Small Business Trends

Online video is increasingly important in online marketing today. Small Business Trends looks at the many evolving ways to market your business online with a special focus on video. We welcome your comments and the sharing of your experiences below. We’d like to collect feedback about what the global small business community is doing with these tools and what the future of these technologies are with the thought leaders of the small business world.

Video

Getting your video to go viral. It’s the major dream of the online marketer these days, replacing such old hat ideas as getting top ranking for your Website, getting tons of inbound links to your latest blog post or getting a bazillion followers to retweet you. Ah, but how to you get that two minute video clip you shot with your flip camera spread all over the world like a plague…but in a good way. Sarah Shaw has collected some suggestions from friends that may just work. The Entreprenette Gazette

And how do you edit your two minute YouTube masterpiece? We’re SOOOOO glad you asked. Contributor TJ McCue has this review of Pinnacle Studio 14, the latest video editing tool from Avid Technology and a powerful and, he says, easy to use tool that can make the most amateur of video producers among us come off like a seasoned pro. Small Business Trends

What the NFL can teach you about video marketing. Don’t get too excited. This doesn’t mean you can get a great education in video marketing by sitting around watching football on TV. Instead, SEO consultant Jeremy Scott has pulled some tips from the the world of pro football’s playbook that just may help your company when tackling the issue of marketing online with video. Reel SEO

So, what exactly should your video be about? We know. We know. This should have been the first issue we addressed because, of course, you’re a busy business owner. How are you supposed to take the time to become an expert video producer too? Well, creating video may not be as hard as you thought. Small Business Trends

Networking

The true power of Twitter. Sweden-based copywriter Ann-Christin Lindstedt tells clients in this post about the importance of micro-blogging. Here are her nine things European-based clients and readers should know about using Twitter to market their B2B business especially when targeting an English-speaking audience. GlobalReach Copywriting

Creating a social media plan. Starting with the tips we published in a recent Small Business Trends post, this article takes things a step further showing small businesses how best to figure out their social media needs and create a plan that helps them move forward with a strategy. MyProjectTracker

Do you even get social networking? Tibor Shanto is convinced that some people just don’t. In LinkedIn as in life, it’s about opening yourself up and sharing not about closing yourself off and discouraging interaction. All the networking strategy in the world won’t help you if you don’t get this part. Social networking is about being social. Sales Blogcast

Self-development

Get away from that computer! Well…er, read this post first. It’s from business coach and trainer Elaine Rogers and if, like many entrepreneurs in the early 21st century, you spend a lot of your time hunched over and staring at a computer screen, then you owe it to yourself to read what she has to say. Bloggertone

Outsourcing

Can you outsource your social media? From online video to social media including blogs and the rest of it, a simple question might be, What if you just don’t have time for all this stuff? Is it possible to outsource your social media or online marketing? Yonatan Maisel Blog

Marketing

Before you start your marketing campaign. Decide what you want your customers to do. We’re talking about a call to action here. From video to social media and all the other things we’ve discussed above, it might seem obvious but have you considered what you really want from your community? M4B Marketing