Would you like to make a video that gets 100,000 hits?
Recently I posted about giving things away for free, and the things people don’t pay for anymore.
Well, the silver lining to the digital-don’t-sales cloud is, if you have good content, and you give it away for free, it may get a lot of hits! It’s the tradeoff that sits at the center of the Googlevertising secret formula.
The free thing is in the center and stays there, eyeballs rotate around it and advertising, if available and set up, monetizes it. The free thing stays in the system indefinitely, becoming part of the general catalog. Every bit of substance in your campaign to make money is contained in the free thing; it’s not intuitive.
If you intend to use traffic from or advertising on top of your free thing, which you should, your task is simple: make a really good free thing. If you are making a video, for example, you do not need to reinvent the wheel and micromanage any part of the process. Think only about the content and make it eye-catching. The content quality is inescapably important.
If your free thing isn’t really good, the entire campaign can not be successful. That’s how important good content is in the Googlevertising scene.
A few years back I created a “How-To” DVD, “PA Systems for Small Groups,” aimed at helping churches and small parties, picnics and conventions with their public address systems. I’ll show you a chapter below.
The chapter, posted on YouTube, has gotten 100,000 hits. It’s a basic head-and-shoulders of me talking about how to avoid feedback, setting up speakers and mics. The word “feedback” in the title seems to be a driver for the eyeballs, this chapter being ahead in the YouHorserace.
People tend to search for a solution to a problem, and lots of people have problems with feedback at gigs. I’m glad to help. When you design your video, pick a topic that people might search for.
These DVD sales have always been meager. This is a perfect illustration of the current sales environment for digital products – nearly zero, BUT people go to YouTube to find what they need.
My YouTube channel has almost 7,000 subscribers. Traffic is traffic, to some extent. Even though YouTube may not immediately bring me money, it’s a great place to find people!
At this point, I’ve given you enough homework. Start working on that 100K video! You can find me in my 100Ker below!
By the way, after I created the DVD (with some help from Bill Myers) I used the script to make a book, “Podium Perfection.” Keep reading and you’ll find a photo of the book and a FREE PRIZE for lending me your eyeballs for so long!
The DVD, which only ever got momentum on YouTube, was made into a book, which is also being made into an audiobook, creating a deeper shelf and reinforcing my personal story, which includes years of radio and voice work. I’m also a producer-for-hire with ACX, the backend for the popular Audible trademark.
BIG SURPRISE COMING UP!
Thank you for reading this far in my series on Selling Digital Goods Online! As a reward, here are Eight Edible Chocolate Gold Nuggets!
Since there are eight of them, be careful when you eat them. They are easily ate.
THE EIGHT RULES OF ATE NUGGETS
1) Create an online persona that’s genuine and makes sense, regardless of whether you feel it’s “perfect” – it’s more important that it’s real.
2) Create around what you’re good at and be proud of it.
3) Consider diversity important and don’t skimp on quality. You won’t run out of ideas! Keep making new things and thinking up new ways to be interesting! Quantity is important, too!
4) Show your face.
5) Do good marketing. Try to have a controllable path, meaning the endpoint should not be unpredictable. Distinguish between marketing and time-wasting.
6) Worry about content first, sales later. Even when you have eyeballs you need to keep getting more. It’s a big world!
7) Expect unexpected results.
8) Keep learning!