Launch Your First Internet Product Using Video – James Wedmore

“James Wedmore is a video marketing rockstar, superstar, guru, expert extraordinaire, YouTube genius.” That’s my homespun bio for the creator of Video Traffic Academy and a bevy of other products online. Wedmore’s official bio comes across as a bit more humble, but it shores up my claims. A graduate of one of the best film schools anywhere — Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts …

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The post Launch Your First Internet Product Using Video – James Wedmore appeared first on On Track Tips - Get on Track, Stay on Track | one expert at a time.

“James Wedmore is a video marketing rockstar, superstar, guru, expert extraordinaire, YouTube genius.” That’s my homespun bio for the creator of Video Traffic Academy and a bevy of other products online.

Wedmore’s official bio comes across as a bit more humble, but it shores up my claims.

A graduate of one of the best film schools anywhere — Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts – Wedmore’s simple, but powerful, mission is to show business owners how to create and execute effective video marketing campaigns without spending a lot of time or money. He is often featured on big name websites, speaks at popular venues, and is a sought-after guest instructor. His YouTube Channel currently boasts over two million views.

From Bartender to Online Marketer: The James Wedmore Story

James Wedmore is the real deal. He knows his stuff and didn’t hold back on sharing his experience during this On Track Tips interview. The episode was sponsored by Repurpose.pro – your solution for efficient and effective content creation.

Near the end of November 2007, James Wedmore was working as a bartender for wages and tips, when he made a bet with his father: “I can make more money teaching people to tend bar than I can by actually tending bar.”

After that boast, his girlfriend split, he had to move back in with his parents, and he became very familiar with Subway’s sandwich offerings.

It took six months of prep work, but he launched his first product and made his first sale on April 18, 2008. James Wedmore hasn’t stopped to look back since.

Secrets to Outsourcing and Online Marketing Success

Others wanted to know how he did it, so he launched another product to show them his techniques. That one generated over $400,000 in sales and kicked off a string of successful ventures.

He won’t settle for mediocre work. For James Wedmore, good enough just isn’t good enough.

Everything you do is going to have some sort of problem attached to it. Click To Tweet
Here’s how the interview went:

Q: Is “Sell it before you make it” a good strategy?

A: As long as you have a good outline in place, then it is fine to conduct a live workshop that grows as you go. It’s like working with a personal trainer instead of reading a book. Your strategy can be to record the training, and then sell that on autopilot as a separate product.

Q: Talk about some of the lessons you have learned along the way.

A: A million little moments: I learned Dreamweaver in order to build my own websites – then I found out about WordPress. I learned Photoshop to create a simple digital product image (a bit of an overkill). Finally, I heard about outsourcing, hired a virtual assistant (VA) for peanuts, and grew from there.

Everything you do is going to have some sort of problem attached to it. Remove yourself from the conveyor belt (process) to become the CEO and the visionary. The biggest catapulting difference for me was outsourcing. I even created a course about how to do it. Outsourcing saves time. It allows me to gain instant know-how and speed up the process.

(See the On Track Tips interview of Rebecca Radice for more tips on outsourcing)

The biggest catapulting difference for me was outsourcing.Click To Tweet

Q: What can you outsource?

A: Take time to draw process maps. Document the steps your work requires. That will allow anyone to follow your tracks. You can outsource anything you can draw out. It takes time to make process maps, but you will save time in the long run.  Your goal is to make it easy for others to do the pieces of what you do. That allows you to step back, look at the big picture, and provide oversight.

Q: How can one outsource more effectively?

A: Write down everything you are doing, especially those tasks you don’t enjoy doing.  Then take these steps:

Go to onlinejobs.ph to find Filipino VA’s for cheap
Start with a trial week and not many hours
Beware of those who say they can do anything
Look for hard work and the ability to hit deadlines
Skills can be taught; seek character

You can outsource anything you can draw out.Click To Tweet
The Value of Listbuilding to Successful Product Launches

Q: How can one take a small business further? What are the basics?

Listbuilding is a primary essential. You must have a solid strategy to gather basic data on potential customers. You need people to sell to. Everything comes down to the sales funnel and a process or experience you take people through. Having a free guide or report is not a listbuilding strategy.

The components of listbuilding are:

A traffic source to direct visitors where you want them to go
A squeeze page or landing page to collect their information
A means of delivering whatever you have promised them.

All I use YouTube for is building my list. Much of what I do begins and ends with listbuilding. The 2011 launch was accomplished via a very small list. To get traffic, I leveraged joint venture partners (JV’s) heavily – but leads were collected before responders went to the sales funnel. In that way, I was able to start growing a sizable mailing list.

Having a free guide or report is not a listbuilding strategy.Click To Tweet

Q: What is the best social media for internet marketing? Why aren’t you using HOA’s?

A: Facebook advertising is my favorite. I suck at social media. Facebook advertising is a pay-to-play situation; I have given up on a fan page. My direction is towards quality productions. Google Hangouts are limited. I would rather do creative work than live work. I am not really a fan of talking heads 

WOMM and YouTube Ninja Tricks

Q: What about word of mouth marketing … the referral engine?

A: Real word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) is the most powerful means of getting referrals – but only when it has no agenda behind it. The way THAT happens is to be extraordinary. That is your strategy. That is why I am called a perfectionist. You get WOMM according to your level of execution, experience, and value. It is all about providing quality. WOMM is no accident. It is the result of hard, diligent work.

Real word-of-mouth marketing is the most powerful means of getting referrals.Click To Tweet

Q) Is there a central place to buy your products? How can one find them?

A) I am intentionally not in-your-face. I don’t put “Buy NOW” buttons all over my blog. It is more important for me to build a relationship first. I discover what you want before I offer you something. Then, I hone in on helping you succeed.

Q) What are three quick YouTube ninja tricks?

A) You bet … here they are:

Every single video you put on YouTube needs to be associated with just 1-2 keywords (the search terms people are looking for). Use these keywords in the title, description, and tags. 60% of searches are keyword-related. Use “How to” in front of your keywords to quadruple your traffic.
Develop a channel with authority to outrank others. Get more subscribers, backlink to your YouTube channel from your blog and other sites. You want to get visitors, comments, and views … as many as you can.
YouTube is a tortoise-wins-the-race sort of platform. Work patiently. It ain’t going anywhere anytime soon. YouTube makes Google money.

Keep making videos.

Find James Wedmore online at JamesWedmore.com or Circle James and strike up a conversation on Google+

The post Launch Your First Internet Product Using Video – James Wedmore appeared first on On Track Tips - Get on Track, Stay on Track | one expert at a time.