The thought of being on film almost made me sick when I first got started with online marketing.

But I got over my fears.

And eventually, video marketing became MUCH easier for me as I got rid of my inhibitions, became a more powerful speaker…and started to see results in my business.

There’s no denying that using video is POWERFUL in today’s online marketplace. In fact, if I were to tell you the TWO marketing strategies I’ve found to be most profitable, without a doubt they are:

Video
Pay-Per-Click

Knowing that video is powerful, what do you do when/if you *REALLY* cannot stand the thought of having your face plastered around the internet?

The answer is simple: Screen Capture Videos. Recording your computer screen with audio (your voice) to provide valuable messages to your target audience. There’s absolutely NOTHING wrong with doing powerpoint screen captures or demo screen captures on a capture page…and for that matter, in all your marketing.

Do them well, with style and loads of value and they will provide you with the same leverage and opportunity as do regular web videos.

And the best part for marketers-on-a-budget, is that there are FREE options to use. My personal favorite is: Jing.

Let me know what you’re doing to tap into the power of video marketing. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts or advice (if you’ve got some) for fledgling video marketers.

Ask yourself this.

Does my marketing inspire a prospect to:

jump for joy and renounce coffee forever.
send you an email.
press the back button.
spontaneously plow their nose into the keyboard in a deep yet restless sleep.

A very smart marketer once told me,

“Effective marketing is mostly entertainment. If I had to put a number on it, I’d say it’s 80% entertainment, 20% content.”

What does this mean? That 80% of marketing is just mind candy for our potential customers…with only 20% content?

Not at all.

Just don’t let your prospect fall asleep because your delivery is so dang boring they’d rather be at the dentist than endure your pitch.
Spice things up, entertain your audience and they’ll stick with you, hungry for more.

Here are 3 sure signs your marketing will put ME to sleep:

1. You talk about yourself too much.
2. There’s more fluff in your marketing than content.
3. You have no personality (or at least you don’t show it.)

Talk about your prospect’s needs. How can you solve a problem in their life?

80% entertainment and 20% content leaves no room for fluff. The entertainment needs to be good for certain, but that content needs to be dynamite.

And regarding personality, we all love real people. Computers don’t easily allow personality to come through. That’s half the reason you need to entertain—to show people you aren’t just a computer program. Let your personality shine through, but keep your ego at home.

It’s always a balancing act, like the fuel to air ratio in an engine. Surround yourself with other people’s good marketing. Ask yourself what makes a piece of marketing work. Why does it grab you?

Marketing that entertains, SELLS.

Remember that.

Your comments make my day. The sweet pleasure of entering the ‘guts’ of my blog and approving comments one-by-sweet-one is a treat. Picture me bowing to your gracious comment in front of my laptop. Drop me a line below. (You’ll be in my good books forever.)

If you’ve ever thought…

“I’m busy and I find that blogs can eat up a lot of time.

If people don’t update their blog daily or even weekly, I forget about them and miss out on all sorts of good information I’m sure!”

Here’s a tip that will save you time from continually checking those blogs. You’ll be able to go to one place to read your favorite blogs’ updates, eliminating the need to wander from site to site to see if they’ve updated.

It’s called SUBSCRIBING.

Here’s a simple guide for explaining what it means to subscribe to a blog, how to do it, and most importantly, why it makes your life simpler.

What is RSS?

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” It’s a little piece of technology that allows you to receive up-to-date information from sites in one spot, where you can then read them on your own time. Many times, a blog’s RSS is simply called a “feed.”

RSS subscription

Think of it as you would subscribing to a magazine or newspaper. It comes to your mailbox when they have new stuff to give you.

What’s an RSS Reader?

An RSS reader is a place you go to read your feeds. One very popular, free, ‘easy-to-use’ one is Google Reader. If you don’t have a Gmail account, you’ll need one. Set one up: Gmail account in minutes.

RS icons Smart blogs make it easy to subscribe. You’ll see little buttons that say ‘RSS’ (or sometimes ‘XML’ or ‘ATOM’), and you can click on those to take you through the steps. The common, universal symbol is an orange box with three white diagonal stripes. Sometimes you’ll also see a little button with a subscription count, and clicking on that will let you subscribe as well.

Smart browsers, like Firefox, also make it easy to subscribe. To the right of a site’s URL, you’ll see an orange or blue icon if it has a feed. Here’s what JennLawlor.com’s URL looks like in Firefox:

Click on that, and you’ll be able to subscribe. You’ll want to make sure your preferred RSS Reader is defaulted in your browser. Go to your ‘preferences,’ and choose Google Reader, Bloglines, or whatever as your default choice.

Why should I bother subscribing?

It’s simpler. And you won’t miss out on anything!

Subscribing makes your life simpler because:

1. It saves you time. Instead of you going to all the sites you enjoy, they come to you. And they only come to you when they have something new to share.

2. It saves you mental energy. You don’t have to remember the sites you want to read – they’re all waiting for you in your reader.

What Do I Do Now?

1. Sign up for an account with an RSS reader ( I suggest Google Reader).

2. Click on one of the buttons to subscribe to JennLawlor.com’s feed (shown below).

3. Repeat with all your other favorite blogs.

4. Ask questions or share your thoughts in the comment section of this post.

Was this helpful for you? Do you have any other questions? I’d love to hear your feedback.

Thank you for your interest! Please check your email inbox for a special message from me.

Return to JennLawlor.com

Register for all FOUR classes in the ‘How to Think (and act) Like a Pro-Marketer’ event by following the links below:

>> Register for Class #1: 8-9 PM, Wednesday September 2, 2009
>> Register for Class #2: 8-9 PM, Wednesday September 9, 2009
>> Register for Class #3: 8-9 PM, Wednesday September 16, 2009
>> Register for Class #4: 8-9 PM, Wednesday September 23, 2009

With social media marketing, everything you can do to develop your relationship with your audience helps you increase your long term network…and client base.

One of the simplest ways you can do this is to include a Gravatar with your comments and posts on blogs (either your own blog or ones you comment on).

What is a Gravatar?

It’s a globally recognized avatar, or cool image of yourself or company logo that you use to brand yourself. Scroll through the comments below and notice the images of people who have a gravatar set up. If you like their content and looks, click through to check out their sites!

Where does a Gravatar go?

Whenever you post a comment on a Wordpress blog, such as this, your gravatar image will appear next to your comment. When anyone likes the look of your gravatar (and your content!), they can click on that image and go straight to your site!

Here’s how you set up a Gravatar.

1. Set Up Your FREE Gravatar account.
2. Make sure to use the SAME email address you used for your Gravatar account when you leave comments on blogs.  This will auto-magically connect your Gravatar image with your comment!

And VOILA! You’ve just increased your social media marketing image by 1000%.

Leave a comment below with your brand new Gravatar! If you have any trouble setting up your own Gravatar, just ask by leaving a comment below.

Let’s put things into perspective.

Three years ago I knew how to send an email. Beyond that, I couldn’t do much of anything on a computer.

And this week I sent out emails to THOUSANDS of people—including YOU!—who’ve expressed interest in learning from me how to make money online.

Am I bragging? No Way!

With everything I do, I REALLY want you to *GET* that what I’ve done is 100% possible for you too.  It just takes time and an unwavering commitment to your education.

What we’re going to begin next week is THE type of training YOU NEED to get started on the right foot online.

I’m going to show you:

• how to get in front of your webcam and deliver a message that converts to free LEADS for your business.
• exactly how to discover your USP (unique selling proposition) and develop yourself as an authority…so people want to partner with YOU and only you!

..And so much more.

More details on the training outline in a bit…I need your comments first so I can really tailor things to what you want most!

In Partnership,

Jenn Lawlor

P.S. Leave me a comment below letting me know what you want to get out of this FREE video and personal branding training course.  If you’re brave enough, leave me some samples of your work and I’ll personally review and coach you on them during the program.