E-Biz Booster Blog

Being funny and entertaining seems to be one requirement, if you want your video to ‘go’ viral on Youtube or MySpace. I could add other attributes like

• cool
• sexy
• informative
• breaking news
• silly
• …

Seems like the Quickcam Orbit MP Webcam from Logitech can support you to achieve this goal.

Check it out (as found on the Web):



Amazing what software can do, isn't it. I did not find many reviews of the camera itself, but it seems that those type of gimmicks

I am sure this is not the only camera that can do this or similar tricks. You might want to shop around a little bit.



Technical gimmicks are indeed “cool”, but they kind of wear off very quickly — as usual — the content of your video itself is the most important part of it.

Before I go, let me list some other very big turn offs, which you find in the majority of Youtube and MySpace Videos:

• bad audio
• bad video quality
• too long
• boring
• too stupid
• …

I have posted an Amazon box here, just in case you want to check out this camera right away.

Yours
Jennifer

Have you ever been faced with the task of having to write an email promotion to your list, and then realized that you didn't know what to say or how to say it?

Michael Rasmussen's new video course “Email Promos Exposed” promises to solve that problem for you by walking you through the actual process of creating killer email promos step-by-step.

If you're in a hurry, just go ahead visit this URL to get instant free access to these videos:

Free Video Series: Email Promos Exposed!

I decided to see if Michael's videos live up to their promise by trying them out myself. Here's what I found:

Overall Quality

The first thing I noticed when I opened up the first video was the stunning production quality. He used Camtasia Studio for the production, which is now the industry standard for creating high-quality screen capture video products. The audio is near studio quality, and the graphics are very professional. These videos were made by someone who KNOWS what he's doing. Well done!

I also liked how Michael divided the videos up by section, and then again by sub-section. For example, one video is all about the subject line, and then there are different parts of that video that each cover a certain area of crafting a killer subject line.

Now let's move onto…

THE ACTUAL VIDEOS

Here's a brief summary of each video. Obviously it's impossible to list every single thing here, but I want you to get a feel for what each one covered, and how well it covered it.

→ Continue reading:

How many times have you watched an Internet marketing video online that promised “great, special info”, but did not deliver? That's really a big turn off.

“A bad video steals you up to 20 times more time than a bad PDF document”

Unfortunately you cannot always tell in advance, if a video will deliver on its promises or not.

• I have seen poorly produced, short and long videos that contained more than expected and
  
  
• I have seen studio production quality kind of videos that didn't tell you anything, except that it must have been expensive to produce.

Too many videos just waste so much time with introductions and typical “Let me tell you my / his / her / their story …” phrases. Too many videos show just faces or other static information. Could be an MP3 audio, and just a piece of written text instead.

I am absolutely tired of this and simply prefer written material, since I can quickly scan through it. Most people also can read faster than those video guys and gals do speak. It's just a waste of time and not to forget a waste of bandwidth.

Of course, there is room for video. The visual aspects can add tremendous value, but not everything needs to be in video. Shooting a video from lame content does not make the content better, it just gets thrown into a different package.

Some folks claim that it takes less time to make a great video than it takes to provide good quality written material. Well, that's true. But only for the producers, who actually have the ability to write good quality content at first place.

All others are just showing their stupid faces into the camera and that is definitely not worthwhile watching. And furthermore they are showing that it is not even worth their own time to create quality content for others. “To hell with them.”

Now, let's talk about some absolutely positive aspects of online videos.

Good reasons for use of video

• Showing onscreen actions that would be hard to describe otherwise. Videos are great for tutorials, but should be accompanied with a written add-on, like a cheat sheet.
  
  
• Showing animated graphics that tell more than words. I have shown an excellent piece of descriptive statistics here on this Blog.
  
  Another excellent example are the recent StomperNet Going Natural 2.0 Videos (↑) about SEO, conversion, … facts that help you increase your sales. For my personal taste the intros are too long. However the content is very valuable.
  
  
• Adding artistic, humorous, graphic, … value
  
  
• or just adding a moving pictures to otherwise great content

Since not everybody is following quality gidelines, how can you protect yourself from wasting time with bad, empty, or hype only videos?

Tips for saving your time

• Watch only videos that have been referred to you by a trusted person.
• Build a list of trusted, good quality sources.
• Watch a video only one time and take notes (if it is worthwhile).
• If the video doesn't capture your full attention during the first 30 seconds. Click away.
• Prefer material that will give you transcripts of the video content as well. Especially, if you have to pay for a course or something similar.
• …

What additional tips do you have to share?
Leave a comment, let me know.

Yours
John W. Furst

Are you heading for #1 rankings on Google, MSN, and Yahoo? You should, because it definitely helps your business. However, it is only one part of the equation for a successful Internet presence. In the following I'll tell you how I got it, but probably more important I'll tell you about the other factors needed as well. A #1 ranking on any search engine is meaningless unless those other factors are in place, too.

You might have “heard” the recent stories about quick rankings from online videos. I thought I have to test it and it was a happy coincidence that Rich Schefren's 66 second video contest came along at the same time. What a great opportunity to get started.

At first look at the search results page “Number 1 on Google” for the broad matching phrase attention ebiz (Enlarge the thumbnail in the upper left corner of this post). I made this screen shot yesterday. Today, I am on position #2.

You also will notice the ^2nd, indented search result. That mainly comes from having a good internal linking strategy on this blog and the fact that the key word “attention” appears on every singe page of this blog. That's how I have setup the promotion for the Attention Age Doctrine. I'll talk more about this later.

→ Continue reading:

You probably already have seen, that I promote Rich Schefren's latest milestone type of report — The Attention Age Doctrine Part 2 — very prominently on this Blog. I even have shot a brief video.

The core message of the report for many businesses is

“You are no longer in control of your branding, positioning and marketing.”

Wouldn't you believe someone, who had made enough money to retire at age 25, but has so much drive that he just moves on and since then helped his coaching clients to make some hundred millions of dollars additional income.

“Don't ask any further questions?
Just download the free report and read it.”
(It won't be available forever!)

So what are the lessons that I have learned from this?

I had 2.7 times more visitors on my Blog than usually on Sundays. I am already curious for todays figures. All because I decided last minute, that I will participate in Rich's 66 seconds promotion video contest. So why did I get more traffic yesterday? Because I took action to participate in an event (the contest) that has a lot of attention. It is that simple.

Do you remember my post about one key factor for success: The Speed of Implementation. If not, go back and read it. It is one of my top posts.

Even though the video contest had a sharp deadline only 36 hours after it had been announced, my situation was worse. I did not “pay attention” until 2 hours before the submission deadline. That's when I decided to do it.

All of a sudden I had hundreds of ideas, but no time to put them on screen. Furthermore I never made a promo video like this. But I wanted to participate, I wanted to see, how it effects my Blog. So I focused on the essentials and kept everything to the bare minimum.

• Writing a script, the text.
• Filming myself speaking
• Trying different setups, quickly.

I just didn't like any of the intermediate results. But I kept going. The clock was ticking. Finally I realized, I have to make the video some kind of funny to cope with all those no-time, no-budget, no-preparation, no-outsourcing type of issues in this Saturday night mini project. Originally I wanted to get into the informational or compelling category, but … no music, no third party material to be edited into the video, …

I kept rolling, registered for those sites, and submitted the video 6 minutes before the contest submission deadline.

• What do you think? Is the video funny or just plain stupid?
  About Rich Schefren's Doctrine (John's Video is no longer available)
  Please, leave a comment here on the Blog.
  
  
• Do you have anything else to say about the doctrine, Rich, or myself?
  Say it, in the comments.

Do you see what was driving me?

It was not perfectionism. And excuses like there is not enough time or how could I win and compete against everybody else, … could not stop me. Today I have seen videos from my competitors in this contest that blew me away. I am also relieved, because — at least in my opinion — my video is not the worst one.

I was driven by the determination to enter this competition. Nothing stopped me. I used what I had available, which was not much at this time as far as my Internet video skills and tools are concerned, but I am proud that I did it.

I have proven to myself that I am an action taker and that I am capable of getting to speed quickly. That is what counts. It is much more important for me than this particular contest. Of course, if I won, it would boost my business tenfold or more, But I am confident that I'll be able to boost my business anyway.

Yours
John W. Furst

I just came back from a long weekend and found this tip on Steven's Blog at AffiliateMarketingDiary.com (↑).

Yes, you can get Camtasia Version 3 for free from Techsmith. Optionally you can upgrade this to the latest Version 5 for just $149, which is a rebate of $150.

Check out the details and put some screen casts online.

• Camtasia Version 3 For Free (↑)

Yours
John

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P.S.: What is Camtasia Studio About?