VIRAL VIDEO MARKETING is a buzzterm you may have heard of but not really understood how it can apply to the marketing of your business.

Well let me tell you about an amazing site that is free to join, allows you to upload videos promoting your business product and...heres the exciting part...actually pays cold hard cash once the videos are viewed so many times.Read the testimonial on this sites front page from Annabel to see what she thinks about metacafe.

I am not talking about youtube (although that is an option worth following up sometime) but this site http://www.metacafe.com.

Never heard of it? Well it was founded in 2003 and is currently the worlds 3rd largest video site. It is also the second largest website behind myspace in the number of user comments per video. Some users have received in excess of $100 000 simply by uploading videos of original content. To date they have paid out in excess of $1million.

Now as a business you should seriously consider becoming a member of this site and creating videos about your product which may very well earn you income as well as extra traffic to your website.

For example a popular video which earned the owner thousands of dollars focused on simple massage and reflexology techniques. Others focus on recipes, crafts, motor sports for example, whilst the most popular submitter whos account name is kipkay is a bit like an online Mcguyver using everyday supermarket products to do neat things around the house.

Right...how can we use this for your business. Well as an example...lets say you are an adventure activity operator. Start off with posting a video showing the stunning scenery in your area with a short audio commentary explaining some unique features. Post it under the Travel and Outdoor category.

Maybe you own a hotel, why dont you video your head chef cook his signature meal and then get a guest comment favourably on it? Post it under People and Stories. The potential is limitless.

Essentially the main rule for any business is to obliquely refer to their product. You are allowed to put your website link in your profile notes, but you are not allowed to blatantly advertise your product in the video itself otherwise it may not be acepted for the Producers Rewards programme.

... Let me tell you how it works. First of all go to the site and then create an account by signing up for free.

... Have a look around the site and get a feel of what people are watching.

... As a member you are allowed to upload a video and then receive money through the Producer Rewards programme

... They pay $5 per 1,000 views - (views in the USA) – you receive your first payment for $100 after crossing the 20,000 views mark and after being accepted into the programme.

... There are certain rules about what your vdeo contains, but essentially it must be longer than 30 seconds and suitable for a family audience if you want to get a wide viewership.

... It must be of original content, and you must be very careful if you include music. Make sure that the music is original. Basically should any content of your submitted video breach copyright it will be disqualified for the Producers Rewards proramme.

... Videos that have as their primary purpose the promotion of other products or services, rather than entertainment, will not be accepted into the Producer Rewards programme, so be creative and make sure the video is entertaining.

... The video in its first 6 months must be viewed no less than 20 000 times and maintain a video ranking of 3.0 (This ranking happens when other metacafe users view your video)

... Videos that are exceedingly dark or grainy, have missing frames or a low frame rate, or are of poor audio quality are not accepted into the Producer Rewards programme. However its not that difficult to get a reasonably high quality home made video submitted. Also the site has plenty of free resources and tips to help you in this area. Go into the Studio area for plenty or free resources and tips.

... I suggest you read all the conditions before you start submitting videos but the main thing to be aware of is that once a video is uploaded you must select the Producers Reward option to be eligible to start earning money.

So there you have it. My Free Empowerment Marketing tip for you to boost your business online. I suggest you check out the site yourself first. Then speak to a staff member, someone who is into the internet scene. Tell them that you want them to promote your business and let them become familiar with the site. Also if you really want to motivate them why not give them a % or even all of the money that is earned by the videos. They could earn a cool $5 000 at the end of 12 months, which means 1 million people have seen your product. Think about it and have fun!

This is an abbreviated example of a single project that I email to businesses every month when they sign up for my Empowerment Marketing programme. Every month you receive a pdf file which contains at least 2/3 marketing projects.