Go Viral With YouTube

The internet is like one large incestuous family. The amount of apparently separate companies owned by Google is just mammoth. There is a fair amount of monopolising going on; however, this is something savvy authors can take advantage of. Not only is the Blogger website owned by Google (and hence why I would choose it over Wordpress any day) but YouTube, the world’s second largest search engine, is owned by Google as well.

YouTube videos rank very highly on Google (favouritism much?) and because Google owns YouTube it applies a little bit of parental bias to the site. So if you can pack the title of your video, the title of your upload file (yes Google even checks the words there), the description and the tags full of all the relevant keywords relating to your e-book and target audience, chances are your brief little video will get higher rankings in Google then any website you create. Place the web address for your e-book download in the first line of the description and you have another fantastic link in the marketing chain for Google to find.

Several blog posts ago I spoke about the power of having a YouTube video or audio of yourself welcoming people to your site and giving a quick pitch for your e-book. But YouTube can be used for so much more. You can produce your own video trailers for your novel, or have your fans create videos of them acting out scenes from your novel. You can make your book an interactive experience by record yourself reading snippets of passage from your book. Then place a hyperlink (as in the web address to the video) in your e-book text, so readers can click on the link and actually hear you presenting that excerpt to them.

YouTube is also the best chance that you will ever get for your work to go viral. By that I mean someone watches your video and is so hugely entertained that they email the link to all their friends and post it on Facebook. Those friends then view the video and tell their friends and the effect snowballs. Cast your mind to all the entertaining ads we see on TV that don’t have anything to do with the product being sold but stick in our head like glue. Or all those Jackass style videos that fill the Funniest Home Video Show. These are the sorts of videos that people pass on to their friends and you can make these types of videos your own. Videos of kids having tantrums while you zoom up on the mother’s harassed face can be turned into golden moments. All that’s needed is a simple voice over near the end of the video proclaiming, “If only I had blown Harry off for a night of reading (insert novel title here).” And you have viral comedy attached to your e-book.

While it’s best to tailor these videos to the interests of your niche, if you entertain enough people - whether it is with a crude video of a man crushing his genitals as he leaps over a pole or a woman who slaps people every time they swear - your e-book success could skyrocket more quickly than you ever imagined.

TOMORROW: The Media Machine: How to connect with your community and create a raving fan base.

SUCCESS?? Have you started to apply the tips in this blog yet? If you have had success, I would love to hear about it! Please feel free to tell us in the comments section below.