Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts

Friday, January 25, 2013

Easy Video Suite Marketing Software is LIVE!


Video marketing had to evolve. It was inevitable.
It was becoming much too complicated. And if it isn't too complicated for some people, it's still definitely too time consuming.

You had to worry about the following:
  • Redoing videos over and over again to make sure you got everything right in one take or face the daunting task of loading your raw video into Camtasia or another editor to make everything perfect.
  • Making sure your videos were optimized for the web (So they looked good and didn't take too long to start playing).
  • Having a different mobile version of your videos to show users of iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile devices (More and more people are doing most of the web viewing from their smart phones and other mobile devices).
  • Basically using "duct-tape" to try and put all the pieces together with Camtasia, Screenflow, Jing, Handbrake while continually looking for the "perfect" solution to make it all easier or less time consuming.
  • Uploading large files to your own server, Youtube, Amazon S3 or other video hosting service.
  • Getting the proper code in place to display your videos with the hope that mobile devices would be able to see the mobile version of your video.
Well, someone has finally done something about it.

Josh Bartlett, the creator of the industries leading video player called Easy Video Player, has truly done something innovative in video marketing. His Easy Video Player software had game-changing features two years ago that other video marketing solutions have just recently tried to introduce.
And on top of that, Josh could boast about the following:
  • Tens of thousands of satisfied customers.
  • The lowest refund rate in the industry for Clickbank (Only 2%).
  • More top marketers and 6 to 7 figure launches use Easy Video Player than anything else. (Mike Filsaime, Chris Farrel, Ryan Deiss, Jason Moffatt, Maria Andros, Justin Brooke to name a few).
Rather than throw in a few, new and "cool" features and re-launch his product simply for the money, he listened to his customers and did something else. He took over two years and hundreds of thousands of his own dollars to create something that will change the way you market your business with videos.

You'll now be able to record, edit, publish, market and track all your videos with one, easy-to-use solution.
Josh is releasing this all-in-one video marketing solution on January 15th, 2013 with a free video series leading up to the launch.

Watch the first video here.

He's going to reveal the story about his journey and passion that led him to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars from his own pocket to create the ultimate video marketing solution.
And how you can now do the following:
  • Drag and drop your video into a desktop application (Mac and Pc Compatible) that will optimize and convert your video for the web, let you edit if needed, upload it and give you the code to copy and paste to your website.
  • Record your screen or face camera from within this application and even draw on the screen.
  • Never worry about whether users on mobile devices can see your videos (It creates and displays a mobile version of your videos for you).
  • Split test your videos to see which ones are shared the most, have the most engagement and which versions make the most money.
That's just scratching the surface...
What all this ultimately means for you is that marketing your business with videos is going to be much, much easier. And you'll make a ton more money while having more time to do what you love.

Anyways...Josh is also going to demonstrate the amazing power of his creation in this series.
So go see how video marketing has evolved.

Talk soon,
Social Network Asia

Saturday, October 6, 2012

A Beginners Guide to Video Marketing

Image representing YouTube as depicted in Crun...
Image via CrunchBase
Many internet marketers shy away from video marketing because they think it requires considerable technical skills and expensive equipment. This is a big mistake.

YouTube is now the world's second largest search engine. There are more daily searches on YouTube that on either Bing or Yahoo. If you are thus not actively marketing on YouTube, you are giving your competitors FREE reign of the world's second largest search engine.

The best thing about marketing on YouTube is that it is 100% free. If you are not engaged in YouTube marketing, it would be akin to Google offering you unlimited FREE AdWords advertising, and you said 'No Thanks'.

No only that, but videos posted on YouTube very often appear at the top of Google. Can you imagine, the massive traffic that would drive to your website. Best of all these videos don't need backlinks or SEO, they can get to the top of Google within 24 hours.

Video Marketing can be a very simplistic marketing method, once the marketers follow proven, tried and tested principles.

You don't need thousand dollar equipment or a PHD in movie making to become a proficient video marketer.

What you need is a step by step blueprint that will tell you exactly what to do. This will ensure you don't make costly mistakes, and that you get everything completed rapidly.

Video Marketing can be divided into 3 core steps;
  1. Video Creation
  2. Video Submission
  3. Video Marketing

Video creation involves the shooting of the video. The easiest way to shoot a video is using YouTubes 'Quick Capture' feature. In this process, you simply attach a webcam to your PC, and click the 'Quick Capture' button on your YouTube profile, upload page. You will be instantly recorded without the need for any expensive equipment or video editing software. This format is a great way to shoot videos quickly, and to build a relationship with your viewers.

Video submission involves the distribution to multiple video sharing sites. You should not focus solely on YouTube for your video marketing strategy. Consider submitting video to the other top 15+ video sharing sites such as Viddler, Revver, Veoh, Blip.tv, Metacafe and more. The fastest, easiest and FREE way to distribute your video to the top 15+ video sharing sites is by using a service called Tube Mogul. This will enable you to upload your video to each of these sites at the click of a button, and in doing so create multiple streams of traffic to your website.

Video marketing is the process of boosting your views by driving traffic to your videos. Article marketing, social bookmarking, blogging and forum posting are all excellent strategies for boosting your views.

You should make it a habit of posting videos regularly. Not only do you gain from the traffic, but you will get valuable back links every time you post a new video. That is provided of course that you included a live link in your description. This will boost the position of your site in the search engine rankings.

The beauty of video marketing is that you do the work once, and receive the traffic on complete auto pilot forever more. It is the nearest thing to passive income online because to make money online you need traffic, and this traffic is FREE and perpetual.

If you want to explode the traffic to your website using video marketing, then you should use a blueprint created by the video marketing gurus.


Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/4220696
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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Xtab Pages Review

Build Pages Like a Fortune 500 Company
Build Pages Like a Fortune 500 Company
(Photo Credit: fxtab.com)
Build Facebook Pages Like A Fortune 500 Company!

With the arrival of iFrames and the HTML5 framework, the door to new opportunities and possibilities of creating a Facebook Page for the express purpose of Internet Marketing is blown wide open. It is now possible to create an entire website on a Facebook Page. Complete web sites with multiple pages, videos, photo galleries, opt-ins, sales pages, landing pages and links. If an Internet Marketer wishes to run an affiliate marketing campaign, viral marketing campaign, or any other kind of campaign, he or she can now harness the potential of 750 million users on Facebook!

It’s no surprise, then, that there are many apps now out on the market that are geared towards helping Internet Marketers gain a foothold on Facebook and to leapfrog over their competitors. While the question of which app provider is the best is certainly up for debate, few would leave the X-Tab team out of the discussion. And now, they have launched their latest addition to the X-Tab family, XTAB PAGES.

Phil Benham and Daniel Tan had the courtesy to take me through a short walkthrough of their latest app. I was quite impressed by how quickly a Facebook Page with a corporate profile theme was set up. With the use of custom templates and a point-and-click interface, this was all accomplished under two minutes. Of course the text, videos and images are all prepared beforehand, but it goes to show just how easy it is to set up a Page with the right materials. I later learned that one of the challenges facing Internet Marketers on Facebook is the ability to set up Pages quickly and efficiently to meet different demands and needs, and XTAB PAGES accomplishes this role quite well.

The X-Tab has been promoting XTAB PAGES (formerly known as ElementsPlus) with the tagline of “Build Pages Like a Fortune 500 Company”. Well, XTAB PAGES certainly has the cred to back it up. The ability to customize a Page anyway I want is absolutely huge. Custom HTML, custom CSS and even custom Javascript are all direct features of this app. Users can also insert videos and images anywhere on the Page. The videos can be embedded from popular video sharing sites like YouTube and DailyMotion, or directly coded. What’s more, the all-important Like-gating feature is incorporated as well.

However, what really impresses me most with XTAB PAGES is its ability to instantly implement and customize the staple Facebook functions such as Like, Share, Comments and Invite, in any way I wanted. I could essentially modify and customize them however I like.

I tinkered around with the app to create a Page with Like-gating that was aimed at encouraging viral marketing. By using the custom templates, and with some guidance from Phil and Daniel, the Page was set up from scratch in a few short minutes. It was quite bare, but it had the infrastructure in place and is ready for launch. All I needed to do was to include my own videos and images later to make it complete. Phil also shared a nugget of wisdom with me, “When generating traffic to your Page, your absolute goal is to get as many Likes as possible”. Safe to say, with the in-built Like-gating feature and high customization afforded to me by ElementsPlus, such as modifying the Like and Share buttons to my heart’s content, I was able to create a highly compelling Facebook Page.

All in all, I highly recommend XTAB PAGES to any serious Internet Marketer who wants to get a leg up on the competition in their Facebook Marketing niche. You can go here and check out more details about the awesome app.

To your Facebook Marketing success!
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Monday, September 24, 2012

iPhone 5: Shatterproof Screen Protector

Image representing Apple as depicted in CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase

The time get over of iPhone 4S. Apple give the time limitation to its old model of iPhone 4S by introducing with its new model name iPhone 5. This is the model which is the upgraded version of iPhone 4S. The crazy of iPhone will enjoy its feature and definitely want to keep it safe.

There are many online iPhone accessories stores, those who will provide you accessories to make it alive always with its shine. One of the products is Shatterproof Screen Protector, which is super thin urethane film at only 0.2 mm thick and it is certified by the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) having passed D1004 Tear Strength, D2240 Hardness and D4329 UV Light Discoloration Tests. The protector is scratch resistant, stress resistant and drop resistant and has special self-healing capability with dissipative functioning embodied. It is virtually indestructible making iPhone 5 unbreakable.

The Shatterproof Screen Protector is a revolutionary product innovated to provide the best protection to the next-generation of wireless devices. Shatterproof Screen Protector's extreme grade protection making the iPhone 5 shatter and shock proof. Shatterproof has a unique shock dissipative function unlike any other product in its category.

This uses the physics concept of dissipation which is embodies the concept of a dynamical system where important mechanical modes, such as waves or oscillations, lose energy over time. This kind of screen protectors does exactly the same to protect devices from drops and shocks, drops and stress which wireless devices usually don't survive.

Features:
  • It protects iPhone 5 from impacts and dirt and dust.
  • It provides extreme grade protection to iPhone 5.
  • Its Shock Dissipative Function allows device to withstand extreme shock and pressure.
  • Scratch Resistance
  • Easy Application thanks to the silicon adhesion.
  • Self-Healing Properties deliver resistance to damage.
Specification:

Product Type: Shatterproof Screen Protector.

It is specially design to protect your believed one. The screen protector is truly experimented and tested on hard task. It is a good stuff which provides full protection to the iPhone 5. No doubt protection gets for iPhone 5. The You Tube review of the product is ultimate. It will get full attention towards it.

There are many iPhone 5 accessories online store those are providing the same accessories in their stores. But the importing thing is that we are going for the store, which is most suitable in their service, product quality and trends and their delivery services. These are some important factors on which everyone will choose the store. Few will select on the recommendation of their friends and believed one. Some will select after the comparison of the cost from different sites.

iPhone 5 Drop Test

Here is the recent video of iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S3 extreme drop test presented by Phone Doctors



Article Source:
http://goarticles.com/article/What-Is-Shatterproof-Screen-Protector-For-iPhone-5/6963194/


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Sunday, September 23, 2012

Online Video Marketing Website Promotion


Online video marketing is on the rise. Several reports and data show that video works. Research found that videos were 50 times more likely to receive an organic first page rank than traditional text pages. Online video marketing is attractive to many businesses nowadays for numerous factors. Making videos and publishing them online is reasonably inexpensive. Plus online videos stay online forever. If you spend the money to record one time, your video can still be obtaining views a year from now. Furthermore, social networking sites and video come together and many sites encourage video posting and sharing. The viral video possibilities are endless when you use the correct strategies to produce and publish your videos online.

If you're new to video, or happen to be considering flipping on your camera for the first time, here are a few strategies to optimize your videos. Once you record your video, follow these suggestions to make sure it gets to your main audience and receives the views it deserves.

  1. Help make your title count. An excellent title may immediately grab a viewer's interest. And when you use the appropriate keywords in your title, you will probably show up on search engines when people are looking for your topic.
  2. Give exceptional content. Take a moment to consider your ideal viewer. Videos are successful since not only do they provide great value to your viewer, but you are also allowed to show off your knowledge as well as expertise, thus positioning yourself being an expert. This is a key as you keep growing your brand. Also, no matter how good your content is, it will not make a difference if your video is too lengthy. You will lose your viewer's attention. Have them brief.
  3. Include your URL in your video. When you edit your video, take advantage of the various editing attributes. One simple aspect is to add a textual content box in your video. This is where you can show your site address and it's a terrific way to obtain exposure.
  4. Make the most of video's branding options. For branding intentions, have your company logo design displayed prominently somewhere on the screen. You may display your logo throughout your video or just at key times.
  5. At all times supply an HTML hyperlink. When you post on YouTube, you have the choice to publish a brief description of your video. Begin with the hyperlink you wish to drive your viewers to so you don't neglect this key opportunity.
  6. Go beyond YouTube. A lot of people post their videos on YouTube. In addition, be sure to always embed your video on your own site. This will improve the amount of time people devote to your website and help grow a captive audience.

Online video marketing supplies companies with video production, optimization and promotion. Video marketing allows businesses to speak their message in one deliverable on several levels: imagery, spoken word, and text, while attaining a huge audience along with minimum cost plus the shortest period. Other benefits of video search marketing include: Easy consumption. Attract the senses. Activate the emotions. Demonstrates expertise and enables prove reliability and branding. Allow for quick re-purposing of content.

Depending on keyword phrase, online video marketing are usually successful at getting the video ranked on page one of Google. They could aid to optimize and spread it for the best achievable outcomes. Google loves fresh and interesting content material. Video marketing is an ideal means of having your information out to individuals on the internet. Online video marketing doesn't have to be intricate.

The online industry has definitely gotten bigger and more recognized because of the new trends like virtual assistant that has enabled more marketing and traffic to a site. In addition, online video marketing is also very important in the promotion and success of your online business.


Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/4600512

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Saturday, September 22, 2012

Samsung Galaxy S III 4G Android Phone Review

Samsung GALAXY S III (3)
I upgraded from a Motorola Droid 2 to the S3 and am completely satisfied with the S3. The large 4.8 inch AMOLED screen is beautiful and it fits perfectly in my palm. The resolution is exceptional, words cannot describe it.

I can use one hand/thumb to do most tasks and feel that the S3 could have been even larger without compromising convenience. I'd say a 5.5 inch screen would be the highest I'd go. The problem arises when using a holster. As a guy, I have a hard time just putting a phone in my pocket because I use my pockets for keys, pens, and my wallet, which can easily scratch/damage the phone when moving around. I don't always have a backpack or pack on hand, so that leaves me with a holster as the only logical method of carrying a phone. The Otterbox Defender has been by far the best case/holster I've found for the S3. Unfortunately, with the Defender, the S3 feels like I am hauling around a Texas Instruments graphing calculator on my belt. When calling someone, it's like I am calling in an airstrike. However, it is never uncomfortable to use. Even for such a large phone, I find myself not getting fatigued when making long phone calls. The audio quality during calls is exceptional and there are multiple equalizer/sound settings to improve the audio quality.

The T9 dialing is perfect - I never understood why my Droid 2 did not have this feature, but T9 is a time saver. The predictive text and swiping keyboard takes some getting used to at first, but it works fairly well for a built-in feature. The voice-to-text input isn't bad but there are some odd mistakes from time to time.

S-Voice is essentially Samsung's version of Siri, although Siri started off as an independent app designed for the iPhone and Android before Apple took them over and squashed the Android project. S-Voice is tied into Wolfram Alpha, and I find that although it is innovative, it is more of a gimmick. I can find the weather info a lot faster using the browser/weather app and the 4G LTE network than waiting for "Galaxy" to answer my question.

S-beam is interesting at first, but a co-worker (who also bought a S3) and I played around with this and we both agree it is essentially a local peer-to-peer network not unlike Bluetooth or a WiFi-based LAN. It is definitely innovative, but I don't feel it is essential.

The battery life could be better from the rather large 2.1 Ah battery. I was able to get 3.5 days (3 days, 12 hours and change) out of 1 charge. My daily usage pattern is auto brightness, 4G LTE, and airplane mode at night, with occasional surfing/usage during the day.

The mechanical Home button feels antiquated and out of place. I never understood why Apple used this, and I don't understand its place on the S3. It should have been a capacitive soft key like the menu and back keys on the S3. However, Samsung decided to make the soft keys "disappear" when not backlit, which is annoying. I am used to the Droid 2 where the soft keys were all etched into the display. The LED indicator on the S3 is also subdued and is only visible when it is illuminated. When fully charged, the LED will glow green but it is not strong enough to bother me when I am sleeping. It's a soft and subdued glow. When there is new email or a new text message, it flashes blue. When it is charging, it glows red.

The front and rear camera quality is exceptional. The front is a 1.9 MP camera that produces beautiful video during video conferences. The rear camera is the same camera they used on the iPhone 4S, and has burst mode and truly has zero lag. The flash is extremely bright and has a white color (close to 6000K or so) unlike my Droid 2 which was more yellow (about 3000K-4000K). The picture quality is really good, especially for a smartphone.

The Samsung S3 does not come with a micro SDHC card, so I purchased a Sandisk 32GB Class 10 micro SDHC card. Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operates differently from Gingerbread with the respect that all apps are stored on the phone's internal memory. That means all of the apps are run off the 16GB "SDcard" and not your external SD card. When I inserted the 32GB Sandisk micro SD card, a new folder popped up "ExtSDCard" which points to the actual external SD card. Luckily, the camera app will notice this and ask to store all photos/videos on the external SD card. The apps and associated files remain on the 16GB internal memory.

I ran the AnTuTu benchmark and got a score of 6885, which was run without power saver and the dual-core CPU was at 1512 MHz. When I activated Power Saver, my score was 5221 with a CPU speed of 1026 MHz. As one can see, the score with Power Saver is still very respectable. The external SD card read speed was greater than 50 MB/s, while the write speed was about 29.7 MB/s max. The S3 has a lot of processing power and it is putting my Core 2 Duo laptop to shame when accessing YouTube videos and opening files. The S3 menu interface just glides seamlessly with zero hiccups or delays.

Verizon's network is the main reason why I stayed with Verizon instead of hopping to Sprint. Even though Sprint offers unlimited data (until they throttle you above 2.5 GB if you do this consistently), their network coverage is poor and their network speeds are abysmally slow. Verizon's coverage is the best in the US, and I can still get a signal 16 nautical miles off the shore of South Carolina. Verizon's 4G LTE coverage is also very good in my area, with my download speeds ranging in the 20 Mbps, and upload speeds in the 14-16 Mbps range. I get these speeds consistently using Speed Test, which means that the 4G LTE network in my area is competing against my Comcast cable internet connection. My biggest complaint about Verizon is how they forced me off the Unlimited Data plan - the alternative was to pay $600 for a new phone to keep the plan. However, from a business perspective, I understand and agree with Verizon's decision. Bandwidth is expensive and with cable internet speeds in the palm of your hand on a machine that rivals laptops, data usage goes quickly out of hand.

My friend at work had some issues with her S3, but she purchased her S3 the day it came out on Verizon based on my recommendation because her Droid 2 was really messed up. She experienced random ghost calls with the S3, and the data network kept switching between 3G and 4G LTE. I don't recall her experiencing the "No Sim card" issue that others saw with their S3. I've been using my S3 for almost 2 weeks and have not experienced any of the above problems. I solved the constant WiFi notification by deleting my known WiFi networks on the phone. The negative aspect is that I cannot use WiFi to save on my data consumption with this method. I've heard theories about the No Sim error and the ghost calls, some of them recommend pulling out the battery and Sim card, but others have recommended using Airplane mode. Since I use Airplane mode on a nightly basis, this might be the method of resolving some of the network problems.

Overall: 5/5 stars. I purchased the S3 because I hate iTunes with a passion. The verdict from the Apple/Samsung case also affirmed my feelings about how Apple conducts business. I really like my S3 phone and like the Android operating system. Samsung really knows how to design their products which includes televisions, refrigerators, and other devices.


Article Source:
http://www.amazon.com/review
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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Brand Mastery of Social Media Strategy

Image representing iPad as depicted in CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase

It's known by many names and it's all the rage! I'm talking about social media - also known as social media marketing, social media optimisation, SMO, SMM and social networking. For businesses it has tremendous potential and value, but in simple terms social media is just another communication channel with the world.

But instead of delivering a sales or service message via advertising or marketing, with social media you're talking to people in the way you would with friends, colleagues or strangers who share the same interests.

Social media used to be for the young Net Generation, as Don Tapscott (Author of Grown Up Digital) calls them, but now the average age on Facebook is 35. LinkedIn has a huge membership between 35 and 54!

As David Mercer, Head of BT Design, told me recently the older generation just can't help hijacking the Net Gens' home turf. Or at least words to that effect. Is it fair? I can see his point but the fact we all use phones doesn't seem to affect the younger generation's perception of ownership of the mobile world.

Even my eight year old is using social media in the form of Club Penguin (Disney's MMOG, Massively Multi-Player Online Game). By the time he is in business, social media will be just as integrated in his life as email and mobile phones, if they're still around.

With 400 million active accounts on Facebook getting over 120 million unique visitors each month, social media is not going away. But it's important to remember what your objective is if you want to get involved with social media for personal, business or branding reasons.

Different platforms have different personalities: LinkedIn is business oriented while Facebook is social and works better in engaging individuals. Twitter is real-time news and information on everything from clubs and coffee shops to finance and biochemical research. So each platform should be picked to meet the characteristics of objectives.

Remember, too, that other countries have big platforms. China's platform is QQ and has over 500million users, Orkut has over 100 million users with over 70 per cent of them from Brazil and India. In Russia, Vkontakte has over 60 million, so pick your playground carefully.

Most of the major platforms offer advertising. Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube all have a pay per click advertising option which can be targeted at an audience with surgical precision...well, field surgery at least. Let's say I wanted to get people to book me to run workshops in their business.

I could place an advert on LinkedIn targeting Marketing Directors of businesses in the UK with over 250 staff, or perhaps select a few niche industries such as finance, retail and manufacturing. If I get my advert right I will only attract clicks that are likely to convert and, of course, I only pay when they click!

A word of caution: We all put so much information about ourselves on social media that with a little research people can easily find out a lot about you and your business. Reputation management has never been more important.

Using LinkedIn as an example, let's say I want to meet Mr Smith, CMO of a blue chip brand. I look him up on LinkedIn and see that he is a member of a group called Future Trends. I can also see that he is connected to a friend of mine called Thomas. I join the group called Future Trends and ask Thomas to ask Mr Smith if he could tell me more about this group.

Do we think that hearing from Thomas that someone who shares a common interest would like to meet him would be of interest? One would hope so. There are many ways to manage social media but there is a level of lateral thinking that helps.

When setting up a social media strategy there are many monitoring tools that can be used to plan who you should engage with and where you should have a presence. One of my favorites is Social Radar from Infegy. It gives you a visual representation on how social media accounts are connected, a road map of who's talking to who on the web.

Through this you can see where most conversations are taking place on your topic. These people are called Influencers and they are an important part of a social media strategy as they help organisations and individuals control the conversations.

Let me tell you a story. A well-known journalist was writing about a big brand's new sports car on his blog. The journalist was an Influencer because over 50,000 people subscribed to read his blog on a regular basis. His opinion of the new car's looks was based on a photo he'd seen and unfortunately for the manufacturer the opinion was not a good - the words "back of a bus" and "angry bulldog" come to mind.

Shortly after his opinion hit the net, postings start to appear on blogs and forums echoing his comments. Before long the opinion of even those who have never seen the car is a negative one.

Now if the brand had been monitoring the social biosphere they would have quickly picked up this story and through sentiment monitoring [WHAT'S THIS??] they would have been able to see its negative connotation. They could h,ave seen the topic growing in importance and acted on it. How I hear you say!

Well, my first step would have been to contact the journalist and invite him to experience the car in person. Let's face it, brands are about experience not just looks. Imagine this...

You invite the journalist to join you for a track day. When he arrives he is presented with a shiny new, highly-polished, top of the range version of the car. First impressions...it looks better than it did in the photos.

Then a test driver shows him how smooth and quiet the car is before slamming it into sports mode to demonstrate the near 200mph speed that the car gracefully achieves in the blink of an eye. After spending a day experiencing this luxury car the journalist has a different opinion.

In the next blog he writes about his fantastic day and admits that the pictures he'd seen didn't really do it justice. He then enthuses about his positive EXPERIENCE with the car. Very soon his readers have changed their perceptions, too, and the online conversation has been controlled and made positive.

It is through this careful monitoring and strategic engagement that social media can be used as not only a PR machine but also another market to channel. Let me explain...

Using a Twitter client on my iPad I am able to see on a map the names of people who are talking around me. This is being picked up by the geo-tagging of where they where when they last posted a message. I used this in a demonstration in a London restaurant which also had a meeting room and private dining area. To our surprise we found that the CEO of King of Shaves was tweeting next door!

It was too much to resist so we responded to his Tweet and invited him over for a drink and a discussion about how the restaurant might be able to help him and his organisation.

We had a fairly fast response saying that he would drop in when he had a chance. You can imagine how long such a meeting would have taken to set up - if at all - using the traditional route to a CEO of receptionists, gate keepers, PAs etc. Social media opens up opportunities never before available.

Staying on the subject of Twitter, real time search allows you to stoke while the iron is hot. If I was monitoring or searching for the words "need+new+monitor" I would find people who have recently Tweeted that they need a new monitor This information could be very valuable to an online electronic shop.

Engaging people when their requirement is in the forefront of their minds and creating a process that is easy to fulfill this requirement can translate into direct revenue. Software like Radian6 can monitor most conversations taking place on the web in near real-time. It is an engagement tool allowing you to watch, listen and respond - as part of a strategy this is a vital component.

Someone once said that if you see the bandwagon you are already too late to jump on it. What should you consider before leaping on to the social media bandwagon?

First, what is your objective? Are you using social media for PR, brand awareness, a channel to market or because you what to listen to the chatter from your industry?

Second, you should define a strategy of what goals you want to achieve and what message needs to be given to achieve success.

Third, who is going to manage the project? To run social media campaigns properly, you'll probably need the services of a manager who has good writing skills and a marketing or PR background. This will have a cost implication so you'll to set KPIs and targets to ensure you achieve a return on the investment.

The good news is that by using YouTube or Facebook to communicate with engaged customers or group members you will discover the cost of contacting your audience is minimal. During his election campaign, Barack Obama was able to communicate with over five million people instantly at no cost on almost a one-to-one to personal level.

Today he has almost 10 million fans on Facebook alone - a few hundred thousand behind Lady Gaga. There aren't many ways of connecting with an audience that size for free, are there? Can your business operate as efficiently as that? As Obama would say: Yes you can!


Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/4780081

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Monday, September 17, 2012

Marketing Music Online for Musicians

Lady GaGa concert
Lady GaGa concert (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The music industry is enjoying robust ticket sales. People are willing to pay a hundred and up for a single ticket. Many say that what the industry is losing in record sales, it's making up in merchandising and concert attendance.

"It's not good, but better than a stick in the eye," said one music insider -"or at least better than yet one more illegally downloaded track." But is this current model of generating funds via monster rock tours one that the industry can truly look at as its savior? It's doubtful. One look at the acts that are bringing in the huge crowds and brisk hundred-dollar-and-over-per-seat seat ticket sales to a floundering industry, and it becomes painfully obvious that this is not a sustainable model unless the players shift dramatically and soon.

The big draws in music are not the new or breaking acts. Lady GaGa is a relatively new phenomena and player, but she is far from the norm. The big draws in the rock world have been there for decades and a new crop with the same drawing power does not seem to be in the offing. The superstars that are selling out stadiums are getting to be a bit long in the tooth. It's not Spoon that is selling out stadiums at over a hundred dollars per ticket, it's the old guard; it's Springsteen, the Stones, McCartney, Madonna and James Taylor. Ironically, U2 and the Chili Peppers are considered relative newcomers in this crop and Cold Play and Radio Head signal the new faces, although they've been around for years.

Income from live performances, sponsorships, along with revenue from publishing and online streaming is offering some counterbalance to the loss in record sales. Free music streaming services are beginning to bring in some revenue. Music is also being licensed to companies such as Nokia which bundles it into its overall price. Still, without the benefit of radio support and the star making machinery of the past, it's going to be difficult to launch this generation's Arrowsmith or Guns and Roses. The mold is broken and it's doubtful that it can be replicated, at least not until a new model is created

There will always be the Taylor Swifts, Kings of Leon and Justin Biebers who breakthrough, but more and more those type of mass market artists are going to be the exception. They will be corporately designed entities, or winners (and sometime losers) of TV talent shows. Apart from those avenues there are few ways that acts can be exposed to millions of fans.

So, what's a new band or musical artist to do? How does this new crop reach the masses? Maybe they don't. Perhaps the focus of new musicians should shift from mass to niche. At least for the present, this is not the time to shoot for the mass market.

This may no longer be a time when an A&R rep finds a band and creates a superstar, but more than ever now, bands and musicians can reach their fans and create a market on their own. The following are some marketing and business approaches to consider.

  1. Create a website that reflects who you are and showcases your music
  2. Start a blog about your music and your journey. Make it interactive. Let others communicate with and connect to you
  3. Begin a concerted social media outreach that includes Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Digg, youTube, etc.
  4. Focus on targeted local gigs and promote them
  5. As you grow, focus on targeted regional touring
  6. A creative PR outreach to the local, regional and national media.
  7. Submit your music to be played on TV shows
  8. Submit your music and your band for product and commercial tie-ins or support
  9. Start a small merchandising outreach including downloads, CDs, T-shirts, and the like.

There are new creative ways for artists to grow and thrive. Think niche markets. Find an audience that understands and enjoys your music. Build a following and a tribe. You need to be creative, persistent and think like a marketing maven as well as like an artist. But with the right tools, approach and gameplan, you can succeed.


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