Is It Possible To Have Virtual Mentors?


Is It Possible To Have Virtual Mentors?

by Scott Mckeagan

I recently read a quote that stuck with me: “Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher”.  I thought about it for awhile and decided to take a closer look at who my mentors are. After creating a list, I realized that I’ve never actually met any of them yet they continue to inspire and offer me information that is relevant to my business.  So I sit here pondering the question…is it possible to now have virtual mentors?

Over the course of the past six years, I’ve followed a lot of people’s blogs, tweets and posts but have always received the best advice from a select few people.  I’d like to share my list of virtual mentors with you so you may also benefit from what they have to offer. Here we go..

 

Gary Vaynerchuck

garyvaynerchuk.com

Gary is probably the one person to help me realize what social media is all about and how to incorporate it into today’s new era of business.  Gary recorded a presentation that he did for inc.com that was nothing short of inspirational and I continue to share it with anyone who will listen.

Pat Flynn

smartpassiveincome.com

Pat is the epitomy of the guy who lost it all and bounced back. He is the reason why so many marketers are successful online because of his simplistic and honest approach to marketing.

Amy Porterfield

amyporterfield.com

If you’re looking for information on how to market your business on Facebook then look no further than Amy. She consistently keeps me up to date on all the latest trends on Facebook as well as step by step instructions on how to implement them. Her warm hearted demeanour translates through her online persona to make you feel comfortable, trusted and informed.

Chris Ducker

chrisducker.com

Chris is a relative newcomer on my radar but I have read and watched all I can find on his websites. Chris continues to offer amazing advice on outsourcing and marketing. I love is sense of humour that he ads to each and every on of his podcasts.

Derek Halpern

socialtriggers.com

Derek is a no nonsense kind of marketer that cuts to the chase of what he is discussing. There is no fluff added to his blog, just simple information that people can begin to use immediately.

Michael Stelzner

socialmediaexaminer.com

For some reason, Michael exudes trust. I have yet to put my finger on it but you just can’t help trusting what he has to say. He is your go-to guy for anything social media related.

James Wedmore

jameswedmore.com

James is my video guy. When ever there is something new being rolled out in the video world,  I can count on James to write a post on how we can implement the new changes. He offers a ton of great advice both on his blog and his YouTube channel. If your using video (and you should be), James is your guy.

Rand Fiskin

seomoz.org

Rand is my number one resource for everything “seo”.  His white hat approach to seo has always been spot on and easy to implement. If you’re looking to do search engine optimization the right way then I recommend following Rand and his Whiteboard Fridays..

 

Please feel free to leave a comment letting me know who your mentors are. I could always use a bit more advice.

Scott

 

Freshbooks Review

by Scott Mckeagan

FreshBooks Review

Well as I write the post, I am knee deep in tax preparation. I’ve been in contact with my accountant and am in the process of getting him all my financial information. I realize every year at this time how important it is to have a good accounting program in place to make the tax process as painless as possible.  I realized that writing a post about my accounting software makes sense.  So hear you go….For the past six years, I have been using a company called Freshbooks.

 

Freshbooks is a cloud based accounting software that llows any small business owner send out invoices and keep track of all your revenue and expenses. I’ve used the big boy accounting software solutions in the past but have never needed the majority of their features and certainly did not need their high price tags. Freshbooks comes in nicely to give you just the features you need at the right price.  Their pricing ranges from $19.95 to $39.95 per month which is primarily based on how many customers you have and of course they have a 30 day free trial.

Freshbooks Review

 

Add-Ons/Integrations

One feature that I love about Freshbooks is the amount of add-ons and integrations that they have completed over the years. They are integrated with crms, project management software, other accounting programs, time management software, lead generation companies, marketing programs, credit card processing services, workforce management and Google just to name a few.

Mobile App

The also have a convenient mobile app (albeit just for iphone and ipads at this time) that allows you to manage your invoices, expenses and time tracking on the go.  You can even take a picture of the receipt and upload into the software.

Customer Support

My favorite part of the Freshbooks experience…They have “Support Rockstars” that are second to none. I have never been disappointed with them when I call in to ask a question.  I actually visited their office a few years ago and found out that each employee must take a customer support course prior to starting any other position within the company.

I don’t mean to sound overly promotional in this post but I don’t often come across a product that has never let me down. If your a small business owner and are looking for an affordable accounting/invoicing software, I recommend you give Freshbooks a shot.

Scott

 

 

 

Tips and Tricks To Get More Conversions

by Scott Mckeagan

Tips and Tricks To Get More Conversions

1.) Using annotations to engage your viewers creatively through CTAs not only gives you more exposure, but also influences Google’s search algorithm. The more clicks your video gets, the better off you’ll be.

Annotations can be used creatively in a variety of ways to produce effective CTAs.

You can:

  • Drive subscriptions to your YouTube channel
  • Link directly to other related videos and content
  • Give viewers the opportunity to like, favorite, or share your videos
  • Allow viewers to send a private message to you
  • Allow Video Responses to your video
  • Encourage comments on your video

2.) Brand your YouTube channel - As with every social media platform, the more branded and “lived-in” your profile appears, the more credibility you appear to have… warranted or not. A generic or default design makes you appear fly-by-night.

3.) Choose “Player View”as your layout - Unlike the Grid View, the Player View features one big video that can be set to autoplay. Because total views can positively impact your visibility, you want to make sure your featured video is set to autoplay.

4.) Create playlists - Playlists are a way of organizing videos on YouTube. Although you can create playlists of any video—whether you made it or not—for your channel, consider creating a playlist of your most popular videos, or ones that best represent your products and offerings.
For example, if you offer bicycling tours of New England, you might create a playlist that consists of “Bike Tours of Maine,” “Bike Tours of New Hampshire,” “Bike Tours of Vermont,” and so on.If you own a pet store, you might have a Care & Feeding playlist with such hits as “Taking Care of Your Iguana,” “Feeding Tips for Your Parakeet,” and “What Will Your New Pet Snake Eat?”Just as you have a home page on your website and silos of information for your different products and services, you can replicate this on your channel through clever use of the Featured Video and Playlist.

In case you missed my previous articles in video marketing, you can find them here:

How To Optimize Your Video For The Search Engines

by Scott Mckeagan

In this series of video marketing, we are going to examine how to optimize your video for the search engines. Over the years I’ve discovered a few techniques that can assist you on optimizing your video and I’m going to share my tried and true techniques that have proven results time and time again. So let’s begin.

 

Before you upload our video to YouTube, I recommend that you do a little keyword research. You’ll want to decide at this point what term would you like your video to show up for in Google. For example, if you were creating a video about a used 2010 Chevrolet 1500, should you name the video 2010 Chevrolet 1500 – B34677  or 2010 Chevrolet 1500 Vancouver (assuming your dealership is in Vancouver)? You’re going to want to set yourself up to succeed and not fail as a result of competing with every video ever made for that vehicle.  Adding your city and even the word “review” will greaty impact your optimization efforts.

Now that you have a keyword phrase picked out, I recommend you go back and rename the video file that you saved on your computer to the exact same keyword phrase. For example, let’s say the video file was named 02.23.2013 video1, you’ll want to rename the video to 2012chevrolet1500vancouver. Doing so has proven time and time again to directly impact your results.

Ok, go ahead and upload your video if already have not.

Next your going to want to name the title of your video with your keyword phrase in it. Continuing with our example, you could name the title of the video “2010 Chevrolet 1500 Vancouver” or “2010 Chevrolet 1500 For Sale in Vancouver”. Both will work however the first iteration of the title should produce results if someone was to search for the second keyword.

The next step is to add a link for your website to the first line of the description box. Tip: Make sure you create the link with  http://www.yourdomain.com as this is the only way for the link to be clickable. Not including the http:// will result with your link not working.

In the description section, I recommend that you explain your unique value proposition for the video as well as adding any links to content that you might have referenced in the video.

Finally, add descriptive keywords in the tags section to assist both YouTube and Google with finding your video. Tip: go to other videos on your subject and see what other’s used for keywords in their description.

 

Time to get views:

I’ve found that if you are able to get a few views to your video within the first 48 hours, it tends to rank a little better than getting views over a longer period of time. So I recommend you post your video on your blog, facebook page, twitter account, newsletter and anywhere else you feel you can get some good distribution.

In the continuing series of Video Marketing, we are going to discuss Tips and Tricks To Get More Conversions.

In case you missed my previous articles in video marketing, you can find them here:

Scott

 

 

How To Edit a Video

by Scott Mckeagan

In our continuing series on video marketing, I want to bring you down the path of video editing. This can be a step where many internet marketers might begin to feel a little overwhelmed. For example, what software should I use? Is it expansive? Is it hard to do? I’m going to try to both answer and illustrate how you can put those fears to rest.

I am going to assume for a moment that you have already have a video that is ready to be edited. If not, grab your smartphone, your video camera or your screen capture software and make a quick video to test.

Ok, there are few paid and free software programs available on the market that can serve our purpose for editing.

Because I work on a pc (for now), I am going to walk you through the process of editing your video in Windows Live Movie Maker. Windows Live Movie Maker has all the basic functions that we’ll need to edit a video. As your confidence grows, I strongly recommend you try a few of the paid editing software by subscribing to their 30 day free trial. I personally use Camtasia for both its functionality and price point.

 

 

Quick Tip:

I personally recommend you begin your video with you explaining what the video is about and how it will benefit the viewer followed by your intro. Doing so will quickly capture the audiences attention.

Now that we have our video edited and ready, it’s time to upload it to YouTube which is the perfect time to discuss How to Optimize Your Video For The Search Engines in our next Video Marketing series.
In case you missed my previous articles in video marketing, you can find them here:

 

Scott
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