A friend and I were talking about putting together a series of videos, suitable for YouTube, but neither of us has the kind of equipment necessary to do a Hollywood-quality movie.

So we improvised.

Here's how to create a simple video from software you may have laying around. Like Powerpoint and Adobe Premiere Elements (Elements is really inexpensive and you can use a Powerpoint substitute like the one in OpenOffice). Any presentation program will work as long as you can save or export each slide as an image (JPEG or PNG for two examples).

It's a 3 step process:

1. Make your slides and export them as .png (or .jpg)
2. Import them into Premiere Elements and make the movie. Create transitions, do voice over with a $10 microphone that you can plug into your PC, and save as an AVI file.
3. Upload to YouTube

If you want to get real fancy, you can import music too. Add titles, graphics, etc. Plus, you can embed links in the video such that when a user clicks on a link, he's taken to your website. This would entail Step #4:

Linked Tube

Once your video is "on the air," tell everybody through Facebook, Twitter, Ping.fm, etc. and hope it "goes viral."

If it does, you could very well see hundreds, if not thousands, of hits to your website.

You can use videos to drive people to your own site, an affiliate site, or to a squeeze page to capture their contact info. The possibilities are endless.

Here’s a quick tip: Use search.twitter.com to find products that people have been searching for AND for which you have a review site.

Alternatively, if you don’t have a site but you find a lot of results for a particular product category, create one!

Beginning in the year 2002, blogs changed the online marketing world, quite possibly forever. While most people at that time started with various blogging systems, eventually most of them shifted to WordPress. WordPress has become so much more since then: A powerful website Content Management System that emerged from the need for a better blogging system.

If you read any popular blogging tips online, WordPress is often positioned as a tool that well, creates a blog. But an increasing number of marketers are finding that you can also use it as the most important tool upon which you can grow a profitable business empire. The most powerful function of WordPress itself lies in its ability to manage large amounts of text, audio and video content. After a dozen pages it becomes difficult to manage a static HTML site. Although you can use template-driven software as well like SBI or DreamWeaver, nothing beats the ease of WordPress.

Using premium blogging tools (many of them free), you can easily create a static website, an article directory, a WordPress-based membership site, a complete e-commerce site, an auction site, a portfolio site and so much more. As a matter of fact, you can also just about use it for anything.

Besides that, Search Engine Optimization is another important element. By default, WordPress is pretty good at optimizing and creating SEO-friendly content. However you can also get more serious and utilize simple WordPress plugins to further increase your SEO rankings and get better Yahoo, Google, or Bing rankings.

However, the best thing about WordPress is its flexibility. You can easily switch between WordPress themes, and improve its functions by using plugins and even some custom programming. PLUS, it’s free.

If you aren’t using WordPress yet, you should seriously consider doing so. The learning curve has reduced substantially in the past 3 years. At the moment it’s so easy to use even a six-year old kid can figure it out. To power your online business, go ahead and use WordPress!

To discover more about WordPress, I strongly recommend that you signup for this training:

WordPress Wizard

As a member you’ll get tons of step-by-step video tutorials on how to use WordPress, web 2.0 technology, search engine optimization (SEO), making money from Google AdSense and affiliate marketing, and so much more. Get more information here:

WordPress Wizard

Name of the Product: Sales Army Secrets by Jimmy D. Brown

Where you can Buy it: http://www.internet-marketing-muscle.com/go/sales-army-secrets/

Product Description: This course illustrates how to increase site traffic and income by creating affiliate programs.

This is a complete course including audio and transcripts as well as a bunch of great bonuses to help you either get an affiliate program up and running or greatly improve your current program. Jimmy shares some of his best ideas and techniques that have helped him attract affiliates and keep them motivated and promoting his products.

In a step-by-step process, Jimmy shares how you can get an affiliate program set up within a matter of hours, what tools you should provide your affiliates, and what you can do on an ongoing basis to support your affiliates and get them selling for you each and every month.

The product also includes a great interview with Jimmy’s own affiliate manager – Nicole Dean – who answers questions on how to find a great affiliate manager, why you need one in the first place and what to look for if you are thinking of hiring someone to take care of your affiliate center.

Who This Product is Intended For:

Anyone that wants to:

• Start an affiliate program
• Improve an existing affiliate program
• Hire an affiliate manager
• Become an affiliate manager
• Learn more about affiliate marketing

Uses: This course teaches the reader how to build, market and run a profitable affiliate program.

Pros: Sales Army Secrets gives step-by-step instructions- complete with examples -to creating, implementing and improving an affiliate program.  Additionally, it explains why, as well as how, to hire an affiliate manger.  It also shares ideas to help your affiliates make more money while increasing your income, too.

Cons: I don’t really have any criticism of the product. It’s just too bad Jimmy is not sharing his affiliate manager.

Personal Opinion:

I like how “step-by-step” this product is. While it is great for a beginner who doesn’t have an affiliate program in place yet, it also contains plenty of advanced ideas and strategies that helped improve my current affiliate program. After going through the audio and transcript for the first time, I came up with 2 pages of ideas and changes that I am currently working on implementing.

I also have a better understanding of the role an affiliate manager plays in the process.

I highly recommend this course to anyone considering an infoproduct business online.
http://www.internet-marketing-muscle.com/go/sales-army-secrets/

Tip #2 — Understand That People Are More Likely To Buy From Those They Trust

You’ve probably noticed that it can be difficult to get new customers to buy from you. Some people simply will not buy from those they’ve never heard of and don’t have a relationship with. You will usually have to “presell” to them before they will make a purchase. This is especially true since identity theft and fraud have become more prevalent.

The good news is that people will join your list because they view it as a lower risk than making a purchase. All they need to do is hand over their e-mail address and they are “in.” This gives you the opportunity to gain their trust and build a
relationship that can lead to repeat sales down the road.

Want to learn more about list building? Check out List and Traffic.