Do you remember the first time you got a computer? Remember how you played with background pictures and screen savers? What about your cell phone ring tone?
Our desire for all things “custom” is reflected in all areas of our lives, no question about that, and I think social media gives us a chance at custom communication/interaction.
When people come to your YouTube channel (or Twitter account, or Facebook page), they want to see YOU and what YOU are about it.
The way your channel LOOKS is their first impression of you and it determines whether they stick around to learn more about you or not. It’s an online equivalent of giving someone your business card.
So here are some ultimate YouTube Internet Video Marketing tips on how to improve that first impression:
1. Choosing Your YouTube Account Name.
Remember:
Account Name <=> Username <=> Profile Name <=> Channel Name
It’s all the same thing.
With that in mind, put as much thought into choosing your YouTube profile name as you would when choosing your domain name for a blog or website.
- Choosing your name as a profile name is fine, BUT: if you are into fishing, would you rather open a message or read a comment from Fishing4U or JoeScmidt23? Exactly.
- Branding issues: NO, you don’t want to tie your current company’s name into your profile name – what if you switch your company in the future?
- YES, you want to brand yourself as an expert in your field, so choosing your own name as your profile name sounds like a good idea in that respect.
- BUT, what if you choose a profile name based on your area of expertise, then even if you switch a company or get into a different online business, your expertise can go where you go. Just food for thought.
- Using keywords in your username that describe or relate to your niche/area of expertise is going to serve you much better as you further optimize your channel and socialize within and around the YouTube site.
2. YouTube “About Me” Section:
(There used to be many more opportunities for you to market yourself on your channel – like channel description, performer information, and such. As of right now, you are limited to About Me section, so make a good use of it.)
My Account ==> Profile Setup ==> About Me
Treat your channel description as a mini sales letter.
You want to promote the link that monetizes your traffic – lead capture page, blog – whatever your ultimate purpose for your viewers is.
Let your description hook us and leave us hungry for more. Make us click on your link, which by the way you should use several times throughout your description.
Bottom line: Tell us what we’ll get (or what MORE we’ll get) if we link over. Don’t just give away your expertise and information without asking us to do something in return.
3. YouTube Channel Design.
This is the part where your YouTube channel stands out. It’s the very first impression that your visitors get of you and might even determine whether they stick around or find someone more interesting to check out.
The obvious: don’t stick with the default background.
Here are your choices, starting from the easiest:
1. Customize your color scheme to match your website/blog color.
Edit Channel ==> Themes and Colors
2. Upload a cool image or a personal picture and make it your background. (I chose a funny one for my YouNetBizTraining YouTube Channel - although I don’t know how long it will stick around:)
3. Use one of the free background layouts at www.YTLayouts.net. The don’t have many options, but they are safe (from what I know) and won’t dump a bunch of malware on your computer. Alternatively, Google “free youtube layouts.”
4. Hire someone to do it. Suggestions: www.YTLayouts.net, www.99Designs.com or just send a message to your Twitter buddies asking if anyone can do it. Whether it’s worth your money is up to you to decide. My advice - don’t do until you can justify the expense, i.e. you are making plenty of money via YouTube.
So these are some very basic tips on how to improve your YouTube channel today. I just started a new channel to show you how things are done - feel free to check it out at YouNetBizTraining. Don’t forget to subscribe and comment!
One more tip I just thought of: what if you already have a YouTube channel, but say, you don’t like your profile name, which as you know, you can’t change.
My suggestion: start a new channel and mark the videos from your previous channel as your favorites. That way you don’t loose them!
These YouTube Internet marketing tips are just the tip of the iceberg. I will be posting many more, but if you are in a rush, I highly recommend checking out my YouTube Secret Weapon.
If you like what you’ve read, please post a comment and retweet - it will be much appreciated!
PS For more no-nonsense marketing training and tips from Your Net Biz, fill out this short spam-free form:
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Great information!
YouTube was going to be on of my next steps in my new approach to marketing.
You can follow my Attraction Marketing jouney on my blog.
Thanks for your input, Joey! The pics actually fit perfectly fine in my browser; I'll have to shrink them to make sure it works in other browsers as well.