"What the f...???
Where did my video link run off to?!"

The Secret Power Of Video Focus:
"Laser beam me up, Scotty!"

"Concentrate, young Grasshopper!"

"Please sir, I WILL have some more! NOW Godammit!"
~ Olivert Twist: 2010 edition

We live in an era where everyone seems to want 'more, more, more!' (because in many cases - armed with a credit card - they can 'get! get! get!')...

...HOWEVER if you want to *monetize* your web site effectively, you need to understand that giving people 'more' is not always the best way to go (and will lower you bank deposits)...

You see, despite people *thinking* they want more, it's often the reverse that often holds true:

most of us actually get *bamboozled* by too much choice. We like the idea of it, but it often leads to decision-making paralysis and no action being taken. For you and your web site videos that's not good. Not one tiny bit...

Let's for a minute think about what you WANT to happen in relation to adding videos to your web site:

• Add a video that targets a particular visitor's interests
• Attract that visitor to watch it
• Encourage the visitor to take a *particular action* relating to having watched the video (e.g sign up/phone up for more information, learn more about a related product, directly order a related prodict, etc)...

So why then do so many 'businesses' and 'marketers' end up doing only the following?...

1) Add 3 videos to a web page
2) Add 4 different ads for other things around those videos
3) Add 5 different topic links to other sites or web pages on the same page

There ain't no laser there boy, no siree!

That there is a 'scatter-gun' approach that has visitors moving willy-nilly all over the place with barely a chance for ANY of their actions being the ones YOU wanted them to take.

And for the visitor it can become too much of everything and not enough of *something*.

That's because whatever people *say* they want (gimme more, gimme more) doesn't always match the actual behaviour they take!

In other words, put less credence into what comes out of people's mouths, and more into what people actually *do*.

The "fill my page with stuff" approach is understandable - after all, you see it on nearly every multi-colored 'blog' the Web over - and it appears to give you better odds of monetizing *somehow*...

But 'more things to click' doesn't easily translate into 'more ways to earn': more often than not, you're much better targeting your videos with supreme focus. Guiding your visitor's atttention down an entertaining path towards a useful result for both of you.

If this 'secret' seems more about human psychology than creating and using video, you're darn right!...

...that's because EVERYTHING you do to monetize your web site (video or other wise) comes down to basic understandings of how people actually behave. Video being no different.

This nameless quote says it pretty well in a nutshell (and would have saved me writing all the above!)

"If you chase two rabbits, both will escape"

Everything you do is best focussed around getting, maintaining and redirecting the attention of your viewers for the benefit of both them and you. It'll bring you more happy customers and a bigger bank account to boot.

So, are you ready for the easiest ways to add focussed video to your website?...

Get more ongoing and exclusive 'insider' web video tips PLUS an easy way to add monetizing videos to your web site:

Click below to invest in your special Viddymatic package now:
Easily add video to web sites

Free Web Video Secrets
~ Part IV~

“Easy Web Video With Wordpress”

Viddymatic + Wordpress = Kickass Video Cash Combo!"

You may have noticed from the Viddymatic product page that there are 2 versions of the easy web video plugin:

• one for 'standard' web sites
• one for using with Wordpress

The reason is that the Wordpress plugin was built first. Now let me tell you why and what it can mean for your video success if you've yet to experience the world of Wordpress...

Remember the first 'secret' about kicking out the techy stuff wherever possible?

Well Wordpress allows you to do that with more than just video. What started out as a simple 'blogging' platform (where people could keep an 'online diary' [web log] of their life) has now become a fully fledged way to easily build and maintain almost ANY type of web site...WITHOUT all the techy bits leeching your precious time.

This web page uses Wordpress - and so does the Viddymatic main page. The videos on there - and all the demos too, infact - use the Viddymatic Wordpress plugin to power them.

So what's so special about using Wordpress to power your web site?

• It has a built-in way of easily writing your web pages without knowing anything about writing web pages
  (Basically, it's like using an online word processor)

• It's now a 'mature' platform that's gone through most of its teething issues,making it both powerful and reliable

• It has a gazillion 'plugins' (like Viddymatic) - both free ones and paid ones - that can enhance and change your website in seconds

• It has a 'nerd mode' too: so if you want more control than a WYSIWYG ('what you see is what you get') interface, you've got that option

...but here's the real kicker...

• Google LOVES Wordpress: so it's actually fairly easy to get web pages listed in Google (though you still need to know your Search Engine Optimization skills 101 [or outsource it to those who do]).

Because of its ease of use it provides a great base for easily adding regular content to a web site  (which Google loves too). And you can even set pages up in advance and 'drip feed' them too.

Of course, you can do all these things (and sometimes more) without using Wordpress to power a website. And adding money-making videos with a plugin like Viddymatic works easily without it as well....

...but the trade-off is that  you need more technical know-how: and that will cost you either time or money (or both).

Oh - one more thing about Wordpress:

• it's absolutely free for both personal and commercial uses.

So - are there drawbacks? Yes - just as there are with everything.

The main one to my mind comes from one of its strengths: there are so many plugins you can add to adapt it to your needs - but they're not all created equal.

Some are poorly supported or unsupported, some conflict with others because of how they've been designed and written, and some of them can grind your website to a complete crawl.

So the key (again) is in being able to make quick judgments on the best ones to use, and the best ones to avoid. Yet another ongoing area we'll be covering in Viddyology for Silver and Gold members in the coming weeks.

Naturally, I can highly recommend Viddymatic as your Wordpress video plugin of choice   ...though I've no problem in also letting you know there other Wordpress video plugins if you'd prefer to make less money from your website!

The other Wordpress drawback is that it doesn't arrive in an instantly 'user friendly' state. But don't let that put you off - it really isn't very difficult to understand the basics, and there are numerous tutorials littered about the web (and also some "Geekless" ones soon being added to the Viddyology membership).

So, if you're looking to add videos to a new site have a think about using Viddymatic in conjunction with Wordpress. It can be a killer cash-inducing combination!

Ready to invest in Viddymatic?
(plus Viddyology Silver Screen bonus)
CLICK HERE

[Note: Wordpress is a trademark of its respective owner. See Wordpress.com]

Free Web Video Secrets
~ Part III ~

"The hidden gears that drive effective video"

"Hidden Gears of Video War!"

Yesterday we touched on how video - with all its whizz-bang audio/visual potential - can distract you from remembering the marketing factors that still need to underpin its success (at least when that success relates to profitable results anyway).

Today's secret relates to that, and is possibly the most important of all...

...the power of your video comes from the power of its *ability to entertain and persuade*, and the power of its persuasion often stems from the power of something far simpler than creating moving pictures...

...it stems from the power of the PEN.

Great promo videos that presell products effectively do so because they use audio and video to ENHANCE a *specific message* that's targeted to the eyeballs watching it...

Lack of raw copywriting ability (essentially, the ability to string words together persuasively) in the creation of videos is the downfall of many wannabe video money-makers.

It's amazing the number of un-savvy businesses and product sellers who spend 1000's on getting special fx and barely a penny on well-penned scripts or storyboards. What they stand to lose is $1000s of lost results.

There's a reason that script writing for audio and video commercials can command high fees...

...it's because the pay-back in results can be worth many times more!

So - the moral of *this* story is to make sure that YOUR video-story is...

• targeted
• well-paced
• attention-grabbing
• attention-keeping
• influences action-taking

...read: ENTERTAINING. (...or possibly Pentertaining )

The effect on your final videos will repay you many times over for the savvy investment in a good set of pens upfront.

And I should mention here 2 other MIGHTY attributes that go hand in hand with this one. But they form part of the exclusive content saved for paid-up Viddymatic/Viddyology members

Ready to invest in Viddymatic?
(plus Viddyology Silver Screen bonus)
CLICK HERE

Free Web Video Secrets
~ Part II ~

"The Power of Taking Control"

"Take control of your videos!"

An amazing thing happens to most 'business' people when adding a video to their website (and by 'business' people I mean ANYONE using the web for profitable monetary gain - regardless of whether you're a small/medium/big business owner, a self-employed professional, a work-at-home mum or dad, or a 'part-time hobbyist')...

...all the fundamentals of effective marketing 101 fly straight out the nearest window.

It's similar to George Lucas salivating over a billion computer-generated effects at the expense of creating more than a barely crap follow-up Star Wars film.

One of the biggest of these "throw marketing out the window" mistakes is sacrificing *control* and *branding* of your videos just because there's a way to host them for 'free' (yes - we're talking YouTube folks!)...

BIG mistake! Because that so-called freebie comes with a high price tag.

Video sharing sites - especially YouTube - are *very powerful tools*...but *not* when it comes to sticking your own videos onto *YOUR* own web site(s):

The instant you use the YouTube version of your video on your website, you're handing over a piece of your professional image and brandability straight over to THEM instead of keeping it for yourself...

...and even worse - you're instantly handing your visitor to move their attention AWAY from your site with a single click!

Sure - you get the video hosted for 'free', but the cost is often too high when you're looking to use video for entrepreneurial gain.

Now, there are times to use YouTube on your web site. Yes indeedy. But NOT without at least easing the trade-off...

That's why we built in the simple-but-snazzy "re-direction" feature for YouTube videos into Viddymatic:

When you use a YouTube video on your website in conjunction with Viddymatic, you can tell it to *redirect* the viewer to the web page of YOUR choice once it finishes playing *or* any time during it by them clicking the 'click strip' at the top...

It's a cinch to set up and makes using YouTube ideal for 'testing' videos, and for making money with *existing* YouTube videos via affiliate marketing - where you get paid for sending new customers over to existing product owners by using a special link (that they track back to you, and pay you a commission)...

All you do is use Viddymatic to plug in your special 'affiliate link' for the redirect (and in the 'click strip').

Here's a live example to demonstrate...

If you click the strip (or let the video play to the end) it should 'popup' another webpage (it could just as easily be set to replace this page instead of loading it in the popup), and that page can be a link to pretty much ANY page you like...

...So in next to no time you have a YouTube video on your web site that can *actively make you money* instead of just providing a link back to YouTube.com!

Of course if you have your own products to promote then the  ideal is to eventually ditch the YouTube video* in favor of hosting your own...

Using Viddymatic you'd keep your redirection links intact, and just tell it to use your own hosted video instead of one hosted with YouTube. The special redirection feature works in exactly the same way.

[* Just so you know, you don't ditch your YouTube video completely - you simply stick to using the YouTube video ON YouTube ]

Remember: the keys to your golden video kingdom lie in having control and influence over your visitors...

...Viddymatic lets you take technical control through easy redirection abilities, while Viddyology will be helping you exert influence in turning that redirection into *sales* [kerching!]

Ready to invest in Viddymatic?
(plus Viddyology Silver Screen bonus)
CLICK HERE

Free Web Video Secrets
~ Part I ~

"Don't get bogged down in the techy stuff!"

"Stop! No entry for geeks!"

Geeks and their leakage of techno-geekage are everywhere online these days, and nowhere more than in the realm of web video.

Yes, you need to know some essential technical basics that are *extremely* important to effective video creation and marketing, but it only needs to be a pareto-sized portion of fundamental, ass-kicking knowledge (the 20% that makes 80% of the difference).

Trouble is, it's very easy to get bogged down in the stuff that makes *little to no difference* to the RESULTS when creating an effective video.

If you're unlucky, you can find and waste time in forums full of geekoids discussing the merits of using video settings that have obviously only been created for the enjoyment of Stephen Hawking...

...and much of it is plain *wrong* in relation to *what really matters*!

Most of us don't need to fill our heads with the over-technical crap that can so easily stain the whole video-making process and leave your head spinning in confusion.

But if you just concentrate on nailing a few basic *PRINCIPLES*, then web video (and video in any other type of media) becomes pretty damn easy to understand *despite* all the techno-crud surrounding it...

...the key - as mentioned earlier - is provided by Pareto: learn the 20% of video-tech knowledge that delivers 80% of the results. Of course, knowing what makes up that 20% is an art in itself!

Here's 5 simple "boil it down" stages for keeping web video simple and profitable:

1. Create (or outsource the creation of) an effective video
   You need to learn the pillars of what makes a video effective and why
   
   
2. Save a web-compatible version of that video
   There are only 2 or 3 formats of video you'll need to know about for this.


3. Understand the best places to store your video on the Internet, and be able to easily 'upload' it there.
   Where you store your videos can dictate how easily your viewers can watch them, and how much YOU pay for letting them
   
   
4. Have a simple method of displaying that video on a web page (so that most people are *capable* of watching it)
   Use a way of displaying your videos that gives you the basic options you need to prosper from showing them WITHOUT needing too much techy knowledge in order to add them to a web page.
   
   
   
5. Bring visitors to the video, and enable the viewer to take *ACTION* during or after watching it.
   Develop one or more ways of attracting visitors to watch the video, and enable them to ACT on it for your MUTUAL benefit (connect it to something valuable for them, and something profitable for you)

So - any 'techy' learning needs to directly relate to one of those stages and ONLY needs to be *enough to do the job*.

For example, when finding the best places to store videos online, you only need know the main pros and cons related to 'hosting' the video, *NOT* all the geek-speak specifications *about* that hosting.

Of course, this is easier said than done in a virtual world where most things get bloated with buzz words combined with a human addiction to making things over complicated...

....take Amazon's S3 hosting service for example. It's as if it's been created for robots from the 25th century. There's very little "plain english for idiots" (like me ) in the signup and sales process that inspire's confidence to actually USE it with confidence...

...yet under the hood it's one of the most powerfully simple and (cost effective) platforms for hosting video you can find!

That's one of the BIG reasons why it's a great idea to invest in having people like us to fall back on to help  'filter out the crap' (a job we've set Viddyology up to do for you). It can save you a LOT of time and frustration. And time (or rather, how you use it) is your KEY asset in being wealthy and wise (in ANYTHING - not just in the land of video) ...

So don't get bamboozled and sidetracked by the analytical army of nerds who might have you believe you need a Bachelor of Science degree in robotics just to become super-effective with web video. You don't...

...You just need some of the jargon explained in a way that gets you learning the fundamentals quickly and bringing in results FAST.

And if you want a helping hand in that, the higher levels of 'Viddyology' (Silver Screen & Golden Globe) will be covering all areas of web video effectiveness in detail throughout the coming weeks and months.

And remember: Viddyology Silver Screen currently comes *Free* with Viddymatic! And Viddymatic itself comes with a very powerful Amazon S3 hosting feature built-in for FREE (for basic demo click here).

I trust that's given you a useful peek into mastering web video without the hard work, and why Viddymatic and Viddyology will become investments worth their weight in gold (and tax deductible ones too!).

Ready to invest in Viddymatic?
(plus Viddyology Silver Screen bonus)
CLICK HERE

(Wordpress Plugin)

NOTE: Version 1.51b onwards is fully Wordpress 3.0 enabled

1. click here and select "Save link as..." or "Save Target As..." (or something similar - depending on your web browser) and download the zip file (viddymatic.zip) to your computer (to your desktop for example)
2. Unzip the file you just downloaded (called viddymatic_wp.zip)
3. Using your FTP program, upload the complete folder called viddymatic to your Wordpress plugins folder (usually wp-content/plugins/ unless you changed it)
4. Log in to your Wordpress Admin area and go to Plugins
5. Click Activate for the Viddymatic plugin
6. You should see a Settings option appear for Viddymatic - click it
7. Choose the default behaviours and color schemes for Viddymatic, and save changes [NOTE: If using Amazon S3 expiring links, copy and paste your access keys EXACTLY as given]
8. In your posts and pages, use the 'VM' button (or the HTML 'Viddymatic' button) to add Viddymatic-based videos, popup pages or protected S3 media!

For upgrading version 1.50 or 1.51 to 1.51b:

1. click here and select "Save link as..." or "Save Target As..." (or something similar - depending on your web browser) and download the zip file (viddymatic_wp.zip) to your desktop. Unzip the file you just downloaded to get the viddymatic folder
2. Using your FTP program, upload the new version's viddymatic folder to your Wordpress plugins folder ( wp-content/plugins/ unless you changed it) overwriting existing files where necessary
3. That's it! No other changes required.

For upgrading version 1.40 to 1.51:

1. click here and select "Save link as..." or "Save Target As..." (or something similar - depending on your web browser) and download the zip file (viddymatic_wp.zip) to your desktop. Unzip the file you just downloaded to get the viddymatic folder
2. In your web browser, login to your Wordpress site and open the Viddymatic 'Settings' page. Keep this page open so you can copy and paste your existing settings *manually* if the built-in auto-update doesn't work for you.
3. In a *new* browser window (or tab) go to your Wordpress Plugins page and click 'Deactivate' for Viddymatic
4. Using your FTP program, upload the new version's viddymatic folder to your Wordpress plugins folder ( wp-content/plugins/ unless you changed it) overwriting existing files where necessary
5. Use the Settings link to check the default options (and add Amazon S3 details if you want to use it). If your old options didn't get updated, copy them manually from the Settings screen you left open in (1). Remember to click Save Changes.
6. Use the 'VM' button (or the HTML 'Viddymatic' button) to add Viddymatic-based videos in your posts and/or pages!

Extra Viddymatic Reference Info:

Amazon S3 protected bucket permission settings:

When you set the permssions for a protected bucket, make sure you have ALL Authenticated Users (and Everyone ) permissions switched OFF...

Having read access 'ON' for authenticated users would allow other authenticated S3 uses to read files in that bucket...

Viddymatic Tutorial Videos

Amazon S3 Expiring Links:

...or download it to watch on your PC:

Right-click here & select 'Save Link As'
(or your browser's equivalent)

~ More Videos Added Soon ~

Please use the 'comments' box below to request a particular video tutorial:

Amazon S3 + Viddymatic Version 1.5.0 = Videos on Steroids

**NOTE: Tutorial videos of the new feature (plus others) are in progress **

UPDATE:

I'm very pleased to announce "Amazon S3 Expiring Links" integration into this latest version...

"What the hell does 'Amazon S3 Expiring Links' mean?"

...good question:

The bottom-line is:

you can now host your videos for pennies (using Amazon S3 - explanation below) AND protect them from cash-sapping bandwidth theft, ALL within a few clicks of using Viddymatic.

(Note: You can already link to 'standard' S3 files and videos using Viddymatic: this new feature is much more advanced)

In a moment, I'll show you a live example - but first...

"What's Amazon S3, and why is it so cool?"

If you didn't already know, Amazon (yes - the God of online shopping) has a Web Hosting service (AWS - "Amazon Web Services"), and within those services is a 'basic' service called Simple Storage Service (S3) - it's really super-hyper-cool because...

...it's fast, relatively cheap, and scalable.

With it you can host any 'static' files (html, images, videos, mp3s, zip files, etc) and only pay (peanuts) for the amount of data that actually gets USED (rather than a set monthly fee).

So, if you have a 10 megabyte video file stored on S3 and 1000 people watch it, you'll pay only around $1.70 ...but just as importantly they'll all be able to watch it: even if they all tried to do so at the same time of day. Try that on many 'standard' web hosting services and you might just end up making your server commit suicide!

Okay - so you pay (in the main) for what gets used, as opposed to a monthly fee: and here's where the 'dodgy' bit comes in that Viddymatic can help you fix...

You see, with a 'standard' S3 setup, ANYONE can link directly to your video (and watch it or download it) from other places and web sites you might not want them to. And everytime that happens, YOU are paying for that extra unwanted S3 access (bandwidth theft). Sure Amazon S3 is inexpensive, but is it cheap enough to have others decide how much you have to pop into the meter?!

The Amazon S3 'Digitally Signed Links' Solution

The great thing is that your S3 account can set your files to ONLY be accessible with the right username/password combination. And you can also set this access to EXPIRE after a certain amount of time. BUT...you need some boring technical mojo to make this REALLY useful by doing it on the fly. So, what we've done is to...

Have Viddymatic do all the techy bits for you!

That means you can pretty much limit access to your videos (and other downloadable files) to your own site(s). That's because each S3 file will expire before the bandwidth thieves get a chance to syphon it off to the 'darkside'.

LIVE S3 PROTECTED VIDEO EXAMPLE:

The Viddymatic-propelled video below (called preview.flv - 4 seconds in length) is hosted on our own S3 account:

And here's a direct link to that very same video file:

:: Click here to try and download 'preview.flv' (the video file above) ::

Notice how Viddymatic can access the video and play it for you, but you can't download the video directly?

That's the new feature in action. Viddymatic creates the access details required to allow access to the video (for a limited 'expiry' time that can be defined in the VM control panel).

Don't panic is the whole S3 stuff doesn't make full sense yet - I'm creating a few 'basics' videos to help you get going.

Have fun with Viddymatic version 1.5.0!

Best,
Adam  J Hodgetts

* LOGIN HERE *

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