How a Plate of Pasta Turned into a Media Sensation: A Small Business Video Marketing Success Story

March 19, 2012 - PRLog -- It started with a clever inventor and a plate of spaghetti, and ended with a viral YouTube sensation. If you’re wondering how to create a “viral” video for your business then James Wedmore, founder of Video Traffic Academy, will be the first to tell you that it can’t be done. Those incorporating video to drive traffic that have tried to “create” a viral video often fail…miserably.

“You can’t “create” a viral video; you can create a video that offers great value that impels people to share it. When a video is shared over and over and over again – it goes viral.” –James Wedmore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYV3alDTaGI&list=UUW269SkvB1Ve1-xpqHSCYkA&feature=plcp



The social power behind a great video will determine what goes viral, not the video creator. And video marketing is social media at its finest.

So how can the creators behind the video for the Original Pasta Fork explain how their video which was shot with a small amount of equipment in a local Italian restaurant, caught the attention of major media such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show which featured the invention video, along with Fox News, CBS, Japanese & South Korean TV, and numerous Global publications including the front page of the local Journal Times.

“The Video Traffic Academy course was very timely when we decided to record a video for a new client, Bob Balow, the inventor of The Original Pasta Fork. The video was part of an overall Internet Marketing Strategy to show members of the local Inventor & Entrepreneurs Club how they could market their inventions online.” -Robin Kruk at www.Marketing4NewMedia.com

Using Video to market a physical product was part of an Integrated Marketing Strategy which included a website with a shopping cart, Facebook Fanpage, Welcome pages, Twitter Pages, YouTube channel and an email account that tied it all together.

One of the things that James teaches in the video marketing course is how to create videos that people want to watch. They should be Actionable, Remarkable, and Demonstrable.

According to Kruk, she instantly realized that a video format was the perfect way to demonstrate how this quirky little fork could actually be effective for eating spaghetti without the pasta falling off and creating a mess.

Many small and medium sized businesses are hesitant to create YouTube videos to market their products, believing that the production cost is too high.  Kruk and her “crew”, which consisted of her husband, the fork inventor, a Kodak Zi8 camera, a wireless lavalier microphone, a compact lighting kit, and a comfortable booth at Infusino’s Italian restaurant, learned otherwise after going through the very first module of Video Traffic Academy. That’s where James explains what you need to create those amazing videos.

They spent about 3 hours recording. The editing was done by John Kruk using Sony Vegas to keep the video around 2 minutes in length. After uploading the video to YouTube, they went through the steps outlined in the Video Traffic course which covered annotations and optimization so that the right people, and the search engines, would find their newly produced video.

And find it they did!

Within a few days, video views spiked upwards as viewers from 176 countries around the world watched the demo. Fork sales began to skyrocket as others embedded the video on their websites, including SportsIllustrated.cnn.com and Most Viewed Videos where it remained in the Top 20 for almost a week. With all the sharing going on the Media coverage surged and the rest, as they say, is viral video legend.

But, as the best businesses know you have to capitalize on the momentum.  Follow-up videos were produced including testimonial videos from their customers both young and old showing how they can eat with the pasta noodle fork.

The Original Pasta Fork’s YouTube channel now has over a MILLION views.

Today, the talent over at Marketing4NewMedia continues to recommend that their clients use video as a major part of their Internet Marketing campaigns. And, they continue to follow the lessons learned from James Wedmore and Video Traffic Academy, his various online marketing webinars, and the active group of business owners who have purchased the course and share ideas, tips, and success stories in their private Facebook group.

To find out more about Video Traffic Academy: http://www.jameswedmore.com/video-traffic
To find out more about Marketing 4 New Media: http://www.marketing4newmedia.com/

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James Wedmore-Online & Video marketing strategist, author, speaker and coach is the founder of Video Traffic Academy which teaches powerful techniques for turning YouTube Video Traffic into highly qualified customers. His 6-week Bootcamp training, Lights, Camera, Expert teaches businesses how to sell with video. He is also the creator of 6 Figure Outsourcing Secrets which teaches how to succeed with any online course. You must Outsource to Succeed! Find out more about him and his various training programs at: www.JamesWedmore.com

John Kruk, an IT Professional, and Robin Kruk, a Media Sales Consultant, combined their expertise to launch Marketing 4 New Media, LLC, in 2009. They are now Certified Specialists in Internet, Social Media, & New Product Launches.
Contact Info: robin@marketing4newmedia.com, john@marketing4newmedia.com, 262-456-2926. Pasta Fork YouTube Channel, www.youtube.com/theoriginalpastafork
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Marketing4NewMedia