Typically, only ½% to 2% of visitors to your website will purchase your product if your website is text only. If you ad sales-orientated videos to your site, of the people viewing them over half will take some sort of action, and 12% will actually purchase the product offered.

Simply put, if you’re not using video in your online marketing efforts, you’re leaving money on the table.

When you use video, you need to determine how you are going to use the video you produce….

• Will the video be used to pre-sell your product
• Will it be used to actually sell your product
• Will your video be used to demonstrate a feature of your product
• Will it be the information product itself.

Once you define how you want to use the video, the next step is to crystallize the message that you want to convey to your audience. We like to teach “The Seven Slide Solution” by Paul Kelly. A study from Princeton University on cognitive science reported that the average person can hold and process only seven pieces of information in short memory at one time.

Paul Kelly writes that: “people think in ideas, not in facts and that the structure by which people communicate ideas with one another is with stories.” When you build your video around a story, your audience will understand your ideas and can be persuaded to consider changing their status quo.

Stories are the most powerful communication device anyone can use to sell a product or idea.

To tell a great story, you need to storyboard the sequence of how you want to lay out your video. A storyboard conveys a visual line of reasoning and shows how each idea relates to the other ideas. It allows you to determine what should be included or excluded from the presentation.

What makes this process easy is that every good story has the same structure. As long as you follow that structure, you are guaranteed to make a great video.

1. You start with a premise – the premise is the message. It is the theme or central idea that the story is built around. A good story can only have one premise otherwise the story becomes unwieldy and meaningless.
2. Next you have the core conflict – this is the “hook” that holds your audience’s attention. People love conflict, especially when it can be observed from afar. Conflict holds our attention because people are naturally curious and want to see what happens when two forces or ideas are in opposition to one another.
3. Next, you examine the conflict from multiple viewpoints and build tension – when you look at the consequences of the conflict you build tension. Tension takes your audience on a journey and builds a desire to see what happens next.
4. When the tension is at its peak, you offer a choice – a fork in the road. This is the moment of truth when a decision must be made and the audience waits to see it it’s the right one.
5. This leads to the resolution of the core conflict and does a number of things… it shows the result of the choices that were made and leaves the audience feeling satisfied that they know the outcome.

Building the scenes of your presentation…

One of the advantages to creating videos using the storyboard method is that you can create chunks of material that can be inserted into the video using editing software. When you build your video you will focus on 7 scenes (mini-videos within the storyline). There is a specific role for each scene.

• Scene 1 – engagement
• Scene 2 – backstory
• Scene 3 – build tension
• Scene 4 – bring it to a boil
• Scene 5 – offer choices
• Scene 6 – provide resolution
• Scene 7 – set up the “sequel”

The role of scene 1 is to capture the audience’s attention. It is similar to reading the jacket cover summary of a book in the bookstore. It’s when you decide to buy it or put it back on the shelf. With your video, it’s when you decide to continue watching the video.

The role of scene 2 is to provide the backstory. It describes how you came to this point or how the main character came to this point. It is the part of the video where you want your audience to say: I can relate to that.

Scene 3 is where you create tension by exploring the consequences and repercussions of taking or not taking action to address the conflict.

Scene 4 is used to bring the tension to a boiling point. It is the point in the video where you want to bring your audience to where they want relief.  They want the main character of the story to make a decision so that they can see how the story turns out.

Scene 5 is used to relieve the tension which can only be done when someone makes a decision. It’s the turning point of the story and the point where a choice is made.

Scene 6 is when the core conflict is resolved and you learn what how the main characters life has changed to date.

Finally, scene 7 sets up the sequel. It sets the stage for the audience to go deeper and learn more.

One more structure needs to be discussed before you begin creating your scene layout. It is how to structure each scene for use in your storyline.

You should design the scene according to the following structure:

1. Plant a question
2. Evoke an emotion
3. Answer the question
4. Move the story forward

Authors Bio

For the past 11 years, Randy’s principle business enterprise has been in the top 5 listings on Google for his industry. His list of clients includes the Department of Defense, Department of State, Municipalities, Fortune 500 Companies, College and Universities, and several hundred small businesses.

Today, Randy is using his acquired knowledge to help businesses learn how to grow through the savvy use of internet marketing techniques. His central focus is to take complex online marketing strategies and tactics and break them down into easy to follow step-by-step processes.

Randy has written and published articles on internet marketing strategies to show businesses how to make money online. You can access these resources and learn how you can make more money online at www.InternetMonetizationUniversity.com .