Gary North

Reality Check (December 7, 2007).

There is nothing like an offer of money to get people's attention. I hope $1,000 will do it.

I am so convinced that YouTube is a great way to sell products that I want everyone on my mailing list to create at least one YouTube ad or one how-to lesson or one something. Anything. Just one. "The first one's free, kid. There's no risk. Try it. You'll like it."

If you create a YouTube video, you will follow with more. It's the first one that scares off people. "I could never do that!" On the contrary, you can. Something like 30,000 people do every day. The question is: "Will you?"

Your competitors won't.

I really want you to try. So, I am sweetening the pot with money, because some people will not try something new unless there is money on the line.

Others are willing to take a challenge because they like challenges.

Others are competitive. They just want to win.

Others are merely curious, but can always use an extra thousand bucks.

Come one. Come all. Take the first step.

It won't cost you a dime. (Well, maybe $5.) It will cost you some time.

HERE IS THE AD I WANT

What I want is a YouTube ad that I can use in a special free report to subscribers on how to create an effective YouTube ad.

To keep the ads comparable, for instruction purposes, I want everyone to write the ad for the same on-line product. What is this product? One I am very familiar with.

I have even produced a sheet that you can use to create the ad. It's a good general introduction to ad copy writing. Then it shows you specific applications.

Once you can write the ad, you can create a YouTube ad.

Even if you aren't interested in producing this ad, I'm going to show you how to produce all sorts of effective, career- enhancing videos. Here's how. . . .

PUTTING YOU INTO YOUTUBE

The two 20-somethings who created YouTube as a personal project for showing their home videos to others sold their project 18 months later for $1.6 billion.

How's that for a home project?

What about you? What's your home project? No matter what it is, you can promote it on YouTube. It costs you only time.

It can be home videos. You can let everyone see them, or you can restrict access to family members.

It can be your vacation trip. Maybe you have produced the only vacation trip video in history that doesn't put people to sleep. Share it.

It can be your latest ramblings on the Big Picture.

It can be the Sunday School class people said was really helpful.

It can be anything. But if you're wise, it will eventually be a video that sells something that you sell. It may sell it directly. It may sell it indirectly. But it will sell.

I'm going to get you started for free. You probably have a camcorder, but you don't need it for this project. All you need is what you already have: a computer. Does your computer have a built-in microphone? If so, you are ready to go.

To produce a far superior video product, you will have to shell out a whopping $15 at Wal-Mart or Amazon to buy an external mic, the Logitech Premium Headset.

If $15 is too much, Radio Shack sells a $5 tie clip microphone. I don't really recommend it, but it's better than no mic at all.

Your competitors don't know how.

First, YouTube makes it extremely easy to set up an account that will let you upload your videos. Junior high school kids are doing it by the hundreds of thousands. You really can do this. You may never post anything, but you can at least get set up. You can do it in about two minutes. Go here:

This is not rocket science. Why wouldn't you do this?

Second, there is a type of video program that can communicate anything that is on your computer screen. It makes a perfect copy of the screen in live action. You move the cursor to point to something. The program records it. You add narrative with your $5 mic. The program records it. You save the file. You now have a record of it.

You can post this file/program on YouTube in a few seconds. Now you can send it to anyone. Just email the link.

The program is free. I paid $300 for it a year ago, but the company is giving it away as a way to get you using it. If you use it, you may buy the latest edition. But the version on-line is so powerful that you don;t have to.

The type of program is called screencast software. The brand I bought is called Camtasia Studio.

For a nice example of what a screencast video looks like on- screen, watch one or more produced by Bill Myers. He uses screencasts for weekly presentations. He teaches people Web- based marketing. He posts his screencasts on YouTube. He gets lots of traffic to his site with these videos. Here are several of his screencast videos on how to produce videos and use YouTube effectively. If you have never seen any of this, you will be amazed. Remember, it's all free to do this. Think of how far we have come in just three years. (Think about how your competitors are unaware of all this. They will remain behind the digital communications curve.) Here is a page of links to screencast videos produced by Bill Myers. He introduces you to the basics of using YouTube and creating screencast videos. Click any of them.

Bill uses Camtasia Studio. You can see how effective this software is. It makes words far more powerful through a narrative of what you're seeing on-screen. The mutually reinforcing combination of voice and screen images makes a screencast an effective communications medium. Either voice by itself or a silent screen is far less attention-sustaining than the combination.

YouTube makes it free to distribute a screencast. Once you post the screencast, you can send an email or a snail mail letter with a link to your YouTube video. The recipient can access your report, presentation, how-to lesson, ad, or whatever.

Think of a separate screencast for each of your business cards. Create one card/screencast per targeted audience. Press their specific hot buttons, card by card!

You can learn this entire screencast creation and posting process over a weekend. What's stopping you?

If you start and don't finish, all you lose is a few hours. If you start and almost finish, there's always next weekend.

The tools are free, except for the microphone. You may already have a microphone. Or maybe you can borrow one from a high-tech buddy who has all the latest stuff. Who knows? Maybe he would like to produce a screencast. He might lend you the mic as a way to say thanks for having introduced him to the free version of Camtasia Studio. Or maybe the two of you can work on the ad and split the money if I buy your ad.

Nothing ventured, nothing posted.

And no $1,000.

CAMTASIA STUDIO (FREE)

Bill Myers has been one of the main promoters and users of Camtasia Studio. Recently, he sent out an email telling of a special offer: a free version of an older version of the product. I had paid $300 for it a year ago. You can download it from his site.

The program will enable you do produce a first-rate screencast video. You can then post it in MPEG format on YouTube. YouTube's software does everything for you automatically.

For links to his page on downloading Camtasia 3, plus a series of step-by-step videos on how to get up and running on YouTube with Camtasia Studio, click here (again):

I assure you, almost no one knows about his techniques, especially his trick for getting top Google placement.

THE BASICS OF AN EFFECTIVE AD

What makes a good ad? Motivation. The buyer's motivation, and also yours. You want him to buy. How can you persuade him to buy?

Here is Bill Myers' rule: "Find out what people want and sell it to them."

Don't try to sell them what they don't want, have not heard about, or are not highly interested in. You don't have enough money to persuade them. Find a generally persuaded person and sell him your specific product.

Got it? General persuasion, specific offer.

You must present benefits -- the more specific, the better. Yes, your product or service has specific features, but people rarely buy features. They buy the benefits delivered by the features. You must concentrate on the benefits. As the old direct marketing rule goes:

"Lead with the benefits. Follow with the features."

The features prove the benefits. They do not sell the product in and of themselves.

Don't say: "You can get this in blue." Say: "With this sky- blue unit, you will tell the world, 'I'm committed to the glorious world of the outdoors.' " (Note: don't say: "With this sky-blue unit, you will tell the world, 'I'm color blind.' ")

What else can you say that is positive? Have you personally used the product? Tell people how you used it and how -- specifically -- it helped you. Don't be vague. Be specific.

Try producing a YouTube ad for something you want to sell. Take a few still photos. If you have a digital camera, you can display them on-screen. Use Camtasia Studio to narrate them and then give a phone number to call. Or ask them to send an email. Then send them an autoresponder letter. I teach this technique in my free course on autoresponder advertising, available here:

You can run a classified ad that directs the reader to your YouTube video.

This reminds me: YouTube addresses are long and complex. They are hard to type accurately. So, use a free URL-shortener service. This way, the address is short enough for a classified ad. I have written about this here:

SO, HERE'S THE DEAL. . . .

Create a screencast ad, post it on YouTube, and send me the YouTube link (shortened or full). If I think it's the best ad, I'll pay you $1,000 for the rights to it . . . IF you will also produce a second Camtasia video on "how I created my YouTube ad." Then I'll use your ad and your how-to video in a report I am writing on effective YouTube advertising by beginners.

You're a beginner, right? So, you're just the person I'm looking for.

This way, I will get a lot of ads to link to. I can then show what makes a really good ad. I can then write a really good report. I will use Camtasia and YouTube to illustrate my report. Smart, no? All this for $1,000.

Are you willing to give it a try? Are you up to the challenge?

Deadline: January 15, 2008.

CONCLUSION

If you can master the skill of creating a video ad for Camtasia, you can use this skill in many ways. The skills are simple. The tools are free -- well, you must spend $5 for a mic.

Most people know nothing about any of this. Now you do.

What will you do with this knowledge?

Something profitable, I hope.