Archive for the 'Online Learning' Category
posted by Steve19th, 2008
What’s the best way to eat an elephant?
As the old joke would have it…one bite at a time!
A couple of Video Business Advisor members have asked me the best way to get through the online Video Business Marketing Course.
Just as simple a solution as the elephant joke.
Start at the beginning and work your way to the very end.
Going through the whole enchilada may seem like overdoing it; after all, you may have a great logo, you may already know the value of marketing, you may have already set your goals for the next five years and you may already know who your best client types are and know how to reach them…
…but a little refresher course never hurt anyone. In fact, since we learn by repetition, it can help a lot.
Because not everyone learns things the same way, we present the same material in a several formats; video/audio, audio only, and in print. That way, you can use the learning method or methods that work the best for you personally. I like a combo of all the formats, myself. I listen to audios while working out, walking or just relaxin’ in the hot tub. I watch videos during what I call the Educational Hour -that’s 9 to 10 am every weekday. And I read voraciously so I print out online lessons to go over and mark up when I settle in for the “evening read.”
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Today, I’m posting the second of two lessons about importance of corporate identity. I’m also uploading a couple of evaluation forms that you can use to ensure that your video business identity makes the grade.
We’ve come a long way with our online video business training course in a very short time, but there’s lots more to come.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
posted by Steve6th, 2008
It is true that a website can give you a great web presence and necessary exposure. But by default, creating or launching a website doesn’t automatically guarantee it’s going to be successful in reaching your target audiences or getting you any business. There are millions of websites out there on the www where there is little or no traffic. So, getting the traffic is the most important thing.
And getting local traffic is a real key to your video business success.
With the help of a real SEO expert, I just finished up a great half-hour video on how to optimize your video production business website to really get right out in front when people are searching for local video production resources. The new video is available online 24/7 to Video Business Members and if I decide to sell it to non-members, it’ll probably go at $60 -which is more than twice the monthly subscription rate for the VBA…so if you’re interested in learning how to do get max results in the local search engines, including Google Maps and Yahoo! Local, I think it’s a darn good deal -and you can sign up right here.
But while you’re pondering your decision on whether or not to join the VBA (and here’s something that maybe can help you with that), Kristin Edelhauser over at Entrepreneur.com wrote a great article awhile back that bookmarks 15 sites for promoting your local business -video or otherwise. She says (and I agree), “The advertising of the future is going online–and going local. This hot trend is growing rapidly and shows no signs of letting up. In fact, according to a report by Borrell Associates, local online advertising is expected to grow by 31 percent this year, hitting $7.7 billion. The report also predicts local paid search will skyrocket by 86 percent this year, up to $1.8 billion. Local e-mail marketing will experience growth of about 54 percent, reaching $233 million.”
There’s no question that consumers are using the internet to navigate their way to local brick-and-mortar retailers. A recent study by ROI Research Inc. and Performics shows that online searches influence 20 to 30 percent of purchases made at retail locations–and that number is only increasing. More and more sites, like Local.com, are making their presence known by competing against major search engines like Google and Yahoo! So study up, plan your budget and get in on the online advertising game.
And take a serious look at joining the VBA, willya? You owe it to your business.
posted by Steve8th, 2008
Blog popularity is due in large part to blogs’ simplicity. Hosting companies have made setting up a website uncommonly easy. Everyone - no matter what level of technical proficiency - is capable of setting up a blog site. Yep -even me.
I’ve found WordPress to be not only a user-friendly blogging tool, I also believe that when used correctly, it has the potential to be the perfect tool to use to generate an above-average level of traffic to your website. And that can translate directly into more dollars in your pocket!
Here’s why I like WordPress. First, the relative advantages are many; you don’t have to know how to design or program a site, you can automatically import images and video, you can easily customize your site, and yes, if you want, you can blog. Oh -and blog sites are indexed almost instantly by the major search engines. No more waiting for months for Yahoo or Google to recognize your site. It’s just not blogging software, either. WordPress is a content management tool that allows anyone to create a great-looking website.
Secondly - For those of you who are running blogs right now, you are on the leading edge. Web 2.0 is here, simply meaning that smart communicators are encouraging two-way dialogues. It’s no longer enough to build a site that talks to visitors without allowing feedback. Nowadays, people are looking for real people behind the pixels…people who will listen and respond to them.
Finally - Your customers are starting to ask about web videos. You have got to get with the technology to do this, as well as get behind the marketing strategies to sell them what they want. Thankfully, the technology is relatively easy…and if you’ve got some streaming software program and a working knowledge of WordPress in your toolbox, you can not only produce video clips for the web, you can hand your client a brand new, WordPress-based website featuring those clips. Better yet, you can do it in less than an hour, if you have to and, you can almost guarantee it’ll be in the major search engines in a matter of hours - if not sooner.
If you’re looking for more information on WordPress and how to use it effectively, I’ve added 20 video courses on the subject to the Members-Only section of the Video Business Advisor. The newest flight is “Advanced WordPress Training,” a 10-lesson series that covers most of the different aspects of WordPress that usually get answered with lots of technical jargon. None of that ’round here.
Each lesson runs approximately 10 minutes and covers the stuff you need to know, such as changing header graphics, CSS style sheets, using your blog as a Content Management System, desktop blogging, RSS uses and stats, and a few more -like how to customize your 404 pages for fun and profit.
Like the other dozens of helpful videos and hundreds of resources designed to help wring maximum profitability out of a video production business, they’re accessible to VBA members 24/7. There’s membership info here, if you’re interested. Check it out. Get a step (or two) ahead of the competition.
posted by Steve20th, 2008
Seth Godin recently commented that YouTube has, quietly, become a significant force in business learning. He stated that “people who would never read a 200 page book would happily watch a three minute video.”
Like it or not, people are turning to YouTube and other video aggregator sites in order to learn things…and they’re using the compelling power of video to get their instruction. Instead of gnashing your teeth about having to compete with rank amateurs (and I mean that in both senses of the word) and poor production values, embrace the new trend in learning! Focus your marketing on people and concerns that need to get their message on video and out to their audiences. Anyone who publishes books or printed instructional matter is a good candidate for your video production skills, both for repurposing their training materials into video, and for getting it onto the Internet.
And yes, we practice what we preach. For the past six months, we’ve been repurposing our earlier books, special reports and live seminars into video courses that are now available online on the Video Business Advisor website anytime of the day or night. We’ll tell you how we do it quickly and inexpensively in a future article.
posted by Steve10th, 2008
Video dudes and dudettes, are you tired of trying to figure out on how to get a blog installed and running on your own server? We just uploaded a brand new, 10-part video training series to the Video Business Advisor members area that will show you how to get your own WordPress blog set up quickly and easily.
The series includes a video that details the steps to manually install WordPress on your server. This covers the whole process of installation, including how to create the necessary MySQL databases on your server. (It’s much easier than it sounds.) Another video walks you through the steps of installing WordPress, using
Fantasitico on your cPanel hosting account. This is the fastest and easiest method to get your blog set up.
Lesson 3 in this 90-part series covers the ‘admin’ area in general. This is the place where you configure all your blog settings, the sites’ feel and look, posting of messages, managing posts and the like.
There are also three lessons on design, including a walk-through on how to work with themes, one on showing you how to replace the default header of the theme to your own desired header image, and another on how to work with the theme editor. This typically involves a bit of work trying to figure out a few lines of code. This video will make editing your theme a breeze!
Finally, there are complete lessons on working with plugins (including the installation of two plugins), working with widgets, search optimization via permalinks, and a final big lesson on how to deal with posts, pages and categories.
Easy to get the online training you need for your WordPress blog; just join the hundreds of other smart videographers who rely on the Video Business Advisor for their marketing and promotional help. Click here for details.
posted by Steve5th, 2008
“Another marketing course, Steve?”
You’re right. There are a million marketing courses and classes out there. And hey! Some of them are pretty good programs put together by some very bright marketing people. But it can be very hard to find one that hits your particular business problems and challenges. That’s because most off-the-shelf marketing solutions are very generic. Too many times, the authors and coaches insist that the same approaches used to sell curtain rings or vacuum cleaner repair services or window tinting will also work to sell video production services.
I disagree. While there ARE some universal marketing techniques that fit a majority of situations, it’s a mistake to think that someone who knows everything about, say, marketing and advertising a chiropractic service, can help you market your video business. (Don’t laugh. Some enterprising Chiropractor actually tried this a few years back.)
The best advice comes from someone who’s been there, just like you, and who learned, through trial and error, what works and (more importantly sometimes,) what doesn’t work. And so, in our new online video courses, I concentrate on showing videographers and video business operators some easy and effective ways to make certain that every dollar that you invest in advertising and marketing comes back to you, and brings a few friends along for the ride, too!
Our new online video courses are produced for and available exclusively to Video Business Advisor members. We’ve finished producing the entire “Success Without Stress -Operating the Home-Based Video Business” series, and have also produced and uploaded quite a few lessons from our new, expanded “Marketing Your Video Production Business” course. While the core material is presented in video format, we also have podcasts, printed transcripts and downloadable worksheets and cheat cards for most of these lessons.
I’d like you to take a little peek at what VBA’ers are watching these days. Just click here for a quick and painless free lesson in marketing! And if you want to leave a comment…why come right back here and let me know what you think!
