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3 Key Reasons Why Video Marketing Is So Effective and Vital to Your Internet Business

Are you aware of any seasoned or perhaps seriously aspiring online marketer who is not using videos in his marketing business?

Is this obsession with video marketing over-rated, or a fad?

Chances are you should be vividly conscious that Video Marketing has taken the world by storm! To say the least, it is huge. The major search engines seem to love videos so much that you can automatically almost see money rolling through your bank account in no time at all. It appears as though anyone who is serious in making money on line is in, or would need to get into video marketing. Online video marketing appears to be able to get you just that, money.

Certainly, over the last few years the volume of interest shown in this particular type of marketing continues to be on the rise.

These technological innovations have become so extensive that it is safe to say that the majority of people who use the internet are doing so at a rate that is only fast enough to allow them to stream videos.

One needs only look as far as YouTube (and don’t be surprised if You-tubing becomes an official word) and the stunning popularity it has received to see just how many people love to watch videos online. Look at the constant and the ease of uploads in Twitter, Facebook, and even a proliferation of domestic websites and you know that online marketing with video is here to stay, but perhaps not in its current form, but it will continue to evolve. If you give people what they desire, i.e. videos that entertain, excite, and appeal to them, then you’re going to be able to do what every marketer longs to! Make lots and lots of money!

Why is video marketing effective?

Reason #1

If you’ve read Dale Carnegie’s classic “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, you will know that the ‘hows’ of communication is just as vital as the ‘whats’. We are all exposed to the various forms of mainstream communication like telephonic, email, text, and the traditional hand writing. I think we can all agree that face-to-face communication is far more comfortable, and more effective than any other communication vehicles I outlined. That is the rudimentary basis of video marketing. While not precisely face to face, its as close as it gets. In general, we are wired in such a way that our instinctive preference is not only to listen, and read static alphabets, but to hear unadulterated voices, and read facial expressions besides just hearing the words. Video marketing provides that personal touch, that friendliness and human-ness. It is able to better convince a person of genuineness and appreciation, the passion and enthusiasm, and communicate to the other person that he/she is important!

Reason # 2

Video marketing engages and interacts. It increases response rates because the person feels like someone is addressing him and him only. That elevates the feeling of importance. Depending on the product or service on hand, the video marketer will be able to control the emotions, communicate the realities that he/she has faced, or the indepth knowledge possessed, or the genuineness of the product or service being offered. Remember that everyone is self-interested. Video gives the advantage of gaining influence in a benign, and supportive way. A skilled video marketer has the opportunity to influence the response by engaging the audience through 3 out of the 5 senses, ie. through hearing, seeing, and in some ways touching.

Reason # 3

Our years of pre-conditioning with television has ingrained in us the absolute comfort of obtaining information and knowledge through video. There is no need to convey the same message through cumbersome text, but our pace of life has facilitated videos as a means to support our decision making processes which has to be short, sharp, sensationalized even. It is easier to figure out the message through the use of multiple sensory organs, and with the punchy, robust and perhaps even exaggerated manner in which the message is conveyed, the effectiveness is therefore enhanced.

So, why do you think the ‘gurus’ have resorted to online videos to market their wares? This is due to the undeniable fact that videos convert, and affiliates get hooked onto promoting them. And the ease of video marketing is linked to two keywords that I mentioned earlier. It engages, and interacts. It plays to 2 to 3 of our key sensory functions, our audio and visual, and in some ways as close to touch as we can get. We see and hear, and believe and act on more than when we read text. Moving images works on the mind better than static text.

Videos truly provide you with the opportunity to effectively engage with your target audience in a way that very few other marketing strategies can, and thankfully, even if you have never developed or produced a video before, it’s very simple to get started. Did you know that you do not even need your own video camera to get started? If you are fearful, and that is an ordinary phenomena, it may be the result of a lack of understanding. However, with the advancement of technology comes the opportunity for you to overcome your fear, and with ease too. Videos can be made with a few clicks of the button. Gone are the days where high quality equipment, and complex processes are involved. Technology made sure of that.

You need to ask yourself;

1. Wouldn’t you want to be ahead of the game. Well, first you need to be in the game.

2. Wouldn’t you like to be able to effectively leverage of the power of online video marketing. Well, this is how you need to act, in spite of fear and apprehension.

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The Accidental Project Manager: A Threat or an Opportunity?

Good Day AllAre you an accidental project manager?We hope that no one get offended by this term since the use of this term in our view is not offensive at all, rather it reflects a common reality. However, in case anyone object to the term, we truly apologize in advance and humbly ask you to read on and you might find out that our intentions are good-hearted.DefinitionSo what is the accidental project manager? Is it someone who is clumsy and stumbles into too many accidents? Absolutely not!It is a term that somewhat common to use. It typically refers to a professional who is educated, experienced, and practicing in one function or domain, such as: engineering, programming, marketing, human resources, finance, general business, art, and healthcare, among many other fields. This professional, at one time or another, is tasked with managing a project related to their function or department, such as an engineering related project, learning and development project, a media project, or any other project. Now, the challenge is that more often than none, this professional might not have any experience or education or training in project management yet they are still asked to manage a project.In other words, the professional is accidentally, or by chance/coincidence, get to manage a project although that was not likely a preferred career choice. Managing the project can be on a part-time or full-time basis. Once the project is complete, the professional resume his or her normal functional duties and maybe never manage a project again.The OpportunityFor many professionals the above bring about a great opportunity. An opportunity to take on a new challenge, and acquire new and highly valuable skills; management skills. These skills are in demand in today’s economy and life and are transferable to many domains, including managing personal non-work initiatives.If the person does a good job in managing the first project, she/he might be given an opportunity to manage another, and another, and maybe shift totally into project management and become a career project manager. A career PM is someone who chose project management as a career choice and shifted from whatever career they were in before. The transition might not be easy but would be quite rewarding.The ThreatsThe threat to the professional and the organization is that the accidental PM might not be ready to manage a project and as a result they might not do well on the first project. If the project has a significant degree of complexity, then the project might even fail and we are likely to blame the project manager. Could this be the error of the accidental PM? Basically, the professional is given a new “challenge” as the boss might have said, yet this professional who is given the challenge might not have the characteristics that is necessary for a good career project manager. Further, this person might not have been given the necessary education or know how to manage the projects and would not be fair to blame her/him.Therefore, the threat in this case is double edge: on the personal aspects, the accidental project manager is likely to feel responsible for the failure and this situation might hurt them professionally and personally. In some cases the consequences could be severe and detrimental to the person’s career. The other aspect for this situation is the organizational aspect. Here we have a failed project with cost and schedule impact – at least. If the project is for a client, the damage could be significant.In short, all involved lose in this scenario.The SolutionOne solution is to have all project managers educated and trained in project management but we do not believe this is necessary for all type of projects. For major capital investment projects, and projects that are very important for an organization we need the necessary preparation before we should put a project manager in charge.However, many projects, especially those in our day-to-day life and business, can be managed effectively with accidental project managers with some preparation. But we should not throw the person into the ocean and expect them to reach the shores safely if they do not know how to swim. We need to teach them the necessary to survive, maybe in a large pool and not the ocean; for the ocean we need an expert swimmer.How can we do that? Have the professional works on projects to see what it is like. Provide some basic project management learning opportunities. Have the person work as an assistant project manager under the supervision of a more experienced professional. All of these actions will enhance the chance of success and minimize the chance of failure. This way, we would have effectively managed the risk of the accidental project manager and the professional gain new skills while the organization enjoys the benefits of a new service or product.For all professionals out in the world, welcome the opportunity to manage a project and it may change your life. If the organization gives you the task without getting you ready, prepare on your own – seek the new knowledge and best of all learn how to apply it. We wish you an enjoyable and exciting journey of learning and growth.By the way, the author started his career as an engineer and then moved to projects.

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