Casey Zeman

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Michael Stelzner of The Social Media Examiner-Blogworld 2011

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A couple weeks ago I challenged a few of my social media friends to see if they had any questions for some of the top dogs in the Social Media Realm.  Those experts being Mari Smith and Michael Stelzner.

Last week we presented Mari Smith’s Interview and questions.

If you missed it, click here.

This week we present you with part 2 of our Blogworld experts questions.

The questions came through and here is what Michael had to say about it.

The first question for Michael:

From Joshua Zamora, the ZamuraiBlogger.com.  He asks:

“With so many Social Media Platforms how do you know which ones to focus the most time on?”

Michael :

“The question is your audience, who is your audience?  You have to determine who that is.  Are they a business to business or b to c?   You have to find out where they are hanging out.  LinkedIn might be the appropriate platform if you are targeting businesses.  Facebook might be , twitter might be.  But there are really 4 major platforms.  Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Google Plus. And of course some people consider YouTube a platform as well.

Amongst those, really Facebook is the biggest one.  I would suggest if you are just starting out, you can’t really lose with Facebook.”

Me:

“Facebook is the place to start”

Michael:

“Begin to get a good understand of where your audience is.  You can ask them.  “Where do you hang out? “  And then of course target your efforts. ”

Me:

“Do you think there is a big difference between Facebook and Google Plus in terms of an audience?  Because I think some people are worried that targeting too many social media platforms waters down interaction. ”

Michael:

“Absolutely.  Right now Facebook has everyone.  It has your grandmother. It is very family oriented.  Where Google plus has a much more techie, tech savvy crowd.”

Me:

“Because it is early on?”

Michael:

“Yes Exactly and everyone who got their early invitations were tech savvy people.  It will change over time but right now that’s the difference. ”

Me:

“Ok.  Let me go to the next question.”

[Read more…]

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A Retro Look At An Awesome Interview With Mari Smith at Blogworld

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A year and a half ago  I had the privilege of attending Blogworld, Los Angeles and watched some of my favorites in the Social Media landscape speak on their strengths. During the event, I asked some of my wonderful friends if they had any questions for two of my favorite social media experts, Mari Smith and Michael Stelzner.

Mari Smith is one of the top Facebook and Relationship Marketing Experts around.

In 2008, FastCompany.com dubbed Mari “the Pied Piper of the Online World.” 

Michael Stelzner is the founder of Socialmediaexaminer.com. 

In less than 5 months, Social Media Examiner was declared the #1 small business blog in the world by Technorati, added more than 40,000 email subscribers, brought nearly 250,000 people a month to the site and is ranked as one of the top 4200 websites in all of America by Alexa.

We answered two questions that were narrowed down.  One from Carol “The How2Girl” Dodsley and Keith”Ask The Tipster” Everett for Mari Smith.

_______________________________________________________________

Carol’s question was: 

“With all the noise and information overload in the social media arena right now – what advice would you give Mari,  to newcomers that will enable them to cut out the noise?“

Mari:

“Ok, well hello Carol.  First of all I think there is something huge to be said for being a Personal Brand, and I am assuming you are!  (In being a personal brand),  look to see what makes you unique and play your strengths.  Less is more.  Better to say fewer things that are high quality and relevant.  Scale it back.  Don’t be a contributor to the noise.  Quality over Quantity.  Focus on the quality and the quantity comes. ”

Keith’s questions was:

“My question to Mari is, what is her most successful traffic technique she uses to get people to opt into her list?“

Mari:

“Oh, I have my Ninja tricks.  I offer free Webinars.  I look for timely topics.  Back in Feburary teaching my 7 point strategy system for success on Facebook, we had 7500 opt ins.  30% coming in is pretty good and that is what we had.  About 2k live.  We could have had 3k to 4k if we had the right technology.  That was one of my most successful opt ins.  Then you can’t just go do a free webinar and say, “Ok thanks guys, bye, we’ll see ya later”.  As a marketer you need to think strategically.  When you have live people tuning in, make an offer; an irresistible offer; send them to a link.  Make it really obvious.  Give them the link and have maybe a discount code for the offer if they sign up by a certain time.  Make it totally authentic and for real without any kind of shenanigans.

Me:

“Thanks Mari, I am so excited that you said that because I am very into Webinars, in fact I created an Webinar Software.  So thank you Mari Smith, proof is in the pudding!”

_______________________________________________________________

I had such a great experience talking to Mari and many other experts in their respective fields at Blogworld.

Two things ring out in this interview! Less is more or Quality over Quantity…and of course Webinars (online events).

I want to break these 2 thing down very quickly.

Video quite simply = Quality

Not to say that your video needs to be awesome production value.  When we say Quality we are referring to the value of content that is given.

When talking about great content I am reminded of the 4 video types that I use for my front end lead generation.  They are Interviews, Presentations, How to Videos, Vlog Style videos.  All of these video types combined creates perfect lead funnel.  The name of the game is not only finding the traffic but bringing that traffic in to become leads and sales.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:  MY NEW 4 WEEK COURSE VID TRAFFIC CONVERSION  Shows you a way of creating high quality videos for lead generation!

(And I am not talking about you having to have a full blown studio, I am talking about creating simple videos that pack a huge punch.  Those videos can be created without you having to pick up your camera.  Why? Because Google Hangouts make it easy.)

 

 

I then not only show you a 4 week process to generate traffic from creating video, but I provide you with a software/platform for convert that traffic with both live and automated webinars. 

**VTC (Vid Traffic Conversion) comes with a 5 site license of EWP (including the newest 3.0 release for live g hangout integrated webinars, autoresponder passthrough, ipad compatible and more) 

In this day and age having your own platform  (community) is key.  The goal is to build up your subscriber base.  And in this 4 week course I show you just how to do that with the highest engagement tools on the planet.  I also show that it doesn’t have to take years to do .  There are ways of approaching it smart by leveraging partnerships and more.

Super Important:  This is one of the most pinpointed training programs I have ever created.  The shopping cart closes Thursday and I don’t know when I will be opening it up again.  For the next 12 hours I have 2 bonuses available.

Here is a video detailing the bonuses.

Come on through today to get the bonuses and remember the shopping cart closes on Thursday.

Finally…This course is not for everyone.

If you are an existing business owner, who is generating leads now online or looking to generate leads then this is right for you.  If you have a business (or even an idea for a business) and it is lacking engagement, then this course will be an eye opener.

Come on through today! Click Here.

 

Cheers! Casey

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Easy Webinar Plugin (WordPress Automated Webinar Software) Updates!

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Easy Webinar Plugin

Hi my awesome friends.  So I wanted to give you some updates of Easy Webinar Plugin.  This week we were working frantically to get some things fixed, finalized and added in. 

So here you go:

  • First off-You can now watch Video Tutorials for each section of your dashboard of Easy Webinar Plugin!!!  Simply click the “Watch Tutorial” button after each section!
  • You can now upload your own logo to the dashboard for the registration page! Yes! A nice addition for people for branding purposes (although I personally like the headline and sub-headline fields that we have in their currently.-clean and simple 😉
  • A very small, but helpful addition is the suggested size of the presenter upload image.  Remember guys, just like GoToWebinars, try to stay at about 100×100 px for the presenter image.
  • We have now added Google Plus to the “Share Feature” on the “Thank You Page”.  This is hugely beneficial, especially since Google Plus just opened the doors the Business pages.  So a little social media advice.  If you don’t already have a Google Plus account or business page up-get one.  We just created ours-Here is the link.  Click Here for G+ for Business.
  • The Webinar Live Page-We have tested it out and you can now upload 275mb worth of video through the Amazon S3 uploader found in your Webinar dashboard.  Just so you know, that is a huge video size, generally a size like that is over 2 hours long.  So you can definitely have longish seminar videos uploaded now. (for those who asked about it)  We found a simple setting that you have to set in your WordPress site that will enable that.  Don’t worry we are going to announce some training next week for easy set up and helpful suggestions for your Webinar video.
  • Our Attendee list now populates names for you! So if you want to show 10 names, 150 names, or even 300 names showing it will do it for you. (No need to try to find the names yourself)
  • You can now customize your “Chat Box Title”.  Very nice for putting some specific call to actions in regards to commenting.  (Such as-“Please leave your comments here. We have our session manager answering questions as they arrive to save time.”)
  • Our “Registration Page” now is in 12 hour clock! Woo Hoo!  Again a small change but definitely the direction we were heading.
  • On the Webinar Dashboard.  We now have an area that will show you all of the links for the webinar. (registration page, thank you page, webinar live page and replay page)

As a reminder, if you are having trouble with installation for whatever reason, you can watch installation videos or download the pdf’s that will help you through that process.

You can go to http://www.easywebinarplugin.com/faq for that information.

The Videos in the Dashboard should help out tremendously for setting up your Webinars…

Reminder:

Next week we will be announcing the training which will be covering:

1.  Power Point Training

2. Screen Capture Training

3. How to Create a Compelling Sales Webinar.

4. Interview Platforms.

5.  The compelling offer.

6. The best ways for use of Easy Webinar Plugin-From offers to Delayed Events Strategies, to using the Scarcity Feature properly for high conversions.

Stay Tuned!

Cheer,

Casey Zeman

 

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Currently I am at Blogworld-What questions do you want to ask Mari Smith and Michael Stelzner?

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I am here at Blogworld in Los Angeles.  This is where you will find the best of the best in the social media world, new media world and online marketing space.

When I first got here.  We interviewed Chris Brogan, on his social media experience with larger corporations.  Tomorrow we are going to be talking with Mari Smith-who I call the Turquoise Goddess of Facebook as well as Michael Stelzner of The Social Media Examiner.

I just finished a session listening to Michael and I have to say that social media is so simple yet so hard.  Hard because the simple feels more complicated then it is.  One simple hardfast rule in Social Media is focus on the audience.  Focus on what they need and what you can do for them.  Such a simple task, yet difficult for some reason to execute-Because it takes patience for a return.  It takes a bit of faith.  When you can provide that help, that faith is so transparent that people will reciprocate that help.  Nothing and no one is too small.

So that being said~

WHAT QUESTION DO YOU HAVE FOR MARI SMITH OR MICHAEL STELZNER OR GIDEON SHALWICK-about social media???

Whether it’s facebook, YouTube, Twitter or blogging??

Currently I am next to Mari Smith right now and will be asking her your questions.  Let me know.  ( By the way to quote Mari Smith, “Instead of B to B (Business to Business)or B to C (Business to Consumer), let’s try P to P (people to people).”

Those questions will be answered back here on the blog in the form of a video and text.

You can leave the question below either in a Facebook comment or on the blog.  Please tag me in the Facebook comment and the expert you want to ask the question of.  I will be picking the winner of the question and posting it on Facebook and sending it off to Mari and Michael!

If you think other people might need their questions answered as well.  Let them know about this post!

Cheers all, I will be covering Blogworld for the next 3 days.

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YouTube Update-Video Editing Feature

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YouTube in the last few weeks or so has updated their video editing features.  Such as video trimming, audio effects (which is actually audio swap), visual effects, stabilization, lighting, and an all-in-one lighting option called, “I’m feeling lucky”.

I personally love what YouTube is doing here.  We heard about YouTube’s plan to start nurturing film-makers and enthusiasts last year, and they’ve not stopped since then.  GoAnimate was the start of it.

They now have a full video editing suite and animation section.

http://www.youtube.com/create

Vlix – video effects and text

Create great videos by applying video effects and adding text. Select from a variety of effects – fix effects, time altering effects, artistic effects and fun video borders. Add opening and closing text. It’s easy and completely free.

The YouTube Video editor lets you make quick edits to your uploaded YouTube videos. You can combine multiple clips, incorporate Creative Commons footage, enhance your clips with effects, and more.

 

Stupeflix Video Maker

Tell a story with your digital content. Mix pictures, videos, maps, text, music and watch Stupeflix produce a stunning video in a few seconds. It’s fast, easy, and free to try: you don’t need to create an account, and videos are free up to 60 seconds.

 

One True Media video creation and editing

One True Media, simply powerful video creation. Robust, fast and easy video editing with real-time preview. Clip video and combine it with photos, transitions, effects, text, music and more. Edit as little or as much as you want.

 

GoAnimate

GoAnimate is a fun app that lets you make animated videos, for free, in just 10 minutes, without having to draw. You can even create your own cast of characters. There are millions of people using GoAnimate. Try it out now.

 

Magisto

Turn your movies into short, fun clips that are great for sharing with your friends and family online. Magisto will automatically find the best parts of your movies, edit them together and create an amazing video you’ll be proud to post and share with everyone!

 

YouTube video editing feature is added directly to each video.

 

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Easy Webinar Plugin…The Journey

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You know it is Funny.  I love the web.  Why?

It is fun.

It is endless.

It is a vehicle for possibility and a platform for your own voice.

And it is funny to think about where you start out to where you end up.  If you would of asked me a year ago if I would have created a WordPress plugin that was designed to convert leads into sales with a video webinar platform, I would have said.  Uh what?  But our journey is an interesting one.  Opportunity can spring up.  Challenge.  Failures.  New experiences that can change your path.  But really as long as you can keep a few things in mind while on your journey, you will everyday look forward to the next day and the next day.

10 things to keep in mind while on your journey.

  • Nurture each day.  Now I know I said look forward to the next day, but first you have to appreciate the accomplishment that you have achieved in the now.
  • Embrace growth.  A challenge is an opportunity. Each challenge tests our consistency and ability to endure.
  • Find the balance in your life.  If you are new to the online world and are eager to change your life, to get out of that job you’re in, to become your your own boss.  Understand that your mindset is what you need to change.  Not necessarily your actions.  You don’t need to quit your job, or lock yourself in a room for 6 months while your responsibilities fall to the wayside.  Find the balance.  If your mindset allows you to stay consistent in your decision to change and prosper, then there will be a natural tipping point, a shift where your wants will replace your needs.  It might be a gradual change, that you’ll find yourself working less at your “day job” because your “life career” might be gaining ground.  Before that tipping point happens…find the balance.  Continue with what you need until you can have what you want.
  • What is your why?  Why are you doing what you are doing?  I have been online for 2 years and in that time, my journey definitely changed forms from where I began, but the interesting thing is that my “Why” hasn’t changed.  Your business might change (what you do) but honestly “Why” you do something in the first place will continue to hold true.
  • Others will value you, if you value yourself.  Place value on what you create.  When you create something out of a passion it is because you are compelled to do so.  Realize how valuable that is.  For instance, if you read a book and it opens your eyes and then you make a video about it, I will listen to that video that you create because there is passion and energy and belief.  If you value your belief and creation, then so will the person receiving it.
  • Find Support.  We need emotional capital.  There will be frustration, anxiety, fear and doubt on your journey.  In those times it is important to have a strong support base that will keep you encouraged, energized and productive.  Make deposits in your emotional bank account every so often.  Find those who you support and in turn support you.
  • Allow yourself to Love what you do.  We so fear allowing ourselves to love something because what if it doesn’t love us back.  That is when we get in a rut of commitment.  We don’t fully committee because of the fear of disappointment.  I know that when I was a kid in high school.  There were certain things that I just did ‘ok’…The reason I only did ‘ok’ in school was so that I was never disappointing in an outcome.  It is better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all.
  • Allow yourself to move on and learn from a failure.  Fail Big as they say.
  • Be optimistic.  When I say optimistic, I mean discipline your optimism.  Bullet proofing your outlook and belief in yourself will be necessary for conquering setbacks.
  • Breathe…Stay healthy.  We are so tempted by depression when change, problems and frustration occurs.  In those moments, breathe.  Remember to eat right.  Exercise.  Realize that your body is the machine that will make all of these goals a reality.  Nothing else will make that happen.  Also realize that we are with ourselves for a very long time.

Ok, onto the update for the Easy Webinar Plugin.  We will be opening up the doors next week for beta testers.  I did however want to show you some screenshots of the product so that you can see what we have been working on.

 

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Steve Jobs 1955-2011

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If you haven’t heard yet you probably will soon. Steve Jobs. The Co-founder and CEO of Apple died today at the age of 56.


His family left this statement:


“Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.

In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family.

We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve’s illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.

We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.”

Tim Cook CEO of Apple released this statement to Apple employees:

“Team,

I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email rememberingsteve@apple.com.

No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.”

Tim

 

Bill Gates wrote on his Facebook Page:

I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.

Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. 

For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.



Steve Jobs loved what he did, saw a vision for the future and changed history. 

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Verizon Wireless and My Rant About Cell Technology

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I am on the phone currently with Verizon…(when I say currently-I have stayed with them for the last 10 years…Why? Not sure why actually?

Here is my problem, I just got the New LG Revolution 4G Smart Phone in the mail today. Now before this phone, I was the guy who was super excited to get a smart phone other then the generations of BlackBerry’s I had gone through, so after I heard about the Android coming out, I jumped on it with Puma speed. This leap as a junior predator was poorly planned. Although when the machine came to the house it was super slick looking and initially the excitement of the size started to fulfill all of my inadequacy issues, but as soon as i started to use it for more then a day, I came to realize that I jumped back 10 years, because I was now using a device that worked worse then my first generation Gateway Tower.

The battery died within an hour, email messaging was super cumbersome and slow, and the phone would freeze up continuously. I finally couldn’t take it and went and bought the “longer” life battery that they have as an upsell for like 65 bucks. I was happy with my purchase for about 20 minutes when I realized the lack of change.

So with my head dropped and my spirits squelched I took my new Droid phone back to Verizon and readopted the BlackBerry device, but the newest one they had.

 

So my story doesn’t end there with going back to the BlackBerry.  Yes it seems like the moral was “Technology sucks, stick to what works” but, it isn’t…in fact.  By the end of this story, the moral turns out to be the opposite, and like everything in life, things always tend to be more grey then Black or White.

My new BlackBerry was warming, because it had something we all find comfort in…familiarity. I sent out emails, I made calls, sent out text, checked the internet and easily navigated through the social media settings…Wait, What!??? ^%$^$^$~ Alright , so I couldn’t navigate through Facebook all that well or simply check my tweets, or upload a video, or watch something on Netflix…but who uses a phone for that anyway right?

Well, it turns out the majority of the population. And I was left with the of Pinto of Smart Phones, (is BlackBerry even considered a smart phone). During this same time BlackBerry must have felt the pressure of the 3G push and started to drastically and in a panicked state change their platform around…like a billion times, so that everyday my phone was resetting and crashing because there were new updates every hour. They were trying to feed a live Turkey to an Ant. Saying things like “look at our cool and new look! Take that Iphone!..We bad, we so bad.” You see I had the BlackBerry that had the 2 inch screen. And normally I wouldn’t mind that problem, if the phone itself worked great, but with the daily crashes, this was feeling all too familiar to my previous Android experience. Although this kind of familiar, I wasn’t in to.

This is where I decided to name the situation I kept falling into…I called it ~ “NOT MY PROBLEM”

Clearly Android’s issue was that they created a machine that was trying to rival the Iphone, so they rushed the product out while it still had a hamster wheel controlling it.

Then BlackBerry gets whimpery, and in a panic they do a Hail Marry by kidnapping a Apple developer forcing him to fit a round ball into a square hole.

The point is why do I have to deal with this first generation cold war crap? I am already paying my cell phone provider 150 a month for a phone that frankly works only 50% of the time and that’s when the call doesn’t drop.

AHHHHH!

What do I do about it???? What can I do about it???

Nothing: Write a post, buy a new Smart Phone, and fall back into the vicious cycle.

I learned my lesson. This new Smart Phone is a third generation device, so hopefully, the kinks have been ironed out, but now here is the new problem that just popped up.

While moving my contacts over to the new Smart Phone LG Revolution, I found a big issue with Verizon’s Backup Assistant. Now just so you guys know I have about 9800 contacts in my phone. Some of those, through I believe Gmail integration and Facebook integration have caused a portion of my contacts to duplicate (not just one duplicate contact, but one person is in my contact list 100 times.)

-I asked the Verizon rep (who incidentally I am still on the phone with as I write this):

“Does Verizon’s Backup Assistant have a way of merging duplicate contacts together?” She said…it does not. (Currently I am now downloading 9442 contacts to my new phone. )

I also asked the question:

-“Does downloading almost 10k contact to your smart phone affect the performance of the phone?” She had no idea.

I then asked:

-“Is there a cloud where all these contacts could be stored, so all I would have to do is go to my say ‘DropBox type of cloud server’ from my phone and access my contacts?  Keeping the 8 Gigs and 512 Megabytes of ram to work on the more pressing features, such as internet speed?” She said, no Verizon doesn’t have that.

Now for a 2 second rant. This is where the grey comes in. I cant understand why mainstream companies don’t use easy tech solutions. They are suppose to be on the cutting edge.  What is the reason for certain things being cutting edge, and certain things stone age?

A cloud server would be a perfect idea, but if it was implemented that wouldn’t serve the cell phone’s agenda.  Currently cell companies have few competitors.  

It seems so hard for people to do something so simple that servers not just some of the need but all of the need.  They assume that because they are the big boys, their tactics can continue.  I don’t want to sound like the angry little consumer, but I only feel like that when I am treated like one- little and insignificant.

Am I just ranting or does anyone agree with me here???

SO what is the solution?

Not that there can be or will be one.  I am still seeking that out.  I think there might be hope.  There is only so much we will all take.  I know of a 15 year old kid who has an Ipad device and has set up a phone number with GOOGLE VOICE where it is directly forwarded into his Google chat and Gmail-so that he can respond to the call right away.  So, he’s doing this without a cell phone, removing the need for a cell phone.  NO data plan, no text plan, nothing but possibly having a Ipad on 3G network.  Which you can get for as little as 15 dollars a month.  No contract or fees. And with wifi hotspots becoming more common he might be able to find a way of not paying at all.

GOOGLE VOICE

In fact there was rumor started that in the Fall, Apple will be releasing an Ipod Touch with a microphone and connectivity to 3G…I wonder if it is only a rumor?

So do you think this might solve some of the problems.

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“Secrets to the Perfect Video”- Part 2

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If you missed the first part of this series you are going to need to read that first, CLICK HERE to see the first part of “Secrets to the Perfect Video”

For those coming from ReelSeo, please continue here…

The goal for a video like this would be to represent high interest from beginning to end above the average line in the Hot Spot Graph.

 

To start high and end higher…is that possible?

 

Yes it is…What about combining both Entertaining and Instructional ideals…?

 

The screenshot represents a video that is approximately 2 minutes long, that is instructional all the way through. But also Entertaining.

Here is the recipe for the parameters around the perfect blend of video:

  • Grab the audiences attention in the first 5 seconds-(use animation and music and see if you can choose a crazy cool thumbnail to represent the video…build the interest right away…even before someone watches the video. This will guarantee that you will have high interest right in the beginning of the video.
  • Keep the video, if you can to under 3 minutes. A good entertainment video is short and sweet. An entertaining instructional video is even sweeter…
  • Capitalize on your audience’s commitment to wanting the value of the video. That will ensure their longevity in watching the full length of the video.
  • If you can do the audience the service of offering great value in an entertaining way, your interest will be higher and your margin of interest will be less and less.
  • Offer ‘call to actions’ as a source of interaction. With ‘call to actions’ you can manipulate the Hot Spot Graph by deciding where you want your audience members to respond to your ‘call to action’. (You can request that they click through to another video at that 1 minute mark based on your desired goals for the viewer. Therefore the Hot Spot Graphic would dip based on that call to action)
  • Call to action techniques can also keep the person WATCHING the video. Here is an example: If the video is 2 minutes long-at 1:oo minute i could have an annotation pop up requesting that the audience keep an eye out for the girl in the blue shirt because a surprise will happens at 1:55 seconds. (eluding to her maybe tripping or crying or slamming into the mirror. The suspense of the unknown can keep the person watching.

A great example of Both Informative and Entertaining-The ever popular OraBrush Guys!

Notice the Thumbnail…Disgusting…yet boom you have my attention…

This Video is a perfect example of the correct blend of both informative and entertaining…Look -it even says “How to tell when your breath is bad.”

So for all of you Video enthusiasts, especially those who have products of your own, realize that by examining the Hot Spot Graph, you can begin to see how interest is measured and how you can tap into using those analytics to find…the perfect video. And sometimes that perfect video might just have brown shiny sludge oozing from a sponge…yuck!

If you found this article useful, could you subscribe to my YouTube channel below?

https://www.youtube.com/subscribe_widget?p=thenicheumbrella

 

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YouTube’s Hot Spot-Secrets to the perfect video

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A holy grail story I know…What defines the perfect video?

Video tastes are subjective, but what if I could show you statistical and empirical evidence that could help you in your discovery of the Holy Grail…er I mean the perfect video?

There is a place I love to go when examining my video stats.

A YouTuber’s best friend, the Insight Feature…

Hidden deep below the surface of the Insight tab is a secret gem called…-Hot Spot.

Ok, well this feature is actually nothing new, in fact it came out several years ago. However, have you ever gone so deep into HotSpot (subsequently analyzing over 400 videos to determine a pattern in gaining the highest consistency of viewer attention) that your eyes popped out of your head?


Well I have, and luckily I was able to put them back in long enough to share this with you.
The YouTube Hot Spot Feature analyzes a video’s viewer attention.
The analysis is based on all of the views of a particular video and when in that video those viewers start to lose interest and stop watching.
Whether it’s the beginning of the video, middle of the video, or at the end.

The Hot Spot Feature can tell you whether your video is instant yawn material or if it’s making people stand up in their chairs screaming…”Wow, this is the Citizen Cane of Web Videos!!”

A Quick Note about the Hot Spot feature from YouTube:

YouTube’s features documentation states that you need 300 views on a video after March 2011 for the Hot Spot Graph and data to propagate. Well I have found this not to be the case.

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Here is a screenshot below of a video that has over the 300 views and it was uploaded May 23, 2011.

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Here is the Hot Spot Data from that same video. As you can see, YouTube is saying that there is insufficient data to display the Hot Spot Graph.

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I have tested it out on many videos, and a good rule of thumb for a minimum number of views to guarantee Hot Spot data is about 1300-1500 views.

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We are going to continue on by examining the two categories of video content, Entertainment and Informative.

First -Entertaining Videos

 

 

 

An Entertaining Video analyzed in Hot Spot will usually show that when someone comes to an entertaining video their attention to that video starts HIGH and ends LOW.


 

Entertaining videos tend to have the ability to reel people in through cool thumbnails or animation. Therefore, the attention starts high from the audience and the greatest fallout of a viewer is at the end of the video. Usually Entertaining videos start great but tend to only go downhill from there.
REMEMBER-Entertaining videos generally follow the rule to grab ones attention within the first 5 seconds of a video.

Usually an entertaining video loses interest not because the content starts to fail, but usually because the length of the video is too long.

A dip can occur at a time where much of the audience is starting to ask the question, “where is this video is going?”

A nice rule of thumb for an entertainment-based video is to keep the video length between 1-3 minutes.Usually anything more and you will begin to loose the attention of the audience.

Second-Informative Videos


An Informative Video will show the complete opposite data…interesting! Informative videos are designed to provide usable information.

The informative video can be in the form of a “How To” video or:

News

Tutorials

Training And More.

The informative video tends to start LOW and end HIGH.

Another way to look at it is in the beginning of the video, the highest number of fall-outs occur.
BUT, those that stay to watch the video, tend to watch it till the end.
People who come to watch these videos generally are here for a purpose, to learn…
To gain knowledge in regards to whatever topic the video is about. Therefore more people will stay longer to get all of the information a video has.
Because the video is generally a training video or instructional video, there is a greater commitment to watching the video. Therefore, these videos can afford to be longer without having the same fear of disinterest as an entertaining video.

An informative video can be in upwards of 10 minutes long and still hold relative interest. However, I would say at 5 minutes you may notice your training video dropping in interest.

NOW Wrap your mind around this idea…Are there parameters that could define the PERFECT VIDEO?

The goal for a video like this would be to represent high interest from beginning to end above the average line in the Hot Spot Graph.

 

To start high and end higher…is that possible?


 

Yes it is…What about combining both Entertaining and Instructional ideals…?

 

The screenshot represents a video that is approximately 2 minutes long, that is instructional all the way through. But also Entertaining.

Here is the recipe for the parameters around the perfect blend of video:

  • Grab the audiences attention in the first 5 seconds-(use animation and music and see if you can choose a crazy cool thumbnail to represent the video…build the interest right away…even before someone watches the video. This will guarantee that you will have high interest right in the beginning of the video.
  • Keep the video, if you can to under 3 minutes. A good entertainment video is short and sweet. An entertaining instructional video is even sweeter…
  • Capitalize on your audience’s commitment to wanting the value of the video. That will ensure their longevity in watching the full length of the video.
  • If you can do the audience the service of offering great value in an entertaining way, your interest will be higher and your margin of interest will be less and less.
  • Offer ‘call to actions’ as a source of interaction. With ‘call to actions’ you can manipulate the Hot Spot Graph by deciding where you want your audience members to respond to your ‘call to action’. (You can request that they click through to another video at that 1 minute mark based on your desired goals for the viewer. Therefore the Hot Spot Graphic would dip based on that call to action)
  • Call to action techniques can also keep the person WATCHING the video. Here is an example: If the video is 2 minutes long-at 1:oo minute i could have an annotation pop up requesting that the audience keep an eye out for the girl in the blue shirt because a surprise will happens at 1:55 seconds. (eluding to her maybe tripping or crying or slamming into the mirror. The suspense of the unknown can keep the person watching.

A great example of Both Informative and Entertaining-The ever popular OraBrush Guys!

Notice the Thumbnail…Disgusting…yet boom you have my attention…

This Video is a perfect example of the correct blend of both informative and entertaining…Look -it even says “How to tell when your breath is bad.”

So for all of you Video enthusiasts, especially those who have products of your own, realize that by examining the Hot Spot Graph, you can begin to see how interest is measured and how you can tap into using those analytics to find…the perfect video. And sometimes that perfect video might just have brown shiny sludge oozing from a sponge…yuck!

For More YouTube and Video Marketing Tips you can sign up for the Free “7 Day Video Marketing Bootcamp” as well get a few other goodies such as the first 60 pages of my Ebook “YouTube Revealed” and a package of about 400 social media buttons. My gifts to you. Go to YouTube Revealed to get them.

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