Boost Your Profile & Your Profits

Are You a Regurgitated Version of Your Competitors + Youtube & 145,000 Views

Youtube made Chris Crocker a video star after his famous words, "Leave Britney Alone," were broadcast all over the world. Could you benefit from a similar outburst? I hope not!

“My product is BRAND NEW!  No one has EVER done it quite like this before!”

Yeah riiiiiight; that would be total bullshit. Excuse me for being so blunt but I for one am allergic to crap!

Just like a bird regurgitates food to nourish its younglings, so businesses often try to synthesise and regurgitate what’s working about their competitors in order to replicate financial success.  Instead all they often do is miss the mark.  The question is, why?

Yes, yes I hear you…you’re adamant that YOUR business model is different.  But is it really?  Take a moment now to jump online and Google the products and services you sell.  Does your offering still feel so unique, or is it starting to look suspiciously alike to others in the marketplace?  (Denial isn’t a river in Egypt by the way. That’s in up-state California I believe).

The more crowded and accessible the global marketplace becomes, the more challenging it can be to uphold the unique selling points (USPs) responsible for your initial success.  Once the USP of any business has been ‘cloned’ enough times, it becomes the norm.  And once something is normal it fails to stand out, resulting in boundaries being pushed further and further just in order to create any significant impact.

Whether knowingly or not, most businesses out there are spruiking the same messages over and over again and it’s because of this that consumers are disengaging and becoming harder to influence and connect with.  In short, they’ve heard it all before.  Hell, some of them feel like they’ve already been screwed over by someone just like you before.  When this happens, no amount of well-intentioned lubrication on your part is going to slide that carefully worded marketing material into the front of their minds: you’ve got to unlock the chastity belt first before you begin the foreplay!  

Simply put, it’s going to take more to capture the hearts and minds of your customers than ever before. If your business isn’t as unique as what it could or even should be, there are other ways around it. And one of them includes being more innovative in how you communicate your companies intelligence to the larger market.

Included in your Modern Guide to Marketing should be market penetration via as various means as possible, including but not limited to one of my personal favourties Youtube. Hell, it may even be your saviour in standing out from your competitors. I warn you however, it does take time, energy and effort, which means that’s why most of your competitors haven’t bothered with it yet or utilised it to its full potential.

Youtube – Is it Your Saviour?

Post up short succinct videos that educate your target market ways in which they can solve their problems. If you’re a consultant teach them via video how they can boost their profit margins and improve their marketing, if you’re selling a product educate them on how to use it (without directly selling it), if you’re selling your own virginity – well, I believe ebay can help with that one!

Be wary however, leave the self-promotion out or keep it to a bare minimum or they’ll click off and start watching some manic kid scream, “Leave Britney Alone!”

My Youtube videos (www.youtube.com/inbedwithben) have helped me convert many a client, from a $25 purchase of a book to speaking engagements worth thousands even through to personal branding packages worth well over $4,000 each. It works when done well.

It is worth investing the time in a comprehensive online campaign, including video communications to tickle all of the senses. Just ensure whoever the spokesperson is that you put in front of the camera doesn’t look like a dog’s breakfast. Youtube is a visual medium and it’s important to understand that 55% of all communication is in fact visual. Screw this up and you’re more likely to do more damage than good.

The great news with video is that you can leverage it via your various online mediums. Add links from your personal signature and your email campaigns, embed the videos on your website, add them to your blog, post them on your Facebook page / group and of course promote them via your Twitter account.

145,000 + Views and Counting

It isn’t important how many people see your videos, but who sees it. One of my viral videos posted on Youtube some years ago now has been viewed over 145,000 times, click here to see it http://bit.ly/c7E0RO . It did assist in converting some clients at its peak however there is nothing more powerful than having your prospects see it and potentially convert to clients because of it. Views can be a great ego boost but sometimes that’s all they are.

Make it your goal to innovatively educate your prospects on a weekly basis, either via video tutorials, tips on twitter and facebook or through regular newsletter distribution.

This will not only demonstrate your businesses intellectual ability it will help your prospects ‘see’ how they could potentially employ the services of your organisation.

You never know, it may just be the one thing that prevents you looking like a regurgitation of your competitors!?


Ben’s book “Sleeping Your Way to The Top in Business” is available exclusively through his website www.benangel.com.au For media, consulting and speaking enquiries contact Ben directly at ben@benangel.com.au

Posted by Ben Angel on 15th February, 2010 | Comments | Trackbacks
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