How To Create Great Video Products

In the last year we have seen an explosion in the online video market. Try these tips if you want to create great video products for sale on the Internet:

You’ll be more successful if you show how to solve a problem. Forget about trying to impress people. Forget about trying to look good. Be natural, be yourself, and show people how you solved a problem in your own life. Then give your viewers tips for applying these lessons and strategies to their lives.

Focus on action. Always think about action-about what you want your audience to do. Then build your video around that action. As the Roman statesman Cato said, “Find the message first and the words will follow.”
Failure is the result of a lack of focus. To be effective-for people to remember your message-focus on a single power point and present it as truthfully and as entertainingly as you can, rather than presenting a series of topics in a single video product.

The power of structure

Keep this basic structure in mind as you create your video product:

* Start with a powerful, attention-grabbing lead. Clearly state your theme in the first minute.

* Use smooth transitions to link one segment to another.

* Use action verbs. Change verbs in passive voice to active verbs. Keep adjectives and adverbs to a minimum.

* Give viewers a few suggestions to help them apply what they’ve learned to their lives.

* Be yourself. Use short words and sentences. If you’re stuck and you don’t know what to say next, explain it the way you would to your best friend or spouse.

* Connect with your audience. Wrap everything in human terms-make it something your next-door neighbor can relate to.

* Finish with a satisfying conclusion that reemphasizes your theme.

When you have an idea for your video, you’ll know it’s the right one if you can answer “yes” to each of the following questions:

* Does this need to be done? Am I the right person to do it? Can I see the world from the point of view of my audience? Can I think their thoughts?

* Can the market I’m targeting understand my video? Can I express the idea better in half the time? Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, “Perfection is attained, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

* Does the idea hold together from start to finish? Does it move smoothly? Does the video make sense as a whole rather than just as the sum of its parts?

* Am I willing to say what I think is true, no matter what?

Now you’re ready to create a great video product. As you develop your video, keep this checklist handy at all times. It will let you know what elements in your video product need more work, and it will let you know when your video is ready to be distributed and sold on the Internet.

August 23, 2008 · Filed Under Video Product Creation

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How To Get Started As An Online Video Publisher

If you haven’t heard about the revolution going on in the world of Internet video publishing, you’ve probably been living in a cave for the past year. Video sharing is the hottest thing on the Worldwide Web today. Brightcove.com is making a strong bid to build the platform for the next generation of video sites, and it’s a great place to get started as a publisher of online video products. Brightcove has great tools for driving traffic to your video channel and boosting sales:

Create revenue streams on Brightcove from video downloads: You can sell and rent video downloads on the Brightcove.com and directly on your web site. Brightcove takes care of payment processing and live customer support. You control the terms of use and the price of each download product, of course, and keep 70% of the revenue generated from your sales. A tracking tool lets you monitor how your channel is performing on the Internet. You can measure your viewers and video streams on your affiliate sites as well as on your own web site. This tool also tracks your earnings from sales and rentals.

Be a live broadcaster of video products: Your channel appears automatically on Brightcove.com, making it easy for customers to find and buy your video downloads. As a broadcaster of video products, you can use Brightcove to build a community of users around your niche market. You can encourage your viewers to share your videos by enabling email links ands setting up subscriptions to video feeds. At all stages of the process you control how viewers share your videos-or if they can share them at all. This allows you to market content virally if you choose.

Video syndication to other web sites: Brightcove lets you create and manage your relationships with affiliates who want to syndicate your video products. You retain full control over programming and branding. Brightcove has entered into a partnership with AOL Video that creates an additional option for content distribution-as a Brightcove user, you can distribute paid downloads of your video products through AOL Video. The AOL platform lets you sell your video downloads directly to the huge audience at AOL.com.

Advertisers want to underwrite Internet video content: Online video publishers are generating significant revenue streams. Popular vlogs make money by selling subscriptions to users, by offering paid download content, and by attracting sponsors who want to enter into partnerships with creators of popular video products. Brightcove gives even free users the opportunity to earn advertising revenue from their video content. Newly launched channels are reviewed for inclusion in the Brightcove Ad Network. If your channel is included, you receive half of all the advertising revenue. Even if no ads run on your content, you still get free Brightcove service.

Brightcove’s customers already include Newsweek, Sony, Discovery Network, and the Tribeca Film Festival. Brightcove is one of the most exciting developments on the Worldwide Web today. You can stay informed of the latest developments in Internet TV by visiting their blog at http://blog.brightcove.com.

August 22, 2008 · Filed Under Video Product Creation

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How To Get Started In The Business Of Video Product Creation

Television is moving online. In the last year Internet TV has grabbed the attention of the biggest media corporations in the world. Disney has entered into a partnership with Brightcove and the BBC has partnered with YouTube. And this is just the beginning-what you see today is the tip of an iceberg that will keep on growing for years to come.

Anyone can be famous, as the promo for Cisco’s “Human Network” campaign says. Anyone can be a producer today, and that’s only half of it-anyone can be a broadcaster of video content on the Worldwide Web. Video sharing sites like YouTube have created a sort of producing frenzy in the video world, and to be honest about it, there is an enormous amount of junk online. But don’t let that turn you against the medium. New technologies and new business models make it surprisingly easy for companies and individuals to market and deliver video products on the Internet today.

Even if you have experience with video product creation in traditional formats like video cassettes, CDs, and DVDs, you may not be fully aware of how new tools available on the Internet can take your business to the next level. Here are some tips on how to get started:

* Don’t quit your day job-you don’t have to in order to test products on a web site. Some of the fastest growing sites on the Internet today were launched by people who had full-time jobs. They entered the market gradually by testing sales of new products and services on the Internet. When they were convinced that a niche market was there to sustain them, they plunged into the Internet business full time. Your numbers will tell you when to quit your day job.

* One of the best ways to build a niche market is by selling video products on the Internet. Look at the types of videos that other people are selling. Which ones would you want to buy? Which ones add something of value to your life? Look around. When you find something you like, go ahead and buy it. If you have never purchased a video download on the Internet, you’ll be surprised by how easy it is. This is important preparation for you as a future marketer of online video products.

* The video you just purchased may be the best investment you ever make. Watch it from the point of view of a customer. Did you get your money’s worth? Would you buy another video product from the same site? If you aren’t completely satisfied, can you get a refund? Then watch the video from the point of view of a creator of video products. Why does this video work? How does it connect to my experience? And if the video falls flat on its face, why doesn’t it work? Why doesn’t it connect to me as a viewer?

As you provide answers to these questions, you will start to discover concepts that can be developed into your own video products for sale on the Internet. When you’re ready, all you need is a webcam, a computer, and a connection to the Internet.

August 21, 2008 · Filed Under Video Product Creation