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 report on X.
• Click here to visit X and sign up now for more information!
• Enter your name and email below to sign up for the free teleseminar now.
• Fill out the form below to request your free consultation.
• Enter your information below to apply for this special program.

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 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 on 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.

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.

Are you ready to learn how to use video effectively in your marketing? If so, join me on Thursday, February 2nd for a free teleseminar with video marketing expert, Lou Bortone, about Easy Biz and Video. Sign up by going to:

easybiztelesummit.com

Content is the foundation of the internet. A few years ago that meant writing content like articles, blog posts, reports, and case studies. Today video content is growing and as a business owner you can take advantage of this visual medium to grow your business.

Lighting

The lighting in your video is important. If your viewers cannot see you clearly, they won’t watch. To avoid shadows and a too dark video, don’t sit directly in the light of a window. Instead, have a soft light directed toward your face.

Preparation Is Key

Write or outsource your script first. Winging it is a sure way to an unprofessional video. Make sure you know what you want to say and how you want to say it before you hit the record button on your camera.

Write Well

Make sure your video is interesting. Any good video will be a lot like a good article or blog post. It’ll focus on a specific topic. It’ll grab your viewer’s attention right away. Your video will also offer value and include a call to action.

Make sure you have a purpose for your video before you write it. What do you want to accomplish and what action do you want viewers to take once they’ve watched your video?

Practice

Do a practice run first. Read your script aloud a few times and consider recording it so you can test the lighting, sound, camera angle and content. Practice using note cards or bullet points as your cues.

Editing

Edit your video and add any background audio. You will likely want to trim out the end and the beginning, and add a watermark with the URL of your website. Ideally, you’ll have no more than eight minutes of video when you’re finished. Shorter videos perform better than the long ones.

Your Call to Action

The call to action is one of the most important parts of a YouTube video. Make sure your call to action supports your goal. Don’t hesitate to mention it half way through the video and also at the end.

How to Dress

Finally, don’t forget to dress the part. Make sure you’re dressed appropriately and professionally. Think about your audience and how they will respond to your attire. Also take a look at the things they can see in your video.

Personal mementos, knick knacks, and artwork may not seem like much to you but your viewers may have an opinion. Don’t distract them by the background. Help them focus on you and your message by eliminating any background items. Creating a professional video isn’t difficult. However, it does require some time and advance planning.

Video has become a mainstream content source. More and more business website owners are using video to connect, communicate and of course to sell. If you’ve ever attempted to create your own business videos, you know that there’s a learning curve.

To create professional videos you need a well-written script with a clear topic and objective. You also need a clear speaking voice, a good camera, a well-lit space to film and a good editing tool. Top that off and you may need additional technologies to embed, upload, compress and share your videos.

It may all sound a bit overwhelming. However, once you learn the ins and outs of video production it’s much easier. And having the right tools and technology at your disposal can make the job much easier. One of those helpful tools and technologies is QuickTime Pro.

What Is QuickTime Pro?

QuickTime Pro is software that you can use to convert your media to different formats. You can use it to convert your videos to different formats so your viewers can watch them on a variety of mobile devices. It’s Apple software so it is especially helpful for converting to iPhone, iPod, and Apple TV formats, plus it’s available for both MAC and PC users. You can also use QuickTime Pro to record the videos you need to build and grow your business.

In addition, you can use QuickTime Pro to edit your videos and share them with friends, family, business associates and of course customers and prospects. The latest version of QuickTime Pro is actually called QuickTime 7 Pro. It offers significant improvements over the previous version.

QuickTime Pro enables you to record and edit your audio files as well. You can save files from the internet, create slide shows, and add special effects. However, what is most useful about QuickTime Pro is the fact that you can convert your audio and video files into hundreds of other file formats. This means that essentially you can share your video wherever you want, and whoever you want to share it with can access your content.

Is It Easy to Use?

Most people agree that QuickTime Pro is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. You may feel like a video-making superstar once you’re done with the tutorial and have created your first video. And like most Apple products you can find a comprehensive user guide along with video tutorials for every step of the way. And, the software isn’t free but it is affordable at $29.99 and is available for both the MAC and PC platforms.

If you use video to promote and build your business, consider checking out QuickTime Pro. It’s easy to use and can help make the video creation process simple, fun and profitable.

Are you interested in uploading videos to the YouTube website? YouTube is a website that is often referred to as a video sharing site. It allows users, like you, to upload and share any videos that they have made. With a large number of members and site visitors, having your videos displayed on YouTube is likely to get your videos hundreds if not thousands of views.

If this is your first time uploading a video to the YouTube website, you may be wondering exactly how you go about doing so. The good news is that uploading videos to YouTube is a relatively easy process. YouTube not only gives you step-by-step instructions on how to upload your videos, but they also provide you with video uploading tips.

If you have used YouTube before, even to watch videos, you likely already know that you need to have a YouTube account before you can start uploading and sharing your videos. Registering for you a YouTube account is not only free, but it is also easy. You only need to answer a few personal questions like your name, zip code, the country you live in, your email address, date of birth, and your gender. Once you click submit on the registration form, you will be sent a verification email. Once you have followed the instructions in that email, you should be able to start uploading videos to YouTube right away.

Before uploading your video to the YouTube website, you will need to have them on the hard drive of your computer. You can upload the video as is or you can edit it using video editing software programs like Camtasia or Final Cut Pro.

The first step is to make sure that you are signed into your YouTube account. Once you are, you will need to click on the “Upload Videos,” link, which can be found at the top of the YouTube website. You will then be brought to a page where you will be asked to describe your video. YouTube requests that you are descriptive as possible. Once you have entered in as much information about your video as you can, you will then need to click on the “Go Upload a File,” link. This will allow you to select a file from your computer; the file that contains your recently saved video. Once you have selected the right video, your video will automatically start uploading, after have confirmed your actions.

YouTube states that within twenty-four hours of your video being uploaded, your video should appear listed under the correct category, as well as appear in YouTube video searches. This is when your videos will start seeing the most views, as many internet users search for videos that meet their interests.

It’s sad but true: There are literally billions of other videos, audios, images, and articles competing for your target market’s attention. If your video is boring, nobody (except maybe you mother) is going to want to watch it. When creating a video for your business audience you must engage them or your efforts will fall completely flat.

Creating effective, engaging videos may take you time and practice, especially if you don’t feel particularly at ease in front of the camera. These tips can help you on your way to effective video marketing:

Tip #1: Know Your Market

Your target market has similar interests, issues and problems. By knowing, understanding and listening to your target market, you’re automatically speaking in their language and appealing to their interests. That makes you engaging!

Tip #2: Keep Your Energy High

If someone is an energetic, charismatic speaker, they could read the phone book aloud and make it sound good. People respond to excitement, so make sure yours is high. You don’t want to over-hype it, but imagine you’re talking to a group of kindergarteners and have to work extra-hard to keep their attention. Our ears are trained to pick up on change, so give your voice inflection and enthusiasm, varying its pitch and loudness.

Tip #3: Using Effects

Our eyes are drawn to bright colors, beautiful images and motion. See how you can incorporate these elements in your intro and closing. Watch a few videos on Youtube.com to see what captures your attention, and model what works for you.

Tip #4: Eye Contact

One of the most important aspects of person-to-person presentation is eye contact. Talk to the camera like it’s a person, a valuable potential client or a friend. Be natural, be real and be yourself. Again, this may take some practice but you’ll get it. When you get good at making eye contact you will be well on your way to establishing valuable relationships with your potential audience.

Tip #5: Prepare

You might be one of those rare people with the gift of gab, shooting off a polished presentation with no preparation. If you are, great. If not, then you’ll need to prepare to make sure you say what you want to say in your video and get you key messages across. Don’t forget to include your call to action so your audience knows exactly what to do after they’ve finished watching the video.

Creating an engaging video takes work. However, it’s well worth the effort as your video will be working for you twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for many, many years to come.

So you’re not a technical or audio/video whiz, or you’re so busy with your other business management tasks that you know you need to outsource your videos if it’s ever going to get done. It is possible to outsource your video successfully. But like any outsourcing you do, you need to prepare and be aware of who you are hiring.

Here’s what you need to keep in mind when hiring a freelancer for your video marketing:

Know What You Need: If you don’t know what you need from your assistant or your marketing, how can you expect anyone else to know? If you can describe exactly what you need from your assistant then you will have a great chance for getting just that back from them when the project is completed.

Prepare Materials and Logins: If there are specific materials and login information your assistant will need, it will save you a lot of time if you prepare everything ahead of time. If your assistant needs to email you every time they need something, you’ll hold up the process while they wait for you to respond.

Find Reference Examples: Locate a few videos with the look and feel you like and forward those to your assistant. This will help your assistant make sure they’re clear about what you’re looking for.

Ask For Referrals: Asking for referrals is a great way to find qualified contractors. If you see a video online that you particularly like, contact the site owner to ask who created it. You’ll know what kind of quality you’ll be getting when you hire this way.

Be Open to Suggestions: Your contractor is an expert, so be open to suggestions from him or her. Explain your high-level goals, and then let them do their stuff.

Having a great team member or even a full team to handle your videos can be a real load off your mind. Just remember that successful outsourcing requires a careful blend of preparation and clarity on your goals, and willingness to let go and let the experts take over. Once you hit that sweet spot, you can cross one more thing off your To-Do list.

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.

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.

Before 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.

Tomorrow, September 10th, I am hosting an informative teleseminar with Deborah Gallant who is known as “the business coach who really gets the internet.” You will not want to miss this one so register today at: www.solopreneur.biz/teleseminar

I also created a video about this teleseminar while visiting gorgeous Alaska. Enjoy!