3 Powerful Ways to Market Your Book with Video

I absolutely LOVE video. In fact, since I started using video to market my business (and books), I’ve seen my business increase and almost every client I get now are people who connected with my videos! Here are three powerful ways to market your book with video:

Way #1: Do a series of “quick tips” talking head videos.

I’ve done this for my publishing programs where I broke down each item and described it in a tip format. I use them on my website FAQ page and also on my YouTube channel as general publishing tips. You can do the same thing with your book. Break down a chapter into three bullet points (nuggets) and talk “off the cuff” about each one, or write a short script and memorize it if you do better that way. You can also turn your iPad or computer into a teleprompter – just remember to look into the lens of the camera so it’s not obvious you’re reading a script. Try to keep the videos under five minutes long to stay within your viewer’s attention span. Put the videos on video sharing sites like YouTube and watch the views and comments come pouring in! Hint: To get to the top of YouTube search results for your keywords, which will also get you on the first page of Google, grab my friend James Wedmore’s YouTube Video Traffic Academy course. I have it and I’ve used it to beat out existing videos that had over 35,000 views with mine that had only 2500 views – and I’m still at the top of YouTube. And I’m the only videos for my keywords in Google search results! Oh and just a bonus – I signed one of my biggest clients with this video. Just in case you wonder if it’s worth the price… A $97 course brought me $6K in revenue. OK my advertisement is done. (Really, I just love love love James’ course!!)

Way #2: Create (or hire someone to create) a video book trailer.

You can create your own using a site like Animoto.com or by using slides, your own voice or music, and screencast software like Camtasia. Or if everything I just said makes your head spin, hire someone to do it or get my friend Lon Naylor’s Learn Camtasia course. You can expect to pay anywhere from $400-2500 depending on how intricate you want your video book trailer. Our standard book trailer videos are $697, which includes the script written/adapted from your back cover copy, embedded video clips, stock art, music, professional voice-over and the completed MP4 for you to use however you wish. You can also do something with a local professional videographer who will splice in you talking about your book (recorded in HD, of course) with images, video clips and music. These videos are typically longer, up to 15 minutes, and are more like sales page videos than just a trailer. Unless you’re talking and giving tips from your book on camera, video book trailers work best when they’re 45 seconds long and end with a call to action of where people can go find the book, because most people’s online attention spans for viewing advertisements are limited to 45 seconds.

Way #3: Create a video book and sell it or add it as a bonus.

This is like an audio book, only it’s you literally reading your book in a microphone on your computer as you scroll through the pages of your book and record your screen with Camtasia. It sounds like a lot of work, but it’s fairly simple. You simply start Camtasia’s screen recorder with the PDF or Word doc of your book open on your screen, test your  microphone to make sure it’s working, hit “record” and start reading out loud. Record each chapter in its own video. Then you can break these videos up into smaller snippets for YouTube and advertise your book at the end of it or include the entire video series as a bonus for something else like a coaching program. You can also list it on your website for sale on its own as a video book. If you do this, use a membership-type software like WishList or Digital Access Pass and a professional-looking video player like Easy Video Player that links to Amazon S3, so your viewers who buy the video book (or access it as a bonus) don’t overwhelm your server and take down your website. You can also use a free MP3 stripping program like Winff to pull the audio off the videos and wallah… you now have an additional audio book!

No matter what way you choose, start using video to promote your books. You’ll be able to connect with your audience in a deeper way, build a trust factor with them, and ultimately sell more books and additional services.

My recommended video resources:

James Wedmore’s and Lewis Howes’ YouTube Video Traffic Academy course

Animoto video software (paid version gets their logo off)

Camtasia screen casting software and Lon Naylor’s Learn Camtasia course

WishList membership software plugin for WordPress

Digital Access Pass membership software plugin for WordPress

Easy Video Player for playing professional videos on your website

Amazon S3 (simple storage service) for storing large video files

Winff for converting MP4 videos to MP3s

Do you currently market your book with video? I’d love to hear your ideas and results in the comments below!

Photo courtesy Shutterstock, one photo