The Pros and Cons of Video Blogging
To consider the “Pros and Cons of Video Blogging” for your business is about as easy as contemplating whether “To Be or Not to Be”!
Or the numerous flavors of “Ben and Jerry’s” ice cream.
It’s your task to figure out what marketing method, including v-blogging, best suits you and what you hope to accomplish if you use it with your business.
Much like choosing your favorite ice cream flavors, you may have to try several flavors before you find the one that causes your taste buds to “scream for (that specific) ice cream” flavor!
Eeny, meeny, miney mo
Deciding upon any of the marketing avenues best used to present your business to your customers is an individual undertaking, although there are many things to consider. A couple of them are outlined here.
Video blogging has a lot of advantages over text-based blogging and it’s little wonder this new technology is catching on all around the world.
But it “ain’t” like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”!
Video blogs very effectively grab the attention of web surfers. And people are much more likely to become excited about the dynamic content of a video blog than they are likely to find a written post anywhere near thrilling.
You’ll find, though, that the more enthusiastic viewers are about a site–your site–the quicker the word-of-mouth spreads, and the more traffic you will get.
It’s like showing a commercial all day and all night, all for free
Video blogging works because it is a new, fairly inexpensive, innovative way for people on the Internet to express them selves. And if you put this into a business perspective, there really are a lot of benefits. Think of it as a powerful tool to present your line of products or services to your visitors, your customers.
And if you channel your video blog through RSS, in all likelihood you’ll be in an even better position to reach your target market.
Into the sun a little rain must fall
Of course there are plenty of disadvantages to video blogging, as well. For instance, hosting a v-blog requires quite a bit of server space, which, in turn, can make it difficult to get your v-blog off the ground. Further, it takes more time to process and upload a video file than it does to dash off a quick bit of text, which means that running and updating a video blog can be way more work than you bargained for.
Not only that, web surfers, especially those on dial-up, sometimes grow frustrated with the slow loading times of the files of video blogs, especially the larger ones.
Just do it
Whether or not you opt to use a video blog may also depend on what subject matter you want to cover, and how much time you can devote to the actual video blogging. Before you decide to pursue a video blog, consider if there is an easier way for you to get your message across.
If, because of some of the reasons already named, your initial plan to video blog fails, you may find you want to let v-blogging be an alternate path for you. You will, of course, still want to keep any text and pictures in your presentation in order to accommodate all possible viewers of your site.
And nowadays, the more creative you are in getting your product in front of your market the more likely you are to succeed.
You don’t have to put all your eggs in one basket
In fact, it’s a good idea that you don’t!
Let Your Fingers Do the Walking
It’s well-known the “yellow pages” are a great “physical” way to locate products and services that one might use for a business, a home, a family’s needs.
And the “Internet” is the counterpart to the “yellow pages”, only the “looking and finding” of products and services is done with a computer and online access.
The Internet is an amazing thing. And now it’s not just reserved for use as an advertising tool for your business Web site and your products and services, it’s also utilized in combination with a number of marketing ideas. If you so choose. One of these is the Affiliate.
There’s more!
As an Affiliate in an Affiliate Program, you can make money by selling other people’s products or services with online advertising.
One of the best and popular ways to get this notoriety and extra income is to create your own Affiliate Program where people sell your products and services. It’s a great program because you really do not need sales experience to create an Affiliate Program, nor do you need to be an Affiliate.
It’s sort of an either or kind of thing
For instance, usually the merchant you choose to promote is responsible for ensuring you have the right marketing material(s) in order for your selected product to be a viable one. These tools can include a choice of image banners, text links and, of course, detailed information about the product–and all designed to help your customer make an informed decision prior to purchase.
An added benefit for the Affiliate marketer is you have minimal risk. If for some reason the product you choose does not make money, you simply drop it and choose another. There are no ties that bind. No long-term contracts to keep you stuck to a particular merchant or product.
Many of the Affiliate programs are usually free to join and present you with your choice of your very own “Santa’s toy bag” of thousands of products and services. And once you’ve set up the Affiliate Program, you have the potential to make money alongside your regular web business. In addition, you earn a commission each time someone clicks on the link, visits the merchant’s site and then proceeds to checkout.
How does this work?
To actually earn money via an Affiliate program, your main responsibility as the Affiliate, is to advertise or market the merchant’s products or services on a web site, through your newsletter, your ezine, etc. to generate new sales for the merchant. Or, if you want, you can create a new web site. You can even add the product as a new feature at your current web site.
As an Affiliate marketer, you do not have to worry about processing orders and making sure the product is delivered to the customer. These duties, along with customer service support, are the responsibility of the merchant
Some Affiliate programs also provide a two-tier method for disbursing user-defined funds to more than one participant. This means that you, as an Affiliate, can recommend to others that they join your Affiliate program. In turn, they make a small commission from the sales they generate on your dime. In this instance, riding your coattails is a good thing.
An Affiliate program assuredly can put better quality services into your business, therefore earning you much more money than you are used to earning with your business.
One thing to keep in mind, though, when marketing Affiliate Programs is it’s all about how you advertise the products. In simple terms this means how you get traffic to your (or the) site. If you are unable to get traffic to your site consistently, or at all, in all probability you will undoubtedly be unable to achieve any sales. Which is not exactly a good thing!
Marketing Affiliate Programs isn’t always quite as easy as it seems.
To be successful with your online Affiliate program, you MUST know how to market a website. You might also need to become involved with a lot of Affiliate programs just so you can find out which merchants perform the best for your site. As with many things, success in Affiliate marketing can take some time and hard work, but once you have it figured out, it’s well-worth the time you’ve expended.
You want some, too
On the other hand, another option is for you to become the “Merchant”. You create your own product, perhaps an ebook, an audio, etc., then following the steps already mentioned herein, attach affiliate commissions to it for purchasers and visitors to your site who help you market your wares.
Dedication, staying focused and remaining very determined are the keys to a successful future in Affiliate Marketing.
So get going!
There’s no time like now to find out what an Affiliate Program can do for you and for your financial growth.
How Good Is Your Memory?
Keeping the memory in good condition is a vital part of the brain’s function. Every now and then, our actions greatly depend on a lot of information we retrieve from our memory bank. Such information can either be short term (such as specific tasks that we have to do) or long term (such as the ability to drive a car or repeat an instruction we read from a book). While long-term memory may come spontaneously without too much effort when the need arises, short-term memory requires recalling information from the accumulation of things stored in our memory. This is why you need to keep your memory in great shape to achieve efficiency in your daily endeavors:
- Keep your attention focused on the needed information to be stored in your memory bank. Even with distractions around you, stay focused on the subject. The more concentrated you are on the information, the better the chances of retaining it in your memory.
- Utilize the most ideal sense or senses when gathering the information. This is what we call acuity in sensing our environment. Be aware of the color or details of a picture, or the particular sound or smell of the thing involved. All our bodily senses are attuned to collect information depending on the circumstance at hand. While our sense of vision may be the most used in gathering information, our senses of hearing, smell, taste, and touch are equally important and helpful in remembering things, situations, and information about something or someone.
- When you’re not sure that the information you are about to remember would really be retained by your brain, it would be better to write the information. This could be proven effective especially in gathering very long and tedious information like lecture notes or a personal interview. Just be sure you don’t forget that you have a note at hand; and of course, don’t misplace the note.
- Maintain a balanced diet. A well-proportioned diet will result to a conditioned memory. Oily and sweet foods may cloud the memory. If you cannot completely eliminate a bad diet, gradually cut down your intake of these memory-inhibiting foods. Doing it gradually cushions the effect of withdrawal symptoms and you’ll get adjusted to the new lifestyle you are creating. This is not only beneficial to the memory, but we can say you’re on your way to a healthy life. Drinking lots of water brings lots of advantages to your overall health, and memory is not an exception.
- Don’t deprive yourself…get enough rest and sleep. Having enough sleep does not condone laziness; oversleeping does. So don’t feel guilty resting or sleeping as long as it is not overdone. You need it badly to keep you revitalized from the tiresome demand of work.
- Take time to relax. Breathe deeply if you must. Keep your thoughts organized before acting on them. Keep away from stress and anxiety. It may be impossible to completely eliminate stress since it is part of our challenging generation, but try to keep it down as much as possible. Stress may bring your memory into its inefficient level. Avoid the habit of saying to yourself that you might forget things, because you’re more likely to if you do. This just builds your anxiety level up to its panic mode.
- Stay positive, creative, and energetic. Your memory needs to be within a circle of various things. Things that come in various shapes, sizes, and colors can motivate your creativity. This is a positive way of discovering your surroundings in all its variations and diversities. Avoid being enclosed within the four walls of your room just like you’re a prisoner. The only time to be enclosed is when you have to rest or sleep. Don’t be a couch potato. There’s a very exciting world out there waiting to improve your memory.
The very best way to improve your memory is between infancy and adolescent. As we grow old, memory starts to fail. But a strong memory that we can develop during the prime years of our lives will definitely enhance us to be good thinkers. This can be done by continuously exercising our memory through reading and other cognitive activities like the habit of solving crossword puzzles. The more you do these, the better memory retention is developed.
Make Your Direct Mail Envelope Enticing
With direct mail campaigns, you have a formidable foe: the envelope. The envelope is a necessary element with brochures, letters, flyers - basically anything other than the postcard - and it can be the one thing that stands in the way of the prospect seeing your message.
But it does not have to be. You can use the envelope to work for you, not against you. An envelope does not have to mean a one-way ticket to the trash can. All you have to do is adjust your envelope printing methods and you can change a foe into a friend.
Here are some envelope printing ideas to make your envelope enticing instead of a roadblock:
Ditch the plain white, look-like-everyone-else envelope. White is not your only option when it comes to envelopes. This is an easy one - since most other envelopes are white, you can choose any color other than white and have a great chance of sticking out from the crowd. A yellow, red or green envelope can work wonders for getting people’s attention. Just make sure your envelope is a light color so that the post office’s ink can still be seen clearly.
Try this on for size: use a different size envelope. Mail your letter in a huge envelope. Mail your brochure in a tiny envelope. Or use a square envelope. Use a size or shape that will help your marketing piece stand out from the rectangular boredom that is the rest of the mail. You cannot get too crazy though - check out the U.S. Postal Service’s Web site at usps.com to make sure your shape or size is legal with them. If it is not, you will end up just wasting your money. Unless, of course, you like having wallpaper made out of odd shaped envelopes.
“Hey, you!” Personalize the envelope. That is right, I am talking to you. Use the recipient’s name on the envelope and address that person directly. (And no I’m not talking about the address label - I am talking about using space other than the address label.) Use a colored font (red or green work well) to send a message directly to the recipient on the front of the envelope, preferably in a handwriting-type of font. Use the first name: “George, you can save 50% on your next gardening purchase.”
Start your advertisement on the front of the envelope. This goes along with the previous recommendation of personalizing the envelope. If you do not want to take the time to print each individual’s name on the front of the envelope, print something more generic. You can use a teaser like “Look inside for a coupon for $10 off XX product” or “Who can give you the lowest interest rate?”
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Janice Jenkins is a writer for a marketing company in Chicago, IL. Mostly into marketing research, Janice started writing articles early 2007 to impart her knowledge to individuals new to the marketing industry. For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Envelope Printing; Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janice_Jenkins |
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