YouTube Marketing Opportunities, Part II

Even in remote areas around the globe, YouTube has penetrated thousands of people’s  personal computers.  Having said that, as of this very moment, thousands of YouTube users have just uploaded a new video.   YouTube has  announced that it is now serving 1 billion views a day. This is how powerful YouTube has become.

To attract attention to your business YouTube channel, you need to plan carefully, as it has now become a cut throat competition and I bet you do not want to be left out.  Previously we have pointed out some tips to help such as; being creative or use something funny to attract people’s interest in your video, keep your video short, usually less than 10 minutes, invest in good audio equipment, join the YouTube network by commenting and joining more groups. To further enhance your account here are some more tips that can get you ahead of the game.

1.    There are three types of video that may work for your business in YouTube.  (1) Informational videos; wow your audience with something they have never seen before but is essential in making your product. Act as a guide on your company’s plant site for example. (2) Educational Videos; most people who access the YouTube site checks it for instructional videos. These include the likes of arts and crafts or building stuff or cooking and do it yourself videos. (3) Entertainment Videos; Find a way to use your product and at the same time entertainment your audience. Let’s say test the durability of a mattress etc., amaze your audience with what your products can do.

2.    Maximize YouTube for search engine optimization. By using proper keywords on your YouTube post, your uploaded video will go on top of the search lists. Choose words that best fit the product or service that your business caters. Draw the right audience to your site. It does not need to be the most popular video on YouTube, which receives thousands of hits a day. What is important is that you are getting your target market to view your channel and hence the possibility of earning their trust and buying your product or acquiring your service.

3.    When you upload a video on YouTube it asks you to create a profile channel. Put as much information about your company in this profile and make it good so you can get regular subscribers. These subscribers can send you emails for questions and more product knowledge. From there you can send them responses and discounts, and information on upcoming products

4.    Answer customer-specific questions using videos. Imagine how surprised a customer will be when you point them to a video with the answer!

5.    Use advertising and marketing techniques like: posting testimonials on your site that attest to the quality of your product.  Add captions to your video, remember that not all people can hear or watch your videos.  Run a contest: Use YouTube to engage your audience and solicit their participation in a fun way.

The more you use YouTube, the more traffic  you will direct to your site, and the more potential sales you will have.  Have fun!

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Social Media Overload?

Getting in touch with your friends, colleagues and loved ones is made easier because of Social Media and networking sites. Many enjoy the convenience of such sites to update everybody who is connected in your network about what is happening with your life or your business.  With the presence of these networking sites, you can stay connected with everybody no matter how far the other person may be or no matter what time zone. Facebook, Twitter, Friendster, Myspace, Linkedln are just a few sites created for social networking. Everyday there are more sites created for the same purpose and you just can’t help but join these sites just to stay connected. Some of us are suffering from social media overload.  There is way too much information out there, where do you start and how do you manage your social world?

Maintaining too many networking sites is time consuming. Let’s face it, we are busy people who have lots of things to do and spending numerous hours in updating all this sites can be demanding. However, if you are using social media sites to promote your business, it is a job that needs to be done to ensure that you will not stay out of touch.  If you are participating in Social Media for your business, you may consider outsourcing social media tasks and get virtual assistants that you can pay by the hour or by the project. This is a convenient solution if you are experiencing social media overload and ensures that you will not be an outcast on the networking world.

One important question before joining a social site is to ask yourself why you are joining this site. Is it because somebody invited you to sign up or is it because you are intrigued by the services that this site offers? Another question would be what is the purpose of this site?  Some sites focus on building a network for professionals liked Linkedin, some sites are great for keeping up with friends like friendster and some appeal to the youth like Myspace. Knowing the purpose and the reason why you want to join the site would narrow down the list of sites that you have to maintain and keep up with. This also serves as a guide for the content that you will have to post on each site and to avoid duplicating content.

It is also important to create boundaries for each site. It could be an awkward situation to read a comment regarding a photo and you did not intend for that person to see it.   Some personal information is for you and your friends only and not for your colleagues to see and vice versa. So if you are maintaining this site for your family communication then stick to that plan and avoid posting information that is not family related. Communicating your plan for that site is also effective when it comes to sorting out who needs to belong to each site. For example, a colleague invites you to facebook but you are not comfortable sharing some personal information on facebook with colleagues, then be honest and inform your colleague why you are maintaining that site personal and invite them over to a more appropriate site.

Social networking has many benefits and could be very fun but once overloaded it could defeat your initial purpose. You do not have to be an outcast in the social media world if you know how to handle the overload. So stop stressing and gain more friends.

What to “Tweet” About

What to “Tweet” about- resources if you are stuck on Twitter

If you are a fan of Twitter and can’t get enough of sending tweets, then you know how sometimes you get to the point of being stuck and not knowing what to tweet about. This is normal for many because with so many things to talk about, sometimes it’s hard to choose which conversation to start with.  Sparking the interest of your fellow twitterers is the key to have a successful conversation and to keep the tweet alive. Here are some great resources if you are stuck on that stage of oblivion:

1. Try asking a provocative question that would spark up the  imagination of readers:

This is a great way to start and keep the conversation going; usually if a reader is challenged with your provocative question then readers have the tendency to tweet back to your original tweet.

2. An inspiring quote:

For some this may be corny but this is still an effective medium for twitters to keep on replying to the tweet especially if they got inspired with the quote.

3. Tweet about a useful link:

Share your resources and give links that are applicable to the topic so that other readers could check out the website as well and learn more about the topic for future tweets.

4. Give freebies:

Everybody loves freebies and it is a great way to catch attention and have the conversation rolling.

5. Tweet about new products:

People are always curious if there is something new that comes out.  Take advantage of that curiosity to attract more followers.

6. Found something interesting on twitter? Retweet it:

Retweeting other interesting tweets is a great way to get more readers. You’ll be surprised at how varied the opinions can be, regardless if it is a retweet. Everybody wants to their opinion to be heard even if it is on the same topic.

7. Need help? Tweet about it:

Humans by nature are very helpful. If you need something done or if you need assistance with something then twitter is the best place for you to ask for help since it immediately alerts other members of your community that you need assistance.

8. Do something worthy and promote charity:

You don’t have to have a lot of money to be able to help in your ideal charity. You could simply promote it on Twitter and for sure you will get followers on your chosen charity. After all people wants to feel good about doing something good.

9. Tweet about an achievement or something you have done:

Try to alert people if you have new blog or if you had an achievement that you want the world to recognize.  “Tweet” your own horn!

10. Your favorite song:

Do you have a song that makes you feel good?  Share it with your followers, you could make someones day!

There is no limit as to what is the topic that you should tweet about.  So if something interests you, then tweet about it and share your interest with others.

How to use Twitter for your small business

Have you ever heard the word tweet among social media sites? No, it’s not the sound that the bird makes but rather it’s the messages that you send and read using Twitter. The success of Twitter is sky rocketing especially for most business owners. Basically, Twitter is a social networking site combined with “microblogging”. What is “microblogging”? It’s the same as blogging although it’s way shorter, hence the word micro. With Twitter you can send messages to your social network using only 140 characters. That’s why it is also referred to as the “SMS of the internet.” Twitter is another tool that you can use for promoting your business and as with any other social media sites, the success is always phenomenal. Here are ten reasons on why you should use Twitter for your business:

1. It’s not time consuming- the problem with most social media site is it eats too much of your precious time. Sometimes posting a blog would require more time to compose but since Twitter only have 140 characters for a tweet; you could go direct to the point and does not take 2 minutes of your time. How hard is it to type “SALE ON MY SHOP THIS COMING FRIDAY! GET GREAT SELECTION OF ITEMS AT A VERY LOW PRICE!”

2. Great more traffic to your site- with a simple tweet; you can have many readers visit your site. It’s also a great way to remind your customers to re-visit your site especially if there is something new. You may even find other people promoting your site for free especially if you have a good content.

3. Immediate- once you send a tweet, you can have readers talk about it right away because they can immediately get it.

4. Research- it’s a great way to get to know what is hot in the market and what do your consumers want. It’s also perfect for asking poll questions that can help you for product development. A well researched product has more chances to sell.

5. Good for link building- you can post a link with your message and link it back to your site. It’s a great way to have them visit your site.

6. Helps business development- it’s a great marketing tool as well as give you an idea on how to gear you business to the right direction. Your viewers are prospective customers or existing clients, the more you can converse with them, the more you get to know what is good for your business.

7. Build customer relationship- since Twitter is a social media site that is made for the purpose of communication; you can be assured that this is a good way to start a good and profitable relationship with your customer.

8. Perfect for sharing the human side of your company- it’s a great way to show you customers that you care for them by heeding to their concerns. Many consumers a hate it when everything is about business and earning money, show your customers that your company is not just for earning but it’s a company with a heart.

9. Building your brand and identity- you can have your post reflect what your area of expertise is. The more you impress viewers the more chances of them doing business with you!

10. Everyone is doing it! – Yes Twitter is so famous that you can easily get a market share just by Tweeting! There are millions of users for twitter and signing up for a free account means you can reach out to those million users. Now that’s a great deal for something that is free.

Joining Twitter is simple and free, all you have to do is sign up for an account and you can take advantage of the benefits that it will bring for you and your business. Get into the action and start to Tweet at Twitter!

Take a look at this tutorial on how to set up your own Twitter account.

If you would like more info on a Twitter campaign click here

Use Google to find people on Twitter

There are a lot of tools that have surfaced recently  to search for people on Twitter.  Here is a quick explanation on how you can use Google to search for people on Twitter.  You can use Google to find people either by name, keywords in their bio, location or keywords that appear in their tweets, here is how:

1) Search for Twitter users by name:

site:twitter.com intitle:”bob* *on twitter”

This search can also be done with a person’s full name:

site:twitter.com intitle:”bob smith * on twitter”

2) Search for Twitter users by the keywords in their bio:

site:twitter.com intitle:”on twitter” “bio* *business”

This search will provide a list of  Twitter users who used the word “business” in their Twitter bio.

3) Search for Twitter users by the location stated on their profile:

site:twitter.com intitle:”on twitter” “location california”

You will then get a list of Twitter users located in California.

You can also get a list of users based on location and keyword in their bio, for example you want to search for users in California with the keyword “business”

site:twitter.com intitle:”on twitter””bio* * business” “location california”

4)  Search for Twitter users based on the words that appear in their tweets:

site:twitter.com/*/statuses/* “food”

This search will give you a list of tweets that contain the word “food”

Check out a demonstration here