... no escape

An old Chinese saying goes like this, “Kill the chicken and the monkey will take warning.”

Last week (5/13/09) a guy named Brian from MLMLeadSystemPRO.com humbly and graciously related in a webinar how his very substantial amount of work promoting his product/service on YouTube was “slaughtered.”

The great YouTube banned him.

After a chuckle for whatever the guy did, we can learn from his experiences and recommendations. Among them were these:

1) Open only one YouTube account using your internet service provider.

2) No keyword spamming in your video titles, descriptions, or tags. Similarly, no uploading of duplicate content. In fact, if you’ve been banned, you can’t put the same videos back. (Email address(es) used and profile links are also virtually banned.)

3) No purchases of YouTube views.

4) Provide value to the viewer, not sales pitches … presumably unless spoofing sales pitches.

5) No automatic software to add friends, comments. Brian even recommended not using Traffic Geyser to add videos.

Of course, some or all of this is common sense and may be derived from YouTube rules, but hearing it from a guy that was busted somehow seems to drive it home to us “monkeys.” You video marketing experience will be better for heeding the warning.

Peter Rubel

On the other hand, video marketing is also similar to social networking in that, when the social chemistry is right, an emotional bond and trust ensues. In fact, some videos can be used on some social networking sites. Unlike social networking, though, videos usually only give you one shot rather than a developed relationship–unless the viewer will see several of your videos.

More advanced video marketers will want to purchase video editing and page-capture software and maybe some higher-end digital video recorders, microphones, stands, and lighting equipment–but these extra expenses are often unnecessary for start-up businesses.

Peter Rubel

Assuming you have maybe half a second to catch someone’s attention when your video comes up, the main hooks you have are the title and the unmoving visual (the way your video looks before clicking to play). But how did the potential viewer get to where he or she has a chance to click on your video? By word search. The title and the tag words or description to your video act like keywords, but describe the visual content of the video that the search robots cannot interpret.

So the same principles that apply to adword ads also apply to your videos, at least as far as the verbal portion goes. Research keywords to find what people are looking for. Tailor your video-related words to include those keywords. Make the video relevant to the keywords, especially the title. Keywords, title, and video should all correspond, all be relevant to each other.

Ideally, the unmoving visual image beginning your video should also in some way be consistent with the title and keywords. Ideally also, the picture entices the potential viewer in some way by promising authority in the topic or by appealing to some emotional motivation for a potential viewer to look at your video.

Deliver what you promise, and you will attract people who have an interest in what your video says.

Peter Rubel