Videos are an effective way to get a message across to our clients and yet they are still under used. With the explosion of web 2.0, videos can be supported by most sites and they can be hosted cheaply too. A vlog is short for videoblog. It is a blog which uses video as the primary content as technically it is linked to within a videoblog post. A vlog is accompanied by supporting text, image, and additional meta data to provide a context for the video. Vlog like Blogs are updated regularly, generally includes personal reflections, comments and often take advantage of RSS for syndication to other web sites and aggregator software (rss readers).

Why Use Videos?

If audio has more impact over text, visual takes it all. Visuals have a cutting edge as far as conversions are concerned. It leads to more personalization hence greater customer involvement.
Some examples of business videos are:

o Showing a demo of a product
o A presentation of services
o A CEO giving a speech
o An explanation of a procedure
o Showing different uses of a product
o Fun videos
o Create interaction
o peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and acquisition

Earlier videos were used sparingly because of bandwidth considerations and the increases of loading time. Moreover content was needed for optimization. However with the introduction of Video Sitemap Protocol optimization of videos has been made possible. Moreover now there are dedicated media servers to take care of vlogging and podcasting

Requirements:

o A Microphone compatible with your PC
o A Webcam that allows you to record video and save it on your computer hard drive.
OR
o A camcorder
o Video editing software

How does it work?

1. Get a microphone: To record a video, you need to have a microphone that is compatible with your computer.
2. Get a webcam.: You need to get a webcam that allows you to record video and save it on your computer’s hard drive.
3. Take time to Prepare your vlog content: Take some time to think about what you’re going to say or do during your vlog.
4. Record your vlog: Turn on your microphone, start your webcam and begin recording. Save the file when you’re done.
5. Upload your vlog file to YouTube or Google Video:
6. Get the embedding code of your uploaded vlog file. Alternately if your server supports these type of media, upload it to your website.
7. Copy the embedding code: Once you upload your vlog file to YouTube or Google Video, copy the embedding code and keep it handy.
8. Create a new blog post: Give it a relevant title and add content to introduce your vlog.
9. Paste the embedding code for your vlog file into your new blog post. Using the embedding code you copied earlier for your uploaded vlog file, paste that information into the code of your new blog post.
10. Publish your new blog post. Select the publish button in your blogging application to send your new blog post with your vlog in it live online.

Deciding on a video host: Check the following

Check out the other videos on the site. Are they high quality and in good taste, or a little raunchy and inappropriate? Choose a site you feel comfortable about.

Check the File Size Limits: Web video hosting sites have varying limits in the size of the video files they allow you to upload. Generally you’ll have to compress your video before uploading so it meets the file size requirements of the video hosting site. If you have to compress it too much, your video may not look very good by the time it’s playing on the web.

Storage Space Offered: Is there a limit to how many videos you can upload to your account, or how much storage space you can use?

Uploading Formats: What video formats does the site accept? Most web video hosting sites accept multiple video formats, such as Quicktime, Windows Media, MPEG etc. You can even find sites that allow you to upload directly from your camcorder or cell phone. If this is important to you, make sure that the web video hosting service you choose to use offers these features.

Viewing Formats: What format do the videos on the site play in? Flash is the standard for most web video hosting sites, because it is installed on most computers and plays quickly and easily. However, some sites offer other video formats, in case you want to share your video on a site that doesn’t use Flash, such as iTunes.

Compression Quality: Web video hosting sites will recompress your video before publishing it. Some sites do this better than others.

Video Downloads: Because of copyright issues, many web video hosting sites do not allow users to download copies of the videos on the site. There are some sites though, such as Google Video, that allow users to save copies of videos to their desktop or portable video player.

Editing Capabilities: Many web video hosting sites now offer editing features. JumpCut offers extensive online nonlinear editing, and other sites give you the ability to remix your video or add titles, narration or photos.

Audience: Different sites have different audiences. If your video focuses on a niche topic, choose a web video hosting service that serves that niche, else YouTube.

Video Sharing: Most web video hosting services allow you to embed your videos in blogs, on personal web pages, and on sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Video Player: Some sites will include advertisements next to the video player, or will place a watermark of their logo over part of your video. This may be fine, but it doesn’t look so professional if you’re sending the video to clients and it has a big “YouTube” logo on it.

Tips

o Decide on the purpose of your video. If it’s to attract traffic to your website, host is there. Else you can go in for third part hosting. like http://www.youtube.com.
o Use keyword rich title for your videos.
o Add a video sitemap on your website. Sign into Google webmasters to create a Video Sitemap
o Get your video transcribed. Either use an automatic transcriber or use an affordable cheap transcription service vendor.
o Keep your video duration around 5 minutes, not more for bandwidth considerations and to keep it effective.
o Add a call to action.
o Test your vlog after publishing to ensure it’s working smoothly.
o Some popular Download-First video formats are AVI, MPEG1, MPEG2, and MPEG4. Here are some popular Streaming Video formats: WMV (Windows Media Video), QT (QuickTime), and RealVideo (RM).

Video Editing Software

o iMovie: iMovie comes free with new Macs. iMovie offers many options for editing video and audio, and adding photos, music and narration to your movies.
o Movie Maker: Movie Maker is Window’s free video editing software, which comes installed on new PCs. Use the program to create and share high-quality
o Avid Free DV: Free DV is Avid’s free video editing software, and it works with both Macs and PCs. It’s a stripped down version of Avid’s professional software, and gives users limited video and audio editing capabilities.
o Jump Cut: An online entry, Jump Cut’s free video editing software allows you to cut video, and add audio, photos, effects and titles right on the web.
o Virtual Dub: Virtual Dub offers simple editing capabilities. You can’t get too creative with the software, but you can use it to make simple, clean edits in your video footage. Virtual Dub works with Windows only.
Places to Host Your Vlog

o Free Vlog
o Internet Archive

Some Video Sharing Sites

o YouTube: YouTube is the biggest and best known, and it offers many features if you want to share your video and get it seen by a large audience.

o Revver : Revver is a revenue sharing, as well as video sharing, web site. Ads embedded at the end of videos can earn producers real money.

o Google Video : Google purchased YouTube, but it still maintains its own video sharing and search tools.

o Blip.tv : Use Blip.tv to start your own online television program.

o Jump Cut : Yahoo!’s entry into the world of social video sharing, Jump Cut offers a sleek online video editing tool, as well as all the bells and whistles for uploading and sharing your videos.

o Yahoo! Video: Yahoo! Video has all the features available on other large video-sharing sites. It also gives you the ability to upload a transcript for your video, which makes it easier to find in web searches.

o My Space: If you have a My Space page, you have a forum for easily sharing your videos online.

o Video Egg: Upload your video, share it and, possibly, make money off of it.

Ajay Prasad is President and CEO of Global Marketing Resources a company that specializes in website design, website maintenance and website marketing. GMRWebTeam.com is the website of the company that started 7 year ago as a website design Orange County based company. For affordable packages on website design, website maintenance and website marketing click on the link.

Author: Ajay Prasad
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Both pay-per-click and SEO are targeted to get your website placed as close to the top of search engine results as possible. Marketing and SEO are different, yet very, very similar. SEO are considered as the main factors in enhancing the traffic of one’s website. The concepts of good SEO are hardly a secret. The people who least understands issues with URL structure and SEO are the very people who create them: web developers, programmers, and software developers.

Many long-time SEO’s are now looking at the big picture and working with usability analysts. Some SEO are scam artists. I find it interesting that so many newcomers are given the wrong impression that there is one almighty answer to doing well in search engines. SEO are specialized techniques used to optimize your web site, to be Search engine friendly and increase your chances of placing well in searches. But SEO can also be the most profitable methods of driving leads because any leads you receive from SEO are free leads.

There are a large number of companies that adopt a fast and unethical approach to SEO known as Black Hat SEO. They employ unethical techniques that are against search engine policies. The best results from SEO are rarely achieved overnight. Black hat SEO are the techniques used to fool the search engines in order to bring in more traffic to websites. Website owners who unknowingly utilize black hat techniques of SEO are more vulnerable to changes in search engine algorithms and faced being banned.

Most hardcover books on the subject of SEO are best viewed as a vehicle to help the beginner understand the process of search engine optimization. This is because the principles behind SEO are not easy. They are very informative and most webmasters are involved in SEO and using it. White hat and black hat SEO are two opposing views of how to do search engine optimization. In a nutshell, SEO are methods that aim to improve the position or rank of a website in the listings produced by search engines. The benefits of SEO are almost unlimited.

Watch out for SEO Tools and software that is outdated and totally useless. Always research before you buy any SEO software because the search engine Algorithms are constantly changing thereby improving their search technologies to provide the most relevant results for their users. SEO tools for Google, MSN and Yahoo are numerous. SEO tools for press release optimization were also launched by PRWeb at the end of June called SEO Wizard. Search engine optimization is not easy, but with the right SEO tools, your website promotion task just got a lot easier. Blogs are one of the best SEO tools around and some like WordPress are free. Google Sitemaps’ are a powerful SEO tools which you can get free by visiting my website.

MSN has launched a suite of SEO tools to go with their Pay Per Click product Adcenter. There are many SEO tools available on the internet, some are better then others, and some are not. Header tags, proper Keyword density, proper text formatting fonts, start text key-phrase as whole phrases, alt image tag text, links pointing to your site and each page and your domain name itself are some things to pay attention too. Many specialized SEO tools can help you determine the popularity and the competitiveness of your possible keywords and can help improve your search engine ranking particularly in Google.

Writing fresh content for SEO plays a large role in keeping visitors on a web site. Let’s talk unique web page content and SEO content strategy. Finding a good SEO content writer is easier than you think. Just run a Google search or checkout elance.com. What is good SEO Content? It is unique, quality information that your visitors can use and is helpful to them. RSS feeds are an invaluable tool in the SEO content toolbox. If you scrape SEO content and end up scraping a couple spam pages, you may get noticed even more because someone is investigating the other spam pages.

The primary factor that will determine whether your SEO content is “good enough” is the content provided by competing websites. You need unique content that nobody has in order for it to pass duplicate content filters. That’s why it is important to get your content articles indexed before you submit them to the search engines. I think nowadays though search engine algorithms can trace back the content and see who published it first, so at least make sure you publish it to your website or blog before submitting it to article directories.

To strengthen the theme of your web site, you need keyword rich SEO content. SEO content writing tips content writer’s main aim is to create a new written piece which is original, simple, informative and also to the point. Write specific targeted SEO content for the independent pages. Unique SEO content remains king. Showing your visitors you can really write unique, compelling content, your traffic will grow very fast. Earlier it was just content writing but now it is widely known as SEO content writing. However there are some strict rules enforced on SEO content. Once you have visitors, your SEO content should be converting them into customers. With effective SEO content on your website, half of your search engine rank optimization work is done.

Ethical search engine optimization is a must or you will get banned. It’s not if, it’s when. Search engine optimization was and still is fascinating to me. Search Engine Optimization is a crucial part in a websites success. The objective of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to achieve high natural search engine placement for relevant keywords or keyword phrases. Hiring an ethical search engine optimization company to rank well in the natural results is essential to long term success.

Your white hat Search engine optimization (SEO) campaign will provide you with a long term increase in targeted traffic and qualified visitors to your Web Site. Visit my site often and add it to your favorites as I update you with the latest news and rumors in the search engine optimization industry everyday. The effects of bad search engine optimization are devastating and very depressing. Each website is unique in its own way and hence your (SEO) plans differ from website to website.

My site has some tips on how to perform search engine optimization (also know as SEO) on your website. I have a free, comprehensive guide to the practice of search engine optimization for those unfamiliar with the subject if you send me an email. There’s a lot of hype out there about search engine optimization (SEO) services. Some are good and some are bad. Read through Google’s terms of service as they have some information on their site about it.

Too often, visual design and SEO are perceived as a mutual sacrifice. Pay-per-click and SEO are targeted to get your website placed as close to the top of search engine results as possible. Pay-per-click cost money, but the clicks from SEO cost you nothing. SEO are considered as the main factors in enhancing the traffic of one’s website. Both, PPC and SEO are important. The truth is, the most rewarding part of SEO are often the slowest to reward. PR and SEO are based mostly on editorial credibility and relevance, not a direct payment for exposure.

SEO are specialized techniques used to optimize your web site, to be Search engine friendly and increase your chances of placing well in searches. There are a large number of companies that adopt a fast and unethical approach to SEO known as Black Hat SEO. The main components of on-page SEO are optimization of the title tag, the headline tag, the body text and the Meta tags. Companies interested in SEO are occasionally not very happy with how their website looks. Programmers with an understanding of SEO are in high demand. As a matter of fact, sites with excellent Search Engine Optimization are making giant leaps in rankings and getting a major boost in free traffic with Google’s new update.

Great web usability and SEO are wasted if folks who visit your web can’t tell that you are worthy of their trust. Those who specialize in SEO are in the unique position of understanding the web in a way that no traditional marketing agency can hope to. White hat and black hat SEO are two opposing views of how to do search engine optimization so if you use one, choose with great care. The second most important aspect for high SEO is the headers. Use H1, H2, H3, H4 headers.

Many of the techniques that can be used for SEO are banned by the various search engines. The benefits of SEO are almost unlimited. Bad techniques of SEO are a strict ‘NO’ – Like same color text as the background and Doorway pages can get your website banned. The five forces of SEO are relevant Keywords, unique Content, clean Code, relevant Links and proper use of Technology. Designing for users and designing for SEO are not mutually exclusive goals. There will be compromise. White hat SEO are techniques that follow precisely the rules and guidelines provided by search engines stand a better chance of receiving traffic and higher rankings than black hat techniques.

For this reason it is important to try to stay updated as far as new SEO are concerned. The off-page elements of website promotion and SEO are just as important. The majority of issues with SEO is very basic and just takes time to be picked up on search engines. Web design and SEO are two very different disciplines, but a certain degree of collaboration is required. It’s easy to see why effective SEO are now very much in demand. Black hat SEO is techniques used to trick or manipulate search engines for higher rankings.

If done properly, the results of your SEO efforts are very impressive. Those who practice what some refer to as “ethical” and “correct” SEO are called White Hat SEO’s. The most important for SEO is to follow the rules and you won’t have anything to worry about.

Patricia J Tuley is a Technology research analasis. You can visit my site [http://www.seoarticlesonline.com] for more great information on search engine optimization and products.

Author: Patricia Tuley
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

The long awaited promise of high-quality, fast-loading web video has finally arrived. And with it, comes enormous opportunity. The more I think about it, the more opportunity I see.

I’m not saying you’ll get rich overnight with these ideas, but it is possible to create multiple, passive income streams using these web video business models. So, here are the top 12 ways you can start profiting from web video today…

1. Upload Your Video to Ad Revenue Sharing Sites

YouTube is the big daddy of user-submitted video web sites. With 35,000+ video submissions each day, their daily traffic places them in the top thirty most visited sites on the web.

YouTube is the leader, but they are not alone. There are dozens (if not more) copycats trying to break into the online video sharing market.

I’m still not sure what their business model is (rumor has it, they’re not too sure, either). It costs them a small fortune to serve video to millions of people each day, and most venture capitalists don’t enjoy seeing their money disappear into the ether.

A likely scenario is that sooner or later, in order to stay afloat, they will have to invite advertisers to help foot the bill. If so, they won’t be the first to give the ad-supported business model a try.

That honor, goes to Revver.com…

“Revver connects creators, viewers, and advertisers in a sponsorship marketplace for online video, taking full advantage of the open flow of information on the Internet, rather than trying to fight it. Revver provides all the tools you need to distribute your original work online and earn money. Revver strives to support free and accessible videos online and still reward creators.”

Here’s how Revver works…

1. You upload your video to Revver.

2. They attach a brief, unobtrusive ad at the end of the video.

3. People watch your video at Revver.com, or on other sites where people have embedded your video.

4. If someone views your video and clicks on your ad at the end, Revver deposits a portion of the click-through value into your account.

5. You then track your video’s performance through your Revver account (e.g., how many times your video has been seen, and how much money you’ve earned).

6. Eventually, they send you money.

If you can consistently create and upload videos, this can be a good strategy for developing a long-term, passive income stream. Other sites that offer revenue sharing similar to Revver include Blip.TV and eefoof.com.

2. Place Affiliate Links in Your Videos

People come to your site to watch your video. You have their attention. Then what happens when the video is over? Re-direct them to an affiliate partner who sells what you covered in your video!

For example, if your video is about:

* Powerdrills… send them to an online hardware store.

* A newly released book or DVD… send them to Amazon.com.

* An exciting vacation location… send them to Priceline.com.

…just be sure to do it with an affiliate link so you earn a commission if a sale results.

This is easy to do with The Web Video Player™ (available at [http://www.WebVideoPlayer.com] ). Just put your affiliate link in the End of Movie URL” field, and use one of the “Click Here for More Info” buttons available in the player image gallery. Viewers who click on the closing graphic will be taken to the URL you specify.

3. Create Google Video Web Sites

Most movies available on Google Video can be embedded on any web page. If the option is available for the video, there will be a link next to it that says “Embed HTML.” Click on it, and the necessary code to display the video on a web page will be shown. Add the code to any web page where you want the video to appear.

How to monetize Google Videos…

What you want to do is create a theme-based site on a certain niche or industry (e.g., martial arts, quilting, etc.). First, search Google Video for using those theme keywords to make sure there are already videos online related to your chosen niche.

If so, register a domain name such as martial-arts-videos.com or free-quilting-videos.com, and create a basic web site using the name. Use blogging software such as WordPress or MovableType to simplify the process.

Create a web page for each video, including a text description of what’s covered in the video. Depending upon the theme, you may be able to find hundreds of related videos. Each one would then have its own unique web page on your site.

Add Google AdSense ads and/or related affiliate links to each page. Include an opt-in box so people can join your mailing list, allowing you to notify visitors of new videos and special offers related to your theme.

If you have success with one theme-based site, find another topic, and repeat the process with additional sites.

4. Sell Your Video Content at iStockVideo

iStockVideo.com is a new service from the the folks who brought us iStockPhoto.com, a wonderful royalty free stock photo web site (learn more about royalty free stock photos). With iStockVideo, you’ll get paid for uploading video (stock footage) that other people want to use in their videos…

“We want to see animations, stop motions, digitized film footage, video clips, and wacky abstract movies. We need video, from you and all your friends. Contribute a video in the first 90 days and receive 10 free credits, to use anywhere on iStock. Then, tell you friends about iStockvideo, and we’ll pay you as much as 50 dollars. Refer your friends and receive $1 for every clip that they upload, up to the first 50.”

Since this is new, it’s hard to say how much money you can make. Either way, if it’s anything like iStockPhoto, it’s going to be a wonderful resource for web video creators.

5. Find Sponsors for Your Videos

Are your videos interesting, professional, and do they target a specific market that advertisers would like to reach? If so, there’s a good chance you might be able to find sponsors who will pay you to reach that audience. (If not, these web video tutorials will help you create better videos.)

With the The Web Video Player™, you can give sponsors the opportunity to advertise during and after your video using the Logo Image and Exit Image features.

Charge sponsors by the month, per click-through, or per unique viewer. By checking your web video player stats, you and your sponsors will know exactly how many people watched the video, and when.

6. Use Web Video to Sell/Support Your Own Products

Do you have your own products/services to sell? If so, use video to help tell your story and turn prospects into customers. Using the The Web Video Player™, you can easily use video to…

* Show your products in action.

* Demonstrate the problems they (you) solve.

* Sell your products on eBay.

* Show video tours of your facilities.

* Do short video introductions of your staff (customers like to know there are real people behind the scenes).

* Use video to explain your guarantees.

* Show video testimonials of satisfied customers.

* Use video for support issues (e.g., how to solve common problems).

Almost anything that can be sold online can benefit from a well-made internet video supporting the product or service.

7. Combine Web Video with Affiliate Marketing

Sure, you can use web video to help market your own products or services. While this may at first seem like a no-brainer, there are more opportunities here than you might realize.

Most people think this is limited to putting promotional videos on their own web sites, hoping this will increase sales. Sure, done correctly, it should. But let’s take this a step further…

If you sell your own products and services, you need to look at using web videos to draw prospects into your site. For example, by combining the The Web Video Player™ with your own affiliate program, you’d be packing a powerful “one-two punch” when it comes to your internet marketing.

And here’s how you do it…

By using the WebVideoZone’s Video Affiliate System™, you can make it simple for your affiliates to place your videos – with their affiliate links built into the player – on their sites. This system integrates seamlessly with any affiliate program.

If someone who views the video then clicks on the call-to-action features of the player (e.g., your custom logo) and then buys at your site, the affiliate gets credit for the sale.

For example, you can combine the The Web Video Player™ and Video Affiliate Sytem™ to promote your site via…

* A video “tip of the week” report

* Video product reviews

* Video news reports for a specific industry

* A regular vlog

* Video tours of remote locations

As long as you have something to sell, use can profit from combining web videos with your affiliate program. In essence, the video player you’d be offering your affiliates would be a giant, eye-catching affiliate link pointing back to your site!

And remember, when you update your video at The WebVideoZone, it will automatically update on your affiliates’ sites in real-time. Your affiliates don’t need to do anything.

8. Put Google Ads Next to Your Videos

If you create your own videos, put them online, add a good text description, and put some Google AdSense ads next to them that might be of interest to your viewers.

For best results:

* Make sure your video is on a subject that appeals to an audience which advertisers are trying to reach.

* Limit your videos to one per page, unless they’re on the same topic.

* Be sure to use relevant keywords in your page title, headlines and descriptions.

* Create an email opt-in list, allowing you to contact your visitors when you have news or special offers to share.

9. Create Short Promotional Videos for Local Businesses

For less than $2,000, you can start your own side business where you create short web videos for other local businesses. And even if you don’t yet have the skills, you can learn everything you need to know right here, in a short period of time.

Who might be interested in these types of videos? The most obvious clients would be…

* Realtors – offer home tour videos of newly listed properties

* New and used car dealers – create short videos that car dealers (especially luxury car dealers) can put on their web sites, helping them to move inventory.

* Travel and leisure destinations – B&Bs, hotels, resorts, restaurants, ski resorts, tour groups, clubs, etc.

* Retailers – antique shops, galleries, stores with interesting inventory to display

What do you need to get started?

1. Digital video camcorder camera – $500-750 (see article on How to Choose a Camcorder )

2. Computer for editing – you’ll need lots of storage space (250+GB hard drive), and the more RAM you have, the better (at least 1GB) – $1,000+

3. Editing software – Sony Vegas Movie Studio will do the job for less than $100

You can easily customize the The Web Video Player WVZ Player to blend in with your clients’ sites. For an extra fee, offer them the ability to include special offers at the end of the video – which you control.

You can keep the price to shoot the video low, and make it up by charging the client a monthly fee for hosting it and providing the player.

Don’t sell the video outright – but instead, sell a license for your clients to use it on their sites. If the client stops paying, simply de-activate their video player in your WVZ account’s control panel. Watch how fast you get your next check.

Print up some business cards, start knocking on doors and go shoot some video!

10. Create Video Ads for Other Businesses

Google Video Ads are the latest ad format to appear on the Google content network. This means you can now lure targeted traffic to your site by placing short advertising videos on other sites.

This means there are going to be a lot of businesses that want to have video ads for their web sites, but most aren’t going to want to do the video production themselves.

This advertising tool is so new, that if you start now, you can easily position yourself as the leading provider that people turn to when it’s time to have Google Video ads created.

11. Syndicate Your Video Content

If your video content is specialized and unique enough, other site owners may be willing to pay you for the right to put it on their sites. You can charge a yearly or monthly fee for the license to display your content.

The The Web Video Player™ makes it easy. Simply give your syndication partners the small line of javascript generated by the WVZ Player Maker, and the video will instantly appear on their sites.

12. Earn Up to 50% Commission as a WebVideoZone Affiliate Partner

And last but not least…

As a member of the WebVideoZone, you are eligible to participate in an affiliate program and earn up to 50% commission on membership and service fees.

Commissions are paid on monthly recurring fees in addition to the new membership fee. This means you’ll continue to collect on-going commission payments for all members you refer, month after month.

Making Money with Web Video – Summary

Keep in mind, you don’t have to rely on just a single revenue model. Try different ones to see what works best for you. Also, it can make sense to combine different strategies.

For example…

* If you enjoy producing videos and working with clients, you can create promotional videos and Google Video ads for other businesses.

* You can activate the The Web Video Player™ affiliate link, put it on web pages with Google Ads, and use the Logo/Exit Image features to promote other affiliate programs.

If you have any other ideas or suggestions, please share them with us. Remember, internet video is in its infancy, so now is the time to get started. Good luck!

Article by Joe Chapuis, founder of The WebVideoZone located at www.WebVideoZone.com

The WebVideoZone provides tools and information to help small businesses profit from internet video. In addition to web video tutorials and articles, site members have access to The Web Video Player™ (www.WebVideoPlayer.com [http://www.WebVideoPlayer.com]), a powerful internet video player that makes it fast and easy to add interactive video to any web site.

Author: Joe Chapuis
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Free Internet advertising is sought after by most Internet marketers and one readily available source of free Internet advertising is the Internet forum. For Internet marketing novices, I’ll briefly explain how free Internet advertising is obtained from Internet forums.

Basically, Internet forums are message boards where members can exchange information, obtain advice or just chat. There are Internet forums to cater for every topic you would care to imagine (and a few you would probably prefer not to dwell on). The Internet marketer advertises his product simply by posting messages on the forums. There are some Internet forums that forbid the posting of advertisements but, on many of these forums, it is still possible to obtain free Internet advertising by use of a signature file. The signature file is a short piece of text which can contain a link to a website and which can be annexed to every posting a member makes on a forum message board.

If you have never tried forums as a source of free Internet advertising, you should bear in mind that there is an unwritten code of etiquette which need to be observed. The following are some of the unwritten rules which need to be followed if you intend to use forums for free Internet advertising for your business.

Read the Forum Rules

You need to read the rules of any Internet forum before you try to post a message there. I know this sounds obvious but it is clear that many forum users don’t bother to read the rules, despite the fact that the forum registration process inevitably includes a requirement for the applicant to check a box indicating that the forum rules have been read and will be adhered to. Don’t just sign up with the idea of getting as much free Internet advertising as possible from the forum. Many forums prohibit the posting of affiliate urls anywhere apart from in the members’ forum signature file. If you become a member of one of these forums without reading the rules and start posting your affiliate urls in messages, you will quickly find yourself labelled a “spammer”. In case you didn’t know, spammers are considered to be the lowest of the low on the Internet. If there was a virtual prison for Internet crime, Internet advertising spammers would have to be kept in solitary confinement for their own protection.

Lurk Before You Leap

Internet forum etiquette demands that you spend a little time “lurking” ie logging in at the forum and reading previous and current threads before you even think of starting to use the forum for free Internet advertising. Although lurking is not an official rule of Internet forums, it is largely accepted as an essential part of the unwritten code of behaviour. The practice is very useful. Lurking will enable you to get the feel of how a forum works, you will be able to ascertain the tone of the messages, the type of subject matter which is welcomed and the level of expertise of other forum members. You might even find that a particular forum is not for you and this could save you the embarrassment of posting an inappropriate message on the forum.

Be Subtle

You know that you are visiting the forum merely for the free Internet advertising for your website but it is better not to make this obvious if you want other members to react well to your advertising. Forums are rather like private clubs where members strike up friendships and make business deals. If you rush in waving your “FREE INTERNET ADVERTISING” placard you will not become popular, other members will consider you to be an abuser of their “club”. You will do much better if you quietly introduce yourself and keep the free Internet advertising down to a whisper in your signature file.

Remember Your Manners

How hard is it to say “thank you”? If you visit a forum and receive valuable advice which helps you in some way, take a moment to post a brief message of thanks to your advisor. If someone helped you out of a spot in the bricks and mortar world you would thank them. Remember that people who post on Internet forums are real too and they are under no obligation to help you. It is as easy to make a friend with a warm word as it is to create an enemy with a harsh word and you never know when you might meet these people again.

Help Whenever You Can

Help other people whenever you can. Even if you don’t have any specialist knowledge, you will find occasions when you can pass on good advice. If you received advice that took you to a solution, post a message to say how the advice helped and what steps you followed to sort things out, this will act as a signpost for other people who might find themselves in similar difficulties. Even though you joined the forum with the idea of using it merely as a form of free Internet advertising, make time to give something back. People will be more inclined to take an interest in your advertising if you become known as a helpful type. What goes around comes around and, in any event, the reputation of being a problem-solver is a bit of free Internet advertising in its own right.

Be Moderate

The majority of Internet forums have moderators to ensure that members stick to the rules. The job of a forum moderator is to keep the content of the forum appropriate. Remember, it is not just a place where you can indulge in free Internet advertising, so keep your messages within the forum rules. Any graffiti posted by members will be cleaned up by the moderators so that the forum environment is preserved for all members to enjoy. If you wish to retain the respect of your fellow forum members, make sure your posts never need to be cleaned up, be your own moderator. As well as sticking to the forum rules on content, you should also keep your messages moderate in tone. The Chambers dictionary includes the following definitions of “moderate”: kept within measure or bounds; not excessive or extreme; temperate. If you avoid drama and pathos in your forum posting and keep your messages moderate, you will not attract “flamers” and you can quietly enjoy your free Internet advertising.

Ration Your Reading

Internet forums can be addictive. There is a serious danger that you might log in to a forum with the idea of posting a message or two in order to get your daily ration of free Internet advertising but, the next thing you know is that half an hour has passed by while you have been engrossed in reading. There is nothing inherently wrong with spending time reading posts made by other forum members, it’s free entertainment and that’s fine. The problem is that, if you are trying to run an Internet marketing business and you lose yourself on forums for half an hour every day, you will be wasting something like half a day during the course of each week for the sake of posting a couple of links back to your website. That is not an economical use of your time. In fact, if you account for the value of your time, you will find you are actually paying a high price for your free Internet advertising on forums.

Copyright 2005 Elaine Currie

Elaine Currie has a Work From Home Directory at her Plug In Profit Site for everyone who wants their own home based business: http://www.Huntingvenus.com

Author: Elaine Currie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com