YouTube is a great place to get yourself extra exposure. I am excited to say that I am almost at 10 000 views. Video is a great way of getting related to people that isn't possible when reading a blog. I know that when I read an article from someone that I either listen to their podcast or watch some of their videos, it is almost like I can hear them reading it. People get to see more of who we are as a person, how we hold ourselves and interact.
If you haven't been using YouTube or aren't sure how to get your videos on there, this video will help you out. It only takes a couple of minutes to get a video up on YouTube.
Are you using YouTube as part of your marketing strategy? I would love to hear how that is going for you. Leave your comments below.
Pinterest is a great source of traffic for both your blog and your YouTube channel. This means it is a great place to add your content for more people to see it.
There are 2 ways to have people watch one of your videos from Pinterest:
1. To have embedded the video into your blog and then to share your blog post image on a Pinterest Board
2. To have the video play directly in Pinterest. In this video I show you how to do that. People can actually watch the video in Pinterest without having to leave. The only thing to note when doing it this way is that the link will take people to your YouTube channel not to your blog. So, if the main aim is to get people to your blog you will want to use the first option I mentioned.
Are you sharing your videos on Pinterest? I will love to hear your results. Leave them in the comments below.
Many people have been asking me lately if they should get a shopping cart.
In most circumstances, when you are just starting out, I do not think you need a shopping cart. If you are only selling a few things off your website and they are not expensive (under $1000) PayPal is a very good option.
One of the major factors in choosing to use a shopping cart is that PayPal does not have any capability to track affiliates. I use a shopping cart, as I have affiliates promoting some of my services. I use the functionality within the shopping cart to track the affiliates, so I know how much commission to send them. If I did not work with affiliates, I would still only be using PayPal.
As a side note – a shopping cart is not the only way to track affiliates. There are various other programs and plugins that can do that for you.
Another misconception is that the shopping cart processes the payments for you – this is not correct, you still need to link to PayPal or have a merchant account to process the payments once the products have been put into the shopping cart.
PayPal has Website Standard – a free service, and Website Pro – which is a merchant account service with varying fees, depending on the services you choose. Regardless, of whether you go with Standard or Pro, you will still pay a percentage of the purchase amount to PayPal – approximately 3% – though it may vary country to country.
The other question that I get asked is if you want to be an affiliate and promote other people’s products and programs do you need a shopping cart. The answer to that is no, all of that is taken care of by the person promoting the product or program.
It is very easy to start selling items on your website using PayPal. I will take you through the steps.
Firstly, sign up for a business account, or log in if you already have one. Click on the Merchant Services tab. Click on Website Payments Standard link. You will then have the option of what type of button you want to add to your website.
For the purposes of this demonstration I have chosen the ‘Buy Now' button. As you can see from the picture below, I can then add in a description and the price of the item. You can then make any other customizations you want, for example – creating a drop down menu for different sizes or prices. This is also where you would put in an amount for postage. Once you have completed all of the sections click, ‘Create Button' at the bottom of the page.
That will take you to this screen – where you will get the code, that is specific to that button and the information you added – like the price, postage, etc. You can either copy the code into your website or click the email tab – which gives you a link you can copy straight into an email.
I have created a short video to show you how to add the code to a page in your WordPress blog.
Happy Selling!!
Stacey is a coach, trainer and speaker who supports people getting started with an online presence through WordPress and Social Media training. Stacey's hands-on style, supportive nature and extensive knowledge make her the perfect go-to resource for new entrepreneurs, and small business owners, who need a one-on-one or small group approach. She will also help you to overcome your mindset barriers so you too, can feel the freedom of living your passion.
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