Spicing Up the Salespage to Market your Video Tutorials
Once you have created your video course, if you are trying to sell it, you are going to have to create some kind of salespage to market it. And no matter how much internet traffic you send to that page, if it does not convert your visitors into buyers you will be wasting your time. The salespage that Lon and I have for our LearnCamasia.com course does pretty well helping people to decide if they would benefit from the course material and if it will be worth the price. But, lately, we have been thinking more about what we need to add to spice it up.
Adding a Unique Selling Proposition
So my job this week is to think about the various benefits our course has over any other course that exists and why people should choose to take it versus taking a live on-site Camtasia class, purchasing a book on Camtasia or just searching for some YouTube Videos on screencasting. As you have your own video course completed you will need to start thinking about what is special about your course. 
You have to think about what makes your product unique in the market place and why your target market would want to spend their hard earned money on it, rather than use that money to buy some competitor’s course or even spend it on some new furniture.
Start Brainstorming
So start brainstorming what makes your course different. If it is exactly like someone else’s course you best hope yours is cheaper. So, after a little brainstorming today I came up with a some features of our course that set us apart from our competition
- Videos that can be watched over and over when you are ready to learn the material
- Twice Weekly live Webinar sessions with the instructors (Lon and I) to go over materials
- Accountability and mastermind sessions to keep students on track and focused on productivity
- Community forum to submit your videos for critique
- Opportunity to meet other students via the social network site for joint venture projects
- Additional Videos showing the exact step by step procedures for how to produce a marketing or tutorial video
- Videos, Templates and files to help students create autorun CDs and DVDs
Now of course, I have to take time to translate those into the benefits students will receive when they use those features such as
- Less frustration in trying to figure out things on their own
- Faster video creation
- Higher quality videos
- Saving time trying to research the answers to their questions
- Live people to bounce ideas off of
- Shortcuts for less stress
etc. etc. I think you get the point.
Translating into Copy
Then you need to take all those items and make them into cool looking copy. This is always the hard part for me because I feel like I border on the edge of being fake when I take my real honest words and spice them all up. But what you are really doing is generating excitement for your product. If you can just write the way you talk when you are describing things to someone else on the phone and you get all excited about it it should come out just fine. i got a lot of my ideas for writing copy from this salesflow document from the Conversion Doctor.
For example something like this (these are not really going on our salespage they are just examples).
- Get instant download access to the exact script template we use to create storyboards for videos for our top clients… to keep them hiring from us over and over again!
- How xxxxxxx not only records 10 videos in a day, they process and upload those videos in one step! You’ll find out exactly how to duplicate our success… and you’ll NEVER go back to the old way ever again
- One of a kind, never before released xxxxxxx to post videos customized for your members, automatically add your video to your comments and posts, and more!
See how each bullet looks like something fun and exciting? You don’t want your salespages to be all boring or no one is going to read them. They should remind you a little of the infomercials you see late at night where it looks like the salesperson is on their tenth cup of coffee.
Add Some Case Studies
Testimonials are great and all but if you really want more people to buy your course you need to add a few student case studies. I am currently tracking down a few of our Camtasia training students to see what they have created as a result of taking our training. If you have some former students that you have coached or trained live you might be able to see if they have created any 
products or made changes to their business as a result of your course. This is more valuable proof than just having students say you are a great teacher or they liked the course. Prospective students want to see what others have actually done with the information. During our Camtasia Live sessions I am spending time doing some serious motivational coaching with our students to get them off their booties to start creating those videos they have been saying they want to do. I want to have tons of case studies to add to our salespage over the next year.
If you want to see the before and after you can look at our current salespage here LearnCamtasia.com then come back to look at it in about a week when I have spiced it up and let me know what you think.
Best,
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What is the Cost of Using Voice Over Talent in your Videos?
Not everyone loves their own voice. If you or your client is not super thrilled with your voice as the narration for a screencast video there are many places you can get Voice Over Talent to make your video seem so much more professional. Below is a short video showing you what is available and how much is will cost you.
Having great audio quality is really the most important part of a good video and even if you like your voice you may not have a high quality microphone or a quiet place to record. A Private Camtasia Coaching student of mine recently use a professional voice over talent for his company’s video and thought it came out great. He went to http://amazingvoicetalent.com/ and got to listen to lots of voices until he found the pleasant female voice he liked the most. He sent her a script and she came back with a price quote.
The ability to hire and direct voice talent through the Internet has dramatically changed the voice-over industry. Today, many voice-over talents either have a home studio, or at least, equipment with studio quality, and have in turn become voice producers. They can record and edit the work themselves, and deliver the recording as mp3 files, almost always under very tight deadlines. In this video I show you examples of what you might pay.
One reason you might think twice about using a voice talent is if your narration may change over time. If you think you will have changes and updates down the road you might have trouble finding the same person to make the changes and you’ll have to start all over with someone new. Even small changes, after they have sent you the audio may be quite expensive.
Best,
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Delivering Webinars with Adobe Connect
If you are a freelancer or Virtual Assistant you may already know about the Training I provide over at VAClassroom called “Becoming a Virtual Event Specialist”. In this training I cover the use of GotoWebinar and Glance as two tools that can be used to deliver Webinars. One of the tools I did not cover is Adobe connect. Over the last few months I have been observing Webinars delivered using this software (such as the Webinar replay below) and have been very impressed.
I like how smoothly it shows video, the option to have a streaming video of the presenter in the upper corner and how quickly the software downloads. I have yet to have any glitches in using it. It also has a nice option to show your PowerPoint notes while you are delivering the Webinar without the students seeing them. Below I have created a link to a webinar I just watched called “Moving from Physical to Virtual Classrooms”. The webinar content would be great for anyone who is currently a trainer and wants to start delivering their content via the Internet and it gives you a nice overview of the features of Adobe Connect. And for you VAs, listen closely to how the Moderator introduces the course. She lacks some personality but she gets the job done and probably gets paid very well to assist with the webinar. If you would like to learn more about helping clients with their webinars and other on-line events check out my Virtual Event Specialist class. It is open for ongoing registration.
Thanks!
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The Best Places to Get Graphics for Your Videos
One of the most common questions I get from my Camtasia Training students is where they can find good quality graphics for their videos. Below I have a list of some of the many places on the web to get great photos and clipart. Some of the places are free and some are paid. Most likely you will find one or two places you like and return to them over and over. 
My favorite place lately has been Presenter Media. My fellow Camtasia trainer Lon Naylor turned me on to this site and I am having tons of fun looking through their graphics of little naked Martian type people with various props.
Photos
- Flickr
- Getty Images
- Juniper Images
- Fotofolia
- Dreamstime
- Microsoft Online Library
- eLearningArt
- Big Stock Photo
- Scapeware 3D
- Turbosquid
- Pxleyes
- ThinkStock
- Stock Exchange
- iStockPhoto
- SMAD JMU EDU
- Morgue File
- Image After
- WikiMedia Commons
- Pic Findr
ClipArt
Here is a quick video I just found for using Istock Photo
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What Tools and Software does a Video Virtual Assistant Use?
I’ve been getting some questions about what tools and software VAs might need to invest in if they want to specialize in doing video work for clients. So I created the video below to give you a brief tour of my office and the items I have purchased over the last year. I show you my headset, microphone, external hard drive, webcam, pocket video recorder, and a couple of software tools. Plus you get to see my funky artwork in the background.
Do you need ALL this stuff. Heck no, but now that I am making some good money I’m having a lot of fun reinvesting in my business. I just bought two new desktop computers last month that run super fast because I HATE waiting a long time for videos to render.
If you are interested in adding video marketing to your VA business, this Wednesday, June 23rd, from 12-6 EST I am teaching a Video skills Workshop showing you how to market your own service business using video with all free tools. To check out what I am teaching there go to http://www.vaclassroom.com/video-clinic
Take Care,
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Does a Virtual Assistant Need to Invest in Every new Version of Camtasia that Comes Out?
Last week I was interviewed by my friend Angela Wills, of Marketers Mojo, about how I make a living providing video services to clients and whether I felt it was worth the investment to keep upgrading Camtasia, which seems to come out with a new version ever year.
After Angela sent me her questions for the interview, which were very good by the way, I started thinking about my answers from the point of view of a VA who had already spent quite a bit of money on training. How important is it to have the latest greatest version of something? And what about this whole video thing anyhow? Is that a service that is worthwhile to specialize in at all? If you want to know what I had to say you’ll just have to head on over to her blog and listen to the interview at http://www.marketersmojo.com/6131/michelle-schoen-2/
I also talk about this Thursday’s (April 29th) Free Webinar that I am delivering
with my Camtasia buddy Lon Naylor. We’ll be showing some of the videos we just created with Camtasia 7 and letting you know if it is time to upgrade. To sign up for that go to http://bit.ly/learncam7
Here are the questions she asked me:
Tell us your story? How did you get involved in using Camtasia for clients?
Do you think a virtual assistant should invest in every new version of Camtasia that comes out?
Who do you think would be a good candidate to provide video services to clients? Can you describe them for me?
You and I talked about creating products with video as well. Do you see that fitting as a possibility for VAs – creating their own products?
- What is screencasting?
- Why do clients want videos? For marketing (salespages), for tutorials,
- What kind of work can a VA get with Camtasia? Video editing, Webinar recording, repurposing. Putting parts of videos together for a client.
Is Camtasia strictly for screencasting or can it be used for editing live ‘person’ videos?
What is included in your course?
The cost of Camtasia is $299 can you justify that for us?
By the way, after you listen to the interview, let me know in the comments section, if you have any thoughts or questions about providing video services to your clients . Hope you’ll enjoy listening!
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A Few More Suggestions for Making your Webinars Interactive
I am working with a client this week on his first Webinar. We are using Go to Webinar and I am showing him how to use the tool and giving him some best practices for making his Webinar great.
He already has really good slides. A nice mixture of images and bullets on a casual template. He has delivered this presentation many times live so he is very comfortable with the delivery. I did give him some pretty good suggestions as to how to really “sell” his product at the end by creating some urgency and scarcity by only selling a limited number of products for the first 20 people who sign on. But after we ended the call I thought of a couple of more items that I have seen done really well on a Webinar and kept me more attentive. 
One is about how you can get things a little more interactive without actually opening it up for free flowing questions. If there are appropriate moments for you to ask the audience a question that they can reply to in the question box that helps them stay attentive. Maybe things like
- Type "me" into the question box if you have had difficulty with …..
- Type in the number of sales reps in your organization who….
- Type "yes" if you have ever had to….
And one more suggestion i gave him was about social proof-
Right at the beginning of the Webinar, if it is appropriate, acknowledge by name and company some of the people who are on the Webinar. It helps with social proof for others to know how many people are on (don’t mention numbers if it is just a small crowd) and if there are other well known companies or individuals on the call.
If you are a VA helping your clients with their Webinars add these “Best Practices” to your lists and if you want more training in this area please check out my Virtual Event Specialist Certification course where I tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about helping your clients with their Webinars and Teleseminars.
Best,
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Camtasia 7 is on it’s Way
I am so lucky because I just got a preview copy of Camtasia 7 through my business partner Lon Naylor who got one from Betsy Weber of the Camtasia Visual Blog. I can’t share any info except for what is already out there on Youtube. But since it supposed to be released on March 31 you won’t exactly have to be in suspense for very long!
What I can tell you is that it has some really cool Libraries of extra things you can use in your videos and some callouts I really like. I’m going to start using it right away for my client’s videos and Lon and I will be incorporating it into our new Learn Camtasia course launching around the first of April.
Here are a couple of the videos from YouTube showing you just a few new features. And, By the way, if you purchased Camtasia within the last month or so I heard that you will get an automatic upgrade to Camtasia 7 so don’t sweat it. I know some of my students just bought Camtasia through my Camtasia reseller link and will be e-mailing me about the upgrade. I believe Techsmith will let you know as soon as you register your product so don’t forget to do that.
I had to add one more, last minute, addition to this post when I saw my buddy Lon Naylor’s in depth review. He goes through all the new features and give sit a thumbs up or down. Check it out at Screencast Profits.
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How to Record Professional Sounding Audio
The quality of your audio really matters. If you get your audio wrong, the perceived quality of your video will be lower than if you had reasonable audio but poor video! Here are some basics you ought to know to get the best quality audio possible.
1. Don’t use a 3.5mm jack-plug el-cheapo mic. The 3.5mm mic is analogue, the sound is sampled inside your computer and typically electrical noise from the motherboard is introduced into the audio. This raises the background noise level which lowers the audio’s perceived quality. Also – cheap mic typically have poor-quality microphone components which distort your voice
2. Do use a USB mic or more expensive specialist hardware. $60 USB microphones are far superior to 3.5mm mics. My Microphone cost me $100 and it is much, much better than my first one that cost $29.
3. Only record in a quiet room. Background noise like birds, traffic, rain can’t really be removed. You can try with a tool like Audacity but the general rule is that you should always start with the cleanest audio recording you can.
4. Practice your script beforehand – this way you’ll avoid ‘ums’, ‘uhs’ etc.
5. Do some practice recordings to check for plosives (the popping sound you hear when you say the letters “p” or “b” to close to the mic) You can edit these out with an audio editor but generally you want to practice moving your mic so the source recording has the fewest number of problems . If the plosives (above) are a problem, you can try using a pop filter.
One of my first problems when starting recording screencasts was knowing just how ‘good’ a mic could be. Over at TechSmith (the makers of Camtasia) they have recorded the same voice to 6 microphones of varying quality. Now you can easily hear how a better mic really improves the voice recording. These are the microphones they used
- Samson C03U – $210.00
- Lapel Microphone – $49.95
- Logitech QuickCam Communicate Deluxe Webcam – $79.99
- Blue Snowball – $99.00
- Logitech Headset – $39.99
- Audio-Technica AT2020USB – $249.00
I use the Audio Technica AT2020 and got it for about $100 on Amazon.
FYI-I make professional screencasts (see my portfolio) and also offer Camtasia classes (LearnCamtasiaFast.com) The next Camtasia class is starting on March 15. Make sure you sign up for my list below or to the right to get notified.
Best,
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Running a “Fake” Live Webinar
A recent question came up in a forum I belong to about the possibility of recording a live Webinar one time then replaying the recording at a scheduled time again as if it is live. I have done this for a client, but I probably would not repeat it unless there is an easier way. So listen to my process below then let me know if you have a better idea. 
The Scenario
I had a client who was selling a social media product and had a group of Philipino telemarketers cold call businesses in order to fill a Webinar audience up every week After delivering and recording the Live Webinar several times, he chose the one recording that sold the most products and decided to try to run the recording every week as if it were live. He only wanted be available to answer questions as they came in to the chat and at the end of the Webinar.
How I Tried It
We attempted this in GotoWebinar. In theory it seems easier than it turned out to be and I found it more than a bit stressful. To do this you have to have the replay video ready on your computer. Then in GTW, you have to “Show your screen” at the exact time that you press Play on the video and the phone speaker has to be right up against your computer speakers so people can hear the audio coming out. Then you have to really monitor it closely because things like your screensaver coming on (from lack of mouse movement) or a popup, etc. can give it away that it is not live. Also you can’t allow anyone to ask questions verbally during the event because if it is supposed to be live someone should be addressing them. But the client can come on at the end to talk to the audience as long as there is no real “wrap up” at the end of the recorded call.
What Went Wrong
The first time I did it, for some reason, I got kicked out of GTW. Maybe because there was no actual screen activity for almost a hour- I don’t know. But next time I moved my mouse around every 15 minutes and didn’t get kicked out.The client used the cat to answer questions that came in so that was the only part that was live.
In Conclusion
So, in reality, it can be done but it definitely has to be very well planned if you want your audience to really think it is live. There was just so many steps to do all at the same time to kick it off that I had a real headache when I was finished.
I would love to know if there is a better way than the way I was doing it. If you know of any please comment.
BTW- I recently added the ability to audio and video comment so go brush your hair, smear on some lip gloss and fire up that webcam if you dare.
Thanks for reading,
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