I knew my constant harping on online video would start to pay off :). BlogBusinessWire.com ran a piece today called 10 Ways To Increase Blog Traffic With YouTube Videos, and they included one of my AsktheBlogger.com (please subscribe to my channel on YouTube) videos in example #4. I’m flattered, thanks guys!

Read the entire post for the full analysis. Here are the top bullets.

1. Embed a YouTube video in a blog post.
2. Share a YouTube video link in an email.
3. Create your own video and share it at YouTube.
4. Use your YouTube account to showcase your blog.
5. Use your blog to showcase your YouTube account.
6. Become an active YouTube user.
7. Tag your YouTube videos carefully.
8. Post YouTube video links to your Twitter account.
9. Sponsor a YouTube video or user.
10. Broadcast yourself.

Another VERY interesting piece in the article talks about the success of using online video in a marketing experiment.

Marketing Experiments Journal recently conducted an experiment to test the theory that viral video clips can drive targeted traffic to your website:

“We created a total of 28 videos ranging in length from 15 seconds to 8 minutes. Each video had a 3-5 second promotion at the end of it, specifying a URL which indicated that there was a website that may be interesting or relevant to the viewer. Videos were placed on YouTube and Google Video, and where possible, a link was provided on the same page as the video, which drove traffic back to the main website. All of the video clips we shot were deliberately “amateurish” in their approach and production.”

They conclude:

“Although the video clips had no promotional message or content, 1.49% of viewers went on to become newsletter subscribers. In Just 60 Days, our videos were viewed over 324,000 times at no cost to us. KEY POINT: With no additional work or money spent, we are projected to generate 382,444 views for October, which is more than we generated in the previous 2 months combined.”

You’re still not ready to start doing videos yet eh? I will win you over eventually.

You’re an expert at something, right? Or maybe you know a heckuva lot about the topic of your blog, right? At least I hope so.

Give your knowledge away.

Here’s a perfect example. The Copyblogger had a simple request for his readers yesterday. His headline is written: ‘Let’s Remix a Few More of Your Headlines’.

Last fall, I invited readers to submit posts they had written, and I chose several and rewrote the titles. Quite a few people seemed to get a lot out of that process, so rather than writing yet another article about headlines, I thought we should do it again.

Here’s how it works:

Simply drop the URL of the post or article you want considered in the comment section. I will pick several from the submissions, rewrite the headlines in an upcoming post, and provide explanations for the changes I make.

He’s up to 80 comments and requests for headline reviews so far.

So stop for a second and think. What can you offer to your readers that solves problems and helps them? Think about it, figure it out, then offer it up, and keep doing it.
That’s how you build an audience and a reputation for being an expert.

Note: You can see me doing this in action at AsktheBlogger.com.

Make sure to head on over to listen to the latest ‘Affiliate Thing’ radio show where I was a guest today. Shawn Collins of Affiliate Summit and Lisa Picarelle, editor-in-chief of Revenue Today magazine interviewed me about the current state of happiness that has perpetuated the industry ranks these days.

From Shawn’s blog…

We chatted about Jim’s new project, Affiliate Marketing Friends, and the overall boom of creativity and friendliness that has perpetuated in the affiliate industry over the last few months.

We tried to come up with an explanation for the recent Kumbaya in affiliate marketing. Is this all due to more interaction at conferences, tools of Web 2.0, marginalization of the Chicken Little pundits, all of the above, or something else?

Whatever the reason, it’s good to see the collective industry turning on, tuning in, and dropping the attitudes for the collective good.

I was also subject to some word association, of which I failed miserably at. Lisa said the word “blogging”, and I completely blanked. I dunno, I think when you think about something so much, so often like I have with blogging over the past 5 years, it’s kinda hard to come up with one word for it. That’s my story at least. Maybe I just got stumped.

We also briefly chatted about my newest affiliate site and project at www.asktheblogger.com.

Thanks for having me on the show. If you’re interested in affiliate marketing at all, you need to listen to this weekly show.

For years now I’ve struggled with recommending tools, services or guides that I liked because I always worked for a company in a brand management type of role. That meant that I was unable to endorse Internet related products.

Sure, I could pass recommendations to friends and colleagues, but that was about it. Until now. I’ve recently launched my latest website called AskTheBlogger.com.

AskTheBlogger.com is built for me to answer questions from anyone about anything Internet related. It doesn’t have to be blogging either. I’m most qualified to answer questions about anything related to making money online. ATB is also built to showcase my personal recommendations.

Let me give a HUGE shout out to the master Dave Taylor who has been running AskDaveTaylor.com for years and years and has been a huge inspiration to me. I know Dave will appreciate that imitiation is the best type of flattery, and as anyone can see, I’m not delving into his world of tech at all. ATB is totally different.

I should also mention Tim Carter at AskTheBuilder.com who has also made a huge impact on the way I work. Tim is THE master, and will one day go down as one of the pioneers in online monetization.

What’s Different or Special About AskTheBlogger.com?

When I set out to build AskTheBlogger.com, I wanted to make it different and better. So I have been working on taking what I’ve learned over the years from blogging and online marketing and combining them together.

Specifically…

1. I’m hoping to solve problems for people. The best blogs or sites solve problems.

2. I’m writing it very conversational and direct from my voice as to keep it “bloggy”

3. I’m only recommending things that I’ve actually used, or that actually work. No snake oil here.

4. I’m adding a very personal touch to every blog entry. That means a custom recommendation graphic and I will be adding a custom video to each blog entry as well coming next week. You can view a sample of how one of these videos will look here in this question.

I hope you enjoy the site and maybe even find it inspiring. As always, contact me anytime (contact info on right).

Oh yeah, and do you have a question for the blogger? Ask away!