Today's post is part of a virtual book tour for Dana Lynn Smith. I think it's an awesome topic (and new book) and feel it's well worth reading. I hope you enjoy it!
Video is one of the hottest online promotional tools these days, and with good reason. People watch hundreds of millions of videos a day on YouTube, and folks who enjoy videos often forward the link to someone else, creating viral marketing opportunities.
Google includes videos in search results, and people also search Google and video sites for videos on a particular topic. So, how can authors take advantage of the power of video to promote themselves and their books? Here are some ideas:
1. Add a video greeting to your website, to get up close and personal with your audience.
2. Record a brief video promoting yourself as an author, expert, speaker, and/or consultant.
3. Create a video book promo (similar to a movie trailer, combining graphics, words, and music).
4. Offer free video tutorials.
5. Make video posts to your blog (known as vlogging).
6. Post video testimonials from customers on your website.
7. Create a video bio for your online media room or post clips of live speaking events or television interviews.
Short videos get watched more often, so keep your video under three minutes. About 30 to 90 seconds is usually ideal. Be sure to include your website address and a call to action in promotional videos.
You can create brief promotional videos with a webcam, the video capture feature of your digital camera, or a digital video camera such as the Flip Video Ultra. You don't necessarily need to use editing software to enhance your video—part of the charm is having it look homemade.
For book promos, you'll probably want a more polished look. You can get some basic video production tools and learn to produce videos, or hire someone to do it for you. Prices range from $150 to thousands of dollars, depending on the skill level of the producer and the complexity and length of the video.
I recommend uploading your video to YouTube at http://www.youtube.com, then embedding a link on your website or blog. Just copy and paste the "embed" code from the video's page on YouTube. When you upload the video to YouTube, include important keywords in the title, description, and tags.
Here are some other ideas:
• Promote your videos in your ezine and through social media sites such as Twitter, Delicious, and StumbleUpon, and embed them in your profile on social networking sites like Facebook.
• Upload your video to other sites such as Google Video at http://video.google.com and Yahoo Video at http://video.yahoo.com
• Submit your videos to video search engines such as Blinkx at http://www.blinkx.com/rssupload and Truveo at http://developer.truveo.com/DirectorAccountsOverview.php
• Insert video links into your book's page on Amazon.com, through Amazon Connect at http://snipr.com/9s673
Dana Lynn Smith is a book marketing coach and author of The Savvy Book Marketer Guides. See more at http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/savvy_book_marketer/
This guest article from Dana Lynn Smith is part of the virtual book tour http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/booktour for her new book, The Savvy Book Marketer's Guide to Successful Social Marketing. http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/savvy_book_marketer/successful-social-marketing.html
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