Had a brainstorm last week to get a lecture out so I could hit the radio interview circuits. So I created one (free MP3 Online World Peace Plan download), made a video out of it, made an optimized Online World Peace Plan mini-web for the transcript, created a PDF (in order to make that video) and have the whole thing up and running now.
So, here I blog about the whole thing and so "Jiggle the web" to use Michael Campbell's phrase.
Let me tell you the sequence of it:
- Bright idea. Came from my "day job" telling me I had the weekend "off" (meaning: without pay). Needed to create some income. Already had been working up some Web 2.0 examples of my speaking ability so that I could send reporters that way. So I decided to just let it all hang out with a lecture that told everyone about my latest results. (These philosophic breakthroughs tend to make you a big edgy until you vent them creatively - muses are an insistent bunch...)
- Wrote a rough outline and then cranked out nearly 6K words in an afternoon. Polished it up a bit.
- Sent this to TTS to make a cheap-and-easy MP3. Wasn't happy with the results. Sounded stilty and the emphasis was unreal.
- Scraped out a proper outline and practiced giving this speech a few times. Then recorded it using one program and another to edit some of the odd-ball mistakes out of it. This took a couple-three days.
- Made a PowerPoint (actually OpenOffice Impress presentation) from that outline. Converted this to a PDF and then to individual images. Meanwhile, started adding in notes for a second PDF (still needing completion).
- Imported those PowerPoint PDF images and the edited speech (MP3) into Camtasia. Boring. Opened up Picassa to look through all the clip art and stock art I have on my machine. Where I was missing any particular image, I searched the web - quick and dirty, plus I'm using it for free advertising, so shouldn't be a particular problem. With all this stuff in there, I then created the video - a version to send up on YouTube and another I can set up on-site (though I prefer to host the bandwidth otherwise). Started the video uploading.
- Using Dr. Andy William's SEO Website Builder, I took that original 6K words and split it up into several pages - then optimized these for a mini-web. Once I had tweaked all the keywords, theme words, and so on, then I uploaded this mini-web to my main site - in it's own directory (which matched the link at the tail end of the video). By now the YouTube has finished loading, and when the processing is complete, I'll have the links ready for updating, etc. Meanwhile, I tried uploading to Blogger, but just got an error (not the first time).
- Went back and finished the PowerPoint Notes PDF, and tweaked the mini-web to include the video embed, plus the PDF link, and ensured the Online World Peace Lecture MP3 was linked. So the home page is all tricked out with all the Web 2.0 stuff. Updated the other menus to have a live link to YouTube as well (just in case). FTP'ed all these to my server and tested them.
- Now, as I get this blog done, and when I test the site - I social bookmark it. Onlywire, Digg, De.licio.us, whatever.
- Get out that press release I'd earlier laid out - post it to as many free press release sites as I can find/have collected.
- Now I go and create a Squidoo lens for this video, it's MP3, the site and everything. Social bookmark that lens as well. Link to everything and it's brother here.
Next up? I've got some choices, like videos of commentaries on my books. But I plan to do up a children's book based on that same lecture. It has a plot - but each chapter is illustrated and can be a video on it's own (search for the whole set...)
But really, I need to get some emails out to some radio producers who need good talent. That is the key analysis point of how to improve my book sales.
You can see, however, that the childrens' books would fly down this line quite nicely. The video's all link to a mini web for each chapter (some wild keyword work here), making a mini-net for the book. Those mini-webs/net all link to the Lulu.com book - which would then be shipped off to Amazon. And I'd start another round of radio interviews. Not to mention the point that I can actually blook this one, with the ability to put images up with the text. Now THAT would make some interesting radio angle - first childrens' book to be blooked and videoed before it went to hardcopy press. (Not to mention that every chapter will have a puzzle - which could be an online Flash game, possibly. But that is really getting the cart before the horse...)
Now, all of this still points back to my original Go Thunk Yourself Self Help Library and the Personal Development Library of the same name.
Because that's the name of the game - promotion. Not just enough to write great books if people don't know about them, is it?
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Update: Took me close to 1 1/2 weeks to get a lecture outline, written and recorded (3 times until I was happy with it!), video produced, powerpoint produced (and exported to PDF), all these uploaded, linked, etc. Then the whole thing Squidoo'd - while I still have the social bookmarking to do, plus getting out the press releases.
And then we'll check the Google rankings...
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Yes, within minutes, I had #1 and #10 spots! I know on a blog search, it said I had submitted this blog 44 minutes ago - and it had the #1 spot. But I was busy on the Squidoo lens on Online World Peace... So it takes some time. What was #10? My Online World Peace Lecture video...
Now, if I can get it to get me some sales...
(Reminder: do this technique for your other videos, like the one on New Business Ideas - Genius.)
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Update: next day - (2/14/08)
Today searched for Online World Peace, with and without quotes. Fascinating. My Digg story on Squidoo showed up tops or in the top five both ways. Have to do more testing with this.
When you look for something in quotes, you are narrowing the competition immensely - and so skewering your results. People don't look with quotes, unless they know a certain phrase is in that site or page they are looking for. So don't kid yourself. Luckily, I wound up on top because I used Digg - which linked to Squidoo. Two social sites together. We'll see how long they last. But this particular post - even searched as "online world peace plan"? Nope.
Problem is that "world peace" has too many competitors. So I get buried even with the exact wording when looking for an online plan. "Online world peace lecture" (with or without quotes) stands above all of them.
Lesson is to pick your keywords carefully - and social bookmark everything you do.
But this still gave me optimism that a person could actually start getting wider niches if you use social bookmarking in connection with videos, MP3's, etc.
Next work is to get a mailing list that plugs into these - if I'm promoting "Go Thunk Yourself!" books, then it would make sense to have an opt-in page for that book series... There's my money line.
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