How I Make Money With Video Marketing - A Beginner's Guide

I've been wanting to write this post for a while, but I've been so busy with business that it can be hard to sit down and spend an hour or two writing. So, here goes...

I've had a digital marketing agency for over 10 years, and have a seven-figure business. I get approached at conferences and on social media about my experiences, and people ask for advice. I hear from so many people who are struggling to make a living online. I hope this post can clear up some of the fog out there.

First, let me preface this by saying this is MY OPINION. I know others will have other experiences than I do, but this is how I would advise someone to get started.

Second, if you are looking for a "get-rich-quick" strategy then please stop reading. I can't help you. If you want to know how to build a sustainable business that grows your income each month, then please read on.

With that out of the way....

I've done everything imaginable out there when it comes to Internet Marketing. I tested everything. If I heard about it - I tested it. I always felt my opinion would be better formulated by doing it rather than taking someone's word for it. That process has served me well. And it has been expensive.
My company makes money several different ways; affiliate marketing, video marketing, lead generation, ecommerce, and client SEO and marketing. They all have their pros and cons. Some are more profitable than others depending on technology changes.

But if I had to pick ONE to tell a beginner to work on, it would be Video Marketing, specifically YouTube Marketing.

YouTube is a spectacular platform. It's #2 in search traffic. It's where most people are turning to for information, education and entertainment. YouTube averages over 1 billion views per day. The amount of traffic is staggering. Google loves to promote YouTube videos in organic search results.

There are literally dozens of ways to leverage the power of YouTube to start building a business. So let's start with a few fundamentals:

1 - This is a VOLUME game. As in lots of videos. One or two videos per week isn't going to get you very far, unless you get lucky and produce a viral hit. I'll be the bad guy and tell you those chances are very slim. I've never produced a viral hit. And I don't waste my time trying to.

2 - The average video might get 10 to 20 views per month or less. See #1

3 - Ugly videos get views and clicks too. They don't need to be perfect. Progress is better than perfection. Slideshow videos are a fantastic way to make videos quickly. Don't let "ugly" hold you back.

4 - Your video should be a solution to a problem. Is someone looking to learn how to do something? Do they want to see a product review? Maybe they want to learn where to get the best price? Provide an answer to their problem.

5 - If you can speak/write in other languages, there are even more opportunities on YouTube to easily rank videos. Non-English is wide open.

6 - You don't need to buy video equipment or learn to edit videos to do video marketing.

7 - Don't stop with one Google account with one YouTube channel. You need lots of accounts with a single channel in each of them. Our business has over 50 channels, each in their own Google accounts.

8 - Use automation whenever possible. This has been the key tool to producing my results with video.

9 - Use Bit.ly for your video description links. It's a pain to change 500+ video links if you want to promote a new product. Use Bit.ly custom links and update them all in 30 seconds.

10 - There are over 100 million Home Speakers (like Amazon Echo) in homes and vehicles across the U.S. alone. They use text-to-speech technology to read information and news to the user. Use this technology in your videos, too, people are used to it now.

OK, so it's important to get your mindset right with those fundamentals. Believe it or not I never had a guru ever tell me to play the volume game. I had to learn it on my own. You need a system to produce lots of videos, rank them, and link them in a way that makes you money. That's the formula.
Still with me? Read on....

When it comes to buying a new bright, shiny object you need to focus on the following things:

1 - Will it help me make LOTS of videos QUICKLY?

2 - Will it help me rank videos?

That's it.

So let's talk about strategies for making an income:

1 - Perhaps promoting products on Amazon using YouTube videos is one of the easiest methods to use video to generate an income. Contrary to what I've heard people say, Amazon does not prohibit affiliates from promoting products on YouTube. YouTube does not prohibit promoting Amazon links. There are ways to do this without buying products and recording the reviews yourself. Start by reading the reviews of other people.

2 - Probably the most under-appreciated affiliate program is AliExpress. Same principle as Amazon, making product review videos. AliExpress has surprisingly good conversion rates because the prices are so low. Lots of cheap iPhone/Android stuff out there to promote, and that stuff converts.

3 - Build authority channels. Each of your YouTube channels should be themed around a specific niche. If you have a channel about Gardening, then everything in that channel should be about Gardening, and not other things, like Cooking. First, you want niche authority. We will start a channel about Gardening, publish about 50+ videos, and then form two or three other Gardening channels that link from their video descriptions to our first channel. Keep feeding all the channels with Gardening videos but linking the newer channels to the first. Go to a site like Fiverr or Legiit and have someone build IFTTT networks for you about Gardening and make sure your videos are all auto-backlinking in your IFTTT rings. Now that you have an authority channel that appears in YouTube search about Gardening topics, you can charge people to publish their videos in your channel. You can charge clients to place "pre-roll" videos in each of your channel videos (these are just short ads that you put at the beginning of each of channel video.) You can charge for authority backlinks from your video descriptions. If you use five Bit.ly links in your descriptions you can add five backlinks to client websites or your own websites for that niche. Having 500+ niche authority backlinks is very valuable. Sell niche backlinks from your channels on Fiverr or Legiit.

4 - Local Businesses want videos but think it's expensive. And generally they aren't convinced they will get leads from it. Usually that's because someone made them one video and didn't promote it, so they never saw much business from it. Instead you will offer to make dozens, or even hundreds of videos about their business, using as many keywords as you can. Take a single video with 100 keywords and make them 100 videos, each with a different keyword. This will get them traffic and leads.

5 - CPA offers are a great way to use videos. Zip-code-submit or email-submit offers work best. You can take a video about the offer and make videos for all your offer keywords. Link to the offer in the description (use Bit.ly!! so you can change offers until you find one that converts the best.) Offers like free signup games and apps are easiest to convert. Gameplay videos kill it.

6 - Even if you don't have an authority channel, you can still produce backlinks with YouTube. Upload as many videos as you want backlinks across multiple channels. Drop the backlink in the description (it doesn't need to be the first link, or even in the visible part of the description below the video). Sell these gigs on Fiverr or Legiit.

7 - Convert Press Releases into videos. Offer video distribution across multiple channels on YouTube with a single press release. PR Agencies love the idea of getting their press releases on video for their clients. What's even better for you is that an agency will have hundreds of clients, and you never have to talk to the clients. The video can be made as a slideshow with a simple voice over or text-to-speech audio.

8 - Build authority channels for Video Agencies and SEO Agencies. These gigs can be sold on Fiverr or Legiit.

9 - Salvage poorly ranked videos with low views. In this strategy I find a good quality video that is ranked poorly in YouTube for a "how-to" keyword, and also does not promote a product associated with the "how-to". I contact the channel owner and ask if I can purchase a license to republish the video to my channel. I might offer $50 or less. Once they agree I download it and then make hundreds of keyword-oriented videos with it, while dropping my affiliate product link in the description. If you don't like slideshow videos, this is ideal for you.

10 - Dealer Inventory deals. A car dealership (or any other dealership) pays you monthly to make slideshow videos of each of their listings, with links to their listing page. Tools like Lotvantage provide automation for this.

I know some of the things on this list might sound intimidating. Probably the question you're asking yourself is "How do I make hundreds of videos at once??!!"

I've used a variety of tools to create videos, including Animoto and Lumen5, but they didn't do everything I needed from a volume standpoint. There are products offered by IM gurus that do many of these things, including making hundreds of keyword videos from one video.

Eventually I had to build a lot of the automation I use today once I learned what really was needed for it to work, quickly and efficiently. Automation just makes it less work and faster to accomplish. But you can do it without automation if you are determined.

Hopefully this post has stirred some creative juice within you and shows you the opportunity that awaits in Video Marketing with YouTube.