First I tell you the Amazing (somewhat-lame-excuse) Story.

How today I’m so crazy and embarrassed and sentimental that seven years ago I launched my first website at pottsweinstein.com, for Potts Weinstein Financial Consulting (personal financial & estate planning).

How ha! ha! ha! I launched a business on April Fools Day! How foolish of me!

And omg, the website was so ugly / badly marketed / terribly copywritten / had no CTA / acted as if I was a big corporation so clients would drive down my residential street and be like WTH where is the big office building.

And we all think to ourselves, ah yes, that first job / business / website / blog, we were also all so foolish / young / desperate / trying to pretend that we actually knew what we were doing.

And then I say, so, in celebration / anniversary / irony of that first website going up, I’m having a sale!

(As if that has anything to do with a sale? Why did we need an excuse anyway? Oh yes, because we have to have a story to sell things and the story is the excuse but really it’s just bullshit. Of course, this anti-story is just another story. So there you go.)

The real reason I’m having a sale is about necessity and deadlines.

I didn’t have time to launch a new virtual program in February or March (as you read this I’m hosting the Live Your Truth Adventure live event here in San Francisco) and some of you guys need a deadline to get you to make a decision on the stuff I already have available.

So, here’s your deadline, my dears.

Use the FOOL coupon code TODAY ONLY and get 30% OFF everything.

That’s one day only, April 1, 2011, from midnight to midnight EASTERN time.

And that’s everything I sell – including virtual programs AND consulting AND the other 2011 Live Your Truth Adventure events.

(how it works is you just go put the thing you want in the shopping cart, and then when you get to the page to enter your name etc. then you can enter the coupon code and hit “apply” and the 30% off will appear on your entire order, like magically and stuff. yay internet!)

Here’s your options of cool Live Your Truth stuff you can partake yourself of:

Want to catch up on the first year of Live Your Truth?

Get all of the blog posts and video transcripts in the Year One of Living Your Truth 400+ page ebook! Regular price $17, sale price $11.90

Want my Advice/Ideas/Feedback, One-on-One?

Consulting via email, Skype, and telephone is available, starting with email consulting at regular price $27, now $18.90 per session (yes, you can buy now and use anytime!)

Want to learn how to Live Your Truth on Video?

Learn how to create videos that speak your truth and engage with your tribe – Quickstart regular price $37, sale price $25.90 & 4 Weeks to Video regular price $147, sale price $102.90

Wish you were playing with us at today’s Live Your Truth Adventure?

Join the Adventure (with just 2 other people!) in September or November – regular price $497, sale price $347.90 (payment plans available!) [note: there are 5 seats available as of 4/1/11 at 9:35 AM Eastern]

If you have any questions, ask them asap to me via email at elizabeth[at]elizabethpw.com and I’ll get back to you as soon as we take a break at LYTA – and, don’t forget that the sale is over at Midnight Eastern (9 PM Pacific)!

~ Elizabeth

P.S. If you really want to get the best value, I suggest you look at the Live Your Truth Adventure Event or Consulting with me (especially if you’re thinking about phone consulting) – this is the lowest price LYTA will ever be, and I may not put consulting on sale again.

P.P.S. This isn’t a joke. You can count on this b/c I’m a dork and don’t know how to pull off April Fools Jokes. That is all.

Related posts:

1. The *Real* Reason Video is Hard.
2. The Real Reason I’m Moving to San Francisco
3. The Experience Matters: Behind the Website Redesign

I’ve been trying to write copy and promote the 3 Days to Video program and I keep saying that I’m getting stuck by various insane mindset problems and procrastination and blocks against self promotion …. but really that’s all a bunch of crap.

The hard part of me trying to explain why you should buy 3 Days to Video is that I didn’t buy it.

I learned how to create videos by making them.

Lots of them. At last count, 147 or so of them.

And some of them sucked.

Well, lots of them sucked.

(dude. look at the first few videos on my youtube page from back in 2007. they are freaking terrible.)

But after hundreds of hours of planning and shooting and editing and rendering and encoding and uploading and promoting …

… something happened.

The videos worked.

The weird thing is that I didn’t feel like I was doing anything.

I was just being myself.

Just talking about stuff that made me uncomfortable or embarrassed. Just showing how I’m an idiot and how my daughter left her dirty sippy cups in the backseat of my car and how I keep futzing with my bra strap.

Just talking about what pissed me off or how things should be changed or what I want to do with my life or what scares the crap out of me.

I was speaking my truth on video.

And people fell in love.

Now, I’m not saying that video works for everyone.

Some people are just not going to be able to speak their truth on video. If it’s hard for you to communicate your passion to a client face to face, if you can easily pass on your message via your writing, if you can’t commit to revealing yourself this way, video may not be for you.

But for some of you, video will be the conduit you need to speak your truth.

The method for you to communicate your passion. To bond to your audience. To create your tribe.

And I don’t want you to keep waiting.

I don’t want you to keep being scared or intimidated by video.

I don’t want you to have to spend hundreds of freaking hours to figure it out!!!

Damnit.

So instead of wasting the next 3 years of your life making all the mistakes I made, spending hundreds of hours learning everything you need to know, posting dozens of mediocre videos until you get the one that clicks, you have another choice.

You can learn how to make videos from me.

In 3 Days to Video I’m going to teach you everything I know about making videos. In a logical, easy to follow way. And you’re going to make your video as we go. So not only do you leave the workshop with one finished video, but you’ll know exactly how to do the next one.

And to get you off your butt and make sure you make a decision asap, I’m giving you a bonus for signing up asap.

If you sign up for 3 Days to Video by this Friday (May 7th) I will personally look at your new video and tell you everything that’s good and everything that needs to be fixed, so your next one will be awesomer.

We can do this live on the phone/skype or I can record a video capture of my recommendations. Whatever works for you.

So, if you want to speak your truth, if you want to bond with your tribe, if you want to take a risk and create a video is works for you, go to 3 Days to Video right now and buy it.

#thatisall

Related posts:

1. 4 Years Ago Today I Became a Mompreneur
2. My Life is Impossible.
3. A Day in My Life.

So in the first of a planned series of case studies (on videos, websites, programs), here’s a behind the scenes tour of the new 3 Days to Video site, including the strategy and technology I used to create it!

Let me know below what you think about the new style of sales page, what you think of how sales pages/sites are being used (and what annoys the frak out of you), and what other pages are great examples to model for creating our own sales sites!

Related posts:

1. Behind 18Days: Why’s of the Long Form Sales Letter, Pricing, 18 Days & Promo
2. EPW Live Ep3: Sales Pages – The Long, The Short, and The Video
3. Pole Dancing & Poetry: Taking a Sabbatical from Sales & Promotions

Here are the sites we talked about on the show:

http://www.theclientattractionsystem.com
http://www.morebuyerseverymonth.com/waitlist.html
http://creatingfameclassroom.com/
http://johnnybtruant.com/ibiab/
http://www.stevepavlina.com/conscious-growth-workshop/
http://www.un-marketing.com/6weeks/
http://unconventionalguides.com/wfy.htm
http://thirdtribemarketing.com/
http://twitterwebinar.com/go/?page_id=45
http://www.listcontrolsite.com/posts/secret-back-door
http://gurumastermindvideoblog.com/2008/05/blueprint-for-a-successful-inf-1.php
http://tribalauthor.com/book-marketing-event/
http://4weekstovideo.com/
http://3daystovideo.com/

Don’t forget to RSVP for future shows!

Related posts:

1. Case Study: The 3 Days to Video Sales Mini-Site
2. Behind 18Days: Why’s of the Long Form Sales Letter, Pricing, 18 Days & Promo
3. Pole Dancing & Poetry: Taking a Sabbatical from Sales & Promotions

Yes, I know your pain.

There’s the first step, of just getting all of the video into your computer. Compatibility problems with your software, the time it takes for your computer to process the raw footage, what file types your computer accepts to import …

There’s deciding if you are going to use entry-level software like Windows Movie Maker or iMovie, if you are going to up-level to Adobe Premier Pro or Final Cut … not mentioning actually learning how to use the software …

And you haven’t even started editing yet.

Then there’s deciding what footage to use, dealing with sound and lighting problems, where to make the cuts, transitions, titles, graphics, whether you will add music, photos, cutaways, b-roll footage, how to convert and expert your video …

It’s overwhelming.

I get it.

And, I get that I’m a bit of a weirdo.

Because … I love editing videos.

I love editing videos, because that’s where I find the story.

Editing is where the creation happens, where I take what I thought I was going to shoot, what I had planned in my outline, the message I thought I was going to speak … and learn what the video is really about.

I love editing videos, because I can craft how I want to be seen.

I can find the funny. I can find my message. I can find the one time out of 5 or 6 shots where I got it right and sound moderately brilliant. Or at least not like a complete idiot.

Editing is my art.

But you don’t have to edit.

Yes, I know that I sell a program that teaches you how to edit videos (among other things).

But editing is not required to create videos that bond with your audience and speak your truth.

Instead, you can create videos that are “recorded live.”

In other words, you just shoot your video, from beginning to end, and post it. Maybe you add a title at the beginning or a call to action at the end. Maybe you add nothing.

Recorded live is a huge time savings.

You can shoot a video and get it up in a matter of minutes. You can shoot from anywhere and easily upload from anywhere straight to yourtube or facebook … even right from your phone or laptop.

Recorded live is real.

When you include all the “uh’s” and when you forget words and and plane flew overhead and the demo didn’t quite work the first time … that can be endearing. You’re taking us behind the scenes, not hiding behind pillars, you’re sharing your message with us, raw.

Recorded live works.

But recorded live doesn’t work for everyone.

It takes practice. You must be able to carry your energy for the entire shot. You must at least get your message across, because there’s no fixing it later (without a completely reshoot). You can’t let us get bored.

And some of you are so intimidated by the shooting, the idea of having your face on camera, that the meek protections that editing has to offer will help you be okay with letting the world see you on video.

And that’s the bottom line.

Edit or don’t edit. I don’t care.

Whatever it takes to get your damn video up.

If it means you need to edit. If it means you can’t edit.

Later on … you can futz with it, add transitions, cutaway to b-rolls, get a new haircut, use better lighting, do a better job maintaining your energy, actually remember to do your call to action … yes.

You can and will improve everything.

But, in the meanwhile … edit. Don’t edit. Whatever.

Just post the damn video.

Do you edit your videos? What’s hard about editing videos, for you? Do you prefer videos that have been edited or the recorded-live video style?

To learn how to make your own videos, check out my newest video program 3 Days to Video live virtual workshop or get the free Quickstart to just learn the basics!

Related posts:

1. Make Your Videos More Awesomer: The Advanced Video Series Coming Soon
2. People Don’t Buy Stuff From Videos. They Buy You.
3. Review: Question The Rules (verdict: awesometastic.)