Let Your Website Do The Work!

How An Ezine Turns Your Website Into A Working Website

Last night I participated in the ezine Queen's, Ali Brown, final teleseminar on ezine (email newsletter)publishing.  She made a great point I wanted to emphasize.  An ezine is a great tool to capture your website visitors information.  This simple item on your website turns your current website into a working website.  Not many people are going to email you or contact you through your website unless you offer them something of value.  So offering an email newsletter plus another free offer turns your website into a client attracting machine. 

I am a true example of this! I have recently added two team members to my company due to increase in demand.  I never have to worry where my next client will come from thanks to this simple marketing tool.  I don't mean to brag here.  My business before my ezine was not as client attractive as it is now.  I had no way to follow up with my customers or potential customers.  Now, I have a follow-up method that works for me 24/7. 

Also, since I have started publishing my ezine I have been invited to be a guest on radio shows and several webinars and teleseminars. Would have this happened without my ezine?  Possibly, but not likely. 

So what are you waiting for? Start an email newsletter today and make sure you have your sign-up box on every page of your website.

Feature Article: 5 Easy Ways To Use Video To Attract More Clients

As a former NBC television producer I would like to share with you some easy ways to add video to your website or email newsletter.  But don’t worry you don’t need experience in a television station control room.  Thanks to the YouTube and other video sharing websites adding video to your website is a lot easier than you think.

1)  Create a Photo Montage- Do you have photos of your products, workshops, clients, or yourself?  Then you can easily create a video for your website.  If you are using Windows XP you already have the tool to do this without buying any additional software. Windows Movie Maker has drag and drop features to make creating and editing your movie easier. It allows you to import photos and create a photo montage with background music and fancy video transitions.  You can then use this same tool to upload your video to a video sharing website.  Don’t worry MAC users, newer MACs come with a video editing tool called IMovie. But if you don’t have this software already it is available to purchase.

2)  Video Testimonials- If you work with your clients one on one or provide workshops, why not collect video testimonials from them.  All you need is a simple video camera and tripod and you’re ready to go.  You don’t need a special microphone or videographer, because the camera microphone will do just fine. But if you would feel more comfortable you could hire an aspiring movie director from your local community college. Your clients will love being on camera and feel honored you asked them.  Then use the same video editing software to get just the right clips and upload them to your website or youtube.  New clients will be so impressed!

3)  Webcam video of you- Do you have a webcam? If not they cost around $50 and are very easy to use. You can use your webcam to record a special video message discussing your free newsletter and the upload the video to your website.  I recommend a service called Instant Video Generator that makes this whole process so easy.

4)  Video clip of a recent media interview- Were you recently interviewed on television? If so as long as you receive permission you can display this video clip on your website.  If you can’t use the clip directly on your website you can always link to their website, but be careful to check the link frequently to make sure that it is still active.  Having a video clip from a media outlet gives you instant credibility with potential clients.

5)  Video of your product in action- Website visitors thinking about purchasing a product love to see how it works or people using it.  Create a home movie of your product in action.  For example, if you’re a wedding planner what about a home movie clip of your latest wedding? Or if you sell purses you could create a video of people wearing your purses.

Now before adding any audio/visual elements to your website please keep in mind these tips.  Don’t overwhelm your website visitor.  Limit you’re elements to one or two per page and only use only one element that plays automatically. Also, you don’t need the most expensive camera, microphone, editing software, or webcamera to get started.  Below are my top recommendations for the technology you will need to get started.

Video Camera

Aiptek ICAM 2.4 Digital Camcorder with 1GB Memory Card & Tripod $104.97
Pure Digital - Flip Video Camcorder $149.99

Web Camera

Logitech - QuickCam Communicate STX Web Camera $39.99

Video Editing

Windows Movie Maker, Free
Apple IMovie, Free

Making Videos Web Ready

Best Biz Website Solutions- We can take any video and convert into a flash video file to upload to your website easily
YouTube
InstantVideoGenerator

If you loved these ideas of how to add video to your website, but don’t want to mess with the technology.  Best Biz Website Solutions can help you create and add videos to your website.  For more information on how we can help send us an email at info@BestBizWebsiteSolutions.com.

Jennifer Haubein publishes “SiteNotes” a FREE bi-weekly ezine for small business owners who want a website that actually works. If you’re ready to get insider tips website developers don’t want you to know, and start making more money online, get your FREE tips now at http://www.BestBizWebsiteSolutions.com/newsletter.html.