The easiest way to save YouTube videos from any computer without any special software

Like a video on YouTube?

Do you want to download it and save it on your computer?

Here’s the easiest way to do it, without installing any software. You can show this off to your friends and colleagues at any time for brownie points =)

Whenever you want to save YouTube videos, just type pwn in front of youtube in the URL location box, then press enter. It would look something like this:

This will redirect you to Pwn! YouTube which gives you two options to download the video — either in FLV or MP4:

Tell me that wasn’t easy!

p/s: This is a useful tool to save YouTube videos related to your marketing efforts. Whenever you come across interesting ads, interviews, or anything else related to your business, just save the YouTube video. This way you get to use it even when you are not connected to the Internet.

I recently stumbled on an article by Gobala Krishnan on the question of whether to use “www” in the URL. As he puts it, consistency is what’s important.

But I also wanted to know how other successful websites handled this.

9 of the Largest Websites in the World Default to www.domain.com

I started by pulling up the top 10 websites as ranked by Compete.com:

Then, I tested each website to see (a) where it would end up if I keyed in the domain name with and without a “www”, and (b) how Google indexed their first result.

Here’s what I found:

1. google.com → www.google.com
2. yahoo.com → www.yahoo.com
3. msn.com → www.msn.com
4. live.com → www.live.com
5. ebay.com → www.ebay.com
6. youtube.com → www.youtube.com
7. amazon.com → www.amazon.com
8. facebook.com → www.facebook.com
9. wikipedia.org → www.wikipedia.org & wikipedia.org (no redirection, although www.wikipedia.org is the default URL indexed by Google)
10. myspace.com → www.myspace.com

9 of the top 10 websites in the world default to a “www” URL!

These websites redirected requests for domain.com to www.domain.com. They also had their “www” URL indexed in their first search result on Google.

In the Offline World, Left-to-Right Matters

If you’ve spent some time marketing offline (e.g. print, billboards, t-shirts, etc), then you will know how important it is to capture a customer’s attention quickly. Split-second decisions matter a lot.

The human-brain is trained to process the things we read, from left to right. The faster we are able to detect a visual cue, the easier it is for us to identify what it is. Humans tend to always take the path of least resistance.

So which of the following examples would your brain identify as a “website” in the shortest time possible?

In unstructured tests that we conducted, we asked participants to choose between the two examples above. We realized that 7 out of every 10 users identified www.domain.com as a website.

In the first example, your brain would have to read from left to right, and you would probably only notice it’s a “website” after hitting the “.com”. This serves as a visual cue.

Now, if we were to use www.marketingly.com, you’d be able to immediately identify that this is a website. The visual cue “www” is apparent right away.

If you were driving past a billboard, you only have a matter of seconds to pick up the website URL. Your brain is wired in such a way that it searches for visual cues that it is used to.

Given the enormous publicity of “www” in the mass media, why not capitalize on it? The “average joe” will be able to understand it better. After all, most people still key in the “www” into their web browsers.

Be Consistent, but Not Fool Hardy

There’s no harm if you choose not to use “www”, but you will lose traffic if you don’t cater for it. We’ve seen many websites that entertain requests for domain.com, but don’t redirect the request for www.domain.com. Read these tips on redirection for: CPanel, Dreamhost and Google Webmaster Tools.

Here are some things to consider for your URL strategy:

• What if it’s a long URL? In Adwords, you can only use up to 35 characters for your display URL. If necessary, remove the “www”, but ensure that your landing page is served by it
• What if you’ve spent years on domain.com? If you’ve been building tonnes of links with domain.com, then just stick with it. Just remember to serve “www” and update your preferred domain in Google Webmaster Tools

Just remember that it pays to be consistent with your choice of URL. If you’ve decided to use the “www”, then stick with it in all your marketing efforts, such as Adwords and blog comments.

Learn The Secret Tactic Used by Profitable Online Businesses to Increase Your Sales Immediately

Have you ever asked the question:

“What should I wear to work tomorrow?”

Probably not. But you may have had problems of your own needing instant solutions.

According to Google, over 18,000 blogs have mentioned the phrase “What should I wear …” in one form or another. This includes What should I wear to class tomorrow, What should I wear with these shoes, and more.

More and more people are turning to blogs to vent their frustrations, and blog about their problems or needs. Most of these blogs are probably read by a small circle of regular readers, often friends and family. And anyone that owns a blog will tell you that getting a comment is always a super surprise.

Harness The Power of Blog Comments

Now imagine you were running an online boutique selling clothes for women.

As an online business, your goal is to solve people’s problems by providing relevant products (or services). Why not harness the power of blogs, and solve problems right away by just leaving a comment. Every time you leave a comment on a prospective customer’s blog, you earn (a) potential traffic from a circle of loyal readers, and (b) potential revenue from a relevant sale. Remember: desperate buyers will do anything to solve their problems, as long as you stay relevant.

This is a step-by-step proven method to do just that without blowing a hole in your pocket.

YES, it’s cheap, fast and effective.

So, how do you find people with problems?

Step 1: List The Problems That Your Product Solves

If you’re in the business of selling clothes online, you should be able to solve common problems such as “what to wear” for specific occasions. Similarly, if your business provides a useful service, spend some time to think about the exact problems that you can solve for your customers.

List out the possible questions that a potential customer might rant about on a blog.

Taking the example of “what to wear”, common problems may include:
What do I wear with these shoes?
What do I wear to the prom?
Which dress looks better?
Where can I buy cheap dresses?
What do I wear to a Toys R Us interview?
What to wear on a fun date?

Step 2: Analyse Your Problems With Google Blog Search

If you haven’t already started using Google Blog Search then there’s no better time to start with it. Think of it as a minute-by-minute radar of the “blogosphere”. Every blog update by potential customers can be searched easily from here.

http://blogsearch.google.com/

Try searching for the common themes of the problems that you outlined in Step 1, and shortlist at least 3 problems to focus on.

How do you go about picking your top 3? The easiest way is to just pick the top 3 with the highest results, but it often pays to be more targeted. You may want to start with a list that returns 20,000 results or less. As you get better at this, you may want to narrow down your focus to more targeted problems. Often, you may find problems with less than 10,000 results, but the fact that it is highly targeted, gives your product immense value to the blogger (potential customer).

Example of a shortlist of common themes:
“what do I wear” = 21,000 results
“what should I wear” = 18,000 results
“what to wear with” = 4,000 results
“what do i wear to” = 2,000 results

Step 3: Set-up Google Alerts

After you have shortlisted some “problems” to tackle, it’s then time to set up Google Alerts. Think of this as a pager that beeps every time some one blogs about one of the problems you are hoping to solve. Rather than go out looking for problems, let them come to you.

http://www.google.com/alerts

Google Alerts lets you keep track of new blog posts via daily email updates or an RSS feed. We usually start by setting up email alerts first, and suggest that you do the same until you get the hang of things. Besides, it’s easier for you to act on emails rather than monitor feeds.

1: Search for a common problem using Google Blog Search

2: Click on Blogs Alerts on the left column

3: Configure your alerts the way you want it, then click Create Alert

Step 4: Leave Comments on Relevant Blog Articles

You should now be receiving daily updates of new blog posts that “talk” about the problems you have shortlisted. It’s best to set aside some time every day to sift through this list. Yes, you will have to speed read through these blogs, but this can also be a great way to gain inspiration for new ideas.

Read and make sure the blog post is relevant to your product. Are you able to provide a relevant solution or relevant reason for the blogger (and their readers) to visit your website?

If you answered YES, then leave a comment on the blog. Some blogs provide the option to keep track of comments through an RSS feed, or email alert. A better alternative is to use a comment tracking service such as co.mments or CoComment. This way you can stay updated with the conversation on a specific blog, and always reply promptly.

Remember: bloggers love receiving comments to their post, especially if it’s the first comment. But it’s important that you stay relevant to the blog article, so try and read the post before commenting.

Set Aside Some Time, And Start Minting Money Right Away

It’s really easy to master this tactic. We’ve seen a number of online businesses structure this form of marketing into their daily routine.

Start slow and keep it simple — perhaps set aside 30 minutes every other day to review and solve problems on blogs. You will be amazed by the traffic and potential sales you can earn from this free tactic.

Here’s a superb pitch for the Kodak Carousel slide projector from Episode 1×13 of Mad Men.

This old pro copywriter — Greek, named Teddy

Teddy told me the most important idea in advertising is NEW

It creates an itch — you simply put your product in there as a kind of “calamine lotion”

BUT he also talked about a deeper bond with the product

NOSTALGIA — it’s delicate BUT potent

Now, go ahead and answer Seth Godin’s question: “Which comes first, the product or the marketing?”

(It pays to watch TV. If all else fails, just read Seth Godin)

FT.com Earns Up to $28 million US Dollars Every Month From 10% of Their Registered Users

How does a publishing business like the Financial Times (FT.com) make millions of dollars online?

Simple: they give away free content.

The Silicon Alley Insider recently published excerpts of an interview with FT.com managing director Rob Grimshaw.

Here’s how it works:

• Everyone gets access to 3 articles per month
• Register with the site for free and you can read 10 articles per month
• Pay $3.44 per week and you get access to everything online, except for the FT’s famed LEX column
• Pay $5.75 per week and you get EVERYTHING, plus access to the FT from your mobile

People Will Pay for Specialized Content

Here’s how FT.com makes money online:

• 62 million individuals visited FT.com in 2008, about 5 million every month
• 20,000 new users register for the FREE service every week, and provide their personal details (opportunity to upsell). In the last 18 months, 1 million readers registered with FT.com
• 100,000 paying subscribers — implying that FT.com makes between $16 million to $28 million a year from subscriptions

And the clincher?

Because registering requires readers share lots of personal information, Rob says the FT.com can charge advertisers $40 to $60 CPMs.

Remember the 80/20 rule?

About 10% of FT.com’s registered users are paying customers. The $28 million that they contribute, is funding the cost to give the service away for free to the remaining 900,000 users.

What Does This Mean To You?

If you’re in a business that specializes in a specific field, then think about how you can “bait” potential subscribers.

Giving away free content is just one way to get customers to sign up and provide some basic details. This gives you the opportunity to upsell premium pricing plans over a course of time.

But FT.com also employed the use of smart pricing variables, exploiting human psychological weaknesses:

• The jump from 3 articles to 10 articles is significant - why wouldn’t you sign up for the FREE account?
• Paying $3.44 per week is “cheaper” than paying $13.76 per month ($3.44 x 4)
• The difference between $3.44 and $5.75 is very small - why wouldn’t you pay a little bit more to access everything?

By the way, FT.com specializes in financial news, not “just” content. So stop telling yourself that this tactic would only work for FT.com or content-driven businesses. It can work for any business that is focused on a specific niche.

Remember: the trick is to “milk” money from a smaller segment of customers that are willing to pay for access to your extended range of premium services. Contrary to popular belief, people are willing to pay for good content.

Learn How You Can Use The Same Secret To Beat Your Competitors

Photo Credit

You’ve heard the news: Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in an epic five-set battle to win the 2009 Australian Open. It was the longest match in the tournament’s history, lasting over 4 hours. And it was Nadal’s first victory on a hard court surface.

But what you did NOT know, is this: Nadal “baited” Federer into the five-set battle. He knew he stood a better chance of winning.

Nadal’s Secret Tactic — Know Your Competitors Inside Out

Nadal knew one thing that we did not know.

Going into this tournament final, Nadal knew that Federer had a terrible track record when it came down to stretching the match to five-sets. Federer had only won 13 out of 24 previous five-set matches, and lost 11. Nadal on the other hand, had won 11 out of 14 five-set matches — a staggering 78% winning record!

That stat alone made all the difference.

If you look back at how Nadal played his fourth set you will notice how he “gave in” after realizing that the set was a lost cause. He had already lost break points, and he knew it would be better to conserve energy to take Federer into the fifth set. And that’s what he did. He knew he stood a better chance of beating Federer in the fifth set. When it came down to the fifth set, he went all out for his break point, and he got it. He forced Federer to make more errors, and cruised to the end.

How Much Do You Know About Your Competitors?

You can easily emulate Nadal’s secret weapon in any online business. Go out and learn more about your competitors. What is it that makes them tick, and how can you beat them? It helps to have a list of your competitors strengths and weaknesses — this gives you the edge to plan for better products, and to produce better marketing campaigns that will swing customers over to you.

So go on — it’s time to think like a champ and beat your competitors online.

The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre recently launched a marketing campaign to get rid of spare meeting rooms during the day.

Photo Credit

The TenOnCall campaign encourages potential customers to just walk in off the street and use a meeting room with no prior bookings. It was designed to serve an untapped, just-in-time market where the lead time is often very short. Think of businessmen needing to string together a quick meeting with consultants to meet a 24-hour deadline.

It’s obvious that if you’re in a business that holds inventory, be it physical or virtual, you have to start to think about how to to “get rid” of your “spares” (and profit).

Lots of businesses practice this, in different forms:

• Telcos market special promotions to push their off-peak hours — the unearthly hours between 1am to 6am when calls / SMS are usually dirt cheap
• Airlines hold last-minute Internet promotions to get rid of their unbooked seats
• Fast food restaurants offer special discounts for patrons during the sleepy business hours of 3pm to 5pm

So, here’s another recession marketing tip:

Search for the “spares” in your business & find a way to sell it off quickly!

Lesson: When using SMS to market a product, it’s best that you use it to engage rather than infuriate. Keep it fresh, short, useful and original.

Photo Credit

I recently received this SMS from a restaurant I visited 3 weeks ago:

EL CERDO:

This Week: Crispy Pork Belly with grilled green Asparagus and Butter Herb Sauce, best regards, from Werner! Oink, Oink! T: 03 - 21450511

It’s smart for a variety of reasons:

• It’s fresh (and inviting) because it’s the first time I’ve received a message since my last visit 3 weeks ago - it doesn’t come across as spam. Now, imagine if I received this message a day after visiting the restaurant (too soon, bad pig!)
• It’s short because it’s written in less than 160 characters, and fits nicely on a single screen without the need to scroll
• It’s useful because it has a single call to action, in this case the phone number to make a reservation
• It’s original because it talks to me in its lingo (Oink, Oink!)
• It’s identifiable because the sender appeared as El Cerdo rather than an obscure foreign mobile number

El Cerdo’s SMS marketing campaign would have been even smarter with the following tactics:

• Maximise on the time of day: why not send the SMS a couple of hours before dinner time? Hungry people tend to struggle when it comes to picking a restaurant. Sending it between 5-6pm on a weekday would create a surge of positive traffic
• Offer an exclusive deal: you don’t have to spend money on freebies to make it exclusive. Just imagine if the SMS said: “Only 20 dishes will be prepared tonight”. Find ways to make scarcity work to your advantage

Now, here’s another thought, especially if you’re in the F&B business:

• Make use of inbound callers: convert all those contact numbers on your reservation list into an active marketing database - it’s an immediate captive audience, irrespective whether they show up for dinner =)

Lesson: create a control group for each direct mail campaign to measure the fulfillment process. Use this group to gain insights on the delivery time, physical condition upon receipt, insertion completeness, and more.

Photo Credit

Most direct mail campaigns have a 2% success rate. In large businesses, it is common to find direct mail campaigns targeting over 50,000 customers in one mailshot. Email campaigns usually involve a larger number of customers as it’s much cheaper to run.

Mistakes tend to happen. In a recent campaign I was involved in, we sent direct mailers to 4,000 subscribers. It arrived on time, in perfect condition. However, instead of sending a direct mailer containing three inserts, we only sent two. Thankfully, most of the campaign details were delivered. The error was detected by our control group, and was due to an oversight by our fulfillment partner.

With direct mail campaigns, we often overlook the fulfillment process:

• How long does it take for a direct mailer to reach your customers?
• What is the condition of the direct mailer upon receipt?
• Is the quality of the direct mailer good for postal handling?
• Did you miss out on any insertions?

Solution: it’s good practice to create a control group just to measure the effectiveness of your fulfillment process. This also serves as a check and balance if most of the work is outsourced.

In practice:

• Start with a manageable group - 20 people is sufficient in most cases
• Find participants in different geographic regions - distributed by city, and even residential type (home / condo)
• Keep everyone updated on the delivery timeline and ETA
• Collate feedback with straightforward questions: when did you receive it? creases & folds? did you receive page 1 and 2? etc
• Use a web-based survey system to collate feedback. Wufoo or SurveyMonkey are worthy candidates for this
• Reuse this tactic for email campaigns to measure junk mail deliveries, sender and subject line clarity, readability with / without images, etc

Lesson: your business can act / react faster when all team members are aware of key trends and market conditions

Photo Credit

When planning a marketing campaign, you need to gain insights on things like subscriber demographics and usage patterns. In most large organisations, this requires raising job orders for a database extraction team to write SQL queries. Imagine wasting 3 days just to get hold of this - a waste of precious time to market.

During my startup days at LifeLogger, we empowered everyone in the team with access to information on our performance. Dashboard reports on registrations, usage and trouble tickets. This gave everyone a sense of how we were doing on a daily basis and helped us to build relevant features for our customers.

If your marketing campaigns are driven by data, your marketing teams should be given full access to business intelligence software. Everyone should be empowered to ask or generate reports.

In large organisations, this means giving access to web-based software such as Business Objects. Drag and drop your criteria & get instant results, e.g.:

Tell me
How many people live in Kuala Lumpur
And are under the age of 18
And have purchased 2 pairs of yellow shoes over the last 3 months
Run the query
Bam!
Instant results within minutes

In summary:

• Don’t just appoint one person to generate reports
• Give everyone with a revenue target (KPI) access to business intelligence software
• Web-based reporting software will speed up everyone’s ability to act / react
• If you still rely on old-fashioned SQL scripts, fix the turnaround time to get results. Sometimes 3 days is insufficient in fast-paced markets
• Put a lock on your customers personal information, and don’t be paranoid about the security of everything else