A few weeks ago one of my best friends got married and he ask if I would mind taking some pictures and videos. I have never done this before and he was putting alot of faith in me because If I messed up then there would be no 2nd takes. Below is a highlight video and some of the pics I took.

Let me know what you think. I never plan to do this again but if you have any suggestions, put them in the comments below.

Be sure and check out my brand new video library to see clips from my show and what kind of entertainment you can expect to have if you hire me for an event.

Being a new evo owner, this video made my day. Caution strong language. From a marketing point of view, this video shows that it is the content that matters and not so much the production value.

The genius behind this video is that it did not cost this guy any money and so far he has over 4,000,000 views. Amazing! He used a website called xtranormal to make the entire thing. check out the video, then head over to xtranormal to make your own and leave a link to the video in the comments.

Let’s just say for a moment that you have got a truly amazing headline intended for your advertisement. This will be something that truly does indeed appear to grab people’s attention right form the very start and is positively an eye-turner. On the other hand a headline by itself is not going to help make an finished advertisement and despite having such a great one, you learn that your actual Click Through Rate (CTR) is instead terrible.

Why? Precisely what may be done? Well, as we said: A headline solely is not really going to generate an entire advert, and truthfully the body of your advert is just as critical as the headline so you’re going to want to make unquestionably certain that you get it correct. After all – in the body of your advertisement there’s going to be a call to action!

Generally, the whole idea of having a call to action is to force the reader to take that one remaining step and simply click on your advertisement. Needless to say, your place to do so is somewhat constrained, so you’re not going to be able to give your visitors a large number of good reasons and expect that they bite one of them.

Alternatively, you’re going to simply just have one shot at persuading these people, so you’d better get it right!

So say the least, right now there are numerous ways to come up with the ‘perfect’ call to action, but they all demand one factor: Showing the visitor that it is going to be really worth their while to click on on the advertisement. How you do so is up to you, but we’re going to begin off by providing you a few hints to set you on the ideal track:

1.Present bonuses

Letting the audience know that they will stand to gain something if they make a move right now and simply click on the advertisement is one of the most well-known techniques in the book. It could possibly be any sort of incentive, from a absolutely free report right on to a 20% discount – it won’t truly matter precisely what the incentive is as long as it is motivating enough!

2. Give a deadline

In the event that you understand that delaying your action may possibly suggest that you miss out on what looks to be a really excellent deal then you’re in all probability going to not wait, right? Presenting a deadline is definitely one of the surest techniques to get consumers going and ensure that they take action sooner rather than later.

Sure, in that respect there are other ways to obtain the response that you would like, but these are two of the greatest. If you like, you can try and find out if anything else succeeds, although at the end of the day so long as you’re able to pull out a call to action that gets your readers clicking, you’re pretty much sorted.

If you use video as part of your online marketing, then you are probably struggling to find the best way to manage and distribute your videos. Up until a few months ago, I was experiencing the same problem until I discovered, or shall I say rediscovered, a company called Brightcove. As an internet marketer, I have known about them for a while.

Brightcove is the Rolls Royce of online video publishing and until recently their prices were out of the range of most small businesses or advertising agencies. When I heard they introduced new pricing structures for small businesses and were offering a free trial, I took them up on it and never looked back.

In my opinion, Brightcove is THE killer app for anyone wanting to market with video online. It has helped me increase sales in my business and made it easier to do so.

Instead of taking you through the ins and outs of the program, I thought I would give you the perspective of a small business owner and how it has helped me in my business. If you want to know how the program actually works, you can always download a thirty day trial and see for yourself.

This review is based on five months of using their service.

Brightcove Advantage #1: Smooth Playback with no Buffering

There is nothing more embarrassing for me than to show a client a video about my company or one I have produced for them only to have it stutter and buffer every five seconds. If you use Youtube or any of the other sites like it, you know what I am talking about. Especially with HD video. Sometimes you have to wait several seconds for the video to start only to have it buffer and stutter a few seconds later.

Brightcove has solved this major problem with something called multibitrate streaming. Basically what this means is, when you upload one of your videos to your Brightcove express account, they make up to six versions of the video optimized for different internet speed. Then when someone watches your video, Brightcove Express delivers the version that matches their internet speed so there is no more buffering. Sounds awesome, right? To see if this really worked I watched a video with my high-speed office connection and Brightcove delivered a beautiful high quality HD version.

I also wanted to see if the video played buffer-free at lower connection speeds so I hooked my laptop up to my 3g modem that I use for travel. Of course this connection is much slower than your typical cable connection so this would be a really good test. To my surprise, Brightcove delivered a version optimized for my slower connection and there was no buffering at all. Of course the quality was a little lower but I will take a little lower quality over buffer frustration any day. Now I can rest easy knowing that no matter what part of the world someone is in while watching my videos, they are having a great buffer-free experience.

Brightcove Advantage #2 Embed Once and Future Updates are Reflected

If you are always updating and changing video on your site, this feature will be a dream come true. With Brightcove, you only have to embed your video player once on your site, then any changes you make to that player in your Brightcove media manger will automatically change on your website. There is no more embedding the code after every little change you want to make.

For example: look at the video player for my magic show below. If I want to rearrange or add new videos, I just upload or rearrange in Brightove and the changes reflect on this player.

This might not be a big deal if you only have this player on one page but I have this particular player embedded on fifty pages. I have a magic show page for every major city in America so I can rank well in multiple cities. It is important for me to have video at the top of all these pages so potential clients can see what I do right away.  A few times a month, I view my Brightcove analytics (more on that later) and see which videos are performing the best and swap them around to maximize the amount of time visitors sepnd on my site. Like magic, the change is reflected on all fifty pages. Imagine if had to change all fifty pages every time. Chances are I would not do it.

Another great way to use this feature is if you have a featured video player on your home page. Instead of changing the code each time, you can created a featured video playlist and any content you put into the playlist will be reflected on your home page.

Brightcove Advantage #3: Awesome Analytics

The analytics in Brightcove is second to none. At first I didn’t think it was a big deal, but now I am addicted. Not only can you see how many plays your video has, but you can see how long people actually watched your video. I was floored when I saw this data and it taught me how to create better videos to sell my services and products.

Let me explain. Last year we started a twitter management service for clients. I made a video describing all the benefits of twitter and why it is important to maintain a presence. This video lasted about four minutes and I thought it was a masterpiece of mixing relevant information with a sales message. Boy was I wrong. Through the Brightcove analytics, I saw that fifty percent of the people stopped watching the video twenty seconds into it and the other fifty percent barely made it halfway through. According to the analytics, only three people watched it all the way through, and I think that might have been me admiring my work.

With this new information, I reshot the video and made it forty seconds long giving only the highlights of price, how we get followers by geography and how many posts we do for you. To my amazement, site visitors started watching it all the way through and we started closing more sales.

I would recommend you use this data in your business and keep tweaking your videos until you see people are watching to at least seventy five percent. It has made a difference in my business, and I think it will make a difference in your as well.

Brightcove Advantage #4 Brightcove’s Players Are Professional Grade

Before I started using Brightcove, one of the gripes I had with most other video hosting companies was their lack of player customization. Again, Brightcove has answered. Not only can you change every single aspect of the player such as player colors, size, rollover links and backgrounds, but you have several tools at your deposal for sharing your video. If you look at the player below,

• you can share it via twitter or facebook
• you can email it to someone
• you can get the embed code
• You can get the page link

Also you will notice a “more info” watermark on the video. If you click that, it will take you to the video landing page–a feature I absolutely love. I know Brightcove intended it to be a logo overlay to brand your business but I am a small business. I don’t want to brand as much as I want to drive traffic, so I turned it into a blatant lead generator. The best part about this is no matter where this video ends up through social sharing or through people placing it on their blog, that video will always have that watermark to drive traffic back to the host website. (This particular video leads to the website of one of my clients).

Brightcove Advantage #5 The Best Customer Support in the Industry

Their customer support is the best I have had in recent memory. When I first joined, I signed up under their $99 dollar plan and was perfectly happy to figure things out for myself. But fortunately, this was not going to be the case. A few days after I signed up, I got a call from my “account manager”. I mean come on, I was only spending $99 bucks a month and they still found me important enough to give me one of those. How cool! During this call he ask me if I was finding everything ok and answered all my questions, and when there were a few he could not answer, he said he would have tech support contact me. Not five minutes later, tech support called. Wait, it gets better. I think it was about two weeks into my service with Brightcove and I got an email from them asking me if I had a few minutes to talk. They wanted to brainstorm with me on what new features or improvements to current ones I would like to see. Now, I could see them wanting to brainstorm with Fox or Staples, but me? Wow. The only way to put this into words really is to say that I feel they don’t discriminate against your price plan. I mean they make me feel like I am just as important to them as the CEO of General Motors. I feel like they are my video content partner instead of my video content provider. I feel that if I have an idea that I would like to see, I could call them up and the entire company would stop what they’re doing to listen to what I have to say. I am not saying they would, I am just saying that is how they make me feel. In fact they have inspired me to give that kind of customer service to my clients.

As you can tell I have become a Brightcove Fanboy over the last few months and I think you will to. They have a thirty day trial so you can see for yourself how wonderful this company really is. Check them out at www.brightcove.comI wrote this review because I know when I was searching for video hosts, I could have used this information, and it is my hope that I can save you a lot of aggravation. Good luck to you; and if you try their service, let me know what you think.

Online Video dot Net did a story about how I use video to market myself online. Troy Dreier was awesome and did a great job putting together all of the stuff we talked about. Check it out here

Twitter is terrific for your business! It’s an excellent method for catching up with friends, getting your info out and about, and developing business. Regardless of what your sector is, there is a way for you to take advantage of Twitter to create business and traffic.

One thing you have to understand about Twitter is that it is not a tool to spam with. You cannot just publish affiliate marketing links and product offers repeatedly! It is in fact about building connections and attaining the trust of your market. Far more people are utilizing Twitter these days, thanks to stars such as Oprah and Ashton Kutcher. These people have gotten the mass market involved, which is wonderful, considering you’ll secure considerably more leads for your business than you have ever imagined probable.

Firstly — you are going to need to establish a Twitter account. Decide on your username, add a picture, and insert info about your website. Then, as you obtain followers, they may check out your profile and possibly take a look at your site. This link back to your website also counts as a back link — which is great for search engine optimization objectives.

Next, what you’ll need are people to follow you. Post a hyperlink to your Twitter account everywhere people in your niche might notice it. This might be in your website, in your signature file on discussion boards, and countless other places. One of the easiest and swiftest strategies to generate followers is to locate a master in your area and to follow their followers. Generally about fifty percent of those individuals will follow you back. You can easily get to know these people, and you know that they will probably be interested in your niche considering that is how you discovered them!

Knowing how personal to be is one more challenge that many people are concerned with. You can be as personal as possible if you want! A number of people “Tweet” about what they had for dinner, what their little ones are doing, and a variety of other details. This kind of thing humanizes you, but you want to determine if this is something your market will respond to. Bear in mind that lots of people are on Twitter to network with family and friends, and are not expecting sales messages. That’s why you’ll want to casually mention your business, or link to a page of interest on your site.

After you get followers into the thousands, business will probably really pick up for you. You can immediately drive traffic and product sales with a small Twitter message. Not much could be simpler and easier!

As business owners, we all strive to outwit our competition by providing something that they don’t. This often comes in the form of “cheaper prices”, “superior service”, “a convenient location”, “a wide selection” and various other buzz words we tout in our advertising. While these are great competitive advantages, they are no longer enough.

I would like to introduce you to a new concept. Really though, it’s an old concept we just forgot about and that I’m hoping to bring back. It’s what I call the Killer Advantage, and if you utilize this in your business, you will increase your sales dramatically. Before I tell you what the Killer Advantage is, let me share with you how I discovered it.

A while ago, I went to my local store for some groceries, and I experienced something that would change how I do business forever. I didn’t discover this in the store itself, but rather in the parking lot outside of the store. As I was walking in, I was approached by a man who I knew was going to try to bum some money from me. In a big city like Los Angeles, you are faced with this almost everywhere you go, so if you give in to everyone, you’ll end up in the same position as them! I was ready to say no, when the man said to me, “Excuse me sir, I don’t believe in handouts so while you are in the store I am going to wash your windows for you, and if you think it is worth a dollar or two then I would sure appreciate it.” I glanced at my car and the window were in fact dirty, so I gave the go ahead and went into the store. About fifteen minutes later, I came out and sure enough my windows were spotless. The guy did a fantastic job! I looked around for him and saw him a few aisles down cleaning someone else’s windows. I walked over and gave him a few bucks and we both left happy.

As I was driving away, I realized something. I don’t know if it was because my windows were the cleanest they have been in a while or what, but everything became clear. The reason the guy in the parking lot was able to succeed where others have failed is because he offered something much more than a window cleaning. I look back on it now and realize that it was brilliant. You see, it wasn’t the window cleaning itself that sold me. It was the meaning behind the window cleaning. He was willing to provide value without receiving anything from me. In offering this to me, he separated himself from the rest of the pack and resurrected my belief in people.

Like many of you, there are lots of things that cross my mind when I am approached by someone who wants me to just give them money. First, I feel lucky that I am not in that situation. Then, I feel bad for the person and wonder what events in his life led him to the point where he has to ask strangers for money. And finally, I feel angry because this guy might just be scamming me and may be too lazy to get a job. Sometimes I give in and sometimes I don’t, but either way I don’t feel good about any decision I make. With that in mind, I thought it was amazing that the window cleaning guy took all that away just by offering to clean my windows. Just by investing in a bottle of window cleaner and a few napkins on loan from McDonalds, he not only created a win for both of us but made me feel good about giving him my money and showed me that not everyone on the street wants to take advantage of me.

This experienced caused me to flash back to when I was a child and I would go with my dad to the gas station. We would pull in and there would be a service attendant ready to service us. He would not only fill the gas tank up for us, but he would check under the hood to make sure all the fluids were at an acceptable level. A few short minutes later, my dad would roll down the window, pay the guy, and we would be on our way. We received all of this service without getting out of the car. Imagine how you would feel today if you pulled into a gas station and got that kind of service. Not only would you keep going back, but you would tell all your friends about this wonderful “new” service you got at the local gas station.

I also remembered going to the grocery store with my mom as a kid. When we were finished shopping, someone from the store would bring the groceries out and pack them neatly in the car for us. What happened to that concept? Today, we are lucky if we even get our groceries bagged!

Thinking about the guy in the parking lot and about these memories from my childhood inspired me to find my “window cleaner” aka Killer Advantage. What could I do to impress my prospects so much that it would make them feel great about hiring me and my company to help market their company on the internet?

Since I am in the business of driving traffic to a client’s website, it seems obvious to give them some free traffic. So now, every time I meet with a potential client, I create a press release about their company and release it a few days before the meeting. In most cases, by the time we have the meeting, the press release has generated at least a few hundred hits. At the meeting, I tell them I want to show them something I did for them a few days ago. I go on the computer, search Google for keywords their potential customers would use and sure enough, on the first or second page of the search results is their press release optimized for those keywords. I pull it and show them that I have not only gotten their company ranked high on Google with these keywords, but I have also acquired a few hundred potential leads for their website. That’s my “window cleaner”. On the surface, my Killer Advantage says I know what I am doing, but beneath the surface, it says so much more to a business owner. It says we take initiative, we have knowledge of their industry, and most of all, we are different from the rest of the pack.

This is my window cleaner. What’s yours?

A few months ago, Brightcove contacted me to see if they could do a story on me and how I use their video hosting solution in my business. They just sent me a link to the story and I thought it came out really well. If you are interested in how I use Brightcove for my magic business you can read the case study here.

Also I recently wrote a review of Brightcove.  You can read that review here.