How The Worldwide Web Empowers Producers Of Video Content

The cost of creating video products has come down enormously in the last few years. Internet technologies like video podcasting let you sell downloadable content without the need to produce your own cassettes, CDs, or DVDs, and without the need to maintain an expensive inventory. The Internet has made it possible for anyone with a computer, a few simple tools, and a broadband connection to be a creator and broadcaster of video products.

The best thing about the creation of video products in today’s market is that you don’t need a huge capital investment to get started. You can produce high-quality video products with a consumer-level camcorder. And if the only recording device you own is your new Bluetooth video phone, you can get started with that.

There’s a growing online market for video products
There will always be a healthy online market for instructional and inspirational video products. It’s a mistake to think that individuals cannot compete with big media corporations in the areas of production, distribution, and marketing of video products-the audience for Internet video is growing so fast that there simply isn’t enough material online to satisfy the tremendous demand. The explosion of video sharing sites like YouTube is evidence of how fast the market is growing. In fact, amateur producers of video content already share space on YouTube with professional content from media giants like CBS and BBC.

Many of these large corporations hesitate to put their expensive resources to work on small projects that require highly specialized knowledge. That’s where you come in-if you can identify an area where you are the right person to provide informational content to a niche market, you will find customers for your video product on the Internet.

Add something of value to your customers’ lives
What you need to understand is this: Your profit depends on producing valuable information-not on the overall viewing experience, as is the case with feature-length films and commercial television productions. Your customers won’t care about your packaging if you deliver high-quality content. In fact, delivering video content on the Internet even lets you do away with the packaging completely. This allows you to focus all your energy on creating and marketing the best product possible. Your customers will appreciate the added value in your video products that your increased focus brings.

If your goal is to produce the best video ever made on the subject of cabinet-making or gardening, for instance, you can compete with any studio in the world. People will do almost anything to find meaning and rise above the limits of their ordinary lives. Connect with your viewers on a human level, give them insights for getting more out of a career or a hobby, and they will come back to your Internet site often.

If you choose your topic well and approach it with passion and focus, you can achieve a level of sales that lets you turn video production into the core of your Internet marketing efforts.

August 27, 2008 · Filed Under Video Product Creation

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How To Choose A Production Company For Your Video Product

The tools for creating a video product are so inexpensive today that anyone can be a producer and broadcaster. If you’re serious about producing videos to generate additional revenue streams for your Internet business, or if you’re planning to launch an Internet site dedicated to the sale of video products, you need to learn how to do as much of the work as you can. Video production can be very rewarding and enjoyable work. On the other hand, if you have decided to outsource the development and production of your video product, there are many production companies online and in your area with talented and experienced personnel.

I have successfully completed several video products with production companies. Working with industry professionals has been a wonderful learning experience for me, and I have found that people who work on your projects are happy to teach you what they know. To quote a price for your video product, the production company will need to know the following:

* What is the target audience?
* Do you need to use on-camera actors or will you record voice overs?
* Will you write your own script, or will you outsource it to the production company?
* How many locations will you have?
* What is the length of the video?
* Do you need animations or graphics added to your video product?

The production company will provide the crew for your video. The crew for a simple video will include a producer, camera operator, and a sound technician. For small projects the producer will double as director, and for the simplest projects a one-man company can take care of all the aspects of creating and producing your video product. If you plan to create a more sophisticated video with on-camera talent, you will need a production assistant, lighting directors, make-up artists, and possibly other technicians.

Make sure that the production company can complete the entire production project; your video will cost more if you hire one company to produce it and another company to edit it. As with any outsourced project, you will want to get quotes from several different companies. It’s important to do the planning before you talk to the production company-they can’t give you a quote without a clear idea of the scope of the project.

Here are the questions you should ask production companies:

* What type of productions do you specialize in?
* Do you have experience in the type of product I’m planning to create?
* What will I need to contribute to the project?

The production company may need to schedule and coordinate different phases of the project with you or someone else from your company. Share your vision with the production company when you talk to them the first time. Good producers are experts in the technical aspects of production, but great producers are also passionate about the projects they work on. When you find a production company that can get excited about the vision for your video project, you need look no further.

August 26, 2008 · Filed Under Video Product Creation

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How To Create A Great Video Product – Writing Your Script

If you’ve been thinking about creating video products for sale on the Internet, you’ve probably been throwing around more ideas than you know what to do with. This is an easy trap to fall into. It’s important to do some brainstorming for concepts initially, but always be sure to put a limit on your concept development stage. If you let it drag on, you’ll never get anything done.

Set deadlines for yourself even when you think you don’t have to. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’re making progress toward your goal when in fact you haven’t gotten anything done.

The failure to focus on one project and carry it through to successful completion is a clear sign that you’re procrastinating. If you get a brainstorm for creating a different video product every day, but you still haven’t created a finished product to sell on the Internet, make up your mind to do something about it today.

Narrow your focus and set a day to shoot
Suppose your friends all say you’re a natural comedian. You’ve been playing around with the idea of creating a comedy routine or skit. The only way to get it done is by setting priorities, sticking to a plan, and setting deadlines.

Set a day to shoot the video. You have to do this and stick to it. Approach this as if you were doing a project for hire. When you force yourself to get things done, you’ll start to notice a big difference in the results you get. How much time you give yourself depends on how much time you can actually spend working on the project, of course. If you’re doing this at night or on the weekends, you obviously need more time than a full-time Internet marketer who is planning a promotional video for a web site. Get up one hour earlier if that’s the only way you can find time to do it. Approach it as a job for one month. Set your shoot for one month from today. Stop thinking about it and start writing a script.

People who get things done know that there is never a perfect time to start. People who wait for inspiration before they start a script never get started. As Jack London said, “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” You have to get something down on paper to trigger connections between ideas. My best ideas always come during the writing process-never in the “thinking about what to write” stage.

Experience has taught me to just start writing and get it all down on paper. When I have a first draft in front of me, I get inspired. I see all sorts of things I never would have seen without the stimulus of the thoughts that came seemingly out of nowhere as I was working on the first draft of my script.

So stop thinking about it and get a script on paper. Then revise, shoot it, and put it up for sale on the Internet. But get started today.

August 25, 2008 · Filed Under Video Product Creation