. You can get involved with blogs and forums across the Internet, keep controversies going in the comments for your video on the video sharing site, and submit your video link wherever you find a place to put it. It is nearly always a combination of methods that makes your video go viral, and nearly all of them require effort from you.

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5 Keys to Using Trending Topics to Help Establish Your Presence on Twitter

Twitter’s Trending Topics can help you discern the most discussed subjects of the moment; getting in on these conversations can improve your visibility on the social network. It can be a little tricky at first, but mastering the use of Trending Topics is absolutely worth the effort. Here are a few important facts about how to acclimate yourself to this busy and fast-moving stream of discussion.

1. Trending Topics are easy to find. Look on the right sidebar of your homepage and you will see the latest and most popular topics on Twitter. When you refresh your page, the list updates. If you want to see Trending Topics for the day, week, or month, go to the Twitter homepage. You can even find local Trending Topics by changing the setting on the sidebar to your city, if there are enough participants where you live.

2. You should listen in awhile before you jump in with a Tweet. This is always true, but especially so with Trending Topics. This is because Twitter watches these posts carefully for inappropriate and unrelated posts. If you really do not know what the trend is all about, you will not be able to add an intelligent, relevant thought. You will want to establish yourself as an interesting person in any case.

3. Trending Topics are often marked with hashtags, but be careful. The hashtag is the “#” sign used before a keyword or phrase in a Tweet. When someone conducts a Twitter search for that keyword, the topic listed with the “#” will come up. More importantly, all the comments which have the same word marked with a hashtag are grouped together in the search. If there are enough of them, the subject becomes a Trending Topic.

However, do not get overzealous in using the hashtag. If you use it to get in on a Trending Topic, you need to say something of value to the topic. It is inappropriate practice to use the hashtag and keyword to get in on a conversation only to say something off-topic. Many people will try to use the popularity of the topic to reach a wide audience with their sales pitch, but it is an unwise idea. Instead, just participate in a noncommercial way. If your Tweets are compelling enough, people will go to your profile to find out more about you. That is how you get your marketing into the mix.

4. Do not overdo responding to Trending Topics. It is certainly a good idea to try to establish yourself on Twitter by participating in Trending Topics. However, the social network does not like it when you systematically respond to every Trending Topic in turn. It is even more inappropriate to add advertising along with such methodical posting. Twitter will be aware that you are not using the site properly.

5. Focus on Trending Topics that relate to your business. It is so much easier to make genuine contributions to Trending Topics when they are related to your business or products. The flow of your ideas will come naturally, and you will not have to worry about accidentally bringing up an unrelated subject by talking about your area of expertise. Focusing on your own skills, talents, and knowledge can only make you a more respected member of the Twitter community. Trending Topics can show more people just how valuable you really are.

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