You might be asking yourself : Why Is this important?

Firstly lets consider the fact that each one of us needs to have a purpose or reason for doing the things we do. We rarely act totally mechanically or absent-mindedly, this is what makes us human.

This factor is even more crucial to consider, for those of us who engage in activities that deal with other people via our online businesses, and in the development of our internet marketing strategies.

Establishing any line of business requires a significant degree of purposefulness. We need to be able to set a direction for our endeavours if we aim to be successful. Another advantage of this purposeful approach, is that it will also help convince other people to believe in our business activity and integrity.

There really are hundreds of thousands of internet web sites out there. If ours has no purpose, how long will it last amidst such competition? Why should our site not get flushed down the drain in the long run? What can we do to set it apart and ensure that our site is seen as being valid and useful - worth visiting often? Worthy of being bought from?

We must create meaning for ourselves first, it is crucial that we devise and fully understand the business purpose that we believe will support our internet marketing project. Once we create this knowledge and conviction for ourselves, convincing other people and making lots of profits will more readily follow.

Purpose, or meaning is a doubly important concept because it is the crux point where our clients and customers will identify with us and our businesses. In the first instance, meaning, and our belief in ourselves, creates the motivation and passion that drives us and keeps us working, even when times are rough and when there are difficulties at hand.

The meaning we ascribe to our business gives direction to the endeavour. For example, if you want to make people happy, then your efforts will continue to satisfy the needs of the majority of people. If you want to purely make profits, then you will choose the business options that will generate that result and maybe ignore some of the more touchy, feely aspects of a more altruistic approach.

One of the main ways in which we are able to build a rapport with other people is through talking with them, sharing something of ourselves and showing them that we can relate to them and their circumstances in some way. It is far easier for people to get an emotional feel for our meaning if they hear or see us speaking than it is by simply reading what we have written.

We can achieve this with the written word and with nice graphics on our site, but if we have audio, or video clips people will feel closer to the real person that is us. We gain trust and recognition through our voice patterns and our mannerisms, speech nuances and choice of words, (of course this can also work the opposite way if we are not careful).

So How Does One Create Meaning?

To determine the real meaning of our own business, we need to ask ourselves what is the main reason why we chose this endeavour? What do we really want to gain from this business?

Is our purpose simply to make money? Do we aim to provide the best possible services to people? Is our goal to be able to share our creations and products with other people and receive recognition rather than receive purely financial gain from them?

We may have one reason, or possibly a mixture of all of the above. What's important here is to focus on the factor that really motivated you. The things that you really need to get out of this in order to make you feel good about yourself as well as be able to earn a living (meagre or great..).

If we cannot come up with a deep, underlying reason for starting our business, then the whole effort may end up being futile. Unless we have a purpose and a plan as to how we will meet that purpose, our business is not likely to satisfy us. All high achievers have some higher value that drives them. In order to be super successful we also need to be able to make present this in a way that other people can identify with.

Again, audio and video can help us to achieve this far more effectively than a page full of writing, however good the writing is. People can far more easily warm to our tone and whether it is true or not, on an emotional level they will feel better able to judge our motives and drivers than if they are reading our words with their own voice.

Once we have established the meaning behind our business plan and we have identified our passion, one of the best ways to help others identify with this is to use audio and / or video to help convey that passion. Think how much more exciting this article is simply through listening to it, how much more of a chord the words can strike within you, when you hear them rather than when you are simply reading them?

Ok this may be all well and good, but now you may be asking : so how does meaning create profits?

A profitable business is one which functions effectively. Basically then, the meaning that we identified in our endeavour will determine the message that we give to our web-site visitors and prospective customers. In this case, it stands to reason that if we have a well-defined meaning, the people we deal with will easily be able to understand that message.

Having a well defined meaning that you are passionate about will also enable people with the same ideals and values to identify further with you. Now we are reaching the stage where we are beginning to tap into the market that is most likely to support the goals of our business. Our meaning is also going to generate respect for our ideals and the way in which we present them. Being passionate about our meaning can be seen as having a determination that is worthy of support and rewards.

In terms of how video and audio can help you to make profits, consider how much more you feel that you know me when you hear my voice, and then again, how much more will you trust me when thinking of buying my products, if you can hear the sincerity in my voice as I am explaining why I am selling this product and maybe even how I myself use it to help my business? How much easier is it for us to have a bond when you can hear the passion as I discuss my rationales?

When you are thinking about your purpose and goals for our business, remember to factor into your business plan that meaning is something that all of us really look for, it is an inherent part of human nature. Finding meaning is a major step on the way to self fulfilment. It is an achievement that can have the most positive impact on your online business, which will ultimately lead to really good profits. Give people a reason to buy your products or follow your advice, define your purpose and meaning, then use your passion as a call to action for people to follow you or do business with you

Meaning then, enables us to grow as individuals. At the same time, it can have a huge beneficial impact in giving our internet marketing strategy a strong direction and the respectable identity that is needed to build a good business. Audio and perhaps especially video can help us to convey our meaning more simply, yet far more effectively to the people who visit our site and do business with us.

If we consider the percentage of two way communication which is enhanced by the use of non-verbal communication techniques, video is a medium that we will all want to explore in much more depth as a way of getting our message across effectively. Many of the big names in internet marketing are already tapping this market even when they communicate with the prospective customers on their list. Maybe now it's time that we all embrace it!