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Does Anyone Actually SELL These Videos??

by shockwave
10 replies
I'm curious if anyone is actually selling business videos on a CONSISTENT basis?

Now, before you give your answer, let me elaborate on how this process is supposed to work: (*btw, this is not my creation, I read it on other treads and a blog)

1. Get a Sunday newspaper.
2. Find companies that are advertising - perhaps on a weekly basis.
3. Film a video review of their business. Now this could be done any number of ways, but this particular method, I hear using a beautiful model-ish girl helps . She really doesn't have to say anything, just stand there and look good - obviously this is so the video thumbnail will attract a lot of click thrus.
4. Rank the video on the 1st page of Big G using the business name as the keyword phrase. This is so that you can rank it easy as it's likely there won't be much competition.
5. Call the business owner, tell them you've already put them on page 1, and see if they want to keep it - for a measily sum...maybe $20+/month depending on the type of business it is.

The whole theory behind this falls along a few lines:

a. It's quick money for you, very little work. And if you can sell it for a small monthly fee, you simply scale it. Pretty soon you're making a couple hundred bones a month for hardly any work.

b. It's important NOT to mis-represent what the video will do for the business - as in, it's like NOT going to generate a ton of traffic/sales.

c. You're not "selling" this per say as the thought is that you will appeal to the business owner's ego, and they will want it simply because they see themselves on that first page.

Listen, I do A LOT of video marketing and I make decent money (not great) promoting affilitate programs. That being said, I'm used to taking the logical route. Meaning, if there's not real traffic, then why pursue it?

I'm just trying to understand the value here for the business owner other than fulfilling their ego? To me, this does seem like a great "quick money" thing, but all it's gonna take is one savvy business owner to call you out on it. Then you're gonna feel like a dumbass.

So back to my question: Does anyone actually do this on a consistent basis or is this just another one of those 'great theories' that we are flooded with here on the forum? -- The reason I ask this is because I've ranked plenty of websites/videos on the 1st page of Big G for kw's that actually GET traffic and still couldn't sell or rent them out.
#sell #videos
  • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
    Originally Posted by shockwave View Post

    I'm just trying to understand the value here for the business owner other than fulfilling their ego? To me, this does seem like a great "quick money" thing, but all it's gonna take is one savvy business owner to call you out on it. Then you're gonna feel like a dumbass.
    What would they call you out on? Haven't you thought of reasons that a video on the first page of Google would be a good thing? Here..
    1) The business looks more established, creating better consumer confidence.
    2) Videos attract the eye. A video, anywhere above the fold, will attract the eye better than a listing anywhere on the page.
    3) It makes the business more familiar, establishing a relationship with the prospect looking online.
    4) Someone searching online, before they buy, will be more likely to chose the vendor with the video.


    Originally Posted by shockwave View Post

    So back to my question: Does anyone actually do this on a consistent basis or is this just another one of those 'great theories' that we are flooded with here on the forum? -- The reason I ask this is because I've ranked plenty of websites/videos on the 1st page of Big G for kw's that actually GET traffic and still couldn't sell or rent them out.
    First question...why not two videos? Google will allow two listings from one source per page. Like videos from Youtube. So, two is better.

    I have never created the video first, and them sold it. But I have sold the idea, and guaranteed page one placement. You don't charge the card until it's on page one of a Google search.

    Someone called with exactly that question "How much for one video on the first page of Google?" This was a national company. But if you are optimizing for the company name, it shouldn't matter. Anyway, he paid me $2,000 as a one time fee. Me? I would charge $99 a month, and guarantee one video. If the other one shows up as well, it's a bonus. I'd also optimize for the product category and city. That's what will really help.
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    • Profile picture of the author shockwave
      Hi Claude,

      Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

      What would they call you out on? Haven't you thought of reasons that a video on the first page of Google would be a good thing? Here..
      1) The business looks more established, creating better consumer confidence.
      2) Videos attract the eye. A video, anywhere above the fold, will attract the eye better than a listing anywhere on the page.
      3) It makes the business more familiar, establishing a relationship with the prospect looking online.
      4) Someone searching online, before they buy, will be more likely to chose the vendor with the video.
      Yeah, I get it, and those are all OBVIOUS reasons that you would use with any video. However, this technique feels a lot like the 20 million WSOs we see showing how easy it is ranking on page 1 - woops! only they forget to mention that the keyword they are ranking for has no real traffic or competition.

      Perhaps, I'm too narrow sited to sell anything other than real results.....but the reality is, a video is just as useless as a website if it's not getting any eyeballs. Otherwise, what you really are selling them is just another type of advertising.

      Then again, if they are already spending money on advertising, and the 'video' is inexpensive enough, maybe it doesn't really matter?

      I might as well try it and see what happens. I'll report back next week.
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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        Originally Posted by shockwave View Post

        Hi Claude,



        Yeah, I get it, and those are all OBVIOUS reasons that you would use with any video. However, this technique feels a lot like the 20 million WSOs we see showing how easy it is ranking on page 1 - woops! only they forget to mention that the keyword they are ranking for has no real traffic or competition.
        That's something you have total control over. You can easily rank the videos for search phrases that people are using to search when buying. Especially locally. You just need to know how to make the videos irresistible to Google. I know how, but it took about 5 WSOs and a ton of research to figure it out.



        Originally Posted by shockwave View Post

        Perhaps, I'm too narrow sited to sell anything other than real results.....but the reality is, a video is just as useless as a website if it's not getting any eyeballs. Otherwise, what you really are selling them is just another type of advertising.

        Then again, if they are already spending money on advertising, and the 'video' is inexpensive enough, maybe it doesn't really matter?

        I might as well try it and see what happens. I'll report back next week.
        You are selling advertising.
        I think the problem may be your expectations. How many sales from the videos will it take to be profitable? One? Less than one?

        For local clients, videos are just a part of my package, but they are an important part. Personally, I get about $3,000-$6,000 every month in new business just from people watching my videos. Is that how I sell? No.

        I tell them that I cannot control what they do, or what consumers do. But I can control what I do, and that's get them in front of people looking for what they sell.

        You are selling real results. Video advertising supports offline advertising, just like newspaper advertising makes your radio advertising more effective. All advertising supports all other advertising.

        Do videos alone produce sales? Yes, but not every day. I tell my clients that the will see a real increase in the number of phone calls they get, and a few more people walking in saying they found the client online.

        This is all true. If you sell the video for $39 a month, that's less than $500 a year. Is it even possible that the video won't generate at least $500 a year in additional profit? No.

        You want to make a video that really will generate profit? Make a video of the owner talking about the services they offer. Take a short tour of the business. Meet a few employees. And make a special offer for mentioning they saw the video. There, now you have a money making video.



        And so now, massaging their ego is free.

        Added later; We are talking about incredibly low volumes of eyes seeing these videos. I ask my client "Have you ever lost a sale to some online price cutter?" They almost always say "Yes", even if they can't think of a time it happened. It just feels like it would happen.

        I ask what they thought of that. I want them to vent, get emotional, raise their voice. I want them to hate losing one customer to another business.

        Then I say "This happens five to ten times every month. 10 people, who want to buy what you sell, are going online, and they aren't finding you. Does that bother you?"

        See? 5 or 10 viewers a month. You are thinking large numbers. The client is angry because they missed one. So, that's how you position it.
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        • Profile picture of the author wagsgraphx
          Excellent info here! Claude thanks for your perspective.
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        • Profile picture of the author zimbizee
          Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

          That's something you have total control over. You can easily rank the videos for search phrases that people are using to search when buying. Especially locally. You just need to know how to make the videos irresistible to Google. I know how, but it took about 5 WSOs and a ton of research to figure it out.

          Any chance you would be willing to reveal what methods work to do this? :confused:

          I have been trying to rank some local business videos and have followed all the usual methods of
          having the keyword as the file name, channel name, in the title, description etc as laid out by many wso's and still have trouble ranking on the first page of google even when it the business name + city.
          Any pointers would be great.
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          • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
            Originally Posted by zimbizee View Post

            Any chance you would be willing to reveal what methods work to do this? :confused:

            I have been trying to rank some local business videos and have followed all the usual methods of
            having the keyword as the file name, channel name, in the title, description etc as laid out by many wso's and still have trouble ranking on the first page of google even when it the business name + city.
            Any pointers would be great.
            That's a huge order, and it's lots more than this, but here's a few things most people don't do;

            Comment on high Pagerank relevant videos. Do this on maybe 4 or 5 vids a day for a few weeks.

            Comment of videos with high Pagerank, where the comments will stay on the main page for a long time. I comment on old 1980's music videos. If your username is a keyword (or has one in it) you have a Dofollow text link back to your channel.

            Subscribe to channels that are relevant to your subject. Only a few a day.

            Answer comments on your videos. Use keywords in the answer. This is content that Google and Youtube loves.

            Write blog comments that link to your Youtube videos. Any text links into your Youtube video pages helps Google rankings. There are several gigs on Fiverr that will create the text links you need.

            There is a trick outlined in Rocket Video Ranker 2 that works very well, but it's a little complicated, and also against some Youtube rules. So you need to buy that course (it's available here, somewhere).

            In fact, you should just invest in a few WSOs here on ranking videos. For a few dollars, you'll get a fast ticket to more Youtube visibility.

            Honestly, I do 137 separate actions on each of my videos to guarantee ranking, and make their positions bulletproof to the competition. But the basic 5 or 6 is usually enough.
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            • Profile picture of the author zimbizee
              Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

              That's a huge order, and it's lots more than this, but here's a few things most people don't do;

              Comment on high Pagerank relevant videos. Do this on maybe 4 or 5 vids a day for a few weeks.

              Comment of videos with high Pagerank, where the comments will stay on the main page for a long time. I comment on old 1980's music videos. If your username is a keyword (or has one in it) you have a Dofollow text link back to your channel.

              Subscribe to channels that are relevant to your subject. Only a few a day.

              Answer comments on your videos. Use keywords in the answer. This is content that Google and Youtube loves.

              Write blog comments that link to your Youtube videos. Any text links into your Youtube video pages helps Google rankings. There are several gigs on Fiverr that will create the text links you need.

              There is a trick outlined in Rocket Video Ranker 2 that works very well, but it's a little complicated, and also against some Youtube rules. So you need to buy that course (it's available here, somewhere).

              In fact, you should just invest in a few WSOs here on ranking videos. For a few dollars, you'll get a fast ticket to more Youtube visibility.

              Honestly, I do 137 separate actions on each of my videos to guarantee ranking, and make their positions bulletproof to the competition. But the basic 5 or 6 is usually enough.
              Thanks for the tips here, really appreciate it.
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        • Profile picture of the author RichAnderson
          Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post


          And so now, massaging their ego is free.

          Added later; We are talking about incredibly low volumes of eyes seeing these videos. I ask my client "Have you ever lost a sale to some online price cutter?" They almost always say "Yes", even if they can't think of a time it happened. It just feels like it would happen.

          I ask what they thought of that. I want them to vent, get emotional, raise their voice. I want them to hate losing one customer to another business.

          Then I say "This happens five to ten times every month. 10 people, who want to buy what you sell, are going online, and they aren't finding you. Does that bother you?"

          See? 5 or 10 viewers a month. You are thinking large numbers. The client is angry because they missed one. So, that's how you position it.
          wow this is solid.. A gold nugget of info..
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          • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
            Originally Posted by RichAnderson View Post

            wow this is solid.. A gold nugget of info..
            Thank you. Yes, you have to see it from the client's point of view. One sale lost is enough to send some business owners into a depression for the day.

            Ever give a refund? It's personal. If you own a brick and mortar business, a refund of $500 will ruin my day, and I know better.

            You need to tap into that frustration, that angst, the client feels when one gets away.

            Your videos (or any other work you do) aren't really to make dozens of sales a month..they are to prevent cancellations (which is actually very useful and true)
            Ask "If this program only prevented one cancellation a month, how much would that be worth?" "Let's make sure we get started before we lose the next sale OK?" The answer to that is "Yes" because you tapped into a nerve.
            These aggravations are visceral.

            One cancellation, one sale going to a hated competitor.

            These things are what make the client see red. And the emotions these things bring out are what trigger sales.

            Remember the last time a soda machine ate your dollar? Multiply that feeling by the amount of an average client sale, and you know their frustration.

            Remember the last time a girlfriend cheated on you? The feeling in the pit of your stomach? Merchants feel that way about losing a sale, especially a refund or to a competitor.

            Even clients that never thought of videos, websites, SEO, (or anything else we sell) will relate to this appeal.
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            • Profile picture of the author dunkinbbb
              Just my two cents;

              I rank lots of videos for ofline clients - and buy most video related WSO - and Claude has shared a lot of excellent ideas - some that cost me a monthly membership fee.

              Very cool of you , Claude.

              Bill
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