Cost will depend on how you wish to use the video to market your business. If, for example, you simply want to use a video on your website, it will not cost anything. Just the uploading of the video into the website. If you want a more professional looking video for your website, there are plenty of companies out there that provide this service for much less than text advertising. You can have a slick ad or you can have one that is home made. Sometimes, the home made videos tend to stand out more.

It will cost you slightly more to have your videos featured on other websites where you advertise. More than a banner ad or a line ad. But again, how much is your business worth to you? If you want to see how effective this media is, test it out.

If you have a small business and want to advertise for free, there are plenty of places on the internet where you can post your videos. They will also give you stats on how many people have viewed your video. On some websites, the videos are rated.

There are many professional companies that can help you out with video advertising. They can offer everything from creating the video, uploading onto the proper websites to even using it in e-mails to your clients. Many businesses keep a data base of their clients. If they don’t, they should. From time to time, they have sales or promotions and wish to contact their clients by e-mail. E-mail is very inexpensive. Actually, it is free. You can either hire a professional to e-mail your clients your advertising video or do it yourself to save even more money.

Writers are gaining publicity for themselves by using videos on writing websites. They upload a video of themselves and talk about their work. This is an excellent way to get people to read your work, particularly if you are on a site that pays you for page views. You can do this in an interview format, or simply have someone film you talking about yourself. This is free.

You can also promote yourself or your business on YouTube for free. Or MySpace. Camcorders have come down significantly in price. Many are around $100 or even cheaper. Each year, the price goes down and the quality goes up. They are easy to use and the contents can be uploaded to your computer with ease. Then all you have to do is decide where you want to “advertise.” If you are advertising a small business, your art, or even a political cause, you can put it on a site that offers free video uploading. When you compare the cost of video advertising on the internet to an actual commercial on television, you are talking apples and oranges. Video advertising is much cheaper and even small businesses can afford a professional agency that can take care of this for them.

How many of you get e-mails from businesses that you have previously done business? Most of you do, I would suspect. Even if you clicked on their ad by some mistake, they will contact you via e-mail. As said previously in this chapter, e-mail is free.

Now, imagine that you get an advertisement from a business that has a very funny video attached to it? You will be entertained and not forget about that business. It may even prompt you to take a look at their sale or new promotion.

I saw one of the most effective and clever uses of advertising on the web recently. I was taking a look at shower filters. Instead of just a website, like most of them, that featured shower filters and explained the advantages of having one of these gadgets, this one had a scene from the movie “Psycho.” Yes, the shower scene. The caption was “Remember when the only thing you had to fear about the shower was….” and then it stopped. We saw the familiar scene of Janet Leigh in the shower and “Mother” coming through the door with the knife. It was clever, entertaining and certainly caught my attention. In fact, this was the company that I decided to purchase the shower filter from.

How much did this ad cost them? A little more than a regular video ad. The film “Psycho” is not in the public domain so they had to pay synchronization rights to the producer to use this on their website. But synchronization rights on film, even the internet, are based upon seconds. They did not have to pay for the rights for the entire film, just a brief portion of the shower scene.

If you have a clever imagination, you can film your own video that will attract attention to your project in the way that this shower filter company did. You can purchase synchronization rights from film producers if you want, or you can simply make up your own video. Also, be aware that many films made prior to 1962 lie within the public domain. This means that they are free to use. Clips can be obtained from all over the internet, or can be downloaded from your television or DVD player. You must make sure that the film is in the public domain, however. The way to do this is to check with the United States Copyright Office. There is also much information about which films lie within the public domain on the internet.

No, it is not expensive to advertise using video on the internet, particularly if you are advertising on your own website or e-mailing your customers video advertisements. Just make sure that the advertisements are not too long or it may bore the customer, no matter how entertaining it may be. You do not want to go more than 30 seconds.

If you decide to use an internet advertising agency, they can keep track of the amount of customers who view your video and make sure that they are placed in the proper venues.

The cost is not that much more than banner ads and may be well worth it. Banner ads are sometimes clicked on by accident, giving false stats. A video ad, however, can be managed where the person has to click on to the “play” button to view it. Once they begin viewing, chances are that they will continue to do so. Either way, at least you will have an honest count of viewers when it comes time to pay Google or whoever you are using for your internet advertising. In a way, the difference in the quality of the views more than makes up for the price difference in advertising.

Having described what a call to action is it should be clear that every good business website have at least one call to action on every single page within the website. Given the nature of websites it is often important to give a couple of call to action options to users. When a visitor progresses through your website, you should be able to follow the path your website visitors have made along the path of persuasion towards your conversion goal. Ideally this would give you a clear idea on what calls to action are working and what ones aren’t along the desired flow of your conversion process. A good website will be laid out in such a way that when a visitor wants to make a slight detour to find out more information correctly placed and worded calls to action are there to guide them back on your conversion path.

So, why do you need a call to action on your website? Many studies have shown that if a website visitor does not find what they are looking for within 3 seconds they will exit your website. Many SEO experts will only focus on getting a website into the top few results but there should also be focus on the overall online marketing strategy. Any good SEO and Online Marketing company will be able to guide you in a complete online marketing strategy. It is important to know that selling the websites product or service and using calls to action to get visitors through your conversion path is of equal importance to the overall SEO plan.

A well thought out call to action in an overall online marketing campaign will provide you with more sales, lead generation and constant predictable results.

When choosing an SEO and Online Marketing company it is important to take some time and do your own research. The simplest form of research is to search in Google for SEO or Online Marketing and see how good the SEO firm is at selling their own products and services. If they are positioned well for their own services then they are likely to be able to successfully market your products and services online.

But once it’s set up and once it’s ready to go, even once you have all your content planned out… then what?

This is where many people get stonewalled. They either end up trying to friend too many people or not enough, or can’t seem to get their social media profiles off the ground and get those customers into the business.

Don’t despair. There is a way to work social media platforms in order to ensure that you will get traffic to your website should you have it, or if nothing else be sure that your social media site gets the attention it deserves. The key? Moderation.

One of the biggest mistakes that business owners make when they are starting a social media profile is to friend four hundred people at once. If thousands of people end up getting the same invite, they may assume that you are fishing for friends and delete your profile off the bat without giving it any heed. The better solution is to friend no more than twenty people at one time. Once you’ve cultivated a “friendship” with those twenty people – or however many of the twenty deign to respond to your invitation – you can move on to the next batch.

Another great way to get interest to your profile is to friend other businesses as well. It helps if you can network with fellow businesses or groups that have the same interests and products as you do, as not only will it give you more information, it also makes your profile look more “well-rounded.”

Don’t forget to advertise the fact that you’re on social media sites at your physical store, too. A sign asking customers to follow you on Twitter might be better received than you originally think. It’s also good to start with your local base, because the more followers you have, the easier it gets to recruit other people to friend your profile or follow your feed.

Also, don’t forget to keep your content interesting and fresh. Don’t update every day if you don’t have something to say. While updating Twitter feeds constantly might be the thing among the preteen sect, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best idea for your business. Only update when you have something to say – and if that “something” is an offer or a sale, that’s all the better!

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The above list is only touching on the functionality you can add with Widgets. If you want to take it to the next level you can also add widgets that don’t come standard with your WordPress install.

I will share 3 that I have found very handy. Most of these widgets are added by using plugins.

1. Video Widget – This plugin will add a video widget that you can add to your sidebar. It will allow you to choose from over 25 video services. You can control video size within the widget. With this widget you only have to add the video ID as well – no embed code. Lastly, this widget will also allow you to add a list of videos that will be randomly chosen for your visitor.

2. Sexy Bookmarks Sidebar Widget – A quick note first, this plugin works with the original Sexy Bookmarks plugin so you will need that installed for this to work. It is a great and unique social media sharing plugin that you will find handy even if you don’t want this widget. The widget itself will allow you to add Sexy Bookmarks to your sidebar. This widget looks great and should lead to more social media submissions for your site.

3. Flickr Widget – Flickr is one of the best and easiest ways to both store and share your images. With this plugin you will get a Flickr widget that will display your latest Flickr images in your sidebar. The widget will display up to 10 photos from a Flickr photostream.

These 3 widgets are a drop in the bucket compared to all of the widgets available out there. If you want to add something to your sidebar and can’t figure it out – check out the WordPress plugins, they may have an add on widget that will give you exactly what you need.

One last suggestion: Please don’t pack your sidebar so full of widgets it stretches out the screen. it looks sloppy and unprofessional, not to mention people usually don’t scroll beneath your content to see your sidebar so it is wasted.

When used properly widgets can be a powerful addition to your WordPress site.

Yeah, procrastination has stolen millions of dollars from the pockets of business men and women just like yourself. The longer it works on the customer, the less likely they will be to open their wallet and hand over the dinero they’ve been hoarding there.

Here’s how it works… First, the customer leaves your store without making the purchase. Second, time causes the desire for the product to fade, and distracts them from making their way back. Finally, your “almost customer” totally forgets about making the purchase, and you can kiss potential profits good-bye.

Don’t let it happen to you! Make deals so irresistible they just can’t say no, and set an expiration date. Yes, put a little press on them to buy TODAY! Reward them for complying, and make sure they forfeit the deal if they don’t. Don’t be victimized by “almost sales” that could be turned into REAL profits!

2. Stay Off The Top Of Their Priority List

Hey, sometimes we need to be reminded of exactly what is and what isn’t important in life. Where we spend our money indicates its level of importance. Are your customers telling you that your product isn’t significant to them?

Put them where you want them to be with a dramatic word picture that evokes the emotions that drive purchases. Let me say it this way… If you’re trying to sell them a home business… let them feel the freedom of being their own boss, and setting their own schedule. Are you selling water skis?

Get them on the water in the hot summer sun with the wind blowing their hair and water spraying around them. Let them FEEL the importance of the decision.

You CAN motivate buyers to put a high priority on your product!

3. Don’t Build Trust

Do your customers feel confident that your company will provide the services that it says it will? How many times have you raised an eyebrow at an offer that makes big promises? Yeah, if you don’t already know they are a reputable company, you’re likely to take claims with a grain of salt.

Unconditional guarantees give credence to your desire to please customers. Testimonials are evidence that you have a proven track record. Put some facts in front of your “almost customers.” Let them know a little bit about you and your staff.

It’s always easier to trust a person, than a business.

Internet customers are at especially high risks for feeling a legitimate amount of distrust. After all, anyone can make grand claims, but who is responsible for upholding them? A personal photo, a little information, and a phone number where a contact can be reached go a long ways toward building trust on the Web.

How many “almost customers” have slipped through your fingers? You can effectively turn them into loyal customers who regularly frequent your place of business with the business savvy insights we’ve talked about in this article.

There are a lot of issues you need to keep track of in order to have your online business be profitable. Things like creating an effective marketing funnel and choosing the right product or service to sell.

But the one biggest thing you have to do to have a successful online business is to use multiple sources of traffic generation to drive traffic to your website. This traffic will be your customers. No business, online or off, can survive if they don’t have plenty of customers.

One of the first things you need to learn is that when it comes to traffic online you will need quantity and quality. For these purposes, quality means finding people who love the product or service that you are selling and who are actually willing to spend money on it.

If you can get enough qualified people to your website it is like shooting fish in a barrel. Putting your offer in front of those people who are looking for your offer is about as easy as it gets.

But how do you get the traffic to your site? With hundreds of various options to use to get traffic which one do you choose to do? For most people starting with some free online traffic generating methods is the best way to go.

Simple things like search engine optimization and article marketing are great ways to get started. They are easy to learn, don’t take a lot of time to do and they are free.

As your business progresses it’s pretty common to add other forms of traffic generation, some paid and some free. At this point you may also decide that your time is better served elsewhere so you might want to hire a company or individual to do it for you.

It’s generally a good idea to have between 3 to 5 different methods that you use to generate traffic. The whole don’t put all your eggs in one basket thing. The only problem with this method, especially if you have several sites online that you are promoting, is that keeping tabs on all your promotions can get pretty overwhelming.

That is why hiring a company to take care of the day to day activities associated with it can make your life much easier. True, you will have to pay them and that will cut into your profit margin, but your time is worth something too and the overall cost shouldn’t be that much.

So, to sum up: your biggest job online is to get quality traffic to your website so you can make sales. Doing much of the work yourself when you first start to save money then hiring a company to handle your online marketing strategy once you are profitable is an excellent game plan to follow.