Online video has become mainstream, it wasn’t a decade ago.

I remember drawing up a business plan and having meetings with the major distributors of video in the late 1990′s because I had this dream of  being able to distribute video on the Web to people on demand. There was a problem, the internet was too slow and waiting for a video to download was measured in multiple hours and not minutes.  

Fast forward seven years and YouTube launches in 2005 and is sold to Google a year later for $1.65 billion. Online video is now mainstream. Since then we have seen it become available in high definition and on mobile phones as we not only have the fixed line networks delivering high speed internet but 3G mobile networks are now providing broadband to mobile devices such as the iPhone and the iPad.

The Rise And Rise Of Online Video

So with the rise of online video on demand anywhere and everywhere, progressive and smart marketers are starting to use online video to sell and market in ways that were not even imagined.

• Zappos uses 50,000 two minute online video reviews of its products to improve conversion rates of its online stores shopping basket by up to 30%.
• Gary Vaynerchuk uses a video blog to grow his personal brand and increase his family company’s wine business from  $4 million to $45 million in just 3 years. (read about it here in the article “9 Secrets Of A Successful Online Video Marketing Strategy“)

How You Can Use Online Video For Marketing

Online video can be used for marketing your brand in various ways including:

• Increase brand awareness
• Content creation
• Position the company as a thought leader
• Improves your SEO also known as “search engine optimization” (move you up the rankings of a Google search and maybe even get you on page one where 90% of all clicks to search results happen)
• Improve views to press releases by 500%
• Improve call to action responses for event registration, whitepaper download, webinar sign up and product service/trial

The Challenge

The challenge though is that making online videos that produce positive marketing results and look professional and don’t diminish your brand can be time consuming and the learning process can be lengthy. It is a whole new  skill set that needs to be learnt and optimized.

There are companies though that take your hand and provide you with the tools and the expertise online that make it easy for the “lazy” marketer to self create online professional videos that significantly improve conversion rates for emails, websites and sales campaigns.

The Lazy Video Marketers Solution

One such company is Visible Gains that provides you with a software platform and resources that that make it easy for you to make your own online marketing videos. Here is a short 2 minute video interview with Visible Gains CEO, Cliff Pollan that outlines what they can provide for the video marketer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So what does Visible Gains provide you?

1. Video editing software that creates the professional videos in segments that can be interchanged for different target audiences
2. Non linear navigation that reacts to user input
3. Clickable elements on and around the video that allow the user to download supporting content and connect to company individuals
4. Online Tutorials
5. Analytics and Reporting that shows the video opt-in rate, engagement profile and  conversion rates

So if you want to accelerate your  online video marketing program it is maybe worth checking out Visible Gains and by the way they also provide a free trial.

I look forward to hearing about your online video success stories.

Here are some more resources:

• How Zappos Plans To Use 50,000 Online Videos
• How To Create And Promote Your YouTube Video In 8 Simple Steps
• How To Video Blog Your Way To Success
• What Is The Secret  Of Success For YouTube Stars
• Who Are The Top 5 YouTube Stars?
• 32 Lessons For Online Video Social Media Marketing Success
• 9 Secrets Of A Successful Online Video Social Media Marketing Strategy

Image by blentley

I recently came across a statistic that disturbed me, not that I wasn’t already slightly disturbed in a nice sort of way.

That number that had jolted me was that nearly half of all businesses (46% to be precise) don’t have a website. Did I hear someone saying.. “you have to be joking!” (I have just checked the calendar and I have verified by the way that it is 2010 not 1910).

To make more of a point on this, a recent survey by Discover Business Watch found  “Of the 55 percent of small business owners who don’t have a Web site, 57 percent say their businesses will never have one“. Now this is starting to go from the sublime to the ridiculous.

The other not insignificant statistic that businesses should keep in mind is that 93% of buying decisions start with an online search and if you don’t have a web presence it makes it a little difficult (to say the least) to turn up in the search results and people to make an enquiry and consequently buy, if you don’t have a website.

The really fascinating thing about this is that the business owner or CEO could even put up a blog on WordPress very easily for less than $30 with features such as

• Your own business domain name (Cost $20)
• Videos from YouTube (Free)
• Email subscription  to the blog (Free)
• Images (Free)
• Content loaded as easily as using Microsoft Word
• Links to other content and websites
• Menu across the top
• Polls and surveys for your customers
• Traffic statistics for the Blog/Website
• Moderation of comments
• Plus many other free features provide by plugins at no cost

Note: Cost is less than $40 and a bit of time and help from your teenage son, daughter or friend if necessary.

So with that in mind here are the 10 simple questions to assess your CEO’s marketing IQ.

1. Do we have a web presence (website or even a blog)?
2. Are you still spending money on advertising in the Yellow Pages?
3. Are you still spending a majority of your marketing dollars on direct mail marketing?
4. Are you marketing by fax broadcasts?
5. Are you still “thinking” about having a website for your company?
6. Have you heard of social media for business?
7. Do most of our reps still cold call?
8. Do you use print media for most of your advertising dollars?
9. Are our carrier pigeons still alive?
10. Do we have our milk delivered by horse and cart?

So if you think your CEO still has an excuse not to have a web presence so that people can find your business and buy from you then I think you should check your CEO for a pulse.

So do you know of any businesses that don’t have a website?