Telling you video is huge is a bit redundant at this stage, however… video is huge.

The question you need to be asking yourself isn’t “should I be using video,” but “how do I get the most out of putting my videos online.”

That’s where this great sticky tips on videos comes in handy, compliments of Webproworld.

Your videos are found via “clues on the page” where your video file is embedded. The discussion does cover both hosting videos on third party web sites like Viddler and the all-famous YouTube and the pros and cons of self-hosted videos.

Spreading your videos around is also a good thing. We’ve found that while you could host the video yourself, viewing times are greatly “speeded up” for your viewer when they are hosted on sites optimized for video viewing.

In addition, pick your third party hosting sites carefully. For example, should you choose Viddler, you are able to edit the title (use your keyword in the title), provide a (keyword rich) description, and tag it. YouTube is great, but at the moment spots like Viddler top our list. And, search engines pick up your video very quickly!

Here’s a bit more about optimizing your video online, condensed, of what you’ll find when you visit the Webproworld forum link above:

1. Sitemaps …video sitemaps are a recommended way to give Google information about the video content of your site…

2. RSS Feeds …Google loves to crawl RSS feeds of various types, and this includes RSS feeds that focus on video content…

3. Metadata …metadata is the best source for search engines to determine what your video is about…

4. Provide a transcript …embedding a transcript in the video viewing page will provide the search engines with a wealth of content to index…

5. Optimize the video page …where the video is embedded focusing on the key topics of the video. Context seems to be an important factor…

6. Use friendly URLs …provide the search engines with additional clues as to the relevant topics of the video.

7. Be consistent when distributing your video …this will give you more opportunities to show up for your target term…

8. Prepare for the future of video search …By taking these steps now, your videos can remain relevant as search engines improve their scanning and indexing capabilities.

Again, a trip to the forum is in order to fill in the gaps of what I did not include.

Also, the responses to this sticky post on video optimization are worth the read.

Not everyone is prepared to jump on the video bandwagon at the moment, but arming yourself to use this immensely popular form of internet and social media marketing in the future is a sure winner.

Related articles

• Netvibes: The new social media dashboard (vator.tv)
• YouTube Video Alerts For Your Inbox (performancing.com)
• Viewzi Launches Site Search (centernetworks.com)
• Sitemap Submission Made Simple (googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com)

The new year has brought us some new ideas, along with the return (revisiting) of some old concepts.

Scott and I have been working on programs outside our typical realm of “service oriented.” Strangely enough, our newest blog, a facts about what other people are searching for blog named ImWebNiches.com, is a return to one of those “old” concepts. It’s an experiment really to answer the question, “Is adsense really dead or not?”

(However, while there are some adsense ads on that blog, it is not just an adsense page. That’s the experiment part.)

With other projects in the works, I’ve also discovered that ImWebNiches is a fun blog to put together (like this one). The difference between the two is that this one deals with internet and social media marketing strategies, and the other… can be about anything we want it to be about. That brings a bit of freedom to me (in particular) since I’m a gabby sort and like stepping outside the realm of marketing every now and again.

Our other projects? Well since they are still “under construction” we’ll keep them secret for now. In the meantime, a test of our new search engine directory blog is underway.

We shall see.

Articles of Interest

• 12 Marketing Minds, One Free eBook
• Marketing in 2009 (free eBook)

This morning, while talking with Janet Giacoma, we discussed the value of guest posting, or more precisely, pursuing the idea of guest posting on other people’s blogs.

So after a lengthy conversation about marketing strategies for the upcoming New Year (and of course once I was off the phone), I started doing a bit of digging. (Guest posting is not something new to us, but it never hurts to do a bit of background research to bring yourself up to speed.)

Guest Posting Secrets (How to Get Published on An A-List Blog), posted a little over a year ago, provides the information anyone considering adding such a marketing strategy to their business should take the time to read… first!

“In this post, I want to share the strategies I used to secure guest-posting spots at three Technorati Top 100 blogs (ProBlogger, Copyblogger and Zen Habits) without any prior contact with the owner. I don’t include that information to boast – I simply want to show you that these methods work. If they worked for me, they can work for you.”

This informational post provides specific guest post directions such as:

o  Why guest post on popular blogs?
o   Choosing where to guest post
o   Coming up with the perfect idea
o   Pitching your post (includes email template)
o   Opportunities to look out for
o   And important things to remember

Not surprising, it also appears that the post about guest posting may itself BE a guest post. How clever is that?

Our suggestion? Make the time to study up on, and implement, this social media marketing concept as soon as possible, and reap the benefits.

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We love comments! Please do and gain a valued backlink.

Here on OIMS while we gather intel on the best and brightness ways to internet and social media market your website, we also do have numerous services geared to fixing the problems so many face.

The use of cold calling, direct mail, and randomly harassing people by telephone quickly allow you to discover (if you don’t go broke first) techniques that don’t work or require so much work there’s no fun left to promoting your business.

Unlike these time consuming, futile (and often ineffective) methods, online seo marketing coupled with the proper amount of social marketing, with more than a dash of ezine advertising thrown in, pull customers to you.

Yes, it takes the proper know how and use of the right tools, software, methods, and techniques to make it happen. That’s why we’re in business – to handle your seo and social media marketing. Or to quickly bring you up to speed, even train you to take over, if that’s your goal.

So, was it really coincidence that today Scott found this video? We think not.

No, the video is not ours, but it does represent everything we can and will do for you! Slide past the 10 years plus we’ve been online and start off your New Year right with the most practical ways to market…

OIMConsulting – Market For Me
Whole Hog Blogs
My Wizard Ads

… online and effectively!

Happy Holidays!

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Please leave your comments!

Living in Las Vegas, snow is a rare commodity. It gets cold, and snow up on Mt. Charleston, but generally it’s once in a blue moon for it to snow in the Valley and stick. However, as I type we are getting flurries. Who knows, we might be making snowmen in a little bit (they did on the other side of the valley day before yesterday).

And… in my continuing odd post for the day, I read something interesting in the Las Vegas Review Journal. A commentary written by Gail Collins, a columnist for The New York Times.

I’m not going to replicate the entire article, but the section that caught my eye about dogs:

“Folks at the University of Vienna conducted a test in which dogs were asked to shake hands over and over and over again. If you have any experience with dogs, you will not be surprised to hear that they were absolutely delighted. And they didn’t care about being paid! The opportunity to perform the same trick endlessly with a stranger in a white coat was reward enough.

Then the researchers brought in new dogs that were given a piece of bread as a reward for every handshake. The uncompensated dogs watched, lost their innate love of mindless repetition and grew sullen.

“They get so mad that they look at you and just don’t give you the paw anymore,” said Friederike Range, one of the scientists.

So OK. Dogs are secretly obsessed with fairness. (And bread. Who knew?)”

Strangely enough, as I read that portion it reminds me of so many individuals I’ve “met” online. They work their little buns off for nothing, yet some “bigger dog” comes along, steals all the thunder, and gets all the bread.

This might sound familiar to anyone who’s joined an affiliate program, promoted it with real heart, and gotten squat (or peanuts) for their efforts. While the “big dog” made tons of money from your efforts.

But there is hope… and a way around this… Start your own thing!

However, you must be picky! By that we mean, so specifically “niche” picky that you’ve taken a big old umbrella of a website (or blog) down to its finest points.

“Health” is not a niche, it is an umbrella. However, “colon cleansing” is a specific niche under the umbrella of Health.

“Home business” is not a niche. However, joining a specific home business (or starting your own service or product oriented website narrowed to a single product or service) IS a niche.

This particular blog you are reading right now is NOT a niche. It is an umbrella, encompassing all sorts of niche-like features to internet marketing and social media – from monetizing blogs, to social bookmarking, to freelance writing… and so much more (hang out a while and read the archives there’s tons of help and direction in this here blog!).

Get the idea?

Another valuable thing to keep in mind is choosing something you are passionate about. If you sign up for something that just sounds like a money maker, with no real understanding of what it is or how to run it, what’s the point? You’ll merely be out the money it took to join (and maybe maintain) because you lack passion.

So snow, dogs, umbrellas, niche markets, passion… and that wraps up today’s post

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