Video Marketing Secrets

There are many people around that have a very nostalgic way of looking at video poker that seems to greatly enhance the amount of popularity that it receives in the online world. While video poker in the online world is similar to video poker in the offline world, there are some differences between the two. These differences are alluded to in the following sections.

Games

One of the major differences between online and offline video poker has to do with the video poker games that are available. When you take a look at what is popular in the offline world it often ends up coming down to jacks or better, deuces wild and in a few cases joker poker. While there are other forms of video poker available in the offline world, these three games put together represent more than 90% of the video poker gaming in the physical casinos of todays world. There are simply not that many other video poker games played to any large extent.

The same is not true of the online world, however. Games with wild cards are popular online and games with bonuses are popular as well. For this reason, there exists a great amount of variation amongst the video poker games that are played in the online world with some people preferring to play games with many wildcards, others preferring to play games that have progressive jackpots added to them and still others willing to try any new video poker game that comes onto the market online just because they are like to see what it is all about. Choice is big online and this definitely contributes to the wider range of games played.

Strategy and Tactics

As far as strategy is concerned, online video poker is the same as its offline counterpart in most cases. Every offline video poker game has its online counterpart and because the dynamics of the game are exactly the same from the offline version to the online version, the corresponding ideal strategy for each game is the same. There are of course variants of the game that are unique to the online world and the strategies for these games vary depending on what the winning hands and their payouts happen to be.

The tactics involved in playing a game are quite different however. The video poker tips that you would receive in the offline world would revolve around focusing on perfect strategy and making sure that you play for a long period of time so that you can stretch out your money and learn to play very well. In the online world, however, distractions are all over the place since you are playing Video Poker Games at home. For this reason, the video poker tips that would represent the ideal in online play revolve around short and productive sessions during which you maintain the optimal strategy for as long as possible. Discretion is the better part of valor in the online world, while the offline world is a ready-fire-aim type affair.

By: Imteaz Ahmed (Internet Marketing Consultant)

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The problem with most new online marketer today is that they are looking for instant gratification and they are not interested in learning to be a professional online marketer. Most of the people who join affiliate marketing are thinking of making big buck quickly and they thought that this business is just about placing pay per click ads with Google and people will start clicking on them and then purchase at the merchant website making them money easily.

People with this mentality will soon find out that they are having a lot of impression and clicks on their ads but zero sales wasting them a lot of money in their pay per click campaign. After a few days of similar situation, they will start to think that affiliate marketing is a scam and it does not work at all. After hearing so many stories from people who fail in this business, i have come to a conclusion that the problem does not lies in this business but it is how people understand about this business.

Therefore this article aims to shed some light on how anyone can be as successful in this business as those gurus out there if they understand what this business needs from them.

1) Build Your List: It does not matter whether you are selling your own product or selling other people product. The number one task you need to do is to build a list of people who are interested in the products or niche you are promoting. Do you know that most people who fail in this business are those who neglect the task to build their own list and they simply send people to the merchant website immediately.

The reason why anyone who are serious in this business should build a list is that it allows them to establish relationship with their subscribers and eventually it will reach a stage where the subscriber only buy from them and not other affiliate. I frequently have subscribers who asked if i sell a particular product because they prefer to buy from me and not from other people and this is the kind of trust that you need in order to be successful in this business.

2) Select Your Primary Traffic Generation Method: Once you have decided to build your list, the next step will be how to drive traffic to your squeeze page so that you can build a huge list. If you have read those e-books or watch those video from some of the affiliate program, they often tell you all several methods available but all you have to do is to select two methods that most suits you to use, preferably one free method and one paid method. Do not attempt to use all of them as you will not have time to do them properly and it is always best to be an expert in something then an amateur in everything.

3) Create A Converting Squeeze Page: Most people always think that they need a very beautiful squeeze page so that it can attract people to opt-in to their list. But do you know that my simple squeeze page has a conversion rate of 70% which means that 7 out of 10 visitors will opt-in to my list. This is because people are always complicating things and in fact simplicity is the word for this business. If you have the ability to make things simple and easy to understand, your visitors are more likely to be attracted to you.

Your squeeze page just need to be a clean one with an attractive headline telling your visitors about what you can do for them and a instruction statement to direct them what to do. That’s it!

Once you understand the importance of these three factors, you just have to master the skill to do them and you will see the rewards from your action. However you have to get rid of anything in your mind asking for instant gratification from what you are doing as they are your number one obstacle to success in this business. The faster you get of them, the faster you can grasp the concept of the whole internet marketing business.

For more related information, Visit: http://www.YourBossHatesUs.com for more Affiliate Marketing Tips and download your free copy of Science Of Making Money Online e-book

By: Kelvin Lee, The Passivelifestyle Guy (Viral Marketing Tools)

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In the strange world of social media, a lot of free widgets (i.e. tools) are available to its inhabitants, with very little technical knowledge needed. Some widgets are good solely for their intended purposes - such as sharing a picture, sentiment, or another form of entertainment. Other widgets have a large amount of value for small businesses, if they know how to use them properly. (I call them off-label here since they can be used for unintended, not-yet-prohibited purposes…) Photo slideshow widgets are in this category - they add high value to a shoestring marketing budget when they’re exploited a little for business purposes. If a marketer knows how to use them, they can create free webmercials, business presentations, and mini-clips that add rich media to any user experience.

So, what is a slideshow widget?

First of all, a web widget is simply any kind of web application that you can add to your own webpage, community profile, or any other website that allows html codes. If you’ve ever been to a social website like Myspace, you’ve probably seen a lot of cool gadgets and tools on people’s profiles. Surveys, pictures, and videos that users like are usually embedded in the page. These widgets are free and easily used as a viral tool for the companies that create them - users pass on the videos or photo collections they like to other people they’re connected to via a simple link or a few lines of html that they cut paste.

A slideshow widget is a collection of photographs that move frame-by-frame to the next image. Users can add captions, music, and in some cases, video and user-created sound clips.

Why are slideshow widgets good for marketers? Viral webmercials!

First of all, any widget that gives viewers or users the capability to pass their creation on is a good thing for marketers, period. Users pass on what they like – and they’re used to it. Myspace addicts pass on all kinds of internet goodies on a daily basis. (Most likely, they do this when they are supposed to be working. Myspacers are notorious for using their space during work hours and typically consider social media incredibly addictive…) Every video on YouTube or Google has the option of emailing it to a friend. Internet users are becoming accustomed to viewing media – not just text – online. And when they like it, they share it.

Why make a slideshow webmercial?

A slideshow widget can be used to create an online commercial for use on your business website, social networking profile, or anywhere else that html can be embedded. If you haven’t noticed, a lot of the big media companies are adding “webmercials” to their websites. This kind of marketing typically costs a lot of money – the kind that consists of hiring an ad agency with the technical expertise and the marketing-savvy to get it produced, direcibuted, and perfected. The traditional webmercial is a streaming media marketing video, similar to short clips that can be viewed on YouTube or at the beginning of the footage shown on news websites (like CNN). Slideshow webmercials are not as high-tech, but can still be an effective and professional medium for marketing to customers using rich media formats. (If you’re having trouble with the concept of webmercials or slideshows, scroll down to my author box where I link to a few of our webmercials created on-the-fly…)

If you’re looking to add some multimedia to your website, and you don’t have the technical skills or resources to hire a flash designer or design a minisite, a slideshow can be crafted easily to showcase your products or services.

Creating a slideshow webmercial for your business

There are a few different sites on the web that offer strong capabilities when it comes to slideshows. Do a search for “photo widgets” on Google. My favorites are RockYou (http://www.rockyou.com) and Slideroll (http://www.slideroll.com). RockYou is the easiest option if you are not the most tech-savvy but have some good graphics and a general idea of what you want to say or showcase. Slideroll has software that allows you to download some software and add your own media as well as a premium upgrade, if you want more of a slick, professional feel and you have access to licensed music or your own video feeds.

Tips for a successful slideshow webmercial:

1. Decide what you are promoting. If you simply want to show off a few products from your online catalog, choose the best images you have. If you’re promoting an event, you’ll want to choose the best photos from the bunch. If you want to tell a story, you can use clip art or stock photos for a slick, professional edge. It takes a marketing eye to know what works, so you may want to consult with business associated or friends if you don’t have your own marketing department.

2. Remember it’s all about branding. The text and music you add should reflect your business or the commercial’s theme. For example, if you own an online boutique that sells hot club clothing, you’ll want to play hip club music rather soft classical music. If you are a virtual assistant, you’ll probably want to keep the music slow and professional. A webmercial communicates to two primary senses – sight and sound. Make sure you don’t annoy your prospects with music that isn’t synced to the visuals.

3. Get to the point – quickly. You’ll want to grab your viewer’s attention with a strong opening image. Keep your message simple and stress your benefits. A webmercial allows you to the opportunity to “show” and “tell”. But nobody wants a webmercial that shows your entire business plan.

4. Don’t forget a call to action. At the end of your webmercial, close the sale. Ask for action. Post your website address or email address. Tell them about your Yahoo group. You don’t have a lot of room, so send them to either your primary home on the web or whatever part of your web promotion you are trying to expand.

Getting eyeballs to your slideshow webmercials

You can embed your webmercial in any format that accepts basic html and/or JavaScript. You can post your webmercial on your own social networking profiles or your close (and I mean close) friends and business associates. Other users that create slideshows also have access to yours if you make sure that your “profile” options are not set to private.

A few tricks to getting people to view your webmercial:

1. Use a webmercial as an intro to your site (i.e. landing page…)

2. Cut and paste the code into Myspace, Bizpreneur, and any other social networking website profiles you may own.

2. Bookmark your slideshow using social book marking websites (such as Digg or Del.icio.us)

3. Link to your webmercial in your next newsletter. (Or, make a weekly webmercial for your newsletter!)

4. Link to your webmercial in your blog. (Or embed it.)

5. Send out a press release announcing your new webmercial (or its purpose – such as the event you are promoting or your new product line)

6. Link to your webmercial in your tag lines, articles, directory listings and anywhere else you can post a standard html link.

7. Share it with me! (Shameless plug, but I would love to see what you’ve created. Send me a message or join my network at LinkedIn (capitalcreativeinc) or Myspace (capitalcreative). (I am at other networks with the email address “yourfreelanceneeds at gmail.com”)

Other uses for slideshows

If you’re trying to sell a concept or an idea, or simply want to add some multimedia for your website, there are other uses for slideshows as well. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Short business presentations you can email to prospects, bosses, or clients.

2. Ecards featuring your products, websites, or URL. (If you are posting these on somebody’s social profile, besides your own, you probably want to nix the music.)

3. Quick tutorials and how-to’s.

4. Any other occasion that you want to communicate visually and quickly.

Webmercials are nothing new, but they’re moving toward simplicity and accessibility for all small businesses that want to market “web 2.0 style”. They’re also a lot of fun to create and share. Take your time choosing the right visuals and copy for your webmercial, and you’ll be able to share your message with a larger audience. And, with any luck, that audience will pass it on for new prospects to share.

By: Melissa Brewer (www.videomarketing-secrets.com)

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