Archive for Technology
Getting Potential Clients to Take the Next Step After Watching Your Video
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You can produce the most compelling, interesting video online, but without a clear call to action, your video is just pure entertainment. Whether you want a viewer to buy your product, sign up for your list, or take another action, you have to tell them what you want them to do.
A call to action can take many different forms. Do you want the viewer to click on a link, click the “buy now” button, watch another video, or take some other step? Know what you want from your viewer before you even create your video so everything you do points to that desired end result.
Some people believe that if you push your message on your audience, they will resist any kind of “sell” and turn away. While you want to avoid the used car salesman approach, remember that when you have the solution to your audience’s problems, you’re doing them a favor by sharing it with them.
Your call to action can take many forms. Here are some examples:
- Click here to download your free copy of Biz Tips for Entrepreneurs.
- Click here to find out how to boost your business with Social Media!
- Schedule a consultation with me so we can work together to fulfill your business destiny.
- Click here to find out how you can build your business and brand using Facebook.
- Fill out the form below to sign up for our free teleseminar.
The logistics of creating a call to action within in a video will vary depending on the type of video you use, the location of the video and the rules of the site where you are hosting your video. Here are some ideas:
Mention in the Video – You can include a call to action within the video itself. Create the video to capture the attention of your audience, give them the information they need and then tell them what action to take next.
Text Within the Video – Another way to tell your viewers what move to make after the video is to add it across the screen of the video. This text can be a link to your website or an explanation of any other action you’d like them to take.
Clickable Video – By using ‘Flash’ software or YouTube’s video tools, you can create video that, when clicked on, can link the viewer to the desired page.
Make Use of Video Descriptions – You can add a call to action within your video descriptions. If you have uploaded a video to a hosting site, check the rules as to how you can link to your site and how promotional your videos and descriptions can be.
The most important part of your call to action is ensuring it fits with what your audience needs. When the call to action matches the exact needs of your audience, taking your recommended next step will be a natural next step for your viewers.
How to Add a Favicon to Your Website
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Have you ever visited a URL and wondered what that little symbol was on the left hand side of the browser bar? It’s a favicon and you can generate one to help brand your website and your business.
What is a Favicon?
Favicon stands for ‘favorites icon’ and they’re little icons or graphics associated with a website and generally positioned to the left of the URL in your browser bar. Generally favicons come in a few basic sizes including:
16×16 px
32×32 px
48×48 px
64×64 px
and 128×128 px
So How Do You Get These Little Icons to Attach Themselves to Your URL?
Well the easiest way to get one is to first use a Favicon generator. These handy little tools will help you convert an image, or your logo, into a favicon. You can also create your own favicon from scratch by drawing it with an icon drawing program.
The new icon will be saved as favicon.ico.
From that point you will save the icon on your computer.
Next, upload the saved image to the root directory of your web space. If you have a webmaster, send them the image so they can upload it into your root directory.
The last step is to add a line of HTML to the header of your web pages. You’ll want to position it between your <head> and </head> tags.
It’ll look something like this. <link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”http://www.yoururl.com/favicon.ico” />
This identifies your favicon to web browsers so they can display it whenever someone visits a page on your website.
The last step is to visit your URL in your browser and make sure the favicon is there. If not, double check your html for errors.
So Where Can You Find Favicon Generators and Icon Drawing Tools?
There are many free generators available online. Simply search using the terms “favicon generator” and you’ll find a number of them. Some of the more popular generators are:
www.favicon.cc/
favicon-generator.org/
www.favicongenerator.com/
antifavicon.com/
And if you want to draw or create one yourself from scratch simply search for “favicon drawing tools” or “icon drawing”. If you have Photoshop, you can use Photoshop to create a favicon too.
Adding a favicon to your website is a wonderful way to brand your business. And it’s simple and easy to do. Have fun with it, research other favicons on your favorite websites and your competitors and get creative.
Promoting Your Business on Facebook Using Video
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If you have a business and a website, then you’ve likely considered video marketing. Then when you combine video marketing with Facebook, you’ve got a winning combination. Once you’re convinced of the power of marketing with video, the next step is to decide how to use videos to promote your business. Here are just a few examples:
1. Testimonials – Ask your clients to give you quick 1-minute videos of their feedback. You can also interview them about your business for a more structured testimonial.
2. Case Studies – If you’re involved in some kind of before-and-after (coaching, website design, fitness, SEO, etc.) case studies are an excellent way to demonstrate your expertise. Seeing an example helps the potential client understand exactly what impact your service or product can have on their business.
3. Product Reviews – Video brings an added element to product reviews, particularly if you’re reviewing a physical product. But hearing you talk about a book or piece of software is effective too.
4. Education – Use video to educate your market on the use of your products. Lead them towards the sale by answering their most frequently asked questions and objections.
5. Entertainment – People love to be entertained! If you can entertain in your video and combine that with a call to action, you’ll have a winning combination.
6. Commercial – Done correctly (meaning compelling with a clear call to action), commercials for your product or service can be very effective.
7. Business Overview – One of the first things many people look for is who they are buying from and what they stand for. Let your potential customers learn about you and your business through a business overview.
When your videos are complete, upload them to YouTube and connect them to your Facebook account. You link them on your Wall tab and Video tab and you can also promote them to your Facebook followers via messaging.
As you can see from the list above, there are many ways to use video to promote your business. The key is to provide solutions with your videos and leave your Facebook followers wanting more of you.
If you’re looking to build your business and brand on Facebook, check out my new 3 part webinar series starting on August 2nd “Facebook 4 Biz: Ready, Set, Go!”, where I will delve into everything Facebook. Oh and before I forget, Facebook 4 Biz is part of my Super Summer Sale and you’ll get 20% off at checkout. With 500+ million strong, there has never been a better time to take advantage of all that Facebook has to offer your business.
How To Create a Landing Page for Facebook
Posted by: | CommentsWith over 500 million users, Facebook is a powerhouse in social networking. If you’re not on Facebook and using it for your small business, then you are missing a huge opportunity. In my upcoming webinar series “Facebook 4 Biz: Ready, Set, Go!” (this webinar series is also part of my Super Summer Sale, which means you get an additional 20% off at checkout), I’ll be delving into the world of Facebook and how to use it to build your brand.
Have you ever wondered how businesses on Facebook get the “pretty” business pages? The answer is Static FMBL (Facebook Markup Language) which is Facebook’s answer to HTML. You can create your design in a WYSIWYG editor like DreamWeaver and paste the code into Static FBML. Just copy and paste everything between the “body” tags (leaving them out) and leave out any Javascripts. If you’re not familiar with writing HTML code, there are a number of HTML tutorials available online or you can partner with a virtual assistant, like Virtual Accuracy Companies, for your HTML creation.
After you’ve created your design elements then use this quick “how-to” I made about creating a landing page for Facebook Business page.
1. Install the Static FBML application located here: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=4949752878
Underneath the FMBL logo, click, “Add to my Page”
2. On your Facebook Business page, click on “Edit Page”, which is located underneath your picture or business logo.
3. You will now be taken to the backend of your Facebook Business page. This is the nuts and bolts of the Facebook design elements. Under “Applications”, scroll to the FBML application and click “Edit”.
4. Create a title for your landing page, in this case, I chose “Welcome”. Now paste the HTML code you created earlier into the FBML box and click “Save Changes”.
5. To make the new page your landing page, go back to your Facebook Business page and underneath the “Share” button, click on “Options”, then click on Settings and a number of different options will appear. For the option of “Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else”, choose the name of your page from the drop down menu, in this case it is “Welcome”. Your information is now auto–saved.
Now anyone who visits your Facebook Business page and is not a fan, they will automatically be directed to your landing page.
Marketing Monday: 7 Marketing Benefits for Using Video As a Solopreneur
Posted by: | CommentsBefore we get into the blog post for today, I recorded a video to accompany it since the topic seemed to beg for it. 
How are you using video for your business?
You’ve heard that using video to market your business can bring incredible results. But do the benefits outweigh the effort it takes to put your video online? In a word, Yes! Shooting a video, editing and formatting it, uploading it to the internet with the right title and description takes a bit of time. But the payoff for video marketing can be tremendous. Here are seven real benefits of marketing with video:
1. Personal Connection – Especially for internet based businesses, the personal connection with your potential market is a huge selling factor. With video, your audience can truly get to know you, eye-to-eye. They get to see that you are indeed a real, live person. They start building a deeper relationship with you and feel as if they actually have met you.
2. Social proof – There’s an old proverb: “Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.” On the internet it’s so easy to be a fake and a fraud. People are skeptical about claims they read online, and rightfully so. But video puts a face to your words and makes you more believable and trustworthy.
3. Traffic – People are watching 2 BILLION videos per day on YouTube alone! That’s a whole lot of traffic you’re missing if you’re not marketing yourself with video. It’s free and easy to add your video to a large number of the video sites available online.
4. Emotional Influence – The classic horror movie is a great example of how the audio has an emotional effect on us. The creepy music comes in, immediately cluing you in that something bad is about to happen. Now, imagine combining that audio with powerful video cues to influence the emotions of the listener and create a much more compelling message than with just text alone.
5. Portability – Maybe even more so then articles and ebooks, video is portable. iPhones, Smartphones, iPads and all kinds of other devices allow video to be seen on the go. You can also allow people to download video easily so they can view it over and over again.
6. Demonstrations – Reviews, case studies and examples are great ways to sell products and services. It’s the reason why infomercials make millions of dollars. Now there’s no need for you to be as annoying as the Sham-Wow guy to make money with video, you just need to create videos that show and tell your potential customers why your product will be helpful for them.
7. Engagement – There are many reports available online to show that video boosts response and conversion rates. When someone is watching a video, you have their full attention – eyes and ears. Unlike with the written word, they’re not likely skip ahead or gloss over important information. Most people will watch a video from beginning to end, allowing you to clearly create a message and call to action that engages your audience.
Overall, video is an effective marketing strategy that is only growing in popularity. Since video is here to stay, it’s time to check out the options and see how quick and easy video marketing can be.
