365 Days of Stormtroopers – One Guy, One Camera, Some Toys, and Over 1,303,022 views

-> This article contains 4 really nifty points

I wish I did this.

One guy (Stefan), with one camera and two action-figures of stormtroopers, managed to get a massive following.

Stefan called the project “Stormtroopers 365″, and set out to take one photo of the two toy stormtroopers, TK-455 and TK-479, each day, for 365 days. The last picture in the series was published on April 4, 2010. Each photo taken was creative and unique.

1) About Stormtroopers 365

This is taken from his website, http://stormtroopers365.com:

“Stormtroopers 365 is a photo project starring TK455 and TK479, Stormtroopers in the Galactic Empire Army.

The project spanned from April 2009 to April 2010. Each day during this year, a new picture was added to the series.

The pictures are posted to Flickr. This is where you need to go. You can also go to the Gallery page here but honestly that’s the same, you’ll eventually end up on Flickr. Face it, there’s no escape.”

You can view the Flickr steam here: 365 Days of Stormtroopers.

2) What he Accomplished

Throughout the year, as Stefan posted a new picture each day, his project gained in popularity.

He provided people with many ways to keep up with his project, such as with Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, RSS, email, and more. A method for each type of preference.

Before he knew it, his list of followers grew larger and larger. Why did this happen?

1. People love consistency
2. People love to be entertained
3. People love things handed to them

All his subscribers had to do was sit back and relax, and everyday they would get a little notification telling them a new photo was up. It involved no work at all on the user’s end.

Moreover, it took no time. People love to be entertained (hence why certain videos on YouTube will always be popular), however people do not like to offer up too much of their time; especially if it’s needed daily.

If you had to watch a 5-minute funny video right now, I bet you would. Though if you had to watch a 5-minute funny video, everyday, for a year, I bet you would lose interest.

Pictures are wonderful things. A person can look at one for 3-seconds or 5-minutes, it’s up to them. They are not forced to wait 5-minutes for a video to play out to see what’s funny, it’s presented to them immediately.

Also, pictures are sent around. They are put on blogs (like this one), they are emailed around (think of all those dog and cat pictures your mom sends), and they are constantly linked to. Especially when they are funny and unique.

Here’s a quote from Stefan he made at the end of the series:

“Thank you to everyone who followed this series. When I started one year ago, I would never have imagined that it would get so much attention. I’m glad you enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun to do.” – Stefan

The series gained enough popularity and respect, that some of his work will be at the Arty Gallery, in L.A., in April and May.

For far he’s had 1,303,022 views.

How awesome is that?

3) How to Make Money from Something so Simple

Now with all these followers, Stefan offers people the chance to buy signed prints of any picture in the series. And if you think hard enough, I’m sure he could think of other things to sell as well (maybe auction off the toys used).

Also, if he hosted the pictures on his website, he could have raked in some Adsense revenue as well.

Now he has plans to start up another 365 day series. And he already has a massive following to start with.

4) How you can Implement this

All you need to do to start something similar, is get a camera and take one photo a day of something entertaining, and make it a series. It would be best to toss a website up around it as well (a blog would work perfectly for this).

A few good examples which I know will work are:

• 365 cute pictures of your cat
• 365 pictures of a garden gnome in random places in your city
• 365 pictures of a building being constructed

Imagine the possibilities?

Good luck out there,
~ Corrado

An Easy Way to Actually Get Traffic from YouTube – In 4 Points

-> this article contains 4 very short points

I’m guilty of this.

I made a YouTube video that had a great subject matter.

It was loaded with excellent content, great advice, plus it was entertaining and enjoyable to watch. At the end of the video I had a message mentioning to visit the website for more great tips and advice.

I put it on YouTube thinking that in no time flat, I’d be getting massive amounts of traffic: even though the video has received over 150,000 views to date, I was very wrong, and here’s why.

1) The Facts

I told people to go to the website to get more tips and tricks on that subject matter. Though when you think about it, why would they?

Fact 1: The viewer is familiar and comfortable with YouTube.
Fact 2: The viewer can surf YouTube and find everything they want.
Fact 3: The viewer knows nothing about the website you are telling them to visit.

2) the Big Question

If you boil down those above facts, you end up with one very important question. And the answer to this question should be the focal-point of your marketing of that video. Here it is:

Why would a viewer leave a website that they are 100% comfortable with, and know is loaded with other videos giving advice on the same subject matter as your video, to go to your website?

That question might be difficult to answer at first. And if you can’t find a good answer, then realistically, you will have a very hard time convincing viewers to click on over to your website.

But, there is an easy way to solve this dilemma.

3) How to Find The Answer

One way to get viewers over to your website, is to offer them something they cannot get at YouTube.

For example, if your video is on cooking that perfect roast beef; in the video and description, tell them to go to your website to download/print the recipe (It’s very important that you provide them with a clickable link to do so).

>>> Check this video out as an example: How to BBQ Seafood

For example, if your video is on a quick way to lose weight; in the video and description, tell them to go to your website to download a PDF that they can use as guide to help them lose weight (Or, provide a direct link to the PDF in the video description). It’s important though to make sure you have links in that PDF back to your website.

For example, if your video is on 5 methods on getting more web-traffic; at the end of the 5 tips and in the description, tell them you have 5 additional traffic-getting tips for free on your website.

4) Summary

Make sure that after watching your video, the answer to the big question is obvious to you and your viewers.

Make sure they have a reason to leave their comfortable YouTube and click on over to your unknown website: the trick is to provide that little bit extra content that they cannot find on YouTube.

And to make it easy for them to do so by providing a clickable link.

Good luck out there,
~ Corrado

PS: You should never make a video on the top 10 hottest celebrities for example, show only 5 of them, and tell them the rest are on your website. This will just upset and frustrate your viewers. The key is to always over deliver.

How To Be Productive – Easy 2 Step System – Part 2 of 2

Note: this article contains 5 very short points.

This second part can make your productivity really soar.

I found an easy system that works really well for me when it comes to increasing productivity: it involves the combination of two simple parts.

If you haven’t yet, make sure you read (or at least skim) the first part; it shows how to make a great To Do list that works. [Read more]

How To Be Productive – Easy 2 Step System – Part 1 of 2

Note: this article contains 3 short points

Everybody would like to be successful.

Especially with as little effort as possible.

And the biggest problem with people (in general), is that they have a lack of productivity and motivation; this includes me. [Read more]

An Interesting Way to Hype Your Product Launch – 3 Easy Steps

Hype is important.

It’s probably the most important thing.

People talking about your product, posting about it, emailing about it, arguing over it, Twittering about it; the more talk, the more hype, the better. [Read more]

The Regular Price Sale Trick – A Simple Trick Used for Generating Eager Customers

What I learned was awesome.

The other night my cousin stopped by on his way home from work; he is a suit salesman, has been for years. So he shows up still dressed from work, measuring tape around his neck and down his shoulders. And he knows a dangerous secret. [Read more]

Harvey’s Restaurant – Correctly Prioritizing Presented Information

Hey there everyone, I have something to show you: it’s something that absolutely everyone has seen, hundreds if not thousands of times (tens of thousands, maybe? maybe more?). It’s so common, that a lot of people don’t notice when it’s done really-really well; and sadly, don’t notice when it’s done really-really poorly. [Read more]

A Tiny, “Top Notch” Change to Get More Comments on Your Blog

I noticed something very tiny, yet something that I can see making a difference at increasing the amount of people commenting on your blog – or anything else that allows users’ comments, for that matter. [Read more]

Hilarious Aweber Error: Changes Were Successfully Saved

This is probably my most-favourite error to see when browsing around the web and using software: “Error – Your changes have been successfully saved”. Everytime I see it I can hardly contain my laughter. [Read more]

So What Will I Find Here?

What will you find here at Corrado Coia Solutions? What can I do for you? How can I help you?

Those are great questions, and I would not expect you (or anyone really) to stick around and listen to what I have to say if it didn’t help you out in one way or another. That is of course, unless you often find yourself bored and feel like reading the interesting things on this blog for the sake of it. [Read more]