So Pinterest is really hot these days. I seem to find more people talking about it than Facebook and Google Plus combined. Unlike Google Plus, however, people aren’t talking about Pinterest – they’re talking about the cool stuff they found there.
Hmmm. . . cool stuff, eh?
If people are finding cool stuff there, do you think your audience would like to hear about that cool stuff? Continue reading “Beyond Pinterest”
Recently on FreeWeeklyMastermind.com (which I invite you to join) we did an “impromptu” mastermind call all about video marketing ideas. I thought I’d recap what we spoke about here.
In one of my previous Notes on video marketing we discussed Tubemogul, optimizing YouTube videos, repurposing videos and embeding them on your site. I’ll shy away from those topics this time.
There are three types of Video Marketing Strategies. Continue reading “Video Marketing Tips”
This week I chatted with a guy who’s made a bunch of videos for YouTube but didn’t know exactly how to use them:
Let’s start with the optimization steps:
1. When loading videos up to YouTube, make sure you first save the video on your computer as “yourkeyword.mpeg” or whatever format it is in.
2. Then put your keyword in the Headline – but still find a way to make it enticing.
3. Then put your url first in the description linking back to the page you want them to go.
4. Then copy and paste the keyword title into the written description part right after that.
YouTube gives you one more way to monetize videos now by allowing external annotation links in the video itself. If you read our previous post on different ways to monetize YouTube, you previously had to be a YouTube partner to get external links in the videos.
This doesn’t take the place of using the annotations feature to strategically move your audience to other videos. It doesn’t take the place of the links in the description, or the call-to-action in the video. This is something new to consider in your video and YouTube strategy.
The only feature that hasn’t been enabled yet is the ability to link to any website. At this point you’re only allowed to link to the website that is associated with your YouTube and connnected Google account. So if you’re hoping to link to sales pages, build them inside your main site. Continue reading “Monetize YouTube: External links in the video”
So I’ve figured out a little something with Pinterest. It’s not rocket science and it isn’t going to blow you away, but I bet you’ve neglected it and I bet you’re going to be really happy to start doing it again.
And this concept is the same for YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and any other image based account that ties into Twitter.
The concept started to sink in a bit after seeing the “likes” that Crystal Collins of TheThriftyMama.com was getting on her Instagram account. It took a bit for it to sink in, but then it all made sense.
For instance take a look at Stabiano on Instagram. He’s got 35,353 followers of his Instagram photos. And Yaron007 has almost 6,000 followers for the same reason. That reason is right here in this picture. Continue reading “Pinterest: How to grow faster, get more repins, and win”
What’s the YouTube Editor about? Inside YouTube is a special editor that’s got a few more bells and whistles than the Video Manager. It offers free features like the ability to add text overlays, cut videos, add music and harvest creative commons material. In this video I show you how to harvest other people’s videos to take as your own.
Below the video we talk about why you would use this tool.
No one ever asks how to use testimonials. Instead most do it the way everyone else does it. They create a testimonials page and they hope you go read them. But is that the best way?
Let’s establish some criteria to measure our use of testimonials. Has the use of testimonials in your marketing enabled you to
If you have some other measure of criteria, please share below.
Well they’re not just the emails you get that say how great you are. Yes, those are testimonials but you have more powerful ones at your fingertips.
A testimonial is any third party tool that lends proof to your claim. That means a retweet is a testimonial if you’re claiming influence among your audience members. Retweets, repins, and shares show that what you’re saying is resonating with your audience.
Your Amazon Sales spreadsheet showing you made 51 book sales from a book you blogged about last week is a testimonial. Not only does it show your influence, but your ability to get people to open their wallets.
Pictures of smiling people at your coupon workshop is a testimonial without any words. Not only does it show that your content is pleasing, but it also shows that real people do attend your workshops. It shows someone new that they are not alone in their interest. Very powerful indeed.
Not every testimonial supports every claim. Kind words from someone who attended your workshop do not support a claim that you’re influential in your community. It does directly support the claim that the workshops are valuable and informative, but that’s likely it.
Showing that you have 400 unique visitors per day does not support the claim that people love your website. You may be able to use a “returning visitor stat’ to do that, or blog comments, or mentions in the social universe. Just make sure that the testimonial itself adds value to the goal you’re trying to achieve.
Your business is no different than George Lucas’s, Sam Walton’s or John Grisham’s. They are basically the same but in different forms. You provide products and/or services to an audience who, in return, pays for them. Sure Adsense income and coupon prints are a bit different, but those aren’t the only sources for sure.
Ever pick up a John Grisham novel in the airport bookstore? What’s the first thing you do when you pick up a book you’re considering purchasing? Look at the back cover for the synopsis, right? And what do you find along with the synopsis? Yep, testimonials from people they hope you respect.
How about a movie trailer? They never ask you to visit StarWars.com/testimonials to find out what the critics say, do they? Nope. They feature the good reviews right in the ad, after one explosion and before another.
In both of those cases the testimonials are used directly in the buying process. No extra page, no extra website. The buyer doesn’t have to do anything extra to benefit from the fine words of others. Not only that but the testimonials directly support the goal of buying the book or the movie ticket.
Another influential part of testimonials is the author of such. Movies look for reputable movie critics. Books look for newspaper reviewers. Businesses look for stereotypical customers. Facebook uses your friends faces along with ads to show that your current community already likes that company. Infomercials look for celebrities. The best testimonial is the one that resonates with your audience from both a content and origin standpoint.
Without knowing it your readers are probably benefiting from the testimonials in your blog comments. When people comment on a blog post sharing their own experience, validating the ideas in the post, responding with their own results. . . those are testimonials working for you. And they are right in line with the buying process. Blog comments are social proof that the topic is being enjoyed by others. They also make it easy for others to comment, follow and heed your advice.
What about your media kit? Are the testimonials separated from the Media Kit or are you using quotes directly in the explanatory paragraphs? In the “Online Reach” section, are you including links to your most commented blog posts? Repins? Retweets? Are you using natural social proof, or have you decided that telling them you have 3,200 followers is better?
One of the great things about the online world is the ability to take screen shots. Actual complimentary tweets, emails and Facebook updates show the reality of the comment and instantly dispels any disbelief the reader may have. Lots of people make up testimonials. Screen shots used throughout your content dispel the belief that you do too.
No one wants to be first. Whether we ask for it or not, we want proof that someone else has done it, survived it and is better for it. We don’t want to be sold, we want to be educated. Instead of telling someone how great you are, just pop in a testimonial and you never have to broach the subject.
Dan R Morris is the author of LettersFromDan, a marketing strategy program dedicated to improving your revenue stream from online efforts. Dan is an infomercial producer, niche website owner, product developer, author and Mastermind leader. Dan actively encourages marketers to take that extra step so that “Hope” doesn’t become the marketing plan.
Before you get too far into this Pinterest marketing article, I want to explain the kind of marketing matrix I promote. One of the hard things about marketing online is exposure and links. Building a quality marketing matrix makes that a bit easier. The idea is simple, find five people in a similar or related niche who are interested in marketing their site and agree to help each other.
It’s hard to find 5 people that you can really work well with, so it may take involvement in 3 or 4 groups before you put together one that works efficiently. In a matrix each person agrees to help the others in the group market what’s important to them that week. So in a six week period someone new is helping to market your projects to their audience for 5 weeks. Take a look at the matrix below: Continue reading “Pinterest and your Marketing Matrix”
I got this question via email today and thought it was probably a universal question:
Question: How could I utilize this for my local lawn mower repair business or my local taxi business?
Answer: Let’s break down the value of Pinterest to local businesses into two sections. First let’s discuss the SEO benefits, and 2nd let’s discuss the community engagement
I hate to break this down into two parts, but Pinterest pins can be found by searchers on Google. And they can help your website’s rankings improve. Continue reading “Pinterest for Local Businesses”
