The power of video media is phenomenal and it cannot be disputed that video media has fast become popular throughout the internet.

Let’s take for example the Two Chinese Boys. Now if you haven’t heard of them you’ve been under a rock! The Two Chinese Boys have received over 7 million views of their videos on YouTube. Yep 7 Million! And they’re not even selling anything. So what do they do exactly? The Two Chinese Boys lip synch to songs by artists such as Jessica Simpson and Backstreet Boys. Quite simply the videos created by The Two Chinese Boys are very funny.

Take a look at Chinese Backstreet Boys - That Way

This video has over 3 Million views alone and has won awards for “Most Viewed”, “Most Discussed” and “Top Favourites”

I couldn’t leave this post without showing you my favourite video from the Two Chinese Boys!

Jessica Simpson eat your heart out!

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If you’re an Internet business owner, but haven’t yet started using social networking to promote your business, you are giving your competition a leg up – and for no particularly good reason. You might say “I’m a 50-something business owner. What am I going to do with a profile on Myspace?” But you’re only deluding yourself. The point here isn’t to make friends with teenagers. Rather, the point is to use these massive networks to market your products and services for cheap; so don’t ignore them. Your competition certainly wont.

So how can you use these networks to your advantage? You can start by selecting the networks you will actually use. Now, when most people think of social networks, Myspace immediately comes to mind. That is because Myspace is the largest social network; however, you may not want to start with Myspace. Rather, you will want to start by determining whether or not there is a social network for your particular niche. Believe it or not, there are networks for many niches – from golf to aviation. Chances are, if there’s a network for your niche, you’ll do far better marketing there than to the undifferentiated masses on Myspace. Additionally, Facebook is becoming more popular as it has a higher level of interactivity for its members and also  dedicated advertising areas. As its popularity grows, so does its member base. It’s well worth taking a look.

So start looking for your starting point – be it a specific network, Myspace, or one of the other social networking giants. Next, once you have selected your network of choice, go through the formalities of creating an account. For the most part, this process will involve some basic form filling. Once you’re done with that, you’ll have to tango with the tricky part: creating a high-quality, appropriate, original profile that you can use for your business.

Before you do anything else, you’ll have to make one important decision: should your profile be for you or your business? Depending upon which option you select, you will have to radically alter your approach. If you create a business profile, you may have a harder time finding “friends,” since your profile will overtly be related to your business. In contrast, if you create a personal profile, you will have to figure out how to convince your friends to check out your site without making it appear to be overt selling.

I personally suggest that you use a business profile. Additionally, incorporate some of the principles of selling you’d normally apply to your regular sites. Rather than creating a profile that screams “give me your money,” create one that is related to your niche and freely gives interesting information. Include relevant videos, music, photos, and articles on your profile. Regularly update your blog to incorporate new information about your particular niche. All of these actions will work to ensure that you get a regular reader base who might also be interested in purchasing some of your products and services.

How you design your profile is ultimately up to you. And, in fact, you wont want to follow any particular prescription or formula. Rather, create something that reflects you and your business; and you are likely to be rewarded by your customers.

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We’ve all witnessed the wild profusion of social media on the Internet. Emerging as a backlash against inflexible, algorithm-based, corporate-style sites—where all content flows from the site owner to the visitors—social media sites have taken the Internet by storm. Today, some of the most expensive (and, indeed, most visited) pieces of “real estate” on the Internet are social media sites. And there’s a good reason for this: these sites are popular; and they’re becoming more popular each day. People like to go places where they can interact with other people; and places like Myspace and YouTube seem to do the trick better than corporate-style sites that do not allow for any interaction or two-way feedback.

You might think: “great. I bet the owners of YouTube and Myspace are making a fortune, but how about me?” What you might not realize is that these sites aren’t only goldmines for their owners–media giants like Google and News Corp—but they are also goldmines for any smaller business that puts in the effort to use them as a marketing medium. That’s right: even you could cash on the social media craze; and the best part is that you can do it without starting the next YouTube. You can simply harness the sites already in place to build a reputation and drive visitors to your already-existing products and services. Sound good? Then keep reading.

Social media marketing isn’t easy. In fact, it is highly dependent on your being creative, intelligent, and hardworking. Using social media increases your ability to become publically recognized, but it also increases your ability to become publically loathed. With that said, there are some things you must keep in mind, so that you can become recognized, rather than loathed. I have included a list of some of these items below.

1. No matter what medium you use to market, you absolutely must gain credibility before you make sales. Spamming is not the way to do this. If, for instance, you decide to use Myspace, do not bomb all of your newly added “friends” with dozens of bulletins announcing some product offer. This is the best way to lose these friends, lose credibility, and make no sales whatsoever. The same could be said for putting videos up on YouTube: take some time to put thought, creativity, and orignality into your videos. Churning out boring, trite, pixelated, poorly-edited videos and slapping them up on YouTube will do little for your business – except possibly tarnish your reputation.

3. In social media, only truly creative or outstanding works become viral—that is, spread beyond your small group of “friends” and continue to get passed on to new people. Your goal, as a social media marketer, should be to create “viral products.” This means that you should spend more time on fewer, high-quality projects, rather than less time on many projects. Here, less is more. Concentrate on a few big video or product launches and you’ll gain far more traction than you could with an never-ending onslaught of small projects.

3. Target your “friends” carefully. Sites such as Myspace and Facebook give you the ability to search for “friends” (read: prospects) by categories and sub-categories. Take advantage of this. If you simply add friends and then send out bulletins, you may as well be harvesting emails with a bot and sending out spam. The results will be about the same: no one will buy from you, but you may get banned.

And there you have it: three rules you should live by if you want to use social media sites to build a reputation and drive traffic to your sites. Live by these—and actually put them in place—and you will see good results over time, even if you miss all the little “secrets” that marketers tell you that you must know.

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