After a website is optimized for the search engines, some creative marketing can easily be done to help drive new traffic to your site. Many high traffic entertainment/humor websites use funny videos that are viewed for free by site visitors. In fact, many of these viral video clips that are sent around the world via e-mail originated from these websites.
The only down side to starting a funny videos site is the initial cost to build it, and ongoing update costs, coupled with the bandwidth these websites consume, which can cost between $100-$1000/month just for hosting on a dedicated server. This is because these funny videos websites have hundreds or even thousands of downloadable videos available, and every time one is viewed there is a sizable amount of bandwidth consumed.
So how do you take the idea from the funny videos platform and apply it to your own website? Webmasters can easily incorporate this creative marketing technique into their own eCommerce websites.
Think about it this way. Most eCommerce websites have one primary function: To sell a product. The key to success with an eCommerce website is to rank high in the search engines and be found by someone looking for a product. Often times when a customer visits an eCommerce site, he or she sees the same basic format. There is a nice looking home page with an overview of the company and product line, and some pictures of featured products. Then the customer can find links to other product pages as well, or do a search for a product by keyword.
But to get the customer to come back to your website and buy more products, there must be something that sets you apart from your competition. How can this be done? There are two effective methods to achieve this. In a nutshell, adding video media will bring a whole new dimension to your website to help drive new traffic and gain repeat visitors.
In the case of an entertainment website, the funny videos are the catalyst that drives the repeat traffic to the website. In the case of an eCommerce website, you can add videos to your pages that blend with the theme of a particular product.
For example, if you sell fishing gear, then you can add the funny video of the reporter in Mexico who was floating down the river, only to be repeatedly pummeled by hundreds of fish that were jumping at his spotlight into the boat. That should get a laugh from your customer, and give them something to feel good about while they are looking at your product inventory. It's kind of like a bakery. When you walk into a bakery, you are almost always enticed to buy something. It makes you feel good. Well on the internet, you unfortunately don't have the option of smelling what you see. But adding funny media can arouse other senses in a customer and make their shopping experience more enjoyable
Another great way to help market your product is by creating 'how to' videos for your products. For example, if you sell products for sailboats, you can make a series of short 'knot-tying' videos, and feature a different type of video on each product page. This can be done easily with a digital camera that records video clips.
Here is how you can accomplish this:
1.First, set up an area where you camera is on a tripod or table.
2.Next, make sure you have a good backdrop for the video clips. You want to use an area that makes the action in the video stand out.
3.Then record the video. In the case of knot-tying, you can write a script before hand and narrate the video as you are tying each knot for the camera.
4.Then download your video clip to your computer. You can also modify the size of your video with any video editing shareware tool.
5.Simply upload the video clip to your website and link to it with a descriptive title. That is it.
One idea to make this effective is add one knot-tying clip to each product page. This will not only make the customer want to visit each page, but it keeps them interested in your website.
There is one more important point to consider. You must present the training clips so they are most effective. To do this, be sure and place them in a prominent area on each page so they can be seen. And add several lines of text under the video link with a description of the video and keywords that someone might find while searching. For example you can tag the video link with 'Instructional Video On How To Tie An Angler's Knot'.
Then lastly, you can create a separate webpage with a 'video directory' of all your videos. You want to also have search engine friendly keywords on this page as well. Then add a link to your directory page from your other pages, especially your index page.
These tips will help your website stand out from the competition. Simply by adding a few funny videos to your site, or some informative training videos that you can easily create from your home or office, you have added a creative marketing edge that goes beyond optimization.
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Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Success-- The Key and the Fire
Self-discipline is a powerful tool that can help you accomplish about anything you can dream or imagine. Self-discipline is the act of controlling our emotions, actions, thoughts, words and personal direction. Some people seem to be naturally self-controlled and some seem to have no self-control at all. Others seem to constantly struggle with self-discipline.
Discipline is learning to say "no" to our primitive uncontrolled cravings and selfish destructive desires. We develop self-management when we begin to distinguish the difference between what is actually needed and what is truly unnecessary.
Because of the ease of modern society and our ability to get anything we want at a push of a button or the swipe of a card, it is far more difficult to exert self-control today than it has been in any other time in human history. Added to this is the brainwashing of advertising that tells us to crave things.
The first step to gaining self-control is to identify the areas where we are out of control. Work on self-denial in the areas you want to change. Deny your self a certain pleasure each day. Then begin to start small with little victories each day, like eating one less snack or watching one less television show.
A key to discipline is developing routines. People who have routines tend to be more disciplined and accomplish more. If you are one of those people who have trouble with routines, try adding just one at a time. Keep it simple. Work on the things that are most important first. Evaluate yourself regularly to see how you are doing. Reward yourself for keeping at it. Once it becomes a habit, it is much easier to maintain.
Of course, routines can be done to excess, so remember to give yourself a little healthy leeway in case the unexpected comes up.
The power behind some of the world's greatest achievements is strong motivation and the ability to persist despite previous failures. Motivation is the fire that fuels our efforts toward success. There is no use in trying to master self-discipline if you have no motivation to have it. Motivation is a result of strong personal desire that directs a person's actions and thoughts and helps create situations that move toward a specific accomplishment.
Motivation must come from within, not from an outside source. For example, if you diet because your spouse wants you to, it is poor motivation, and you will probably not do well at it. It is only when you truly desire to control your habits and behaviors that you will achieve self-discipline. Motivation brings about true change.
One way to increase motivation is through pressure. Tell your friends, co-workers and family about your commitment to change something in your life. Peer pressure can be a powerful motivator.
Motivation works hand in hand with self-discipline and organization. Lack in these areas can lead to a greater number of failures and failures lead to poor motivation. When you begin to structure your day and organize yourself, the motivation that moved you to change will continue to add fuel to the fire.
As you work toward change in your life, you will eventually experience failure. The only way to defeat failure is through persistence and perseverance. The most common reason people give up on achieving their goals is because they encountered failure once or twice and they become afraid to try again. Winston Churchill once said, "Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm." Before you even begin, you must plan to deal with failure. Be ready to persevere. Vow to never give up, no matter what, no matter how long it takes!
Discipline is learning to say "no" to our primitive uncontrolled cravings and selfish destructive desires. We develop self-management when we begin to distinguish the difference between what is actually needed and what is truly unnecessary.
Because of the ease of modern society and our ability to get anything we want at a push of a button or the swipe of a card, it is far more difficult to exert self-control today than it has been in any other time in human history. Added to this is the brainwashing of advertising that tells us to crave things.
The first step to gaining self-control is to identify the areas where we are out of control. Work on self-denial in the areas you want to change. Deny your self a certain pleasure each day. Then begin to start small with little victories each day, like eating one less snack or watching one less television show.
A key to discipline is developing routines. People who have routines tend to be more disciplined and accomplish more. If you are one of those people who have trouble with routines, try adding just one at a time. Keep it simple. Work on the things that are most important first. Evaluate yourself regularly to see how you are doing. Reward yourself for keeping at it. Once it becomes a habit, it is much easier to maintain.
Of course, routines can be done to excess, so remember to give yourself a little healthy leeway in case the unexpected comes up.
The power behind some of the world's greatest achievements is strong motivation and the ability to persist despite previous failures. Motivation is the fire that fuels our efforts toward success. There is no use in trying to master self-discipline if you have no motivation to have it. Motivation is a result of strong personal desire that directs a person's actions and thoughts and helps create situations that move toward a specific accomplishment.
Motivation must come from within, not from an outside source. For example, if you diet because your spouse wants you to, it is poor motivation, and you will probably not do well at it. It is only when you truly desire to control your habits and behaviors that you will achieve self-discipline. Motivation brings about true change.
One way to increase motivation is through pressure. Tell your friends, co-workers and family about your commitment to change something in your life. Peer pressure can be a powerful motivator.
Motivation works hand in hand with self-discipline and organization. Lack in these areas can lead to a greater number of failures and failures lead to poor motivation. When you begin to structure your day and organize yourself, the motivation that moved you to change will continue to add fuel to the fire.
As you work toward change in your life, you will eventually experience failure. The only way to defeat failure is through persistence and perseverance. The most common reason people give up on achieving their goals is because they encountered failure once or twice and they become afraid to try again. Winston Churchill once said, "Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm." Before you even begin, you must plan to deal with failure. Be ready to persevere. Vow to never give up, no matter what, no matter how long it takes!
Speaking Well In Public Is By No Means Accidental
You might possibly know how jokes can complement your speech. But jokes can also cause your speech to be disastrous. Jokes are both a boon and bane to a speech.
If you are very much in comfort with it, use humor. Just check it first if it fits, serving as a breaker between sections or emphasizing a certain point. A funny and great line, or a comment that is irreverent can help liven up the presentation that you have and will help people to remember the things you have said. Of course any joke must be related to the topic that you have in some way. If you are not sure about something, you could also use a humorous photo or cartoon (with the permission of the photographer or illustrator, of course) in your slides.
Aside from making jokes or humor in your speech, you could improve your public speaking with these other tips.
- You should be able to grab your listeners' attention even right at the start. That is why it is important that you start correct – confident posture, eloquent speaking style, controlled voice tonality and impact, and a nice, well-thought speech from you.
- The information in your message should be organized clearly and logically, making it easy for your listeners to follow what you are trying to say. Keep things easy and simple. Divide the information into smaller blocks and work from there. Highlight the points that you want your audience to remember.
- Your most crucial point should be the conclusion, bringing the speech to a close. The conclusion sets the tone of the speech, and lets the listeners think about and ponder on the things you have just said. Literary devices, such as quotes, stories, rhetorical questions, or surprising facts, can be used for concluding a speech, although of course, these devices should relate well to the topic of your speech.
- Deliver the conclusion that you have clearly and slowly. Keep eye contact with your listeners as you speak. Smile at them, thanking them for the time that they have given you.
- You should remember all these tips and in due time, you would be surprised to see how these techniques have helped you in your future speaking presentations. Your listeners will eventually understand the information you have given them and respect you for your ability in delivering that information.
If you are very much in comfort with it, use humor. Just check it first if it fits, serving as a breaker between sections or emphasizing a certain point. A funny and great line, or a comment that is irreverent can help liven up the presentation that you have and will help people to remember the things you have said. Of course any joke must be related to the topic that you have in some way. If you are not sure about something, you could also use a humorous photo or cartoon (with the permission of the photographer or illustrator, of course) in your slides.
Aside from making jokes or humor in your speech, you could improve your public speaking with these other tips.
- You should be able to grab your listeners' attention even right at the start. That is why it is important that you start correct – confident posture, eloquent speaking style, controlled voice tonality and impact, and a nice, well-thought speech from you.
- The information in your message should be organized clearly and logically, making it easy for your listeners to follow what you are trying to say. Keep things easy and simple. Divide the information into smaller blocks and work from there. Highlight the points that you want your audience to remember.
- Your most crucial point should be the conclusion, bringing the speech to a close. The conclusion sets the tone of the speech, and lets the listeners think about and ponder on the things you have just said. Literary devices, such as quotes, stories, rhetorical questions, or surprising facts, can be used for concluding a speech, although of course, these devices should relate well to the topic of your speech.
- Deliver the conclusion that you have clearly and slowly. Keep eye contact with your listeners as you speak. Smile at them, thanking them for the time that they have given you.
- You should remember all these tips and in due time, you would be surprised to see how these techniques have helped you in your future speaking presentations. Your listeners will eventually understand the information you have given them and respect you for your ability in delivering that information.
Creative Loafing
Have you tried creative loafing? It is a good excuse to relax, and also a great way to come up with new ideas and solutions to problems. How does one creatively loaf? Just relax, open your mind, and use one of the many idea-generating techniques.
A Creative Loafing Technique
My favorite technique is one that is best for generating new ideas rather than solving specific problems. It can be used in any area of life. It is simply the imagining of new applications for existing ideas.
Once, while laying on the couch, I saw an advertisement for a company that uses a dog to find mold in your house. You may know that dogs can be trained to sniff out almost anything. There was even a news story a year or two ago about a dog that could detect if you had cancer.
What was my first thought? "I wonder what else dogs could find by smell?" The first idea that came to mind was to use dogs to find other pets. They find lost people so well, so why not have a service to find lost pets? just one sniff of the cats favorite rug, and the dog is on the trail.
A Creative Loafing Example
You can certainly use your relaxing times to just randomly ponder things, but why not put creative loafing together with a good idea-generating technique. Then you can lay under a tree and have an endless stream of creative new ideas. For this "new-application technique," just start with the essence of the idea, and look for new ways to use it.
For example, you might lay there and think about the pneumatic tubes that deliver your money and papers at a bank's drive-through. The essence is a cartridge that delivers things through a tube using air pressure. I imagine the same thing would work for human transport. Could you ride "the tube" to the next city, or maybe make this into an amusement park ride?
Look other aspects of an idea too. For example, these tubes allow several customers to be waited on at once. Where else do they need this? A fast food drive through comes to mind. Perhaps pneumatic tubes would spill drinks, but the idea of multiple car lanes can be used. Several drive-through windows, radiating out like spokes, at different angles, would allow three different lines of cars.
If you want to practice using this technique, just lay back and...
- Imagine three new uses for pedal-power.
- Imagine two new uses for magnets.
- Think of a new application for Darwin's theory of natural selection, outside of biology.
Can you see how easy it is to come up with new ideas? Why not learn a few more techniques? Then apply them to personal problems. Finally, to make the best use of your creative loafing time, keep a notebook or tape recorder ready.
A Creative Loafing Technique
My favorite technique is one that is best for generating new ideas rather than solving specific problems. It can be used in any area of life. It is simply the imagining of new applications for existing ideas.
Once, while laying on the couch, I saw an advertisement for a company that uses a dog to find mold in your house. You may know that dogs can be trained to sniff out almost anything. There was even a news story a year or two ago about a dog that could detect if you had cancer.
What was my first thought? "I wonder what else dogs could find by smell?" The first idea that came to mind was to use dogs to find other pets. They find lost people so well, so why not have a service to find lost pets? just one sniff of the cats favorite rug, and the dog is on the trail.
A Creative Loafing Example
You can certainly use your relaxing times to just randomly ponder things, but why not put creative loafing together with a good idea-generating technique. Then you can lay under a tree and have an endless stream of creative new ideas. For this "new-application technique," just start with the essence of the idea, and look for new ways to use it.
For example, you might lay there and think about the pneumatic tubes that deliver your money and papers at a bank's drive-through. The essence is a cartridge that delivers things through a tube using air pressure. I imagine the same thing would work for human transport. Could you ride "the tube" to the next city, or maybe make this into an amusement park ride?
Look other aspects of an idea too. For example, these tubes allow several customers to be waited on at once. Where else do they need this? A fast food drive through comes to mind. Perhaps pneumatic tubes would spill drinks, but the idea of multiple car lanes can be used. Several drive-through windows, radiating out like spokes, at different angles, would allow three different lines of cars.
If you want to practice using this technique, just lay back and...
- Imagine three new uses for pedal-power.
- Imagine two new uses for magnets.
- Think of a new application for Darwin's theory of natural selection, outside of biology.
Can you see how easy it is to come up with new ideas? Why not learn a few more techniques? Then apply them to personal problems. Finally, to make the best use of your creative loafing time, keep a notebook or tape recorder ready.
How Playing Poker Teaches Business Skills
I have fun playing Texas Hold 'Em with friends. Did you know that playing the game or watching shows like World Tour Of Poker can help you succeed in business? I didn't realize that while I was learning to play, I was gaining valuable business skills that have translated into money in my pocket. No, not by gambling money away. :) Let me show you what I mean. I learned four things from playing poker.
First, I learned how to make the best of the cards I was dealt. I learned when to play a hand, when to take risks, and when to throw the cards away and wait to act with better ones. This kind of discernment helps a business owner make sound decisions about working with assets and when to cut a project loose if it's not producing good results. I found that when starting your own business, you will invest 2 assets-your time and your money. Depending on where you start, you'll use one of these assets more than the other. A realistic understanding of which asset you're working from can help you make the most of what you've got.
The second lesson I learned from poker is that you've got to use a strategy to win. Good players spend years learning from each other and developing a strategy that's right for them. Their strategy is reliable and flexible enough to adapt to new situations. They learn something new from each game, and they actively look for the lessons when they lose a hand. They know how much they're willing to bet in an evening, and they aren't pushed off course by setbacks because their strategy takes the slow time into account.
The third lesson I learned is that while I must understand the cards I've got, I must watch my competition and adjust what I'm doing accordingly. If I have a solid straight in my hand, I still need to watch my fellow players because one of them might have a straight flush. If you only focus on your hand, you may end up broke in no time flat. Even if you've got an awesome product, don't fool yourself into thinking you've beaten your competition. In business, there are always going to be people who want to move into your market. People are actively creating new products and services, and yours could be left in the dust if you aren't paying attention. The difference here is that you may find that good strategies include partnering with your competitors and funding joint ventures. Unlike poker, you both can win.
The last and most important lesson I learned from playing poker is that risk isn't the four-letter word! Risk is a good thing if you have studied your competition and know you have a good hand. The reality of business is that you will have to do some things you've never done before or that make you feel nervous. This is a good thing because you become a better person once you push through your fear of taking a risk. I used to worry about what would happen if I lost a bet. I played to prevent losing instead of playing to win. There's a big difference between those things. Playing to win means putting yourself out there, letting people know you've got a good product or service. Playing so you won't lose usually results in you losing or barely breaking even because you can't do the very things that cause your business to sky rocket to the top.
In summary, I learned to use my assets well, implement a winning strategy, to respond to my competition, and to push past the fear of losing. Think about other activities you've done over the years. What skills did you learn? How can you use them to build your successful business?
First, I learned how to make the best of the cards I was dealt. I learned when to play a hand, when to take risks, and when to throw the cards away and wait to act with better ones. This kind of discernment helps a business owner make sound decisions about working with assets and when to cut a project loose if it's not producing good results. I found that when starting your own business, you will invest 2 assets-your time and your money. Depending on where you start, you'll use one of these assets more than the other. A realistic understanding of which asset you're working from can help you make the most of what you've got.
The second lesson I learned from poker is that you've got to use a strategy to win. Good players spend years learning from each other and developing a strategy that's right for them. Their strategy is reliable and flexible enough to adapt to new situations. They learn something new from each game, and they actively look for the lessons when they lose a hand. They know how much they're willing to bet in an evening, and they aren't pushed off course by setbacks because their strategy takes the slow time into account.
The third lesson I learned is that while I must understand the cards I've got, I must watch my competition and adjust what I'm doing accordingly. If I have a solid straight in my hand, I still need to watch my fellow players because one of them might have a straight flush. If you only focus on your hand, you may end up broke in no time flat. Even if you've got an awesome product, don't fool yourself into thinking you've beaten your competition. In business, there are always going to be people who want to move into your market. People are actively creating new products and services, and yours could be left in the dust if you aren't paying attention. The difference here is that you may find that good strategies include partnering with your competitors and funding joint ventures. Unlike poker, you both can win.
The last and most important lesson I learned from playing poker is that risk isn't the four-letter word! Risk is a good thing if you have studied your competition and know you have a good hand. The reality of business is that you will have to do some things you've never done before or that make you feel nervous. This is a good thing because you become a better person once you push through your fear of taking a risk. I used to worry about what would happen if I lost a bet. I played to prevent losing instead of playing to win. There's a big difference between those things. Playing to win means putting yourself out there, letting people know you've got a good product or service. Playing so you won't lose usually results in you losing or barely breaking even because you can't do the very things that cause your business to sky rocket to the top.
In summary, I learned to use my assets well, implement a winning strategy, to respond to my competition, and to push past the fear of losing. Think about other activities you've done over the years. What skills did you learn? How can you use them to build your successful business?
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