Video marketing can be intimidating for even the most hardened entrepreneur.
But for all the potential headaches it may present, the results can be phenomenal. Like in the case of the Dollar Shave Club.
The Dollar Shave Club is a business that delivers good quality affordable razor blades to its customers via the post– nothing spectacular right?
And yet one hour after they posted a particular video, the website crashed. In just 48 hours, they were recruiting family, friends and anyone they could pay to help them package 12,000 orders.
The video in question showed the company’s founder, Michael Dublin, making a few jokes and telling a few people to buy his razors. The video, launched in March 2012, has now been watched over 10 million times and launched the Dollar Shave Club into massive success virtually overnight.
I’m not telling you this for the sake of it. There are certain lessons hidden in the Dollar Shave Club story that can help anyone thinking about launching into video marketing.
Lesson One – “That’s showbiz, baby!”
The Dollar Shave Club video that went viral was, in essence, a comedy skit.
The people who watched and shared the now infamous video weren’t searching for affordable shaving solutions. They weren’t interested in how good the service was. They didn’t crave the convenience of having their shaving equipment sent in the mail.
They simply wanted to be entertained.
In the 21st century everyone’s an entertainment junkie and that’s something you should always consider when making any form of video marketing you do for your business. Whether it’s a simple message from the executive, a how-to video or an elaborate online commercial – your customers want to be entertained. In fact, they demand it.
Of course, there are many different ways of being entertaining (comedy-skit versus documentary-style) but the point here is that if you want to get more bank for video marketing efforts, always give your customers some ‘pizzazz.’
Lesson Two – It’s a social, social world…
Your customers love to share information about their lives and their experiences that they think their friends will enjoy. Think about any email message you forwarded or any page that you’ve liked on Facebook. What you’re essentially doing there is saying “I think this awesome and I think you’ll enjoy it too.” What’s my Point?
The Dollar Shave Club video spread as fast as it did because of this same principle. When you make videos for your website (thinking of the potential of going viral) you need to keep in mind if the video is giving anything of value to your customer. It could be, like the Dollar Shave Club, entertainment value, or it could be valuable information they didn’t know (like in how-to videos), or it could even be a sense of becoming part of a community (like the Apple versus PC ads).
For most people it’s become virtually second nature to share everything they think is really great. Make your videos great too!
Lesson Three – The Power of video
There are certain things that are just expressed better in the form of video. Pictures, articles, social media simply can’t communicate a brand as succinctly and clearly as video can. When people watched the Dollar Shave Club video they didn’t just see what the product (razors) could do for them, they saw the businesses personality and identity which made it easier to buy into their brand.
When making videos for marketing purposes always remember to consistently represent your brand in how you choose to communicate with your customer and what you choose to say.
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Dollar Shave Club is an excellent example of the power of video marketing. This one video helped a little company with a weird business model become a household name. Imagine what it could do for your business.
I’d like to get vulnerable with you for a moment. There’s something you probably don’t know about me, mostly because it’s embarrassing and I rarely share this…
You know I’m all about the Mindset for success. But you may not know that just a few short years ago, my business foundation was a total mess.
I was behind in taxes (by several years), I had no contracts in place, no insurance, nothing and, basically, my very “successful” business was built on toothpicks and band-aids…
I learned the hard way that this wasn’t sustainable, and if I could do my business all over again, I would’ve put very strong business foundations in place from the get-go, as opposed to waiting until it was too late.
I want to make sure you don’t make the same mistakes I made, so I’m inviting you to a one-time call with my friends and colleagues Alexis Neely & George Kao.
George will be interviewing Alexis, who is the expert on business foundations for people just like you and me:
If your business has been stalling, or maybe it hasn’t quite gotten of the ground yet, it could be because you haven’t shown your prospects, clients, and yourself that you’re actually serious about your business. (Let’s be honest, right?)
Perhaps you don’t have the right legal, insurance, financial and tax foundation in place to signal that your business is truly ready for the next level. And from my experience, your business must have a solid foundation to thrive long term.
Here’s the info on the call. It’s happening Wednesday, May 1 at 1pm Pacific (4pm Eastern - US):
“100x Your Business Confidence In All the Decisions That Make You Money”
- Why having solid legal, insurance, financial and tax foundations makes you more money in your business; - Why taking your business seriously is the foundation that will bring you more clients and more growth; - How to set up your “Hey Universe, I’m serious” business foundation - your financial systems, legal agreements, hiring procedure, partnership contracts and tax assessments; - How to protect your business from financial loss (tax bills, lawsuits, intellectual property disputes); - And how to fill the holes in your foundation that are causing money, prospects and clients to slowly leak out of your business.
I really admire Alexis’ work. She’s known for her legal, insurance, financial and tax (LIFT) system and George will be asking her to tell us about that too. I hear that Alexis is also going to be giving everyone a free gift on the live webinar, her Emergency Rescue Kit for Online Business Owners that includes three legal agreement templates you need to use if you’re doing business online plus much more.
Basically, this is a conversation that I wish I’d had much earlier in my business. There are few business conversations that are more important than this.
P.S. It’s time to show the Universe you’re serious about your business! This one-time call with Alexis and George will give you 100x more confidence in all of your most important, make it or break it decisions.
Work At Home is what majority of the youngsters are looking for these days. Right from the college days, they have a very good network of contacts that are quite well versed in using the internet facility quite efficiently. Whether or not they are quite good at their academics, they are quite very well knowledge about the intricate details of using the internet quite effective ways. They get guidance for all these wonderful productive ways of using time, from their seniors as well as the alumni.
Usually the alumni that are already settled in high end jobs in the overseas countries are capable of receiving sensitive information to succeed effectively in the cyber sphere. They do shell out some of the secrets to help out their near and dear ones at times. This becomes easy information for others that are friends in turn to these informed individuals in the university campus. Or else, they stealthily try to find out information from the guys that are aware of the secrets. It is how the information exchange taking place quite fast amidst the youth community.
There are plenty of students that are attending the universities but yet making quite handsome money than what their elder brothers, sisters and fathers are making in a month. It is how quite cool the opportunities are available for everyone in the internet. Some of the freelancing sites that are dedicated to the international workers as well as the hirers act as effective platforms to bridge in the gap between the resources and requisite. To work from home, is quite easier these days. Working from Home, needs no guidance as a matter of fact.
All it needs is just a bit of patience. You need to Work At Home, if and only if you are really diligent enough to do so. Work from home, gives you the courage to kick your boss. Still, you should take decisions after depth of thought. Working from Home, could sometimes give you adequate financial freedom while compared to the regular 9 to 5 jobs. Still the choices of selection matters the most. Work At Home could be detrimental from physical as well as mental point of view for the obese guys in essential. You should be aware of these essential facts well ahead of starting to look for work from home. Working from Home, is not easy as there are all chances for flexibility by all means.
before we begin with this quick financial analysis, please keep in mind that I’m just a regular SWA customer like you. I’m not part of SWA Management, and I do not have info regarding their financial plans.
People are asking about safety nets and how SWA Ultimate will make money. They are looking for reassurance that the company will have enough cashflow to sustain its operations. Here are some suggested computations…
The following computations are based on publicly-available information…
Access to the SWA Online Library is $55 per customer.
For each customer who pays $55, a maximum of $20 is set aside for the Pay Plan 2 commission, while $5 is set
aside for Admin Fees (e.g., the programmers maintaining the website)
The Pay Plan 1 commissions are set aside for payout for each group of 6 customers. Therefore, a Pay Plan 1
commission of $70 is set aside for payout for every 6 customers.
This means that by the time 6 customers have come in:
Total Sales is 7 x $55 = $385 (The first SWA member + 6 customers)
Less: $5 SWA Admin Fee = ($35)
Less: Pay Plan 2 Commissions of 7 x $20 = ($140)
Amount left for Pay Plan 1 = $210
Amount actually set aside for Pay Plan 1 Commission = $70
In the above example, SWA Ultimate will still have a Net Cash Available For Operations (NCAFO) of $140
(that’s $210 minus $70). That comes out to $140 divided by 7, or an average of $20 NCAFO per customer.
What about cases where a SWA Member qualifies for a Pay Plan 1 commission, and then is given another
SWA Account, which causes that SWA Member’s Upline to earn a $70 commission?
For that to happen, that means 10 people became SWA Customers:
Total Sales is 10 x $55 = $550
Less: $5 SWA Admin Fee per customer = ($50)
Less: Pay Plan 2 Commissions of 10 x $20 = ($200)
Amount left for Pay Plan 1 = $300
Amount set aside for Pay Plan 1 commission of SWA Member and that Member’s Upline = $140
In this second example, SWA Ultimate will still have a Net Cash Available For Operations (NCAFO) of $160
(that’s $300 minus $140). That comes out to $160 divided by 10, or an average of $16 NCAFO per SWA
customer.
In other words, based on the commission structure of Pay Plan 1 and Pay Plan 2 combined, the SWA Ultimate mother company will still have cash, which can be used to cover operational expenses.What will help sustain the operations of SWA Ultimate is a steady stream of SWA customers each month.
At 300 new SWA Customers per month (or only 10 new customers a day), and based on the above
computation’s estimate of $16 average net cash available for operations per SWA Customer, that’s $4,800 per month (or P201,600 monthly assuming a forex rate of P42:US$1).
Please take note that we are regular SWA customers like you, and we do not have information regarding the staffing requirements of SWA Ultimate, the Management’s financial targets, or even their cost of doing business (e.g., webhosting costs, salaries).
Neither do we have information regarding the actual number of new SWA customers each month. And please remember that this website you are reading is for informational purposes only. We do not offer any professional nor legal advice, so please be guided accordingly and do get in touch with your accountant or lawyer for professional advice.
The men and women who serve our country to help preserve our rights deserve respect for the sacrifices they give and the Beachbody Coach Military discount is Team Beachbody’s way of giving back to those men and women. Being a Beachbody Coach is all about helping people to learn how to get fit and healthy through the Team Beachbody program and its products, and with the military discount earning money as a coach can benefit active service members in a variety of ways.
The Beachbody Coach Military discount pretty simple: all active members of the US military get the chance to waive the starter kit cost ($39) and monthly fees ($16) as a Beachbody Coach for however long they are on active duty. Team Beachbody goes even farther and offers the Beachbody Coach Military discount to spouses of active service members in place of them if they so chose. For those who have already started the journey as a Team Beachbody Coach and are an active US Military member, they can fill out the Beachbody Coach Military Application to have the monthly fees as a coach waived. It is just one way that active military members can take part in the Team Beachbody revolution and maybe help to earn a little extra money while helping people all over to get fit and healthy the Beachbody way.
Hint: Even if you don’t plan to work the business, using the Beachbody Coach Military Offer will save you 25% on all future orders!
Through the Beachbody Coach Military Application active service members can apply for the discount and start their journey as a Team Beachbody Coach without the hassle of startup costs or monthly fees. It makes the chance to be a Coach easier than it ever has been before. Whether you’re an active service member or the spouse of an active service member, you can take advantage of the amazing Beachbody Coach Military discount and start earning money while helping people to truly get healthy today!
To join as a coach on my team for free, simply download the Beachbody Military Coach Application below and follow the directions on the form. Once completed you can fax or email the form to Beachbody using the information provided on the application. If you need help or would like me to mail a copy of the form to you, please contact me. Note: Unless you will be purchasing a challenge pack, there is no need to enter a credit card number. On the last pages of the PDF you will see the Team Beachbody price list. There you will able to see the new wholesale prices for Beachbody products that you can take advantage of as a coach.
Week 2 of Blackbox Connect. Off to a blazing start today with Dan Martell, on Social Marketing for Startups.
Dan was founder of Flowtown, acquired last year by Demandforce. He’s currently working on another startup, while advising and investing in others. He calls himself a growth hacker.
I like that title. It explains what pretty much every startup with lean marketing budget is trying to do.
His weapon of choice? Social media. Results kinda speak for themselves: ~22K Twitter followers; 17K Facebook fans; 15K email subscribers in the very early days.
He shared some killer insights into what worked at Flowtown. I managed to capture a few.
Online marketing services aren’t new, but they are essential. Less than a decade ago, most businesses had a wide variety of choices available to them when it came to marketing and branding their products and services. From word of mouth to television to print, depending on how far the audience was from the company, marketing was a fairly straightforward affair. But now, in just a few short years, everything has changed. The Internet has eliminated the distance factor between consumers and providers meaning that the way you market your product or service now only has one real path—online marketing services.
What are Online Marketing Services?
Online marketing services provide companies with an inbound marketing strategy that allows businesses to make cost-effective choices that drive traffic directly to the business. Whether you’re already online and selling your product through an eCommerce site or are a traditional brick and mortar business, there is no way your company can survive the next few years without online marketing services.
Typically, online marketing services include things like article marketing, social media, link building, search engine optimization (SEO) and many other techniques. Each of these services aims to help customers find your business rather than the other way around.
Inbound Marketing versus Outbound Marketing
The big switch in the outlook on marketing really came about with the rise of search engines. It used to be that a company would spend a set amount of money on marketing and advertising, putting their name brand out there for all to see. This was rather ineffective from a cost management point of view—for every advertising dollar you put out there, it was considered effective if 1 out of every 10 people saw your ad and responded. Ten percent effectiveness is just no way to do business.
But with the advent of search engines, online marketing services provide your company a way in which you can market your product directly to the people who are looking for you. That means for every marketing dollar you spend, 10 out of 10 people who see your campaign are in your target market, leaving you with a 100% cost-effective rate. In fact, when people who aren’t in your target audience stumble upon your site thanks to proper link building (the process of having inbound and outbound links going to and from your site in order to increase traffic), you’re actually marketing above 100% effectiveness.
This is the difference between inbound and outbound marketing: inbound marketing through online marketing services is far more effective. Plus, when your customers are finding you through search engines, articles online, social media promotions and local tools such as mobile devices, you’re increasing traffic paths, directly leading to a higher return on investment (ROI). Further, by freeing up the time and resources you currently spend looking for customers, you can reinvest and refocus that energy into your business and really blow away the competition.
Rising to the Top of Your Niche with Online Marketing Services
And that’s the overall goal of any good business: to be seen and used more than their competition. Online marketing services allow you a way to do just that. By building links on your site, optimizing the content on your web pages and various other techniques, when a potential client types in keywords looking for your product or service, it’s vital that you pop up on the search engine results pages (SERPs) before your competition. This leads to increased traffic and consumer confidence, both of which equate to more sales for you.
So, if you’re looking for a way to stand out in your field, there really is no better or cost-effective option that enlisting the help of an online marketing services professional.
This thoughtful post was brought to you by Doublelinx. To find out how to get started with online marketing services, click here right now and don’t lose one more sale due to poor online visibility.
![intothecontinuum:
Made in response to a recent question posted at the Mathematica Stack Exchange.
Mathematica code:
img =
ImageCrop@DensityPlot[
Sin[2 x - 20 Log[2 (Sin[y]^2 + 1), 2]],
{x, 0, 16 Pi}, {y, 0, 32 Pi},
PlotPoints -> 250, ColorFunction -> "SunsetColors",
Frame -> False, ImageSize -> 600]LogPolar[x_, y_] := {Log[Sqrt[x^2 + y^2]], ArcTan[x, y]}d = ImageDimensions[img][[1]]
Manipulate[
ImageResize[
ImageTransformation[
ImageTake[
img,
{1, 14*d/16}, {1 + (2 - 2 t)*d/32, (32 - 2 t)*d/32}],
LogPolar[#[[1]], #[[2]]] &, DataRange -> {{-Pi, Pi}, {-Pi, Pi}}],
500],
{t, 0, 6/7, 1/7}]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/4be8160470f71bea55bc5dab850dfe40/tumblr_mmb7i9VYqc1qfjvexo1_500.gif)
