You read it on this blog first (over the past twelve months), but the industry magazines are starting to catch on.
Here’s an excellent article on video and eCommerce in "Internet Retailing."
Click here for the article: Blending Video and eCommerce.
Enjoy!
Ken
YouTube…it’s not the only free video hosting site in the world, but it definitely has the highest profile.
Everyone from Chevrolet to Warner Brothers to Paris Hilton is in the game.
What’s the appeal of YouTube to these big bucks promoters? Are there any guerilla-type YouTube "secrets" us little guys can use to get more promotional bang from the service?
Yes there are…
Subscriber Dan Buglio point this one out to me…
It’s the newest project of the BabyUniverse.com, an Internet conglomerate which describes itself as "the leading content, commerce, and new media company in the pregnancy, baby, and toddler marketplace."
Not a bad place to be. New parents spend A LOT of money.
They don’t have much choice about it either and the new babies keep coming – thank God.
The site has a lot of bugs (at least with my Firefox-Apple set up), but I like where they’re going with it.
It offers articles, video on demand, and what they call "Baby U-Tube" which will let folks upload their own videos. I think it makes a TON of sense to offer produced content and user-provided content.
What I’m not sold on is the need for 24/7 streaming "live" TV which they also offer. Then again, maybe it’s a relief for mom’s to just turn the set on and watch without having to make a decision. Lord knows that’s how people have been conditioned to interact with TV and radio.
I guess technically it’s no big deal. Just line up all the programs you want to stream and push start and there’s your live TV. I still have a visceral memory of hosting a radio show and appearing on television programs. A very hand on, big overhead undertaking. But with "Live" Internet TV, you probably don’t need a soul other than someone to keep an eye on the server from time to tim.
A year and a half ago, Mike Stewart and I were on the phone talking about possible business uses for Internet video.
He pointed out that by simply using an online video to demonstrate how to set up a phone-recording unit he sells, he got a huge boost in his conversion rates.
Makes sense, right?
How many times have you shied away from a purchase, especially in the realm of consumer electronics, where you had the money and the desire, but just couldn’t figure out which model to buy?
I don’t know about you, but it happens to me all the time.
"Why don’t the consumer electronics companies train prospects to use their products with Internet video? Talk about a slam dunk and a massive ROI," I blurted out.
Well, either they were listening in on our conversation or great minds think alike.
Sony tried it (with help from a Austin-based company called Powered.) The result? Visitors to Sony’s online customer training site convert to buyers at the rate of 25%.
Now Sony is starting to syndicate this content to its retail partners like Circuit City.
Not all multi-billion dollar ideas need to be rocket science.
Hwo can YOU use this?
The community that’s grown up around this blog is now one year old plus a few days. The blog was "born" on December 15 which I guess makes it a Sagittarius.
What does 2007 hold?
I honestly don’t know, but I do know this:
Last year, I posted eighty-six articles and received 434 comments. Not bad for a spare time effort.
I also know that when we started, most folks weren’t too sure that Internet video had much a future. It seems kind of marginal and faddish, they said.
Then a long came YouTube and the cover of Time Magazine.
I think Internet video is here to stay…
What do you think?
Got any predictions or hot ideas for Internet video in 2007?
Ken
P.S. Please tell your friends about us so we can make our network even smarter:
http://www.internetvideomarketingletter.com/
A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the first disposable video camera. It’s been out for a year, but was unknown to everyone I’ve talked with about it.
Too bad because it’s a big breakthrough in video. Put down your $29.95 and walk away with a camera that has a built-in hard drive that will store up to 20 minutes of pretty good video.
But it gets even better…
Sometimes it takes a long time to turn a buck on an idea…
I went to (and hosted) a lot of conference and workshops in November.
Maybe too many. I’m still trying to digest them all.
Here’s something interesting that happened at one of them. It was a three day event so I skipped some of the live presentations with the idea that I’d catch them later on video.
One of the speakers sent me an e-mail of his talk a few days after the program with a link to watch the video of his talk online. I did.
Three weeks later, we were on the phone talking about his presentation and for a minute I couldn’t remember whether I’d seen it live or on video.
Am I losing my memory? Am I trying to jam too much info in in too short a period of time?
No. Video is powerful. It’s so close to "real life" that under certain circumstances your memory will encode video events as if they actually happened in real life.
If you’re not blown away by the obvious sales applications in a phenomenon that, you’re probably not cut out for sales and marketing.
Last night, we started a new series of calls especially for Internet marketing beginners.
It’s a chance for people who are just getting started to call in and get answers to those pesky and sometimes embarrassing "A B C" questions that are often hard to nail down.
If you’re a beginner and you want to be notified the next time we do a call like this (they cost nothing and are hype-free), go here to register: http://www.thesystemseminar.com/nextstep
The reason I bring thing up is that last night someone asked a question about how to profit from Internet video and it gave me a chance to share a business model that no one else seems to be talking about.
Not exactly beginner’s material, but because Internet video is so new it’s an opportunity that has not occured to many people – yet…
Video is the ultimate "selling at a distance" tool.
It beats text (much as I hate to admit this as a writer) and it creams audio.
Why?
Three reasons:
Internet video: 1) activates ALL the senses, 2) prospects don’t have to work so hard to follow your story, and – if you can get them to watch your video – 3) you get a level of attention that’s not available any other way.
Video, like all "selling at a distance" mediums, also makes your sales message consistent so that when you find a message that "works", you can work it over and over again for consistent results.
Here’s an example of a sharp company with a great service that after testing all kinds of messages and mediums over the years has discovered that Internet video tells their story better than anything else:
How to sell a complex service with Internet video
Enjoy!
Ken
P.S. I’m not only impressed by this video ad, I also endorse this company’s service. They’re one of the best kept secrets in Internet marketing.