Here is a five minute video with specific instruction on how to use Veeple.com, an online service that lets you put clickable links into your video.   For background information on this type of service and why you should use it, read this post.

Today's post gives a demonstration of the veeple editor.  The veeple editor is an online video editor designed specifically for the addition of clickable links and other flash overlays.  These flash overlays can be used in one of several ways.  They can give additional information, allow your customers access to a PDF, Power Point or Word file, or link them to your sales page.  (Or whatever web page you wish to link them to.)

The technology behind veeple is definitely the future for online video marketing.  Someday, every video will feature clickable links but right now, it is brand new.  There are so many uses for this technology, it boggles the mind. Essentially, it gives a video producer the power to integrate any website directly into their video, giving even more power to the video publisher.

You can try veeple for free.  If you want to access all of the features, fees start at $49 a month.  If you are serious about online video marketing, you need to check out veeple.

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips

Lorraine Grula

Internet Video Gal

Technorati Tags: Internet Video Gal, Lorraine Grula, make money with online video, online service, veeple, video monetization

There is an exciting new way to monetize your videos. Placing clickable links INSIDE the video itself.  These links can take your video viewers anywhere on the web you want…to your sales page or to your profile page on My Space.  Click-able links inside your video should prove to be a more effective way of advertising than commercials run before a video plays.  They are less obtrusive (obnoxious) than any other form of advertising yet provide detailed information to the viewer if they seek it.

Many companies are starting to offer this new technology.  Some provide a more complete service than others.  Watch the two-minute video above to get a better idea of how this new technology can benefit you. As you watch the video, look for the two "spots" I placed within it.  Tomorrow, I will post another video with detailed instructions on how to use the service offered by Veeple, an industry leader in click-able videos.

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips

Lorraine Grula

Internet Video Gal

Technorati Tags: clickable videos, Internet Video Gal, Lorraine Grula, online video marketing, veeple

Research from the marketing giant Marketing Sherpa confirms that the vast majority of people who have used online video as a business tool are satisfied and will use it again.  Some acknowledged that the results were not as positive as expected, but they felt optimistic that with a few modifications, future online video campaigns would fare better.

Only a tiny percentage, 5%, said they were NOT satisfied with online video marketing. 95% were satisfied to one degree or another.  That's incredible.  Very few things in life are that overwhelmingly positive.

BREAKDOWN OF RESULTS

57% said the were definitely satisfied, 9% fell into the "sort of satisfied" category and 29% said they just were not sure.  They were optimistic, but were having a hard time quantifying the results.  That would indicate there's a lot left to learn, but the basic question of, "Does online video marketing work?" can be answered with a definite YES!

Online video marketing is new and people are still trying to figure out the best ways in which to use it.  Opinions vary and new methods are being devised all the time.

We at video production tips are firm believers in the power of video.  To us, the question has never been, "Does video work?"  Of course it does.  We know video works better than any other medium.  The question is, "How do I make it work for me?"

It is our mission to help you answer that question and devise a online video marketing strategy that will work for you.

Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips

Lorraine Grula

Internet Video Gal

Technorati Tags: Internet Video Gal, Lorraine Grula, Marketing Sherpa, online, online video campaigns, online video marketing strategy

When people go in search of online videos to watch, what qualities are they looking for?

Research published recently by Marketing Sherpa shows that overall, people just want online video to work. You know, they want it to play and keep on playing without interruption.

That doesn't seem to be asking too much.

Online video viewing is often disappointing for people because it does NOT always work as it should.  Video streaming can be slow and the video will sometimes stop playing to allow more time to download.  No doubt this is frustrating but it also the nature of the beast at this point.

Stop-and-start viewing is largely a function of connection speeds and having adequate infrastructure to handle the load. As more people get hooked up to broadband and companies continue to expand, these problems should clear up.

Just like early movie films were silent black and white, online video technology is still in its infancy and not all the kinks are worked out.  Give it more time.

Until then, you can help viewers enjoy your videos by keeping the file size as small as possible.  A small file will load more quickly and have less trouble.

Everyone needs to encourage broadband providers to hurry up and get fiber optic cable installed from sea to shinning sea.   Fiber optic cable can accommodate lots more data and will speed up data movement tremendously.

The Marketing Sherpa survey showed the top three demands online video watchers have are:

1. Quality of picture
2. Speed of download/streaming
3. Lack of interruptions

People want a TV quality picture to download quickly.  That might not seem like asking too much, but high quality pictures make big, fat files.  Big, fat files are slow to download.

The survey also showed that younger people are more demanding than older people.  71% of folks under 26 complained about slow downloads but only 60% of the over 55 group did.   Calm down youngsters!

About half of people said they were longing for the day when they could watch online video on their TV set instead of the computer.  Someday the two will be completely integrated but that will take years.   Only about a third to half of people said they wanted HD online.  HD files are really huge, but new ways are being developed to compress the files more efficiently.

Online video is booming, but it is still just a baby needing to grow.  What a cute and fun baby it is!

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips.

Lorraine Grula

Internet Video Gal

Technorati Tags: broadband, fiber optic, Internet Video Gal, Lorraine Grula, online video technology, online videos, video technology

Honestly, the second can be trickier than the first.

A survey I read recently from Marketing Sherpa rated the methods people used to get viewers and how successful they were.  (That link takes you to a page where they are selling an incredible new book on online video marketing.  It costs $397, so don't freak out.)

The winner?  Paid search.  "Great" results were reported by nearly twice as many people who used paid search than the closest alternative, which was promotion in paid media.  18% reported great or good success with paid search, 63% said results were "mixed," 16% claimed not so great results and 3% said results were down right terrible.

The method that got the lowest satisfaction rate was promoting your video on your own blog.  Only 14% had great or good results and a whooping 37% said not so good or terrible.

So although paid search definitely got better results, promoting video by posting it on your own blog is free, so you would have to decide whether the extra expense is worth the extra results.  14% success is not that far down from 18%.   The biggest difference is definitely in the not-so-good and terrible category.   Only 19% of people who paid for viewers were disappointed, whereas 37% of those who promoted video for free on their personal blog were disappointed.  That's nearly twice as many sad sacks.

All-in-all, the survey results showed that whatever method you used for getting viewers, chances are highest that you will get "mixed" results. As with most things, online videos are not always successful and the majority of them rate a so-so.

Are you surprised to hear me say that?  Well, I am just reporting the facts, ma'am.  Most online video promoters make it sound like if you get any old video uploaded that it will instantly become a sensation.  I am honest enough to tell you that is not true.  That's not to say online video is not worth the trouble, it most certainly is.  You just have to do it right and have realistic expectations, that's all.   Online video marketing is the best opportunity available for promoting your business.  Just don't expect it to work 100% of the time.

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips

Lorraine Grula

Internet Video Gal

Technorati Tags: Internet Video Gal, Lorraine Grula, online video, online video marketing, online videos, paid media, Paid search

Video is the fastest growing segment of the Internet and people are racing to cash in.

But most online video sharing sites are NOT making money. Even You Tube, the undisputed king of online video, loses money.  You Tube reports 10 times the number of video views of any other video sharing site, yet profits are nonexistent.

How can something so popular not be a cash-generating machine?  Well, the reasons are many.  Everything from it costs a bundle to host huge video files to the fact that online video is a tricky thing to monetize.   There is no advertiser on the planet willing to be associated with gross junk like Two Girls and One Cup, even if it has gotten million of views!

So is the promise of making money online with video just a pipe dream?

Hardly.

But it's not a sure thing either.  A lot depends on how you go about it.

Let's examine two of You Tubes biggest stars, people who ARE making good money producing video.

Michael Buckley of What the Buck fame and Lisa Donovan, known online as Lisa Nova.  Both are making six-figure incomes off You Tube.  Both have zillions of views and are part of You Tube's year-long Partner Program that shares advertising revenues with content providers.

Only a paltry 3% of You Tube videos have such advertising though because You Tube is very picky about who can joint the partner program.   Not only do you have to already have zillions of views, but you have to have what You Tube deems appropriate content, whatever that is.

I applied for the You Tube partner program and was turned down because my most viewed video stands at a measly 12,800.   It was my first uploaded video and the subject is video editing.  The first 10 seconds suffers from digital video breakup, but the rest is real good, if I do say so myself!

You Tube told me I should instead pay them to have my videos appear at the top of their rotation for my keywords.  That way I could build a bigger audience and qualify eventually. Pardon my cynicism that perhaps You Tube just want to make money off me because there was certainly no guarantee that they would ever approve me.

Donovan and Buckley both worked very hard to get to the top of You Tube.  Both say it took about a year of heavy promotional work before they got much notice at all.  Newcomers just coming in today will have an even harder time, since the masses of wanna-be stars keep multiplying.

In addition to the partner program, one can make money with online video by using product placement and by finding corporate sponsorships yourself.     Cory Williams, known on You Tube as smpfilms, says about half of his 17 to 20 grand a month comes from self-generated corporate sponsorships.  The remaining half comes from the You Tube Partner program.

Product placement and other in-side-the-video advertising is growing now that the technology of making videos "clickable"  is here. If you upload a video demonstrating the proper golf swing, you can place an affiliate link on top of a shot of your favorite golf club.  If a viewer clicks it, they will be whisked to a website where they can purchase the golf club.

You Tube calls this technology annotations.  Other companies provide the same basic thing, and many are actually ahead of You Tube in terms of implementation and functionality.  The best I have found so far in this department is a website called veeple dot com. You can try veeple for free.

At this point in time, the best and easiest way to actually make MONEY from online video is to use video to promote something else you are already selling.  Advertise your site with video and do product demonstrations on video.  Provide viewers with generalized information via video.  This way, you are not making money off the video itself but rather using video as an integral part of your marketing strategy.

Of course you can also produce an informational video that you sell.  Video makes a great informational product as most people would rather watch a video about how to do something than read a PDF.

Video on the Internet is here to stay.  You can indeed make money with online video and no doubt the opportunities for doing so will only grow from here.  But just like in Hollywood, the number of big stars is dwarfed by the number of people who try, but just don't make it.

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips

Lorraine Grula

Internet Video Gal

Technorati Tags: Cory Williams, golf, in-side-the-video advertising, informational product, Lisa Donovan, Lisa Nova, Michael Buckley, One Cup, online video, shares advertising revenues, technology annotations, technology of making videos, Tube, veeple, video sharing site

Everybody wants to be an actor!

To be, or not to be?

Mostly, I have not been.  I was WAY too insecure in my younger days to risk going on camera.  I mean, somebody might have made fun of my lumpy nose!

Today, I look back on my insecurity and laugh.  At the ripe old age of 50, I would dearly love to look as good now as I did then!  No wrinkles, less blubber!

Vanity cost me money! Once I had made the decision to be a behind-the-scenes worker, there was no turning back.  People who were on-camera made LOTS more money than those of us who were not.  And most of them did not work nearly as hard!  The TV business kind of sucks that way.

Now that I am on the Internet, I do not want silly vanity and insecurity to get in the way of having a successful business.  In order to be successful today, I simply HAVE to appear on camera.  Wrinkles, blubber and all!

One of the things that has helped me do that is my friendship with Thom McFadden.  Thom is a long-time Hollywood character actor.  You can see his demo reel on You Tube here. You've probably seen him in dozens of shows!

Thom has helped lots of big-name stars perfect their skills.  His nickname is "Coach to the Stars" because he has worked with so many.  Now, Thom is helping peons like me!

Thom has started a free online acting class.  You will have free video tutorials sent directly to your inbox.  He also has a great package of books and materials to be sent to your home.   You can sign up here.

Thom is tons of fun and has fantastic advice.  He has helped me be more comfortable and at ease on camera, which is the first step.  I'm not Oscar material, YET!  But hey, I'm having fun and learning a lot.

Here is a You Tube video I made for Thom about his acting classes.  It will give you a preview of what to expect.

If you have ANY DESIRE at all to appear on camera, then you owe it to yourself to get these free online acting lessons.  The best way to communicate with your audience is to be yourself, ON CAMERA.  Thom can help you do that.

Sign up here.

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips!

Lorraine Grula

Internet Video Gal

Technorati Tags: free online acting class, free online acting lessons, Internet Video Gal, Lorraine Grula, ONLINE ACTING CLASSES, Thom McFadden