There is a MASSIVE shift happening on the internet right now.

You may not realize it, but the technology that changed our lives in a huge way, is itself going through a huge change.

 

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you run. You can be in physical products, digital products, software, brick-and-mortar, or anything else. If you want to succeed in 2019 and beyond, you must adapt to this shift.

If you take advantage of it, you will tap into hordes of eager buyers. They will come to trust you and even love you. And they will turn into raving, loyal, paying customers.

But if you don’t take advantage of this… you’ll get left in the dust.

 

So what is this change I’m talking about?

Video.

Creating videos for your business is absolutely one of the most crucial things you can do moving forward.

Quick interruption: at the end of this article I’m going to tell you about ​The Bootstrapper’s YouTube Checklist​. It’s a free checklist we put together that will help you make professional videos without spending a fortune on gear. I don’t want you to miss it, so you can download it now right here.

The Meteoric Rise Of Video- Just Around The Corner.

 

You might be thinking “Ben, aren’t you exaggerating a little bit? Video… a massive shift?”

I want to drive home the magnitude of what I’m talking about. Take a look at this graph:

YouTube ​by itself​ currently accounts for almost 20% of all internet traffic.

And it’s getting ready to explode. Take a look at this:

Over the next two years, online video will make up 80% of ALL internet traffic.

Just imagine what this means for the daily life and habits of your potential customers. Check this out:

The average American adult spends an hour and a half online every day, and a quarter of that time is watching video. (For younger demographics these numbers are ​much​ higher.)

And here’s one last graph:

 

More than half of all consumers want to see more videos from businesses they shop with.

I know I just buried you in numbers and statistics, but this is the bottom line… people are spending enormous amounts of time watching online video. And that number is skyrocketing.

Many entrepreneurs (especially in the brick-and-mortar world) think this revolution won’t affect them. They think online video means Netflix and funny Facebook clips. And they think the business world is separate.

They are sorely mistaken. And their businesses are about to get pulverized, because people expect to see video for nearly everything… including businesses they spend money with.

So here are the 5 reasons you need to start making YouTube videos…

Why Your Business Absolutely Must Start Filming Videos.

1.) 1. Your customers have been trained to learn through video

Over the last 50 years, TV has become an integral part of our lives.

This means that we’ve been trained as a society to take in information by video.

Think about it: humans learn in different ways. Some of us are auditory learners. Some are visual learners. Some are tactile learners, and on and on (there are 7 styles in total).

Video incorporates several of those (visual, aural, verbal, social) which makes it the most effective medium for most people.

And on top of that, the average American in 2017 watched almost 4 hours of TV a day! This means we’ve had the most amount of practice taking in information through video.

The point is… if you create videos for your business, it will be easy for people to understand how to consume your content, because we know how to learn in that format.

You have to be thinking about how you can leverage that.

2.) People are searching for information (that you’re already an expert in) on YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine on the planet (behind Google obviously).

So more and more, when someone wants to learn something or is looking for the answer to a problem, they’re not searching for articles to read. Now they’re looking for videos where they can watch someone teach the information they want.

You need to take advantage of this. You need to start putting yourself in places where people are already searching for the kind of information you provide.

But there’s another critical point:

Google owns YouTube. And you’ve probably already noticed, Google is increasingly showing YouTube videos in your search results. So when you create a video and you pay attention to certain keywords, not only will you rank high in YouTube. You’ll also start ranking in Google search.

By creating videos, you essentially get the double-benefit of leveraging two platforms at once. So you can become a trusted source very quickly.

I want you to stop thinking about YouTube as an entertainment platform where you need to make a “show.” Start looking at it like a reference library, and make sure you have valuable information that people can find.

3.) Video ads convert astronomically higher than image ads

Here’s an insane statistic: people are 27 times more likely to click on a video than a standard ad.

Think about your daily life. When you’re scrolling through your newsfeed, either on your phone or on your computer screen, what catches your attention the most?

Video, right?

It makes perfect sense just on a biological level. Our brains are wired to focus on sound and movement. It goes all the way back to our caveman days of running away from saber-tooth tigers.

So if your content contains sound and motion (literally if it hits several senses at once) your audience will pay attention to it.

There’s no way a static, print ad can compete with video.

4.) Video helps people bond with you

I talked before about styles of learning- visual, aural, verbal, tactile, etc.

Well there’s another style that is incredibly important: social.

Humans are social creatures. We’re designed to live in tribes. We have complex relationships.

When people make you feel good, your brain releases oxytocin which makes you trust them. I don’t want to nerd out too much on this subject, but the point is, a lot of our thoughts and emotions are dictated on a core level by chemicals in our bodies.

So what does this have to do with video?

Well, when someone can see your face, and they watch your facial expressions, and they hear your voice, and you teach them something that provides value to their life… all those things make a powerful imprint on them.

You could provide the same information in written form, but it’s not going to touch all those social and emotional triggers we’re programmed with.

The simple fact is that if you start filming videos, people will bond with you fast. And if they bond with you fast, they will buy your products and services over your competitors, because they’ll feel like they know you a lot better.  Video allows you to bond with people in a way that you just can’t do with print, and you can absolutely take advantage of this for your business too.

5.) Video is the easiest way to explain the value you provide

Thanks to social media, we’ve become accustomed to unprecedented transparency.

We don’t just want to eat a great meal. We want to watch a cooking show and see how the dish is made.

We don’t just want to go see a great show. We want to read reviews online and hear about other people’s experiences.

We don’t just want to take a vacation. We want to stay in an Airbnb where we can become friends with a local person.

This is having a huge impact on the way we do business.

Consumers don’t want to spend money with a business and have an impersonal interaction. They want to know what’s going on behind the scenes. They want to feel a connection with the people on the other end.

So no matter what product or service your business provides, video is the easiest way to explain what you do and how it helps your customers.

Video is your way of pulling back the curtain and helping customers learn about you so they know, like, and trust you.

Does This Actually Work?

You may still be skeptical about how video can help grow your business. I want you to understand that this isn’t theory. This isn’t conjecture.

Several years ago I made a conscious decision to double down on video in my business. In the years since then, I can’t tell you how many great relationships I’ve had come out of the videos we create.

I have customers right now that pay a fortune for our services, and that relationship started because of one single YouTube video. That’s it. They saw a video and they started looking for more from us.

If by some weird twist of fate all my videos got deleted from the internet forever and I had to start over from scratch… I wouldn’t think twice about diving back in. I wouldn’t think it’s too late to get started on YouTube, and I wouldn’t start looking for a new opportunity.

I’d start filming new YouTube videos right away, and you can do the same thing.

You Have To “Create The Window”

By now I hope you’re realizing how important it is for you to start focusing on video.

But here’s the elephant in the room:

“I’m not good on camera.”

“I feel uncomfortable putting my face out there.”

“I don’t have the camera and lighting and backdrop and microphone and…”

I totally get it. Getting started in video can be uncomfortable, awkward, and downright scary.

Here’s the thing: you don’t need to be good at it. (You’ll get good with a little practice.)

But it’s not about being good. People aren’t tuning in because of your production value. They will tune in because you’re giving them a window into your world.

They want to understand what you do. They want to get closer to you before they do business with you. They want to see your expertise and your personality. They want to create a connection with you.

They don’t care about your lighting or your editing. They care about the human bond.

And they can’t get that unless you create the window that allows that connection to happen.

So don’t worry yet about ​being good. ​Just create a medium and a format where you can ​be available.

I Challenge You!

I want to leave you with a challenge: get out your phone and film your first video right now. Upload it to YouTube and leave a link in the comments. And if you’re reading this now, I want you to go into the comments and leave a thumbs up on every single video you see. Let’s help each other get some eyeballs on our videos!

You might be thinking “That’s easy for you to say Ben! But I don’t have the right camera/microphone/lights/whatever.”

If that’s the case we put together a checklist called The Bootstrapper’s Youtube Checklist.  Just follow these simple steps and you can make videos that look and sound great, without buying expensive gear. 

Thanks for reading, and I can’t wait to watch your video in the comments!

And if you’re not sure how to outline your video about, check out our article ​The 9 Essential Elements Of An Amazing YouTube Video​. It walks you through a step-by-step roadmap that takes all the guesswork out of structuring great videos.

This article is one part of our massive guide THE “BE EVERYWHERE” CONTENT FORMULA: How To Dominate Social Media With A Cohesive Strategy, Without Having To Be Your Own Media Company. If you want to learn our A-to-Z process for figuring out what kind of content to produce, how to create great content lightning fast, and how to get it in front of potential customers everywhere, you can ​find the guide here​.

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