Basic Web Video Equipment

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So you’ve decided to make your first web video. This is a great step, especially if you are making a web video to help promote a product or service. However, there are several things that you must have in order to make your web video look professional, and entertaining to watch. Of course, the main items that you must have in order to make a web video are a digital video camera and a computer. However, the type of camera you have can greatly increase the quality of your video, or it can decrease it. While there are literally hundreds of different types of digital cameras out there that will record decent video, there are some that are way better than others.

Hard Drive Camcorder or Digital Camera

If you are looking for a camera that will keep your web video looking professional and crisp, as well as easy to upload into your computer, you will want a hard drive camcorder or digital camcorder. The hard drive camcorders will allow you to record stunning images, however, it is how you upload these videos into your computer for editing that makes them so great. With these type of cameras, you are able to record video without the need of tapes or DVDs. This is made possible because the camera records information onto its hard drive. Once you have recorded everything that you need, you can simply attach the camcorder to your computer, usually through a USB cord, and then your computer begins to upload the videos into its own hard drive. After you have done this, you can then begin the editing process. Today, there are also tape-less digital video cameras like the Flip Video camera. This awesome camera gives you 2 hours of excellent digital video, and the only thing you need to transfer your video clips to your computer is a USB cable.

Another alternative is a Webcam. Today’s webcams give you excellent resolution. An example is the Logitech QuickCam 9000. This camera is able to give you 960 by 720 pixels with 8-megapixels. And best of all, it only costs about $99.00.

Choosing the right type of camcorder for web videos is extremely important, and if you know that you are going to be filming many web videos, then it is a good idea to invest in a decent camera that has great resolution and user-friendly exporting options.

Microphone

Another piece of equipment that you will want to have is a microphone. While every camcorder comes with a built-in microphone, they will not give you the professional quality that you desire. You do not have to go out and purchase a $300 microphone in order to get good audio quality; however, you will want to have a microphone that allows you to guard wind and other types of background noises. Another reason why having a microphone is so important is because it will give you the chance to make videos that are not only pleasing to the eye, but also to the ears. Did you know that sight and sound makes up for 85% of the information that we absorb around us? This is why making sure you have a great quality camera and microphone is so important. However, if you don’t have this last piece of equipment, then you will most likely not be able to post your videos online.

Computer

The last piece of mandatory equipment for making web videos is a computer. Whether you are working with a desktop computer, or laptop, it is very important that your computer can handle the amount of CPU’s you are going to be requesting of it. However, even though you want to have your computer run smoothly, you will also want to ensure that it has enough memory to hold all of the information that you are going to be putting in it.

With many different files that need to be saved, such as massive video files, audio files and the other various types of media that will begin to accumulate onto your computer, you must ensure that you have ample memory. Many individuals that make web videos usually invest in an external hard drive. These are great accessories to have, and will keep your computer running smoothly, because the amount of memory needed will be spread out among different hard drives.

Resources Mentioned In This Article:

Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder
Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000
Hard Drive Camcorders
Digital Video Cameras
USB Cords
External Hard Drives

New Extreme Website Conversion Software Promises 40% More Sales!

So … what is Virtual Smart Agent and how can it benefit you?

This technology is so new … it almost looks like science fiction! VSA is the world’s FIRST stand-alone Virtual Sales Agent enables you to put an automated chat solution on your website WITHOUT having to pay someone else for the service…

But I didn’t stop there. I also made it BETTER than anything else out there, by making it possible for you to train your virtual agent, split-test the results, and even build your opt-in list on autopilot!

This technological masterpiece has already been PROVEN to boost sales by up
to 40%, and the marketers who manage to get their hands on it are going to
be at a huge competitive advantage.

Not only does it boost sales, but it can also build your list on autopilot,
and even increase your affiliate commissions.

It’s basically like having your own virtual “employee” that never sleeps. It
just keeps working for you and building your business 24/7 with no breaks.

You see, Dave Guindon, the product owner, is also an experienced online marketer as well as an advanced software developer. So he knows how to deliver quality products along with how to use the products to your advantage.

Not many product owners even attempt to over-deliver as much as Dave does!

Here is a short list of the powerful features this software provides:

• Increase your website conversions up to 20-40% in a little as 2 weeks!
• Dramatically reduce your shopping cart abandonment.
• Instantly increase the value of each website visitor.
• Improve your website visitor’s experience (builds trust and repeat business).
• Increase your customer loyalty and overall satisfaction.
• Quickly grow a highly responsive opt-in list of interested prospects.
• Reduce labor costs.
• Save time by reducing questions and support requests.
• Up-sell or cross-sell similar and/or additional products to boost your revenue.
• Find out WHY customers are leaving your site.
• One installation works on ALL your websites… boost your entire business!
• Builds your opt-in list on autopilot!
• Auto follow-up emails to your web visitors after they leave your chats!
• And a lot more …

Dave Guindon offers an unbelievable LIFETIME money back guarantee!

So you basically have nothing to lose … I didn’t! The software works great and I use it everyday.

Thanks for Reading,

JGarcia

Why Should You Write an eBook?

You may be asking yourself why should you write an eBook?

It’s not true that everything that has been said has already been written. Since that unfortunate axiom came into use, the whole universe has changed. Technology has changed, ideas have changed, and the mindsets of entire nations have changed.

The fact is that this is the perfect time to write an ebook. What the publishing industry needs are people who can tap into the world as it is today - innovative thinkers who can make the leap into the new millennium and figure out how to solve old problems in a new way. Ebooks are a new and powerful tool for original thinkers with fresh ideas to disseminate information to the millions of people who are struggling to figure out how to do a plethora of different things.

Let’s say you already have a brilliant idea, and the knowledge to back it up that will enable you to write an exceptional ebook. You may be sitting at your computer staring at a blank screen wondering, “Why? Why should I go through all the trouble of writing my ebook when it’s so impossible to get anything published these days?

Well, let me assure you that publishing an ebook is entirely different than publishing a book in print. Let’s look at the specifics of how the print and cyber publishing industry differ, and the many reasons why you should take the plunge and get your fingers tapping across those keyboards!

Submitting a print book to conventional publishing houses or to agents is similar to wearing a hair shirt 24/7. No matter how good your book actually is, or how many critique services and mentor writers have told you that “you’ve got what it takes,” your submitted manuscript keeps coming back to you as if it is a boomerang instead of a valuable mine of information.

Perhaps, in desperation, you’ve checked out self-publishing and found out just how expensive a venture it can be. Most “vanity presses” require minimal print runs of at least 500 copies, and even that amount will cost you thousands of dollars. Some presses’ minimal run starts at 1,000 to 2,000 copies. And that’s just for the printing and binding. Add in distribution, shipping, and promotional costs and - well, you do the math. Even if you wanted to go this route, you may not have that kind of money to risk.

Let’s say you already have an Internet business with a quality website and a quality product. An ebook is one of the most powerful ways to promote your business while educating people with the knowledge you already possess as a business owner of a specific product or service.

For example, let’s say that you’ve spent the last twenty-five years growing and training bonsai trees, and now you’re ready to share your knowledge and experience. An ebook is the perfect way to reach the largest audience of bonsai enthusiasts.

Ebooks will not only promote your business - they will help you make a name for yourself and your company, and establish you as an expert in your field. You may even find that you have enough to say to warrant a series of ebooks. Specific businesses are complicated and often require the different aspects to be divided in order for the reader to get the full story.

Perhaps your goals are more finely tuned in terms of the ebook scene. You may want to build a whole business around writing and publishing ebooks. Essentially, you want to start an e-business. You are thinking of setting up a website to promote and market your ebooks. Maybe you’re even thinking of producing an ezine.

One of the most prevalent reasons people read ebooks is to find information about how to turn their Internet businesses into a profit-making machine. And these people are looking to the writers of ebooks to provide them with new ideas and strategies because writers of ebooks are usually people who understand the new cyberspace world we now live in. Ebook writers are experts in Internet marketing campaigns and the strategies of promoting and distributing ebooks. The cyberspace community needs its ebooks to be successful so that more and more ebooks will be written.

You may want to create affiliate programs that will also market your ebook. Affiliates can be people or businesses worldwide that will all be working to sell your ebooks. Think about this? Do you see a formula for success here?

Figure out what your subject matter is, and then narrow it down. Your goal is to aim for specificity. Research what’s out there already, and try to find a void that your ebook might fill. What about an ebook about a wedding cake business? Or an ebook about caring for elderly pets? How about the fine points of collecting ancient pottery?

You don’t have to have three masters degrees to write about your subject. People need advice that is easy to read and easily understood. Parents need advice for dealing with their teenagers. College students need to learn good study skills - quickly. The possibilities are endless.

After You’ve Writtten Your eBook

Getting your ebook out is going to be your focus once you’ve finished writing it, just as it is with print books. People will hesitate to buy any book from an author they’ve never heard of. Wouldn’t you?

The answer is simple: give it away! You will see profits in the form of promoting your own business and getting your name out. You will find affiliates who will ask you to place their links within your ebook, and these affiliates will in turn go out and make your name known. Almost every single famous ebook author has started out this way.

Another powerful tool to attract people to your ebook is to make it interactive. Invent something for them to do within the book rather than just producing pages that contain static text. Let your readers fill out questionnaires, forms, even crossword puzzles geared to testing their knowledge on a particular subject.

Have your readers hit a link that will allow them to recommend your book to their friends and associates. Or include an actual order form so at the end of their reading journey, they can eagerly buy your product.

When people interact with books, they become a part of the world of that book. The fact is just as true for books in print as it is for ebooks.

That’s why ebooks are so essential. Not only do they provide a forum for people to learn and make sense of their own thoughts, but they can also serve to promote your business at the same time.

To help you in the creation of your ebooks, check out this software: eWriter PRo

PPC Advertising: How to Make Your Business ‘Click’

PPC stands for Pay Per Click - a popular advertising technique on the Internet. Found on websites, advertising networks, and especially on search engines, PPC advertising involves sponsored links that are typically in the form of text ads. These are usually placed close to search results, where an advertiser pays a particular amount to visitors who click on these links or banners and land on the advertiser’s web page.

In essence, PPC advertising is all about bidding for the top or leading position on search engine results and listings. Advertisers do this by buying or bidding on keyword phrases that are relevant to their products or services - the higher the bid, the higher the spot on the search results, the more the people will find the ad (and click on it) to go to their websites (this is why some people call it “keyword auctioning”). Advertisers would then pay the bidding price every time a visitor clicks through the website.

PPC advertising is also known under the following names/variations:

• Pay per placement
• Pay per performance
• Cost per click (CPC)
• Pay per position
• Pay per ranking

PPC advertising is usually done with the following standard procedures:

1. Setting up an account and/or deposit funds.
2. Creating a keyword list.
3. Choosing (and setting up) an account with a PPC search engine.
4. Bidding on the ad placement, including the search result words or phrases.
5. Writing out an ad copy.
6. Setting up the ‘landing pages’ for your ads.
7. Placing the advertisement in the search engine.

There are many benefits to Pay Per Click advertising, making it an effective way of promoting a business ‘online’. Some of them are listed below:

• Get launched immediately. PPC advertisements are implemented very quickly - they can go ‘online’ within an hour after winning the bid and paying for it.
• Obtain specific, pre-qualified, and quality traffic. PPC provides you with a quality or a well-targeted traffic. Visitors are narrowed down into ‘qualified’ people who are actually looking for specific products and/or services that you offer - those who are more likely to become a ‘lead’ (a convert) and complete a transaction (either by buying your product or subscribing to the service that you are offering.
• Widen your reach. PPC advertising provides additional traffic to your site, aside from the natural or “organic” search engines.
• Track your investment. PPC advertising makes use of a tracking system that will determine exactly who comes to the website and what they do once they arrive - the length of their stay on the site and the number of pages (including the actual pages) that they view. These are valuable tools in determining statistics such as return on investment (ROI), acquisition cost-per-visitor, and conversion rates (the percentage of visitors who are converted into customers or leads).

Below are some important things to consider when planning on a pay per click campaign:

1. Know your product. Take an inventory of the product and/or services that you have to offer (before anything else).
2. Stay within the budget. Determine your daily or monthly budget; and stay with it. This means keeping your budget in mind, avoiding bidding wars if possible.
3. Bid just right. Know how to bid right - a bid that is too high can exhaust all of your money, while a bid that is too low can make you lose that spot.
4. Watch the bottom line. Measure your profit margin against your spending or expenses. Know when to stop and terminate your PPC program - if you spend more on advertising but have little or no sales at all.
5. Find the right keywords. Decide which keyword phrases to opt and bid for. Do some keyword research, either by actually looking at existing search terms or with the use of online keyword suggestion tools, to know which terms are mostly used when searching for items that are related to your business. Focus on specific keywords, not on general ones.
6. Write effective ads. A good PPC ad is that which can persuade and move a searcher.

   There are several approaches to this:
   · Discount offers
   · Testimonials
   · Celebrity/famous endorsers
   · Money-back guarantees
   · Free trials or sample offers
   · Freebies
   · Reverse psychology
   · Major benefits (”Lose weight”)
   · Direct instructions (”Click here”)

7. Maintain a professional-looking site. Your web content should be regularly updated and checked for spelling and grammatical errors. There should be no broken links or images. The website should be simple - designed in such a way that it will be easy for visitors to navigate and load. Include contact details to create a good impression among potential customers.

Done properly, PPC advertising can be an effective marketing tool that will maximize the return on your investment.