* 85% of successful viral campaigns are simplistically entertaining
* Adopt a seamless integration of active content
* Invoke emotions in the audience
* Create sequels
* Do not restrict access

Viral marketing is one of the most cost-effective techniques to bring your message across to the mass audience for most internet marketing firms. Instead of spending a ridiculous amount of money on television commercials, newspapers ads or celebrity branding, viral marketing ensures that your fans do all the work by disseminating your message to their friends, family members and even total strangers.

But although this technique costs virtually next to nothing, you still need to learn what makes a viral campaign successful.

Firstly, hire a web designer to integrate a variety of active content seamlessly to deliver your message across to the public. Although it’s widely understood that viral campaigns generally make use of interesting Flash games, compelling video clips or emotive images to capture attention, many campaigners do not take advantage of integrating all of these components to deliver one powerful message. A fantastic exception though is the “Why So Serious?” viral campaign launched in 2008 in the months leading up to the release of The Dark Knight.

“Why So Serious?” is integrated with countless number of touch points. There are online games, live streaming audio, scavenger hunts, downloadable trailers, specialty items and so on hosted on one website. Such an extensive amount of work done on this site has not only resulted in users discussing about this website design but also built up the hype of the upcoming movie.

As a result, this comprehensive campaign has earned the site over 10 million unique visitors from over 75 countries.

But if you do not have the manpower or resources to emulate the “Why So Serious?” viral campaign, then make sure you have an engaging storyline that tugs at the heartstrings of the public. An excellent example is “A Virgins Plea” viral campaign.

A website was created in 2006 by a 25 year-old-virgin who made a bet to get 5 million hits in 30 days so he will be able to lose his virginity to a female friend. The website only consists of a short text. There are no Flash videos, audio or even a single picture. Incredibly however, the website has garnered so much publicity that the creator of the website had to admit on record that the website was a hoax.

Even so, it is obvious what the impact of a simple story can do. Web surfers who felt for the creator bombarded the site. Although it is unwise to lie to your mass audience, it is clear that a good story can go a long way in viral marketing.

So if you have carried out a successful viral campaign, what’s next? Well, don’t just stop there; create sequels or other active content to keep your fan base satisfied. “I Got A Crush… On Obama” is a viral video created while US President Barack Obama was still a senator. Since the video’s meteoric rise in popularity, Obama Girl used her fame to launch a website. With new videos and articles being regularly posted on the site, Obama Girl continues to be a prominent online personality.

Although these viral campaigns are different by nature, they have achieved immense success. Another important factor to note is that all of these websites are easily accessible to everyone. Do not make registration compulsory, or require users to download a certain software. Also, engage in SEO service to ensure your campaign comes out tops in every search engine.

Emulate the factors of these successful viral campaigns to appeal to the mass audience. But remember to be creative and different. The audience likes surprises.

—

Christina is an online marketing associate at Singapore Internet Marketing Company – Conversion Hub. She also actively contributes to forums on topics related to advertising and website designers. She also does website design. Christina graduated with a Singapore degree in business management, majoring in marketing.

5 out of 6 would rather watch than read
… that’s what made TV so popular.

Adults would

1. prefer to learn in privacy without peer pressure,

2. they would rather watch than read, and they would

3. prefer not be distracted by the entertainment value of the learning materials.

Video is also extremely helpful in cases where the trainees have low reading motivation. We convert your manuals, standard operating procedures, powerpoint slides to video format with animations, narration, music, etc.

Training Videos have been around for decades.

At some stage, we’ve all been made to watch one with a poorly written script, bad acting, overly dramatised narration and of course, bad music (and hair, you can’t forget the hair). And if you’re like me, you probably had lots of fun laughing at them and not learning.

But forget any bad experience you’ve had with a 70’s style training video. Educational videos really do work and they have come a long way.

The reason they have lasted such a long time is that they can quickly and effortlessly get across important training messages. Complex information can easily be understood.

Other benefits include faster staff training, a more productive and efficient workforce and reduced training consultant fees.

Best of all, educational videos will always deliver a consistent message and never have a bad (hair!) day. Important messages can be watched over and over again.

Tailor made productions are an indispensable training tool for companies with a large workforce that have important processes and procedures that need to be undertaken safely and correctly. New inductees can easily be trained to your specific company needs.

So if bad music and poor narration doesn’t work, what does?

1. Keep your Script Simple, Stupid

To get your training video going, it all starts with a KYSSS. Better wise known as Keep your Script Simple, Stupid.

Too often companies will write their own script based on their big (boring) training manuals. This is great if you want people to refresh themselves with a nap during their training session. Not great if you want to grab their attention and teach them something.

The beauty with video is that both pictures and sound tell your story. So you don’t need lots of talking to explain things, as you can show people what you mean.

After all, research has found that people remember about 80% of what they see, not what they hear.

Our advice is to spend a lot of time getting your script right, as it really does drive the quality of the production. Use lots of short sentences and avoid overly technical jargon.

If you can, get the video production house to write the script for you. Often getting a trained script writer to write your script means that it will be written in simple English that is not overly technical (ie: not a yawn creator).

2. Leave your Director Dreams at Home, Buddy

Often we’ve been called in to re-do a training video that was made in-house. An aspiring staff member with (dodgy) dreams of Hollywood believes they can have a crack at the company training video.

By the end of it, their pesky dreams are no longer. Long hours of frustrating editing has seen to that (which is a relief to their manager).

Despite their Scorsese intentions, the end result is often an out of focus, badly narrated production with jarring music. Usually pretty reminiscent of training videos of old or like something your mum would make.

As a training tool, it has little impact because people are too busy trying to work out what the camera is trying to focus on or trying to hear what the narrator is actually saying (which is usually them talking while filming).

Our recommendation is to use a professional video production house with lots of training video experience.

When choosing a video production company, take a look at their videos to make sure that the script is sensible, the narration is clear, the camera work is smooth and at the same quality as what you’d expect on television.

Stay away from production houses with no training video experience or who themselves aspire to be film directors (which seems to be about 95% of them). Too often, they have no business acumen and forget to focus on how to get messages across and improve learner message retention.

3. Reiterate, reiterate, reiterate

Using titles to reiterate your important training messages is incredibly effective. They need to be used generously in a production, as they really do increase your message retention rates.

4. Change what’s on screen……now

Expert training video producers have lots of tricks up their sleeves to grab audience attention and concentration.

One of them is changing what’s on screen every few seconds. The change doesn’t have to be dramatic. It can be as simple as a close up shot, a new title, or even a shot from a different angle.

By constantly changing the on-screen vision, people are more likely to keep watching with interest.

Another important point is to avoid getting your video done through your training consultant. In our experience, they tend to look at the size of their commission cheque (particularly sales trainers) and do not care about the end result. Most training consultants have no video experience which means they do not know the best way to present information in a video format.

Remember, if you need to get a training video produced, focus on the quality of the script and ensure that you choose a video production house that wants to improve learner message retention rather than just provide pretty pictures on the television. And for good measure, take a look at their hair!

Marie-Claire Ross is a Producer at Digicast Productions. A video production house that specialises in corporate training and marketing videos. You can check her out (and her hair) at http://www.digicast.com.au or phone (03) 9696-4400.

—

Why pay a publicist outrageous fees to get you a tiny insignificant article in a newspaper or magazine rag when you can literally become an industry niche sensation overnight using a carefully constructed video and a handful of long tail industry specific keywords? Traditional publicists have become that 1972 bowling ally loitering, disco dancing reject while a new breed of publicists have stepped in and transformed the industry from paper, to cyberspace in only a few short years.

Why traditional publicists have been adjusting that pathetic comb over hairstyle, young and aggressive publicists have been creating publicity techniques that deliver results in 24 to 48 hours as opposed to 6 to 8 weeks and as far as results, there is no comparison. Online marketing and publicity techniques such as creative video submission, if done properly can transform the direction of a failing company to “THE” industry powerhouse almost instantly by loading the video with solid, well thought out descriptions and targeted long tail keyword tags. A publicist who understand the concept of pure video publicity can tailor a campaign that can outperform any traditional publicity technique ever devised by the good ole’ boy networks who overcharge and under deliver for their clients.

Video marketing can stretch past the tiny geographic proximity of a city, across state lines and into international territory. Publicists that specialize in video marketing and other online methods used in strategic combination with one another, will have the client dominating every aspect of their industry niche. Targeted video marketing by the Web 2.0 type publicists translates into instant client results that build stronger client relations and can transform the future of any company in any industry.

James Scott, CEO of Princeton Corporate Solutions ( http://www.princetoncorporatesolutions.com ) specialize in corporate and political publicity strategies as well as assisting corporations of all sizes raise corporate awareness via online media. James uses Princeton Corporate Solution’s vast arsenal of contacts and proprietary methods to promote companies preparing for PPM and IPO offering due diligence by investors and lending institutions. Whether you are looking for massive, results oriented publicity or a corporate consultant to help you get your company ready to get to the next level with a Private Placement Memorandum James is here to help starting with a free consultation. call 267-233-0183

—

The Death of Traditional Selling

Far too many people waste time pursuing leads that refuse to pick up the phone or return calls. In your initial interactions, the prospect seemed ‘hot’ for your services. You did your song and dance. You sent literature. Now, nothing. The prospect has turned cold to all attempts to further the selling process.

Why? Because they suffer from an ailment more common than the common cold; salespressuritis. A sickening fear of being sold.

There is a simple cure for this fatal ailment. Avoid selling in the first place. I don’t mean to steer clear of all contact. I mean toss out the gimmicky, 1980s talk-your-head-off, push-for-a-close techniques the ‘gurus’ of the past preached.

In corporate sales, gimmicky sales pitches DON’T WORK. If anyone buys they buy in spite of the gimmicks, not because of them. Gimmicky sales pitches don’t work in big ticket sales situations either. There are two reasons why they never have worked and never will.

Today’s market is far too sophisticated. They’ve “seen it all” with respect to alternate choice closes, Ben Franklin close, and all the other stupid techniques that insult a buyer’s intelligence.

Second, fast-talking, outsmart-your-listener, old school techniques don’t work if you’re selling anything over a few hundred bucks. And lets face it, there’s not an industry alive that will pay sales reps to make sales under $100 (except maybe MLM). So chances are what you’re selling qualifies as a big ticket item.

The key to sales success in today’s corporate and big ticket markets is to talk less and listen more.

Here’s proof. In 1992 I came across a small case of sales training booklets that would change my selling career forever. The case was labeled, Xerox’s Professional Selling Skills System III. The promises of the system seemed somewhat outrageous. And the sales model was unlike any sales system I had ever seen before then. But I reserved judgment and like Mikey… I tried it… I read every page of the system. I worked through the sample case studies and scenarios. I had no clue if my efforts would pay off or not.

The results? My sales more than doubled. In fact, finally finding a selling “system” instead of winging the sales process made me the top salesperson in under 30 days at that company where I had previously been struggling just to keep my job. People with more experience than I had years on this planet were selling less than me.

Pretty impressive stuff considering the month before I received a written warning of dismissal if my sales didn’t turn around. And here, all of a sudden, I became number one on the totem pole. Sweet!!

However, I DON’T recommend using the Xerox Selling System today.

The Xerox sales model is a tedious process to use. Yes, it’s more effective than “winging it”. But the problems the system brings are many.

The process is easily fouled if you forget one or more techniques or miss hearing your “cue” for what to say next. And worse, the Xerox selling model often causes objections where none existed before.

How? By encouraging you to attempt to force replies from your listener, by requiring you to follow a bunch of predetermined hoops to get your listener to jump through (which they probably don’t want to do) and by encouraging you to move them towards a close. People aren’t stupid. They will notice your efforts to ‘close’ them even if your closing process is merely parroting back to them what they liked about your offer, then doing some lame alternate choice close. You just destroyed your credibility and created unnecessary resistance.

That’s why I decided to look for something that’s just as effective but less mentally taxing — for me and for the client. What I found isn’t a single selling system. It’s a combination of two. Reverse Selling by Ari Galper (available at www.unlockthegame.com) and SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham (available through Amazon.com).

The SPIN Selling model is easier to use than Xerox model because there are only four elements to focus on: situation, problem, implication, needs. This simplifies the needs-based selling model.

To give an idea how simple it is, I use Microsoft One Note to separate each of the S.P.I.N. elements into four individual tabs. Basically each tab contains one or more questions to help me understand the client’s interests and needs, and whether or not there’s a match for what they want and what I do. This is NOT a collection of those lame sales closing gimmicks.

SPIN Selling confirmed what I had discovered on my own… listening and asking sincere questions is far more effective than using lame brained canned sales pitches. Trying to push people to do stuff they don’t want to do is just plain stupid. It doesn’t work in professional selling environments and it’s mentally draining on you and the person you’re speaking with.

As effective and simple as SPIN Selling is, it’s isn’t strong enough on its own for today’s sophisticated market either. Just like the Xerox model, the SPIN Selling method has holes too. Reverse Selling plugs those holes.

The underlying focus of Spin Selling is similar to that of the Xerox model: closing. “Sharpening Your Skills” (chapter 12 of SPIN Selling Fieldbook) with the aim of preparing a bunch of features and benefits in advance and then ‘vomiting’ that noise onto a client is a disaster for consultative selling. That type of selling is the main cause of unnecessary skepticism and objections in a sales call. Don’t do it.

Reverse Selling forces your attention away from closing and back where it belongs… determining if you and the client are a true match for each other or not. And if not you simply say so and thank them for their time. The focus is NOT closing. It’s helping people. That’s what’s missing from the SPIN Selling and the Xerox model.

That’s why I recommend using Spin Selling for its structure: situation, problem, implication, needs. But for what to say or ask during a sales call, I merge the Reverse Selling “no sales pitch” approach into those four elements.

I recommend you do it too. You’ll eliminate all selling pressure from you and the person you’re speaking with when you focus on their needs, instead of yours. And instead of reflecting an ‘always be closing’ mentality, your sincere concern and willingness to help will shine through.

And you’ll develop a selling structure that presents you as a concerned and competent professional. But best of all, by tossing out the archaic old school sales pitches you make it easy, even a joy for others to pick up the phone and talk with you.

Andre Bell is an author and marketing advisor. He runs an informational website that provides technology marketing tips and recommendations for Solution Providers, Computer Consultants, and Small VARs. Visit his official site at http://www.AndreBell.com for his free nine-step technology marketing guide.

If you’ve ever kept count of the amount of visitors to your website then you’ve probably wondered why you are getting so few results. Don’t be disheartened, though. A large proportion of these visitors are robots and spy bots, a fact worth knowing. With the World Wide Web ever blossoming, it gets harder to stand out from the crowd.

In this fast paced society we want information quick and what could be quicker than a search engine which produces tens of thousands of websites in a fraction of a second? So the entire world has access to your website. What are you going to do to turn a potential customer into a customer? With its personal touch, a video testimonial could do just that.

It makes sense then, surely, that in order to drive customers to your company you should start with the customers themselves. A video testimonial is a customer giving their opinion of your service on video. It’s a lot more personal than a short paragraph of text tagged onto the bottom of your website as if it were written by a monkey.

Whilst any testimonial is better than no testimonial, for what it’s worth, the person behind the message may as well not exist. How much easier is it to relate to someone when you are face to face? A video testimonial brings you one step closer to that.

To make a video testimonial you can consult a professional, see my resource box below, or, if you prefer, you can do it yourself. If you are choosing the latter, there are a few things you should take on board before partaking. Firstly, you need the right equipment. Quality is everything when it comes to advertising so you may want to invest in a decent video camera or perhaps hire one.

Nobody will be impressed with grainy footage and a muffled voice. Remember that appearances count so make sure that the setting of the filming is clean, tidy and professional looking – this is very important. Now that you are set up, you need to contact your customers and find out who is willing to participate. Have them prepare a speech for you so that they are not clamouring for words whilst on film. Explain the purpose of the video to them, stress the key things that you want to come from the testimonial.

To make a good testimonial, the message should be sincere, clear and concise. If a customer says that your company is the best, ask them why your company is the best and ask them to explain that on film. Now that you have the equipment and your customers, you can begin the testimony itself. Keep it short – a good testimony should be short and sweet, no more than a couple of minutes long.

Do a few takes, that way you can find the perfect one later. If you have many customers wishing to give testimonials, it may be worth considering each customer saying a few words and making a montage of the footage. There are guidelines to doing this all across the web. Once you have finished filming, you can then begin uploading the videos to your website.

You can use a free service such as YouTube or alternatively you can host it yourself. Whilst a video testimonial isn’t the be all and end all of successful internet marketing, a clear and sincere message from a happy customer is a good place to start.

Paul Palmer is from the UK, he is a Social networker and online business marketer, specializing in SEO and internet web site marketing, see my blog as detailed below. If you would like to find out more please visit my blog including the post on video testimonials. Please leave me a comment if you like the article here or the information available at my blog http://www.gimesum.com/blog

This article will discuss the ingredients that encapsulate the formula for creating just such a product or service. Let’s begin with looking at successful companies, asking yourself why as a consumer they are perceived as a “must have.”

First, it’s been said many times: “Timing is everything.” And this is the main key element of what makes something successful. Only now that everyone has a mobile phone does a new hot application get the uptake. Ten years ago, a new application for a cell phone would not have flown. So, first and foremost, the product or service must be founded at the right time.

Next is the right place. No, I don’t mean American versus Asia. I mean in an industry that has support. An example is a security application that protects information. If you only apply this solution for remote access to your set top box so you can pick your programs it’s a pretty thin opportunity. Protecting the privacy of personal data is very phat, so the right place to position a piece of security software would best be placed in that arena.

Thirdly is the quality of the product – or perceived quality of the product. Compare a Mac with a PC. The perceived value of the Mac is much higher and may be because of its “packaging,” always outstanding and as a result the pricing is significantly higher – and people pay it. So, if you want to take market share and hold it, you need a quality product. Same goes for film / video production. While a home video can be of low quality and get viral, a video advertisement hoping for that journey won’t make it unless it’s done well – to the point that the viewer is trying to figure out if it’s an ad or a “well-done” home video.

Fourth and finally, the sharing experience is stimulated by the audience’s interest in the topic, product, service or communication, etc. It has to be either funny, timely information, or helpful. What do I tell people about? What do you tell people about? We share with each other the things that we have learned or experienced that was new, exciting, funny, or in some way helped our lives.

So, when considering the development of something “viral” that will be shared, make sure it’s being placed in the right place at the right time, in a quality way that is a new and exciting way to help someone or something or make them laugh. If you can do all of these at the same time, then, it has a good chance of “getting viral!”

——

I develop business concepts surrounding video/film production both for myself and others. My latest creation is with the Funtastic Travel Show, directed by me. I also deployed the website and integrated the social networking tools. I can be reached at info@funtastictravelshow.com

Online affiliate products: Affiliate marketing is very, very hot these days. And here’s why: selling other people’s products you don’t need a web site, no inventory, no shipping, no search engine optimization … you can simply direct link from Yahoo and MSN (and Google if they like the landing page) with a few pennies and reap rewards like you never dreamed.

Reportedly there were guys who were making a million dollars a week on Facebook with CPA offers plugged into their Facebook applications. Now, that’s a bit more sophisticated and not for everybody, but there are guys who are making $20,000-$50,000 a month with ClickBank, Amazon, and other affiliate products. Nothing wrong with that…

Make Once Sell Thousands (M.O.S.T.) products where you turn your expertise to cash. Last year, Fatloss4idiots sold $21 million through ClickBank affiliates, and there are literally 1000′s of open niches where you can create a video + booklet product and sell to the 1.6 billion people out there. What can you turn into a DVD + booklet information product?

IMPORTANT: Once you have a physical product, you can sell it on eBay, too. eBay no longer allows downloadable info products. But no worries, a physical product you can sell a higher price than a bunch of PDFs and there are a lot of poeple who really want something they can hold in their hands and put into their DVD player or computer.

Better Converting Website videos: The long-sales-letter model of website is no longer the best way to reach your target audience. A much better tactic is a video with simple opt-in box on white background; known to convert 50%-60%. They are infinitely more effective than a 24-page long letter model of selling.

1. The magazine is created as usual in a page layout program. All fonts, graphics, ads are placed in and a space-holder is used for the movie size, e.g., 320×240 movie.

2. Magazine is uploaded to a special server, and movies are linked to the spots where the space holder was used.

3. As the reader progresses in the magazine, the movies are loaded to his computer in the background and ready to view when he gets to the appropriate page.

To learn more creative uses for video in your sales,
drop everything and call John 1-800-535-4999 to get
the ball rolling. Idea is like a pin, don’t sit on it.

Save on travel expenses. Why send a 200-pound body across the land when all that is needed is his 3-pound brain. The sole purpose of this sales tool is to close the sale, or to bring the prospect as near the decision as possible — without being there. No travel, no hotels, no wasted time on the road. Use videos as remote selling tools—globally 24/7.

Even a newbie salesman can make many, many more calls with increased confidence when he is backed up by powerful multimedia sales tools. Lay the ground work for the newbie, arm him with good multimedia stuff, and rehearse him on the probing questions.

Forget cold calling. Instead pre-qualify your strong leads remotely with precision, capture their information, and start building your relationship with your own hot mailing list. It’s time-tested and proven over and over again in various industries.

To learn more creative uses for video in your sales,
drop everything and call John 1-800-535-4999 to get
the ball rolling. Idea is like a pin, don’t sit on it.

Create a video that highlights your solution to the target company’s problem and leave a message on their voice mail to watch the video. Use a domain that’s easy to remember.
It could be your telephone number with his name as subdomain…
like this — http://TerrySmith.18005354999.com — you can use the same domain for unlimited number of people simply by changing the subdomain. It’s a personalization he will like plus it capitalizes on the best 800#, URL, branding ever: 1-800-FLOWERS.com.