This information can be used in a variety of ways. You can build a list, funnel traffic, sell your own products, sell affiliate product, ect.. All you need is the knowledge I will provide for you in the information you will be recieving. Afterwards you will know more than most Internet marketers do about video marketing and you should have no problem being well on your way to making online videos your personal work horse.
In todays lesson we will talk about setting up your video accounts. This will help you make a solid foundation for your video venture so it will be easier to just concentrate on adding to it.
I know you may think that this is very basic stuff. But it is a little more complexed than you may think. This really is the foundation of your video empire. You define tally don't want to have a weak foundation do you?
Skipping this step could make your video empire crumble around your or even worse yet, never take off. So it is very important that you do this correctly.
The first thing you have to do is actually sign up for the video site itself. This is fairly simple so I will not go into any detail. But before you run off and join youtube, metacafe or any other video site (you will get a list of some of the top video sites tomorrow) you should read this.
Choosing Your Acct Name
This is a step overlooked by most people. However it can also be the reason why you will be getting more views, traffic and sales than them.
This name is also usually your profile or channels URL. It is just as important as choosing a keyword rich blog title or domain name. This is what is going to really help your search engine results.
So first off you really need to think about what your video niche will be. It is always easier to use something you are interested in since you will be talking about this topic quite a bit.
If you need some help at finding a niche then just do this. Check out 43 Things and sign up for an acct. This site if full of ideas. Click on popular goals to see what everybody is wanting to do. If none of these sound good then just look around on blogs or in forums. Find a solution to a problem.
Now that you know what you want to do lets go ahead and sign up. You want your acct name to be keyword rich. However it is nice if it makes sense. Don't just throw in keywords. Make yourself something catchy and easy to repeat.
For the sake of learning lets say you want to make a videos about how to many ways to prepare cheese. So for example we would name this account “The Cheese Cutter” Word of mouth is powerful but not if people cant remember what to call you.
Customizing Your Channel
Now that you have your new acct it is time to spice up your profile. This is where all your fans will watch the rest of your videos. So you want to make it reflect on your niche.
Every site is a little different so I want to give you the basics and let you do the rest using your best judgment. Your main goal of your profile is to gain friends and subscribers while driving traffic to your sites.
So when filling out your personal information you don't want to have a page filled up with to much useful information. Why would the visitor ever want to go to your site then?
What I recommend is to fill in your title with similar or the same keywords as your name. The description I leave blank or very brief. You can tell the user about your site for instance and drop a link.
Next you should be truthful with your city. However it is wise to use the hometown or other useless category for another place to drop a url. These don't have to be the same url. One can be your blog, myspace profile, ect...
Next go and fill out your hobbies / interests / occupation relate to your niche. So we will say my hobbies are cutting cheddar cheese, cutting swiss cheese, ect.... After all this is the cheese cutter not the internet marketer. Also make your other interests either related to your niche or links to your sites.
Now for your website field. This of course is going to be your main website. This is where most of your clicks will go to. This link is usually the only clickable one one on your page and you don't want to waste it sending your visitors to another traffic funnel.
You will always want to allow your visitors to comment on your videos. However if you are in a controversial niche you will want to make sure to moderate them. On YouTube it is part of your video posting.
Now on to the background. Most sites allow you to put a background on your channel. This can be an image that you find on Google. You can even have a something made using one of the many free header, ect.. tools you find on the web. Go ahead and download Gimp and play with the logos. Just make sure that this image repeats itself and is related to your niche. If possible add your URL to the picture or just make the picture your URL.
As for the rest of your channels layout. Make sure that everything is even. You don't want a really long left section but nothing on the right, or visa versa. This will throw off the look of your site and encourage visitors to leave the fold of you channel that holds all your links. I personally recommend taking everything unnecessary out (favorites, recently voted, ect...).
One last thing you can change on some sites it the channel type. Unless you are going to be providing how to information I would just keep it as a simple youtuber. However if you want to provide how to style videos and make yourself an authority I suggest making your channel type “guru”. If you are making all of your videos yourself you can even choose director and get your ten minute limit lifted.
Congratulations, you just took the first and biggest step to making online videos your bitch. If you followed what we discussed today then you are well on your way to making profits with online video.
