Are you ready for some more Rapid Video Blogging goodness?

I have been following Gideon Shalwick’s Video Blogging launch rather closely as he reveals some amazing content!  His first content-giveaway was his MASSIVE +90 Video Blogging REPORT.  As I know your time is very valuable, I have taken the time to review it and distill the information to a few key bullet points, lessons and take-aways in this blog post.

If you want to learn how Gideon increased his video views to +250,000 and built up a list of over 27,000 and make over $300,000 with the power of video, then at the VERY LEAST, you need to read this Rapid Video Blogging REVIEW.  If you like what you see, I highly recommend you continue on and read his FREE +90 page report here: http://www.VideoCopyPro.com/blog/videoblogging

So, let’s go ahead and get started, shall we?

Gideon’s Strategy

So, HOW exactly is Gideon using video to get all this traffic and make all this money?  Here is his super-simple strategy!

(Youtube + Blog + List Building) x Growth Strategies = Exposure & Money!

In a nutshell, use Youtube to drive traffic to your blog, build your list and make sales.  Easy, right?!

Let’s continue…

The Hedgehog Concept

I loved this!  If you are at all familiar with Jim Collins’ book Good to GREAT, you just may be familiar with the Hedgehog Concept.  Essentially, it is about finding the point at which your PASSION, your SKILLS and MAXIMUM PROFITS intersrect!

In this concept, Gideon goes on to share that you will be successful in video blogging (or anything else in business) if you focus on a) what you are MOST passionate about; b) What you can be the best at in the World; and c) something that can be highly profitable!

While performing market research for your next “idea,” put your project through this simple three question test, and see if it passes!

The Answer is GOOD & FAST

One of the big things I picked up from The Rapid Video Blogging report was that you don’t need to be the BIG company with the BIG budget to “win!”  In fact, it is the marketer who is FASTEST who wins the race.  Getting your videos from an idea in your head and out onto the Internet needs to happen quickly if you want an edge over your competition.  Obviously RAPID video blogging is all about doing that quickly.  But Gideon also shares the concept of “Good is good enough!”  In this concept, Gideon shares that you don’t need PERFECT quality videos that go through hours of production and editing time.  Just film, upload and share!  Make it good and make it fast!!

Content is STILL King!

Content is still the KING-it’s just in a different format=VIDEO!  You can dump your brain onto a thought-provoking, content-rich video and it can easily go viral and be shared with people at the click of a button.  Even better, your videos can even be re purposed for both audio and text!  But more importantly, video will also allow you to connect better with your audience.  It is REAL, authentic and emotionally powerful!  But my favorite reason for using video for content generation is that Google loooooves VIDEO and is ranking it very highly in search results!!

iTunes Magic!

Ok, one of the coolest take-aways I picked up on was Gideon’s strategy for uploading his content to iTunes!  I am currently NOT doing this at all, and Gideon has seen MASSIVE success by doing so! So, start taking your content and uploading it to iTunes for syndication as well!

OTHER Cool Things Gideon Shares in his REPORT:

-The best wordpress Video Blogging themes fro SEO
-The ESSENTIAL list of WordPress Plugins
-How to do Keyword Research
-How to Optimize Your Youtube Channel & Videos
-How to INCREASE Your Views and Conversions!

And so much more!

I was really blown away by this report!  Gideon did a fantastic job giving away some AMAZING content.  If you are even considering doing ANYTHING with Video in your marketing, you CAN NOT go another day without reading this report from cover to cover.  This is not hype or BS!  Gideon’s report is FREE but incredible!

Use my affiliate link below and get your hands on the Rapid Video Blogging Report!  Thank you for reading my review and enjoy the report!

http://www.videocopypro.com/blog/videoblogging

I’m not here to waste any of your time, just to share with you EXACTLY what I have learned (what’s working and what’s NOT!) with Video and Video-BLOGGING!  Over the next week or so, I will be writing a few blog posts on my new blog (this one!) going into your action plan and some cool secret ninja tricks for getting the most out of your Video Blogging Strategy!  But first…

WHY Video Blogging:

I have a ton of reasons, some are based on statistics, some on results, and some on that gut instinct that we all have inside of us.  Let’s take a look at some now…

• Youtube receives over 2 Billion Views a day (and it is ONLY 55% of the total video-website Market Share)  Are 4 Billion videos REALLY being watched every day?
• Youtube is the SECOND largest search engine!  Your Youtube videos can now be indexed in Google, and people are goiong to Youtube for tutorials and other visual information…are they finding you?
• 80% of Internet-Users have seen at LEAST one Youtube video, AND the average Youtuber spends 15 min A DAY on Youtube.

With Social Media (and sites like FB and Twitter) getting sooo much attention, YOUTUBE seems to be ignored by most marketers, but to me, VIDEO is the final piece of the equation to help turn you from “noise in the crowd” to “Authority with an Audience.”

Personally, I did a simple Video-Blogging series in one of my niches and was able to DOUBLE traffic to my site because of this.   My business partner Dave Powers begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting of RCPowers.com gets 60,000-80,000 views a day and drives traffic to his site where he sells +350 ebooks a month! Another client of mine follows the 80/20 rule.  80% of his traffic and leads come from Youtube and he makes $150/day with one $40 ebook!

BOTTOM LINE: Video Blogging gets you MORE exposure, more traffic, backlinks, content and everything else you need to be successful online.

So…now that I KNOW you are READY to do some video blogging, let’s get started shall we?

The FOUNDATION:

In this article, we are just going to touch upon the basics of getting started so that you can build the proper foundation for your video blogging campaign.

Your Strategy

There is no better place to start than with your STRATEGY!  What is your objective and goal and HOW are you going to accomplish it?  In a nutshell, (and please modify your strategy as you feel fit to) your strategy consists of:

1. Upload your videos to Youtube
2. Add Videos to Your Blog
3. Drive Traffic from Google and Youtube
4. Get People to Take Action

It’s simple right?  Use the videos to create content, and use Google and Youtube as traffic generators and get people to take action on your website!  Let’s carry on to…

Market Research

This is the least sexiest topic but MOST valuable!  You must know your market EXTREMELY well for video blogging to work.  Essentially you must know two things:

• What information your market wants to acquire
• What keywords they are using to find that information

Using tools such as the Google Keyword tool or Market Samurai, you can build up a powerful list of keywords which will begin to serve as your content creation outline.

If you teach your market how to start their very own Lemonade stand, you may find that your market is searching for keywords such as “lemonade recipes” or “how to price my lemonade”  etc.  THESE keywords become the topics for each of your videos.

When you know what your keywords are, you can simply put them in your video TITLES and DESCRIPTIONS to help get them found easier.

NOTE: As Youtube begins to roll out their “hearing impaired” function, they are transcribing all of the dialog in every video, so make sure YOU use the keywords in your actual video!!

BOTTOM LINE: Take the time to do your market research and identify your market’s most popular keywords.  Then turn that into video content!

Business Model

Ok, this step is huge, and most people forget this!!  Remember, there is NO “Views Store” where you can make money just because you have views (the Youtube Partner Program is not profitable unless you are hitting videos in the six figure range on a consistent basis)

Video Blogging is simply a tactic.  It needs to be able to plug into your business model.  This means, you MUST have some form of lead generation (email capture) function OR an “Add to Cart” button at some point in the process.

Here is what I recommend for the average info-marketer.

Set up a Squeeze Page with your Free Offer (could be a special video or report) and link it to your blog.  Make an inticing offer on your blog so that your visitors will easily hop on over to the squeeze page.  THEN, add your blog URL to the beginning of your descriptions on ALL of your Youtube videos.  Lastly, you want to make sure that each of your Youtube Videos are embedded onto your blog as individual posts.

BOTTOM LINE: Don’t even think of putting out videos if you don’t have some type of marketing funnel in place FIRST!

Technology & Tools

You’re obviously gonna need some sort of video camera and editing software before continuing any further.  Don’t let this step scare you.  You can get started with a webcam and your default editing software.  Remember, the more expensive you get with equipment, the more steps involved.

I recommend the Kodak Zi8 and iMovie 09 from Apple.  But heck, you can even use your iPhone 4G video camera and upload straight to Youtube.  The real secret is NOT in the quality of your videos, but in the quality of your CONTENT!

Are You ready to get started?

This should be enough to get you started.  Make a plan, do your market research and make sure you have the proper tools necessary to hit the ground running!

In the next post, we are going to go into some specific details as to how you can efficiently create your videos and syndicate them across the web in minutes.

And then we are going to hit into the super-SECRET tricks that I personally use that really, REALLY make the difference!  It’s gonna knock your little socks off!!

But first…

There is +90 pages of pure video blogging goodness in Gideon Shalwick’s new video blogging report.  It’s totally free and it is a MUST-READ before we continue.  So, what are ya waiting for?  Go grab it now!

Click here to get the free report:
http://www.videocopypro.com/blog/videoblogging

Have you ever taken a moment to look a bit closer at that infamous Purple and Orange FedEx Logo on the side of their big trucks?  Can you see the small arrow that blends in between the “E” and the “X.”  If not, look below.

Believe it or not, THIS was intentional with the marketing and branding GENIUSES at Federal Express.  But really, what’s the point?

This FedEx example is the PERFECT metaphor for ANY marketer or business owner.  As we are being bombarded with advertising (both online and offline) all day long, we need to be aware of WHAT strategies are being used and HOW they are being implemented on us.  When something actually gets your attention, ask yourself WHY and reverse-engineer the answer.

You need to switch your lens of perception and stop analyzing commercials, advertisements and other marketing pieces from the viewpoint of the consumer, but rather from the viewpoint of ANOTHER marketer. You need to condition your mind to find the “hidden arrow” in every marketing example.

The Old Woman & Her Daughter:

In Stephen Covey’s brilliant book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he opens by sharing the importance of being able to switch the “lens” in which you view the World.  Things are NOT always as they appear to be, and sometimes it is worth a second look.  For example, in the book, Covey presents the following image…

What is this a picture of?  What do YOU see?

At first glance, MOST see an old woman.  But what if I told you that the old woman you think you see is actually an image of her young, beautiful daughter…don’t believe me?  Look at the image below…

After studying this image, go back to the previous one, and see if you can’t pick up the image of the young girl as well.

Conclusion:

Both this and the FedEx examples are simple exercises designed to train your brain.

Bottom line, AFTER I pointed out the FedEx arrow to you for the first time, EACH and every time you see that FedEx truck go by, the FIRST thing your eyes (and your brain) are going to notice, is that little arrow between the “E” and the “X.”  Your job is to condition yourself to see the little arrow in ALL future marketing pieces.  IF you want to become a successful marketer, this is absolutely imperative!

The following is the first (of many!) Case Studies and examples of different uses of a Video Sales Letter.  The following is being used to promote the features and benefits of a really cool software platform called Quansite.  It is a website creation and automation platform that makes Social Media, Blogging, and driving traffic easier than ever before!

For this example, I wanted to highlight Coach Deb (creator and user of Quansite) as the focal point and the face of the product.  She is GREAT in front of the camera and really made the video what it is!

IMPORTANT Things to Point Out:

My goal with this was to be able to easily explain exactly what Quansite is AND what it does through animation and visuals.  I created images that showed Quansite in action so the viewer could understand exactly what this software does.  All the while, I am creating a NEED for this product by stressing the benefits of automation and time-saving energy!

Here it is below, enjoy!

My dad always used to tell me this growing up:

“You can do anything you want in this World, Son.”

Which is great for a young kid.  Nothing is better for an entrepreneurial child than to have supporting parents (even if they did get mad when they realized I sold half their belongings on eBay).  I really have always grown up believing that I can do anything I want in this World!  But as I got older, I started to realize these words of encouragement were flawed.  Well, to be exact-the affirmation is simply unfinished.  My dad should have said:

“You can do anything you want in this World, Son.
But you can only do ONE thing better than anybody else.”

You see, success in business is really based around doing ONE thing extremely well.  Or put more articulately:

“Every great man (or woman!) has become great, every successful man has succeeded, in proportion as he has confined his powers to one particular channel.”
-Orison Swett Marden

I can remember high school and college being difficult times, because I was constantly FRUSTRATED.  I was FRUSTRATED that others new exactly what they wanted, and I had no clue.  Sure, I was making $1,000/week selling used motorcycle parts on eBay after school, but my counselor insisted that I take “Career Day” more seriously.

(NOTE: [Laughing now!] I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life because back in 1997, I didn’t know ANY of THIS existed-and most of it didn’t)

Discovering “The Internet” and “Marketing” opened up a whole new World for me.  Going to my first few I.M. conferences I felt like I had “come home” from a long-awaited vacation and my family was greeting me at the airport terminal.

I feel life and our journey through business is a discover of ourselves.  It is a discovery of our talents, our skills, and our assets.  It’s about identifying our passions, our interests and our “obsessions.”  What fuels you?  What feeds your energy?

Just as Thomas Edison probably had to experience a 3-Part Discovery phase for himself:

a.  What do I want to do with my life? (invent things)

b.  What do I want to invent? (the light bulb)

c.  How do I invent the light bulb?

I too have began to hone in on my direction and path.  Until recently, I have felt like the soldier who has 20 enemies in his sights. Since he has so many targets to choose from, he spends all his time choosing which enemy to hit any never shoots any.

Following the Law of Increasing Returns (which says that the more you focus on fewer things of higher value, the better you become at those things, and the less time, money & energy it takes to accomplish those things) I have decided to focus on something that I have seen tremendous success with in just a few short months.

So what is that?

Video Sales Letters.

I am a graduated film student, I love copywriting & marketing, and more importantly I love teaching, sharing and inspiring others.

So what is a Video Sales Letter?

Well, this site is all about answering that question.  But, in a nutshell, I have been able to increase conversions on EVERY site I have touched by adding a video sales letter (or opt-in video).

This blog is dedicated to sharing WHAT’S working with video sales letters, HOW to create your own quickly and easily, and a whole slew of other marketing resources that is going to blow your mind!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, please comment, subscribe and look for more posts to come!

-James Wedmore
Video Copy Pro

P.S.  Come back soon, I will be holding a contest in a few weeks to give away a FREE customized video salesletter to one lucky contestant<—how cool is that?!