Looking for Something?
Posts Tagged for

videos

Using Flickr to Find Locations for Your Web Series

Author:

Sometimes, a natural location makes the most sense for a scene in your web series. When that is the case, what are your options?

  • Ask your friends for location recommendations?
  • Go back to a location you’ve shot at in the past?
  • Tweet to see if any of your followers have any ideas?

All of these methods for finding locations can work, but it’s kind of a crap-shoot.  You might get the perfect spot. You might be forced to compromise.

Want more options? This video from Izzy Video gives some awesome advice on how you can use Flickr when you’re hunting for that perfect location for your next video. Check it out:

Even if a special location isn’t necessarily for your video (for example, maybe you’re doing non-fiction work, where you’re just talking to the camera), shooting with a new, interesting location in the background can help give your videos that extra something special, setting you apart from others who are filming from their home offices. So don’t be afraid to get out there and experiment with different locations, especially now that you have a great way to find them!

Creating a Professional White Background for Your Videos

Author:

Ever wonder how companies like Apple get that nice, white background on their videos? It looks really professional, so I always assumed that you need an expensively built professional studio to get this look. Not so! Today, I wanted to share this great video from Rapid Video Blogging‘s Gideon Shalwick, who explains how to get that clean white background that looks so great when filming a video.

And yes, he is doing this all in a messy garage!

Having a professional white background helps the view focus on what is most important – you, the subject of the video. It’s great for talking about a product/service or teaching someone how to do something because there are no distractions to take the attention away from you. And if you’re already creating videos, chances are good that you already have most of the supplies you need to make a white background possible.

Hope this video helps you create your next professional video!

Did you know that we had a complete three-day Web TV track at BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2012 that featured tons of great video creation tips? If you missed the event, you can catch up with all of the sessions, as well as sessions about blogging, podcasting, and social media, with our virtual ticket.

YouTube as a Community, Not Just a Platform

Author:

If you’re creating a web series, you’re likely uploading content to YouTube. While this is a great platform to reach new views, if you’re justthinking about YouTube as a platform, you’re doing yourself an injustice. Instead, it pays to think of YouTube as a community. Today at BlogWorld New York, this was one of the topics discussed by moderator Joseph Warshaw and panelists Maria Diokno, Colin Evans, and Donnell Riley at their session, “Social Media for Web Series.”

Growing Your Web Series Through the YouTube Community

Because YouTube is such a large and open community, you can easily connect with others in your niche to grow your own subscriber numbers. The key, according to Joseph, is to network in a smart way, using connections to grow slowly. If you have 2,000 subscribers, start by connecting with people in the YouTube community with 4,000 subscribers – not a million subscribers. As you grow, you an approach people who are more popular, but it makes sense to grow slowly.

Reaching Out to Local People

Don’t forget that even though YouTube is a huge community, you can also make it very “small.” Reach out to local users, because you can easily collaborate with these people. This is beneficial to both of you, since you can easily cross promote on one another’s channels. To go along with this tip, you can also reach out to local aspiring actors, who will often jump at the chance to be a guest on your web series. So, find your local community on YouTube and connect with these people.

This is just a small piece of the tips and tricks these panelists discussed. Want to hear the entire discussion? Pick up a virtual ticket today, and you’ll get recordings of this and all other sessions from BlogWorld New York 2012.

How Will You Use Open Google+ Hangouts?

Author:

Recently, Google opened up Google+ Hangouts so everyone can broadcast on air (previously, this function was only available to a select few). Hangouts are the best Google+ function in my opinion, so I’m excited to see this change. When you’re hanging out, you can also embed to stream on your site, and it will record and post to YouTube automatically. Here’s a video showing what people are doing with Google+ On Air Hangouts:

So the question is…how will you use this new function? Here are just a few ideas for online content creators:

  • Run weekly online course
  • Broadcast a webinar to promote a product
  • Hold a Q&A session with fans
  • Hold weekly meetings for a virtual club or group.
  • Record podcasts live

And of course…you can just hang out with friends and fans online this way, allowing others to join or just watch if they are too shy.

How will you be using Google+ On Air Hangouts? Leave a comment below!

Feeling unsure about being on camera? Check out Perry Lawrence’s Video Podcasting session at BlogWorld New York this June. We also have a complete Web TV track you can check to learn more about making the most of videos online.

Want to Use Pinterest to Drive Traffic to You Blog, Podcast, or Videos? #pinbook

Author:

Over the past few months, BlogWorld has been hard at work creating a brand new eBook with everything you need to know about the hottest subject in social media right now – Pinterest. And now that we’re finished, we want to share that information with you – for free!

The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Your Blog, Podcast, or Videos is available starting today, and it doesn’t cost a cent. Simply click on the link to download your copy right now or, if you’re already subscribed to our newsletter, check your email!

Tell all of your friends – they can download a free copy too! Click here to tweet a message to them using our hashtag, #pinbook. And of course, we also hope you’ll consider pinning the ebook as well so you can share it with all of your Pinterest friends.

This eBook won’t be available forever, so make sure you snag a copy today!

Google and The Borg Have More in Common than You’d Think, At Least on YouTube

Author:

You will join Google+. Resistance is futile. At least, if Google has anything to say about it.

Google is currently testing out a new “like” button for YouTube so users will be forced to join Google+ if they want to give videos a thumbs up rating. If you aren’t logged in, you can still watch videos, but you can’t rate them. Not everyone is seeing this button change yet (for example, I still have the old like button), but more and more people are starting to notice this change.

If you haven’t seen it already, celebrity blogger and Star Trek alum Wil Wheaton recently posted a pretty strongly-worded message to Google on Tumblr after becoming aware of the new button:

Oh, go f*** yourself, Google. This is just as bad as companies forcing me to “like” something on Facebook before I can view whatever it is they want me to “like.”

Just let me thumbs up something, without forcing me to “upgrade” to G+, you d***heads.

He elaborated upon that rant in a longer post on his blog, saying,

By crippling functionality on sites Google owns (like YouTube) and forcing users to “upgrade” to a service that they may not want or need to get that functionality back, Google is making a huge and annoying mistake.

Amen to that. Google+ is not dead, but I’m guessing the company has been disappointed with this network so far. Based on the hype when it initially launched, I think they expected it to take over Facebook and perhaps even Twitter. While Google+ isn’t a failure (yet), it also hasn’t really done those things. Super intelligent, long conversations possible on Google+, but the general public is still sticking with Facebook for now, at least for the most part. Does that mean Google+ can never succeed? No. But at the moment, they’re fighting a losing battle and making poor decisions.

Google is  like a cornered animal. Instead of being smart and coming up with a good get away plan, they’re just peeing all over in fear and charging at your face snarling, both of which are not good options.

The Google+ button on YouTube is an attempt to force people to use their network if they want to continue using a service they love (YouTube). But forcing people on the internet to do anything typically doesn’t work out very well.

Beyond that, Google isn’t seeing the big picture. Will some people break down and join Google+ if it’s necessary for YouTube liks? Maybe. But they aren’t going to use the platform in most cases. They’re just doing it because they have a gun to their back. They’re joining so YouTube is still functional. And those who don’t join Google+? They’re simply going to stop liking videos. That’s bad news for content creators, and what’s bad for the people putting videos online is bad for YouTube in general. Fewer likes = less funding for content creators = fewer videos = less traffic.

Assimilation by force never goes very well. On the other hand, if you create ingenious products and tools with the consumer in mind, people will be begging to join your ranks. Look at Pinterest. Millions upon millions of users have joined over the past few months and not one of them has been forced.

I think Neil Gaiman said it best in his reply to Wil’s post:

I wish Google would leave the Social Network thing to others. When Google does what it does, and does it well, it changes the world. When it rides bandwagons, it’s irritating.

Google has amazing abilities. Why do they have to take over every part of the Internet? Why be a jack of all trades when you already are the master of one?

I sincerely hope that Google rethinks this Google+ YouTube button. They can still put such a button there – just give us a way to like without connecting as well. I think that’s a fair compromise. But even better would be to simply leave the like button as it is currently. I’m on board with changes when they’re good, but this one just plain stinks.

What do you think of the new Google+ button on YouTube? If Google makes this change permanent, will you sign up for/log into Google+ so you can use it? Or will you just avoid rating videos from now on?

Original image (sans text) via thms.nl at Flickr’s Creative Commons.

How to Find Free Images for Your Blog with Flickr

Author:

I highly recommend you include at least one image with every blog post you write, in most cases. Using images has several advantages:

  • Your content can be pinned more easily if you include an image.
  • Derek Halpern taught me a great trick – psychologically, people are more likely to read shorter lines, so adding an image at the beginning of a post helps lead them into your content. (I featured a video from Derek here last week.)
  • Images can break up your content, making it easier to read.
  • Images can illustrate steps in a tutorial or complement reviews.
  • You can even monetize images.

Some blog themes also require images to work well, so while I won’t say that you have to use an image in every blog post, I do think you should have a compelling reason why you aren’t using an image if you choose to go this way.

One of the main challenges with images, however, is that most of us aren’t also photographers. You should NEVER simply do a Google search and save an image you find, as this does not uphold copyright laws. However, there are a few free sources for images online, including one of my favorites – Flickr.

In this video, one of our community members, Brankica from Online Income Star, shows you how to use Flickr to get free images for your blog, and she also shares some great tips about finding and working with photographers on this site:

I highly recommend checking out the rest of Brankica’s channel, which includes more great video tutorials for bloggers.

The Seven Deadly Sins of YouTube

Author:

As a content creator, I’m a YouTube newbie. I’ve made the occasional video here and there, but I’m more of a consumer than a producer in that field. And maybe that’s a good thing for a post about what you should and shouldn’t do on YouTube.

Of course, different viewers are going to like different things, but there are a few general mistakes that I see a lot of YouTube-ers making. Today, I’d like to share with you the seven deadly sins of YouTube – seven mistakes that will prevent me from subscribing to your page, checking out more of your videos or even finishing the video I’m currently watching.

Pride

Pride may be a cardinal sin, but I do think you should take pride in your work! It only becomes a problem when you have an inflated sense of how awesome you are. Confidence is cool. Arrogance is not.

On YouTube, this pride manifests itself when a vlogger takes for granted that people will still know who he/she is. Sorry, but no one is that awesome. Every fan you have was a first-time viewer at some point, and even if your stuff is really cool, they probably aren’t going to Google you to find your blog or other non-YouTube profiles. If you’re lucky, they’ll subscribe, but unless you encourage them to find out more about you with a link in the description, that’s probably as far as it will go. Visitors to sites you own are much more valuable than viewers on YouTube, since you can get them to sign up for your email list, make purchases in your store, and more.

The Bottom Line: Don’t assume people know who you are. Give newbie links to find more information about you.

Envy

Whenever someone has anything resembling success on YouTube, about 500 other people try to replicate this success. It’s not going to work. Unless you’re doing a spoof (which can be quite funny), taking too much inspiration from another vlogger just makes you look like a copycat. Envious of another person’s success? You can have it too! You just need to come up with your own idea.

The Bottom Line: Be original.

Wrath

YouTube is the bottom of the comment barrel. Seriously, I have no idea why, but on that site in particular, people leave the most vile, nasty comments! It’s easy to get sucked in by the trolls. Wrath takes on a whole new meaning when you virtually wrestle with someone calling you racist or homophobic names.

But if you stoop to that level, it reflects on you too, not just the initial immature commenter. I’m not saying to avoid defending yourself, but before you respond to a negative comment, give it a few hours of thought. Often, people will come to your rescue so you don’t have to step in at all! But if they don’t and you feel compelled to reply to a troll, make sure the comment you leave in return is classy.

The same goes for other YouTube videos. If you uploaded a cool video, I might click on your name to see where you’ve left comments on other videos. If you’re acting like a troll elsewhere, I’m not going to support the work you do.

The Bottom Line: Mind your manners in the comment section and avoid feeding the trolls.

Sloth

There are a lot of lazy YouTubers out there. Yes, it takes a little extra time, but YouTube is one of the biggest search engines out there. Take the time to title your video well, write an accurate description with links, and add tags. More importantly, do a little research on how to make a good video. Here are a few places to start:

If you’re not lazy and actually take the time to do your research, your video content will be much better.

The Bottom Line: Everything is better if you take the time to do it right.

Greed

Few things annoy me more on YouTube than those silly little bubble links popping up every two minutes. I know that you want more viewers and subscribers, and I can appreciate how important it is to remind people to check out your channel…but I don’t need this kind of crap interrupting the video I’m trying to watch. I’m less likely to share or subscribe if links keep popping up, because it makes you seem greedy – like you’re only interested in me watching your videos if I’m also going to check out all of your links. Save the linking and subscription messages for the end of the video instead. I just want to sit back and enjoy the content you’ve created before I make decisions about that kind of thing.

The Bottom Line: Let me watch your video before trying to upsell me.

Gluttony

Traditionally, we think of gluttony as eating too much, but this term can be used to describe any kind of excess. In videos, the excess that bothers me the most is length. If you’re creating videos, you need to learn to edit them well.

This definitely doesn’t mean that every video you make needs to be under three minutes long. What it does mean is that you shouldn’t take 12 minutes to say something you could have said in half that time. Nothing will make me click the back button faster than someone rambling. So as you’re creating videos, keep this in mind and cut out anything that isn’t essential to the goal of your video. Shorter is better if you want people to watch to the end.

The Bottom Line: Learn to edit your videos to keep the time as short as possible for your content.

Lust

Lastly, we have everyone’s favorite sin: lust. In videos, I actually think most creators don’t have enough lust! Okay, not that kind of lust. More loosely, lust means passion, and I see a lot of videos where people just don’t really care about what they’re recorded. The reason someone like Jenna Marbles, for example, is so popular is that she is passionate about what she’s talking about. You don’t even have to be covering a controversial subject to show passion for your topic. Even a how-to video on someone boring can be made better by a host who’s clearly excited about the topic. If you don’t care about what you’re doing on camera, why should I?

The Bottom Line: Be passionate about your video topics.

New Stats: 184 Million U.S. Internet Users Watched Online Video Content in October

Author:

comScore released new stats today revealing how many U.S. internet users watched online video content for October 2011. A total of 184 million users watched online videos, which averages about 21.1 hours per viewer. Online video watching reached an all-time high with 42.6 billion videos viewed.

Google sites (mainly YouTube), Facebook and VEVO rounded out the top three ways people watch online videos. In September, Facebook had dropped to the number five spot, but saw 59.8 million viewers for October raising it to the number two spot behind Google sites.

Other notable findings from October 2011 include:

  • 86.2 percent of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
  • The duration of the average online content video was 5.5 minutes, while the average online video ad was 0.4 minutes.
  • Video ads accounted for 14.9 percent of all videos viewed and 1.4 percent of all minutes spent viewing video online.

For those of you who frequently watch videos online, where do you watch them: YouTube, Facebook, VEVO or all of the above?

“Life in a Day” Now Available to Watch on YouTube

Author:

After receiving 4,500 hours of video from 192 countries, YouTube’s Life in a Day project is now available to watch free of charge on YouTube.

On July 24, 2010 (do you remember what you were doing that day?), thousands of people recorded video snippets of their lives to take part in YouTube’s Life in a Day project.

After being shown at Sundance, Berlin, SXSW and Sydney film festivals, “Life in a Day is finally coming home to YouTube—in its entirety, for free” says YouTube.

The film is about 90 minutes long and available with subtitles in 25 languages. It’s received great praise from publications such as The Times of London and The Washington Post who called it “a profound achievement”.

A few things you’ll see include a Korean man traveling the world on his bicycle, a shoe shine boy in Peru, a family dealing with cancer in Chicago and a Japanese man who is a single parent taking care of his son.

I love what the creators say is the purpose and message of this video – CONNECTION. It doesn’t matter where we live, what language we speak or how much we have in our bank account, we all need and want to connect with others. It also goes to show that we are all dealing with the same problems and the same ordeals of life. The same things make us happy. The same things make us sad. This big world we live in is actually quite small when you really stop to think about it.

If you have 90 minutes to spare, or heck – make the time to watch this movie. It’s worth it.

Learn About NMX

NEW TWITTER HASHTAG: #NMX

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives