A couple of weeks ago, we discussed how to use video to increase sales. What it really came down to was a mix of showing consumers the product in action and creating a multi media user experience. There are also considerable SEO advantages to producing online video.

If those rationales haven’t convince you to make video part of your online marketing strategy yet, then consider these five reasons from Jim Kukral that appeared in the first issue (pg. 35) of Feefront Magazine:

  1. Get over yourself. You look how you look. The rest of the world sees you as you are, and you look no different on camera. Quit worrying about how you look and start filming yourself. Nobody is going to criticize you.
  2. Smile. Nobody wants to see a grumpy person on camera. Be pleasant and
    inviting. Make your viewers feel welcome.
  3. Solve problems. People want to watch videos that can help them. Consider making “how to” videos where you show people how to do things you might be an expert at.
  4. Don’t sweat the equipment. Anyone can make high-quality videos with inexpensive video cameras and lights.
  5. Just do it! The ONLY way to get started is to just do it. Your first videos will not be perfect, but remember, nobody is doing perfect videos right now.
  6. Remember too, your competitors are either going to beat you to it, or envy you a year from now. It’s your choice.

Now, I find #1 to be a really sobering and pragmatic take on being camera shy. But the point that really resonates with me is #4. Too many people use the equipment excuse to stay out of online video production.

The thing is that the hardware and software you need to video blog is very much consumer grade stuff. Just consider what Loren Feldman, one of the most successful video bloggers to date, once said about equipment:

99% of what I do is shot with the built in camera in a Mac. The other 1% is shot with bulls**t, consumer grade, you know, cameras — Casios. It doesn’t matter what cameras, it doesn’t matter what computer, […] because the truth of the matter is that it’s not the equipment, it’s the athlete.

You know what I’m saying? That’s the problem with all these tech guys: they have all this equipment, and they think that they can tell a story.

Editing is a f**king art. Acting is a f**king art. Shooting is a f**king art. Um, and quite frankly, none of you guys have it unless you went to f**king film school, or acting school, or any of that stuff. It’s obvious.

I mean, look at Scoble: he’s got all this HD stuff, and blah, blah, blah… He can’t frame, he can’t do f**king anything, and it’s like that with most of you guys: you just don’t have talent. And it’s not going to matter what film you use, you understand what I’m saying? It doesn’t matter what camera. That’s it. [,,,] I’m sorry, that’s just the way it is.

In fact, it’s precisely the availability of such technology that makes Jim’s #6 point so pertinent. After all, online video face considerable resolution constraints as it is, so you mind as well grab whatever camera you have lying around the office, play around with it a bit, and start producing online video as soon as you’ve figured out how to edit your product with whatever consumer grade software that comes bundled with your computer.

P.S. Ignore this link for now: Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Continued here:
Why Video is Integral to Online Marketing

Share/Save/Bookmark

You Should Also Check Out This Post:

More Active Posts: