Some (harsh?) Advice for Video WSO sellers...

Some much needed advice (IMO at least) which anyone who is dealing with selling video WSO's (or even non-WSO's) should consider.

For the record, I don't buy that many WSO's so I'm sure my judgement will be skewed. I only buy a WSO here and there if it catches my attention, if I think I may learn something new from it, or if it seems to be coming highly recommended from fellow warriors.

The last few WSO's I've purchased over the past year or so have mostly been video-series type of stuff. That's all well and good.

Here are some commonalities I am noticing among these video WSO's, along with my humble advice to address the same:

1. If you don't have a "video voice"...

...or you simply don't know what you're doing when it comes to doing a video-series, consider doing a PDF instead, learning how videos should be done, or paying someone to do the voice-over for you (you are rolling in $dough after all right?, or can you not afford to do so because this very WSO is your primary means of online income? [not to be answered]).

2. Regarding #1, I'm not saying that everyone doing a video series has to be some sort of a "voice-over star" or "professional".

No, absolutely not. I do videos myself here and there and I am absolutely nowhere close to being a voice-over star or professional. In fact I try my best to make sure people won't fall asleep watching my videos, which helps lead into my next point:

3. Whether you want to admit/realize it or not, people are FALLING ASLEEP watching your stuff...

...(unless that's your goal, in which case THUMBS UP). It's all the same stuff which I'm trying to say in different ways here I guess. We've got these WSO's (ones I've had the pleasure of experiencing at least) where the voice behind the video is so dull, mono-tone, uninterested (or sounds so at least), and just an absolute challenge and pain to listen to... that it seriously makes you 'concerned' about the one who has produced this video. There was even a WSO where you could actually hear the person yawning every minute or two, as he often spoke about how tired he was... I mean COME ON. When watching such a video, it puts me in a predicament because I want to hear what this person behind the video is trying to tell me, maybe he has some good information to share; and yet at the same time, as I said, it is just simply not anywhere near at a standard which can keep most people watching even semi-interested.

4. You need to record yourself and then LISTEN to the recording (more than once) with critical ears.

There's no reason that 19 minutes out of your 27-minute video should consist of sounds like "uhh...", "well ummm", "ehhhh", "hmmmm", "errrr...", "uhhh ohh hmmm", "ooo wow wait hold on uhhh", etc, etc (hope you get the idea). Teach yourself to talk straight to the point and cut your 27-minute video down to 7 minutes. It may seem cool to you, but you obviously don't have any idea whatsoever how it is for one for your customers to sit there and go through the grueling videos which you call "money making lessons". It's about quality, not quantity; ESPECIALLY when it comes to video as fluff will just waste somebody's time. If you've got a PDF full of fluff (not unheard of in our industry); I have the option to skim through it and pick out the meat of the information. With a video, I have the option of skipping, but then what if I miss a significant piece of information in the middle of all the weird sounds you're making? Now you're FORCING me to watch your entire 27-minute video, when it could have easily been 7 minutes instead and convey the same (if not more) information.

4. Ever heard of video-editing?

I don't want to hear you spill your coffee on yourself, scream, jump up and down, run to get a roll of paper-towels and clean up, then when you come back after 8 and a half minutes, you don't even say sorry and get back to what you think is 'teaching' (when really it's just a bunch of sounds which are making me fall asleep). Also, while epiphanies are great, unless the one you're having while recording your video directly relates to the subject matter which you're teaching in your video; please refrain from sharing it or edit it out. If the WSO is about doing keyword research using the Google Keyword Tool, for example, and you all of the sudden have an epiphany about how you could renovate your garage and set-up a nice shop in there with all kinds of cool tools; and you spend 9 minutes "thinking out loud" about all kinds of random stuff... I don't want to hear about it. Refrain from saying it or edit it out later. This is keeping in mind that you're already not speaking properly, most of your speaking consists of the words such as "uhhh" and "ummm" as I mentioned above; and now you're trying to articulate the epiphany you just had in the same manner... it just doesn't work. If you were one of those people whose voice is like a magnet and no matter what they say, they can make it sound interesting, then you could get away with it... but if you've followed my tip in #4 above (record yourself and listen/evaluate your voice) and you've realized that you don't fall into the category of being able to make anything sound interesting... please stick to the point. Am I slightly exaggerating here? Yes, but only slightly. Also, if you don't know how to edit videos or don't have the time, pay someone to do it for you.

Don't get me wrong here please. I am not poking fun at someone who may legitimately have an issue speaking properly... and please forgive me if it comes across that way. I am talking about people who can obviously speak English just fine (in fact most of the ones I'm talking about have been American who speak English very well), have the ability to speak complete sentences, and they just refuse to talk straight to the point and/or refuse to edit their stuff afterwards to cut out all the unneeded stuff. I hope that is clear.

Which might potentially lead into my next point:

5. Ever heard of a "script"?

At least have some bullet points written down somewhere (either on paper in front of you or on your screen out of the screen capture area) which you can refer to so you actually end up giving information instead of stumbling over what you're "trying" to say. If you have an issue speaking freely based on bullet points alone, then write an actual script which you will follow closely while speaking naturally (so it doesn't just sound like you're reading off a sheet of paper), rehearse once or more before doing the actual recording, and then do the recording. Sure, it's more work, but you're going to be charging people money for the videos you're recording, and you also want people to think of you as an authority in the given subject matter, so you might as well put a little bit of effort into it.

6. Believe it or not, the fact that you're making up half this stuff comes across.

Newbies may fall for it, which is the goal of most of these WSO's anyway I guess (again, I am not blindly judging every single WSO, so forgive me if it seems that way), but seasoned IM'ers who might happen to be watching your videos will catch your bluff. It might just be me, but more often than not, it just seems like the 'expert' behind the video is some teenager who realized that you can make fluffy WSO's and make a few bucks so he's just trying to make stuff up as he goes along. Again, don't be offended by the 'teenager' comment, I used to be one myself and I actually started in IM when I was one many, many years ago.

Even if you are making stuff up as you go along, if you act on some of the tips provided so far, at least you can do a good job at "pretending" that you're legit. :rolleyes:

7. Have an idea of what you're going to show in your video... IN ADVANCE.

For example, if your goal is to do a Google search and show us a particular type of site which comes up, then know in advance how that search will look. I was just watching a video where the seller is trying to show a certain type of affiliate site(s), goes through the first site which pops up for the search on Google, spends 7 minutes talking about how it's the perfect affiliate site and exactly what he has been talking about, etc, and then in the end it turns out that it's a VENDOR site not an affiliate site. So he says something to the effect of "uhhh emmm errr huh wow ok then", hits the "back" button 17 or so times, and then the same thing happens with the next 5 sites until he finally makes it to one which is actually an affiliate site and then he says something to the effect of "now this is the type of site I am talking about guys!"... when that was the same thing he said about the previous 6 sites also. Yes, there is definitely something to be said about doing things "live" on video... but again, as I said earlier, if you don't know what you're doing, then stay away from that and stick to the basics. This is where video-editing comes into play also.

It almost seems as if most who are selling video WSO's are doing it out of "laziness". They want to sit there, turn on Camtasia, CamStudio, or whatever software they use; and just play around a little bit on their screen while talking. They then seem to take these RAW videos and put them up for download for a fee, in the WSO section. That is not what offering video products is about!

Lastly, consider including at least a transcript of your video along with some notes in PDF format as part of the package. Not everyone wants to sit through 7 hours worth of videos when they could just pick out the information they want/need in 15 minutes instead and get back to work. This of course is not a requirement and it's fine either way, as long as your offer clearly states that only videos are included... but rather it's a nice thing to have and one which will go a long way in establishing your customer base and their loyalty towards you. Again, you can pay someone to transcribe the video if you don't have the time or don't want to do it yourself. There are even people on Fiverr offering transcription services if you don't want to spend a fortune.

I want to say more, but I think I will hold myself back. The above is based on actual video WSO's I have watched, and one I have been trying to watch since yesterday, which consists of about seventeen 31-minute videos (I have changed the numbers to avoid giving away who/what I'm talking about). The WSO has some tidbits of good information here and there so I'm trying to watch the whole thing, but it is just a grueling task because the videos all have the above-mentioned issues, and then some.

The last few times I watched some video WSO's with similar issues, I wanted to make this type of a post, but then I said "forget about it". However, this time I apparently couldn't hold myself back.

Again, please forgive me if I said anything which offended anybody. That is not my intention. Rather it is my hope that we can improve the video products offered in our community to make it even better than what it currently is.

Thank you for your time.