Lou Bortone

When it comes to marketing, content is still king. Content drives sales of your products and services, and keeps your customers engaged in your business.

However, content is also a hungry beast that must be fed – constantly. In order to stay visible and relevant, you have to continue to “feed the beast” and consistently crank out new content and material.

That’s why it’s such a great idea to repurpose your existing content and give your old material new life.

It’s relatively easy to breathe new life into old content using online video. Here are five easy ways to repurpose your existing written materials into dynamic and engaging new video content: [Read more…]

By Lou Bortone

How To Maximize Your Marketing With The YouTube Booster Effect

by Lou Bortone

YouTube has changed the online landscape and dominates the web, with more than 1 billion unique users each month. Over 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and YouTube now reaches more US adults ages 18 – 34 than any cable network.

Just to put that into perspective, if YouTube were a country, it would be the third largest in the world, just after China and India.

With that kind of reach, YouTube represents an enormous opportunity for small business owners to get significantly more visibility and exposure.

However, with billions of videos on the video channel, it’s very easy to get lost in the YouTube jungle. In fact, 53% of YouTube’s videos get less than 500 views, and about 30% have less than 100 views. Meanwhile, a miniscule 0.33% have over a million views.

Granted, it’s not all about the numbers, but you do want your video to be seen by as many people as possible. More video views means more engagement, and more engagement means more potential customers!

Fortunately, there are five little-known strategies to optimize your videos on YouTube to give you the YouTube Booster effect: [Read more…]

By Lou Bortone

Five Sure-Fire Cures for Acute Videophobia

by Lou Bortone

It’s okay to admit it. It’s actually quite common. And, fortunately, it’s usually treatable and rarely fatal.

We’re talking about “videophobia:” Fear of video or, more specifically, fear of being on camera.

Most of us suffer some level of videophobia, and precious few actually relish the thought of talking into a webcam or smartphone.

After all, unless we’re actors, news anchors, or Kardashians, being on camera isn’t something we do every day. It’s outside our comfort zone. So, like any new skill, it has to be learned and practiced.

Ask 100 small business owners why they haven’t yet used video to promote their products and services, and 95 of them will admit that it’s fear of being on camera.

Of course, if we break it down further, we hear common concerns such as “I don’t like how I look on camera,” or “I’m afraid I’ll screw up and make a fool of myself.” Shooting on-camera video is akin to public speaking, and we know how most folks feel about that!

While these are all legitimate fears, they are certainly not insurmountable obstacles. Granted, women have it harder than men to get “camera ready,” but, believe me, us guys have our share of bad hair days and times when we’re just not ready for prime time.

The surprising part of all this is that many entrepreneurs avoid the camera despite the fact that they understand the marketing power of online video.

In fact, videophobia may be the only thing standing between you and the business success that video marketing provides.

So what should you do if you suffer from videophobia? Why should you miss out on the most powerful marketing tool available today? Here are a few remedies to consider if you are one of the many business owners afflicted with videophobia:

[Read more…]

By Lou Bortone

Five Fab Video Tools to Make a Bigger Impact Online

by Lou Bortone

We’re all getting bombarded with messages, and the barrage keeps on coming. So how do you break through, stand out, get noticed and reach your peeps? You’ve got to do something more engaging than the usual methods!

Video messaging is perfect for this, since it’s so much more personal and unique. And there’s no need to set up a lot of equipment or do a big production. Some of my favorite “video engagement” tools are easy and inexpensive to use.

Here are my five faves video tools:

[Read more…]

By Lou Bortone

Get Off Your Butt and Start Making Videos

by Lou Bortone

I recently spoke on a panel at the “A-Ha! Social Business Summit,” an annual social media conference created and organized by Allen and Lani Voivod of Epiphinies, Inc.

The session was aptly titled “Get Off Your Butt and Start Making Videos!” Allen Voivod asked us some really great questions, so I’d like to share those questions (and my answers) here!

Allen: You’re used to shooting with serious equipment, but you also use your phone, too. What tips would you share for making decent videos with your phone?

[Read more…]