• Snowing like crazy here on the eastern plains of Colorado..strange! #

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Unless you’ve been hiding in a closet for the last year, you know how hot online video is.

Over the last few months there have been a few video website builder software programs released.

The best one is the VideoClipMinisites video website builder. Okay, that’s my product and I am obviously biased

Now, you can get one of the best free website builders on the market – the Lite version of the VideoClipMinisites video site builder software.

Don’t let the “Lite” name fool you, this software is comparable to other video website builder software that sell for up to $67.

With the software you can create an unlimited number of video clip websites, on new domains, or on your current domains.

This software makes it so easy to add video to your websites, that you will start using it to add video to all of your current, and new websites – like I have.

The great thing about this free website builder is that you can add videos to any website related to any niche in just minutes.

I have yet to find a niche that has no YouTube videos related to it.

If you have a niche that doesn’t have youtube related vidoes, then your niche is either a dud – no one is interested in it. Or, you have found a goldmine and need to start creating videos for the nuiche yourself.

Have you created any videos and put them on youtube. How about creating a video page on your site that contains all of your YouTube videos? With the VideoClipMiniSites Lite, Free Website Builder it’s easy to do.

Go grab your Free Video Website Builder and start adding video to your sites today.

Mike

If you have been involved in the internet marketing community for long, you have seen them – virtual agents.

I have been considering using one of these virtual agents on my website, but before I do I was hoping to get some feedback.

If you have no idea what a virtual agent is, let me explain.

You go to a website sales letter. When you leave, a Chat box pops up and says something to the effect of – “WAIT, our virtual agent has a special offer for you”. Then, you can click “OK” to exit the page for good, or “Cancel” to stay on the page and look at the virtual agent offer.

To see an example, you can go to Dave Guidon’s Virtual Smart Agent. Watch what happens with you leave the page.

When I first saw one of these virtual agents a few months ago, I was impressed. I even asked the virtual agent a few questions, and the answers were relevant to the questions – it freaked me out a little bit.

I investigated the virtual agent product, but never took action on it.

Then a few weeks ago, everybody and their dog were promoting Dave’s Virtual Smart Agent. I considered buying it, because it is supposed to increase your sales rate. But I wanted to wait a while and see if there was any reaction, good or bad, to this new method of exit promotion.

I have to admit, I am already getting a little tired of seeing these virtual agents. When I see one I have stop, after trying to exit, and think – OK or Cancel, which do I click. This keeps me on the page longer but annoys the heck out of me.

I have also read some opinions on a few internet marketing forums. Some like the virtual agent, because they do increase sales or opt-ins. Others who are presented with the virtual agent vow to never purchase from that internet marketer again.

Perhaps the only way to get the answer is to test a virtual agent. You can measure sales or opt-ins related to the agent, but you can’t measure those who will never buy from you again because you have annoyed them

I also wonder what effect these virtual agents will have on those who don’t use them. Have you ever decided to buy a product, then exited the page hoping to find a virtual agent to get a discount? For those of us not using these virtual agents, will our visitors exit hoping to find a virtual agent, and leave when none is found?

So, what do I do? I’m inclined to think that the internet marketing community is already getting tired of the virtual agents, but those outside of the internet marketing community have probably not seen them yet.

So, perhaps now is the time to implement the virtual smart agent in non-IM niches.

What do you think? I welcome your comments

Mike

• Changing my ebay affiliate sites from CJ to ebay’s affiliate network – a pain in the arse #

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I have joined the blog “Do Follow” movement. After doing some research, I concluded that this falls in line with the new online world (Web 2.0) where community and user experience are king. So, I decided it was time to follow the movement.

What is “Do Follow”?

“Do follow” is the opposite of “No-Follow”. Wordpress blogs, by default, use the HTML nofollow attribute on links that point away from the blog. This no follow attribute comes into play with the posting of blog comments. The no-follow tag tells the search engines NOT to follow the link to any other web sites.

The logic behind using no follow is, it’s good for the blog since there will be fewer outgoing links and therefore less “link bleed”, leading to better Google page rank. Sounds good!

Using no follow also makes sense because there are blog spammers out there who will, and have, posted blog spam comments solely for the benefit of getting more incoming links to their site, which helps page rank. That makes sense!

So why turn that off?

If you’re like me, you want people to comment on your blog posts. You want more of an interactive community. That’s what Web 2.0 is about – community and user created content.

But, how do you encourage people to comment on your blog posts? You give them something in return. You give them an outgoing link to their website, when they make a quality comment on your blog. You also allow the search engine to follow that link to their website by using the do follow attribute.

You also need to let people know that you are a Do Follow Blog. Some visitors will have no idea what that means, but those who do know what it means will appreciate it and will often leave a comment.

You will notice I now have a Do Follow notice in the upper right hand column of my blog. This graphic is courtesy of Randa Clay who is a Do Follow advocate. I’m letting others know that they are welcome to leave relevant comments, and letting them know what my expectations are.

Okay, but what about comment spammers?

No doubt there will be spammers who try to take advantage of your generosity. If you have a blog you probably are already getting comment spam, I sure do. But, I have found that the Spam Karma plugin does an outstanding job of filtering out spam comments.

You will still need to monitor comments, but it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes each day.

How Do I Set Do Follow?

Unfortunately, the option to turn No Follow on, or off, is not an option in Wordpress. I have looked at a couple of plugins, and have decided the DoFollow plugin works best for me.

With the current Wordpress blog comment spam plugins now available, I see no reason not to be a “Do Follower”.

Once you join the Do-Follow movement, let everyone know your blog is do follow by adding your blog to the do-follow blog list.

Let me know what your thoughts are by commenting below.

Mike

• @Ed_Dale I know how you feel Ed. I’ve had to lay off of beer – and I love beer. Wine doesn’t bother me though #

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