About This Blog
Sara Lancaster here. Thanks for visiting the No. 2 Pen blog where I share examples of business websites with sharp website content.Project Hound
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Posts Tagged ‘video’
Unplug Stock Music. Buy Music that Works for Online Video.
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
You’ve got the Flip. You’ve learned how to use it. You’ve even written a script to take your marketing video from just ok to pretty 
darn good. The one thing you’re missing is music. No surprise there.
Choosing background music or even foreground music for your marketing videos can be a tough task, but it’s one that will make all the difference to your video’s success.
Understand copyright law.
Assume that all songs by all artists are protected under copyright law. Professional musicians expect to get paid for their work and have gone to great lengths (with the help of their agents, record labels, and music publishers) to make sure they do. If you choose to incorporate your favorite new song by Adele into your marketing video without permission, you’re breaking the law. It’s that simple. (more…)
Eight Tips for a Well-Written Marketing Video Script
Thursday, January 27th, 2011
I can’t think of a business that wouldn’t benefit from online video. The opportunities available to you by way of YouTube and other video sharing sites make this technology/marketing tactic an affordable and accessible venture.
Like with most marketing efforts, the words in your online video matter. Written or spoken content drives your message. As you start to write your online marketing script, keep these eight tips in mind.
1. Brain dump, like usual
In every creative writing project, you should start by dumping all ideas and random thoughts onto paper. Don’t worry about the length or the language—just write. (more…)
More Viral Marketing Examples — Babies!
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
Last week I posted a post profiling examples of viral marketing. You might remember that I included a video of the E*Trade babies. In doing research for that post, I came across several other videos that also included babies and also successfully went viral.
So I just had to share…again.
If you feel like crying.
If you feel like laughing.
This last video is not exactly an example of viral marketing (unless Beyonce’s team is somehow behind it). It is, however, an example of how one very easily made video can spread fast. A simple search on YouTube for “Beyonce baby dance” resulted in over 4,000 results most of which were variations on this exact same video.
Imagine if you came up with a clever video (and made sure to include your company name and URL somewhere on the video), and then imagine what would happen if 4,000 other videos were created to mimic yours. That’s viral.
Examples of Viral Marketing
Saturday, September 26th, 2009
To have success in viral marketing, you must understand two things. First, you can’t make things go viral. Either Internet users love the content and share it with their friends or not. You can’t force it; viral marketing just happens. Second, to have success in making something go viral you need to have an extraordinarily good idea that fulfills a strong need or hits an emotion.
Viral content can be any number of things. Including these …
Earn Trust With Quality Online Content
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Wikipedia says there are 109.5 million Web sites in operation. That means you need to separate your Web site apart from 109,499,999 other sites.
Since 99% of these sites have NOTHING in common with yours, there are some aspects you don’t need to give any thought. But as far as that 1% goes, there is one thing you can do from the very start that will set you apart. Build trust!
Here are five ways you can earn the trust of your Web site visitors.
#1 Create a News Page
A section of your Web site should be devoted to press releases, articles, and links to other valuable resources. This could be a blog or a Web page, whichever option works best for you. Not only is this beneficial for your search engine optimization strategy, but it adds value to your site and gives your visitors something to read and learn from.
My Film Debut
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
I (Sara Lancaster, primary writer here at the No. 2 Pen) am a writer of all varieties. Yes, most of the writing we do here at No. 2 Pen involves web content, eBooks, and newsletter writing, but there’s really no limit to what we write. I really mean that.
Many clients may not realize it, but I am an aspiring fiction writer, children’s author, and humor writer. On the flip side, and in a previous life, I worked as a paralegal so I’m also quite comfortable writing letters and technical documents–even legal documents (Note, I’m not a lawyer, and cannot offer advice other than writing advice to anyone). On top of all this, I write online dating profiles for clients, and I even help friends, colleagues, and clients as a writing coach.