Generating Free Leads Using Video

For all of us who are involved in the internet marketing business, our biggest hurdle is that of generating leads.  We could have the best and most economical product available, the coolest looking website and loads of free information to give out, but if no one is visiting our website, it's all for nothing.

One way that people are having success is by using video marketing.

There are many video sites on the Internet, but the most popular one is YouTube.  It is free to sign up and you can upload videos to your site in a very short period of time.  I personally create my videos with a webcam hooked up to the computer and I can upload my videos directly from the webcam.  However, I prefer to edit them first by adding a face page,  titles, notations etc., so I use Windows MovieMaker to do this.  If you don't have software to edit your videos, YouTube has a program built it so that you are able to make them look more professional by adding annotations and various other things.

I suggest you check your webcam settings each time you record a video, because the lighting is not always the same.  Sometimes, you might have to close the blinds or perhaps add a light or two.  You want the people to be able to see your face.

One important thing to remember is, to have your website address periodically show throughout your video.  If you do not do this, and someone copies and forwards your video to someone else, they will have no idea how to get more information.

Another thing that many people forget to do, is to have a link on the YouTube page to their own website.  It doesn't matter how great your video is and how many views you get, if you don't give the viewer a way to get in touch with you, you have wasted your precious time.  Go to the Profile section to do this.  You want to put the full website address in.  You have to include the http:// or it will not work.  Make your website address the first line of information you type in and it will then be highlighted in blue for everyone to see and click on.

My best advice for you when you are recording your video, is to be yourself and talk naturally.  Look directly into the webcam and just imagine that you were talking to a dear friend.  You might want to do a few practice videos first.  Don't bother uploading these.  Just record them and  play them back a number of times so that you can critique yourself and the content you have provided.  You want to give the viewer something of value, so that they will want to subscribe to your YouTube channel and be advised of your future videos.  Go ahead smile and just be yourself!!

Make the effort to look neat and tidy -- after all you are running a business -- but this doesn't mean that you have to overdress.  Business casual is just fine.

Producing videos can be a lot of fun, but our ultimate goal is to have them viewed by lots of people who will then be motivated to visit our websites.  Always keep this in mind.  You want to make sure that you extend the invitation to them at the end of your video to click on your URL.  Also, to maximize the potential from your videos, you should copy them to your Blog, if you have one, and to your social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace.  

I know many people who have been in the internet marketing business for a while, who did not use video.  They were eventually persuaded to do so, and now say they don't understand what was holding them back, because it was such an easy, fun thing to do.

I encourage everyone to get some videos up on YouTube.  This is an ongoing form of doing business, so you should have a schedule of doing videos regularly.  The search engines love video and you might even find yourself on the front page of Google one day, especially if you maximize your effort by posting the video wherever you can. 

Jan Shimano was District Manager for Health & Welfare Canada for many years. She graduated in Business Management and was self-employed as a Nutritional Consultant and Master Herbalist. She presently works as a Business and Health Coach and operates an internet marketing company from her home on beautiful Vancouver Island.

Jan invites you to check out her blog at http://www.janshimano.com

http://www.CuttingEdgeForSuccess.com

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