I bought the JVC Everio, which appeared to offer all the “bells and whistles” I needed, including a “one touch upload to YouTube” option which I assumed meant that the camera exported video in a format supported by YouTube.

Oooops!

It doesn’t.

JVC (and to my understanding, several other brands of camcorders as well) exports finished videos in a proprietary “MOD” format. The problem with this is that this format is not supported by any of the video editing software I own (Camtasia and Windows Movie Maker).

That means in order to do ANYTHING with your video, you must first convert it into a more common file format supported by popular video editing software  (yes, with the Everio you can upload your video directly to YouTube, but you can’t edit it first – and you’ll need to at least add a title screen or two before making your video live).

In order to do this, you’ll need to purchase video converter software. Yeah I know – more stuff to buy.  However, most of the more popular options offer a free trial option so you can try before you buy. I experimented with several, but in the end settled with NCH’s Prism Video Convertor which was the only one I could get to work consistently. You can download a free trial and read customer reviews at Download.com.

So learn from my mistakes; when you’re shopping for a camcorder to make your online marketing videos, ask your sales rep what format exported video is in; my recommendation is for MPEG formats. You’ll save yourself a TON of headaches!

I don’t really remember how I stumbled on this software, but since it deals with video creation and the leveraging of existing content – something I’m very interested in at the moment (as witnessed by the series of video marketing and creation articles on the site) I thought I’d plunk down my credit card and give it the old “test-run.”

Especially since Instant Video Articles claims to be able to “convert your articles into tracking-sucking videos in under 30 seconds.”

In my experience marketing online with video, one of the keys to capitalizing on this medium is being able to create videos quickly and effectively. The net is awash with millions of very entertaining videos. So your creation is going to  go head to head against a ton of competition,  as well as folks with extremely short attention spans and “itchy” mouse fingers.

So there’s really not a lot of point in spending days creating a masterpiece that no one will watch. In my opinion, it’s better to quickly create as many short, pithy videos and target as many different keywords and topics (related to your niche) as you can.

Before I begin… what should be pointed out here is that you’re not creating videos as much as you are creating a slideshow; a series of still images strung along on a timeline. No worries; I’ve created plenty of videos like this and they can be effective (here’s an example of mine that has received 3,500 views on YouTube). It’s just that this software does not offer the ability to import or display actual video footage shot on a camcorder.

How does the software work?

If there’s one thing this product has going for it, it’s ease of use. I’m used to using Camtasia for video creation, and in comparison, this product keeps things simple by offering relatively few options. The entire video-creation process is constrained to 3 simple tabs…

• Slides: For every image in your video, you create a slide. You add your text to slide, customize the font size and color to your needs, and even add a customized table if you like. Once you have enough text on one slide, you create a new one and so on until you’ve completed your article (when you finish your project, the software will string these slides together as images, giving the impression of a video).
• Backgrounds: Here’s where you can customize the look of each slide by selecting a background. This can be a solid color, a gradient, or a custom image (when I inserted an image, it ended up tiling the entire background with it).
• General Options: Here’s where you select the duration of the playback of each slide in your video as well as choosing a soundtrack  (optional).

Creating the video: Putting my series of slides together was easy enough, although I was a little annoyed that the text formatting changes I made on the initial slide weren’t being carried through to new slides, even though the changes were highlighted in the tool. For example, I changed to an Arial font and 4-point size and for every new slide I’d have to re-select these options, even though they appeared to be the current options chosen. There is a way to get around this…

Format your initial slide the way you want, and create duplicate (there’s a single-button option  for this) for all new slides. Cut and paste your new text over the previous material and the font changes are retained! Presto!

As a background, I used a solid color (black) to keep things consistent with my current Camtasia-created slideshow type videos (here’s an example from YouTube).

Selecting the duration of each slide: Using the “General Options” tab, determine how long the software will display each slide before moving on to the next. Here’s where this product’s limitations start to show.

For instance, how do you know how long to display each slide before moving on? In software like Camtasia, you simply play the video within the software, read along with the production and chose the most appropriate setting for each individual slide.

With Instant Video Articles not only can you not playback the video within the software, your choice of article duration time applies to every single slide in the video.

Not so good.

For example, suppose one slide has a lot of text and takes 5-7 seconds to read. And suppose the following slide contains a single sentence that takes 2 seconds to read. You need to select the slide duration that will ensure your viewer has enough time to read the most text-heavy slide you have in your video. That means that for the second short slide, they’ll have to wait 5 seconds until the next transition.

This may not sound like much, but in reality, it’s an eternity. And it will pretty much guarantee your viewer will be on his/her way somewhere else.

Plus, you have to guess on what is the ideal duration for your slides. For me, it also meant I had to go back and alter a number of slides, to ensure all contained the appropriate amount of information to fit my duration selection. Plus, I had to render the video an extra time or two when I discovered my selected slide duration was too long/short.

Adding a soundtrack: Using the “General Options” tab, it’s a simple process to select an appropriate MP3 or .wav file to play as a background for your video (make sure you have the rights to the music, or obtain some royalty free music).

There’s a couple of problems with this part of the process…

• Since there’s no time line, you have to manually determine the length of your video by counting the number of slides you use by the time selected for slide duration. For example, if you’re using 15 slides with a 5-second duration, your video is 75 seconds long.
• There’s very little help in the software, so it’s not evident whether the software will cut off, fade out or eliminate any additional material on your music soundtrack. When I added a 2 minute MP3 to my 55 second video, I ended up with 60 seconds of blank screen showing after the video ended, while the soundtrack continued playing in the background.

This meant I needed to modify the track in my editing software, before re-adding it to the video, hoping it wouldn’t be a hair short or long compared to the video time line. Not a big deal, but it certainly meant that my “traffic-sucking” video was taking a LOT longer than 30 seconds to create.

How did the final product turn out? You decide…

Did you notice the other issues?

That’s correct…

First, the Instant Video Articles software does not insert transitions between slides. When I create slide show videos in software like Camtasia, I use a short transition between each slide, which causes them to flow together much more smoothly. Take a look at the same video done in Camtasia (here with a new soundtrack), and see how the slides fade slowly into one another?…

In contrast, the slides in the Instant Video Articles software simply “appear” which makes the video seem – to me at least – choppy and unprofessional. In my opinion, this software’s end result could be significantly improved by building a simple “fade” transition between slides.

Second, now that I can finally view the video in the Vzaar player, I can see that the text is TOO DARN SMALL, even though it appeared to be “just right” on the slides as I created them. That means I have to go back into the software, increase the font size, adjust the text formatting on the slide accordingly, and re-render the video. Argh!

Alright, here’s the video with the changes made…

A little better, huh?

OK, now that you know what Instant Video Articles does and how it delivers, let’s quickly review the pros and cons…

The “Pros”…

• Extremely easy to use, almost no technical knowledge is required.
• Short learning curve.
• Product is very affordable – only $17!
• Creates a decent quality video relatively quickly.

The “Cons”…

• No video import
• No time line
• No playback within software-you have to complete and render your video to see how it will “view”.
• No control over individual slides
• Limited functionality and flexibility

As you can see, the list of “cons” is pretty extensive. However, one thing you need to keep in mind is Instant Video Articles costs about 1/16 the price of professional video software solutions like Camtasia, so it’s not really a fair comparison. In my opinion, the Instant Video Articles is good value for the money, and, if you can live with its shortcomings, probably worth investigating – especially if you’re on a tight budget (you can learn more about Instant Video Articles here!).

A word to the wise though…

The simple conversion of articles into video format is not going to lead to huge swarms of traffic to your web site. What you’ll end up with is long, boring, unappealing videos that no one will watch to the end. Instead, create short, compelling “teaser” videos that lead naturally to click-through to your site – read how to do it here!

One thing I have not discussed is how to place a video in a custom player on your own web site. The easiest way to post video on your own web site is to publish your video to a service like YouTube, and then place the “embed” code on your own web pages and blog posts where you want the video to appear. Most of the time, this works well-enough for the needs of most net-marketers.

But what if you do not want your video to appear on YouTube?

If your message is directed specifically to site visitors and not relevant to an outside audience, this is a possibility. Or perhaps you do not want to use the YouTube branded player, which will offer additional video options after your video plays (which you can’t control).

I recently found myself in this position; I did not want my video to appear on YouTube as I was speaking directly to a very specific audience. Additionally, I wanted complete control over the player, so visitors wouldn’t be tempted to click off in some other direction.  What to do?

There are ways to stream Flash files directly onto your web pages, of course. I tried this at first. However, after several hair-tearing hours messing with both Camtasia and DreamWeaver, I gave up in frustration and went looking for a hosted 3rd-party solution.

The first one I found was Brightcove. It’s probably the most well-known video hosting service, but it’s not cheap. The “entry-level” service starts off at a mere $500/month. While I have no problem forking over cash if it’s going to leverage my business, I don’t have the videos, require the bandwidth, or get the sheer number of video views to justify spending that amount of money.

Surely there must be something cheaper?

The next service I investigated was Ooyala. It looked promising, but it too starts with a $500/month “basic” package. Ooops… not the right tool for the small business person.

Amazon’s CloudFront service appeared promising, but after 20 minutes of reading through supporting documentation, I remembered why I was investigating a third party service in the first place; to eliminate unnecessary complexity and complication. Sorry, Amazon. Bye-bye.

I finally found what I needed with a service called Vzaar.

In addition to a 30-day free trial period (no credit card required, thank you), they have monthly packages starting at $15 and going all the way up to $750!

Now that’s more like it.

I signed up for the free trial, and upgraded to the “bronze” package ($15/month) after I was able to experiment with the service and determine it suited my needs (I’m not sure how much bandwidth I’ll require, so I’ll upgrade accordingly as necessary).

Update: I’ve since upgraded to the Silver membership.

The service is slick, easy to use, and offers all the custom options I need. For instance, I was able to customize the size and color of my media player to reflect the look and feel of UltimateFatBurner.com. And I was also able to brand the player with my URL – here’s an example…

The Vzaar dashboard is simple and clutter-free, reporting on video plays, bandwidth usage and trend, as well as video activity (I’ve only got one video up with this service right now, so I haven’t included that in the screenshot)…

Although I’ve only been using the service a week or so, I’m extremely pleased so far. It offers me the customization options I need, it’s extremely affordable, and it’s drop-dead easy to use. Now here’s a time-leveraging tool to add to your video-creating library. Sign up for the free trial and see if Vzaar is right for you!

In this post, for instance, I discussed the logistics of how to create videos for your web site.

In this one, I introduced the strategy of converting your popular articles into videos, and finally, in this one, I outlined the process I developed for creating effective videos quickly.

However, one thing I have not discussed is how well my videos have fared at pulling in eyeballs, and more importantly, converting those viewers into visitors to my web sites. Well,  I’ve finally got a bit of data to draw from, so let’s do that now (incidentally, I’m going to report YouTube numbers only. I have submitted to other video sites, but the vast majority of views come from YouTube)…

Video #1: Nutrex Lipo 6 Hardcore Fat Burner Review
Date Submitted to YouTube: November 24, 2009, 10:10 AM
Views to date (Jan 20, 2010): 360

Video #2: Kim Kardashian / Quick Trim Fat Burner Diet Pill
Date Submitted to YouTube: November 22, 2009, 09:02 AM
Views to date (Jan 20, 2010): 1,883

Video #3: hCG For Weight Loss – Does It Really Work?
Date Submitted to YouTube: November 13, 2009, 12:37 PM
Views to date (Jan 20, 2010): 101

Video #4: The 5-7 Day Fat Burner & Diet Pill Free Trial Scam!
Date Submitted to YouTube: March 13, 2008, 10:23 AM
Views to date (Jan 20, 2010): 19,096

Video #5: Jillian Michaels Maximum Strength Fat Burner
Date Submitted to YouTube: December 01, 2009, 08:30 AM
Views to date (Jan 20, 2010): 272

Video #6: UltimateFatBurner.com
Date Submitted to YouTube: November 26, 2009, 11:40 AM
Views to date (Jan 20, 2010): 30

Video #7: The Ab System from Isatori
Date Submitted to YouTube: January 15, 2010, 11:05 AM
Views to date (Jan 20, 2010): 30

One thing that is immediately evident by viewing this data is the vast range in the number of views; we’ve got everything from a few dozen to a couple of thousand views depending on the video. One video has generated almost 20,000 views in just under a two year period.

To put this data into slightly better perspective, consider…

Videos 1, 2, and 5 were all created following the process I outline here, and probably took me around an hour each to create (so roughly 2,500 views in a two-month period for 3 hours of investment. Not too bad).

Videos 5 and 6 were created for placement on UltimateFatBurner.com, and aren’t intended to drive traffic from YouTube and other online video resources. So their performance is not a concern.

Videos 3 and 4 took a LOT longer to create, and as you can see, only one has experienced any significant success.

And how effective are these videos at driving traffic to my site? According to Google’s Analytics, YouTube now ranks in the top 20 “non-search engine” referrers. That sounds more impressive than it is, of course. I figure about 5% of viewers actually click through and visit the site.

So what are the take home lessons here?

1. If you’re going to invest in creating videos, get a system down (or follow mine) so you can create them quickly and efficiently. While the success of your videos will ultimately depend on the popularity of your targeted keywords, and how well your business / niche / theme translates into interest from video surfers, to make this a worthwhile venture, you need to be able to create videos fairly quickly.

2. You need to create LOTS of videos, targeting different keywords within your theme. As you can see from my data, some material fares better, and generates more interest from the YouTube community.

And remember…

Using online video marketing is about more than simply generating traffic…

• It brands your business.
• Some online video sites do not use the “no follow” attribute, so posting your video and accompanying links builds link popularity.
• It builds your credibility in the mind of your visitor / potential customer.
• When used on your web site, it adds a whole new dynamic. My girlfriend Marilyn and I were amazed how using introductory videos on my UltimateFatBurner.com and her Flowers-By-Marilyn.com web sites added a new (and very cool) “vibe”.
• It may add credibility to your site in the “eyes” of the Search Engines. Google, for example, is comfortable featuring video results from YouTube prominently on its results pages. Will a considerable presence in YouTube bode well for such sites that maintain such a presence? Who knows how Google (or any Search Engine for that matter) will manage its ranking algorithyms over the coming years.

Bottom line?

In my opinion, video marketing remains a worthwhile venture (and I don’t exactly have the greatest niche for attracting “eyeballs). There’s a big IF here though; IF you can create videos quickly and efficiently. Check out the process I developed, if you don’t think you can come up with one yourself.

Since my initial post on the subject, I’ve created several other PREselling video commercials. Not surprising, it’s taking less and less time to do so. In addition, I’ve developed a streamlined process and taken steps to address the issue I identified as being the biggest possible detriment to the success of my videos.

Before continuing, have a look (and a listen) at one of my newest videos…

I hope you noticed the soundtrack. If not, turn up your speakers and watch the video again. Because these videos are nothing more than basic slideshows and are not visually compelling, you really need all the help you can get to ensure your viewer makes it to the end of the video without losing interest.  (Yes, this is the main detrimental issue I identified as I watched a few of my previous videos again).

To that end, I’ve made a point to include a compelling soundtrack in this video; a driving hypnotic beat with a touch of suspense. It drives the video along, and makes it easier to watch, don’t you agree? (I’ve appealed to the good nature of several friends to confirm this conclusion .

That said, here’s the process I’m currently using for the development of PREselling video commercials…

1) Pick an appropriate article on your web site to drive PREsold traffic to: You may be tempted to drive traffic to pages that are effective income generators on your web site. This makes sense, but keep in mind that in order to find your video, folks need to be performing related keyword searches at video hosting sites. They are probably not performing searches on Internet Marketing related tools and what not, for example.

2) Write a compelling script: To keep videos to 60 seconds or less, you need 10-12 “slides” (in the above video, I used 10 slides, plus an entry and an exit screen). You want 10-12 pithy lines that piques your viewer’s  interest and creates curiousity in the viewer. Try to keep sentences short, and if possible, tie some of them together, so your visitor is compelled to wait for the next frame. Keep in mind that the more material on the frame, the longer it takes your visitor to read it.

3) Try not to allow your video to creep much past the 60-second mark: Online, viewers want instant gratification. The longer your video is, the less likely a viewer is going to commit to watching it, or should he/she decide to do so, actually make it through the entire presentation.

4) Source some royalty-free music for your video (I use MusicBakery.com): Take your time here; find something that really enhances your video. Check out all sorts of genres of music to find just the right fit. For the last two videos I’ve created, it has taken longer to locate the perfect musical score than it has to create the video.

5) Assemble your video: This can be done with Camtasia or similar software. If you don’t have (or don’t know how to use) video creation software, you can do a pretty darn good job with the online service Animoto (which I review in complete detail here!). This video, for example, was created using their service…

… the only thing I had to do was create the actual slides to be displayed (as JPEGs, using PhotoShop). Even the soundtrack was sourced from Animoto.

When creating the slides for your video, try using different fonts, case,  and colors for impact. Check either video posted on this page if you need an example.

6). Promote your video: To speed up the promotion process, sign up for a free account at TubeMogul.com. It is a service that distributes your videos to the top video sites, and provides detailed analytics on their performance.

Rinse, wash, and repeat.

]]> http://www.no-bs-marketing.com/videos-video-marketing/driving-traffic-online-video-commercials/feed/ 0 http://www.no-bs-marketing.com/videos-video-marketing/quick-easy-video-creation-animoto/ http://www.no-bs-marketing.com/videos-video-marketing/quick-easy-video-creation-animoto/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:33:31 +0000 admin http://www.no-bs-marketing.com/?p=773 Today I’m back to talking about creating videos for your web site – this time using Animoto, an online service that promises to great looking videos quickly and easily.

As you may know, this is something I’ve been looking at fairly intensely over the last few months. In my last post, I showed you the “PRESelling” video commercial I created using the Camtasia software. Today, I am going to take a closer look at a really slick online service that you can use to make professional-looking videos in a matter of minutes.

That service is called Animoto.

If you’re a regular visitor to this site, you might remember I briefly discussed the Animoto video creating service in my “how to create videos for your web site” article and even went so far as to say…

“It’s not something I will use, but what it does, it does very well.”

Well, this is the part where I get to eat my own words. Not only am I going to use Animoto  (in conjunction with Camtasia-created videos), but I’ve already upgraded to a 3-month trial ($99) of the professional version of the service (which removes all the branding and allows a cool “call to action” button to be inserted in your video. If you want to see an example of how I’m using it, you can view an Animoto video on the Home page of UltimateFatBurner.com).

What got me started on Animoto again?

Well, my girlfriend and I spent  a morning shooting and sizing pictures of her custom designed Christmas and winter wreaths for posting on eBay, and I thought…

“Here’s a great opportunity to trial the Animoto service a little more intensively – we’ve got the pictures all ready to go, why not convert them into a video and see how it turns out?”

The first video we created went so well, that I immediately upgraded to the pro version and created this…

All I did was upload some of the photos I’d taken and re-sized, selected an “electronica”  background track, inserted some background information (this is what appears as the description of the video when it is exported to YouTube), pressed a button, and sat back and waited. The video above is what was created. As you can see, it’s pretty slick and professional and requires exactly ZERO technical expertise. Best of all, it took absolutely no time to complete.

Sure, the Animoto service does have some drawbacks. For instance…

• If you want to edit your video, Animoto renders a whole new version of it, which means it won’t necessarily look like the one you created previously. At the same time, every edited file is saved as a completely new version of your video, so you never lose anything.
• You can only export your video directly from Animoto to YouTube and SmugMug. It would be nice if the service supported the top ten video sites. On the other hand, you can download your video and manually upload it to whatever services you like.

For the most part though, Animoto offers a pretty awesome service…

The Pros:

1. Easy one-click professional quality video creation.

2. One-click video sharing with social media sites like FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.

3. One-click posting to YouTube and SmugMug.

4. Upload your own live video (from your camcorder, etc)

5. Includes a large selection royalty-free pictures and many genres of music (also free to use), so you don’t need to source anything of your own if you prefer.

6. Pro version offers the ability to create hi-res versions of your video for burning to DVD.

7. Free trial option allows you to try before you buy.

The Cons:

1. Compared to professional video-creating software, Animoto offers reduced capabilities and flexibility.

2. Only submits finished video to two video hosting sites.

3. “Call to action” button only displays when your video is hosted on your own web site in the Animoto player.

4. When exporting to YouTube, Animoto includes a promotional link back to their own site when displaying your video’s description. You’ll need to login to your YouTube account manually and edit this link so it points at your own site.

5. Every remix is different. There is no way to control the transitions between frames or the appearance of your video; Animoto creates a new and unique version of your video each time you make revisions. Sometimes, you end up with something cooler, sometimes, you don’t. It’s best therefore, to do your best to “try to get it right the first time.”

All in all, I’m very impressed with the Animoto service and will use it (as well as the Camtasia software) in my video creating efforts. My recommendation, therefore, is to sign up for the free service and play around with it for a bit.

If you like what you see, you have two options; upgrade to a $30/year package which allows full length video creation (the free trial limits you to videos 30 seconds in length and under), or opt for the “pro” version. There are two options here; a 3-month $99 option (I went for this), or the full year, $249 option.

Since the branded version looks a bit “amateurish” to me, the “pro” version was my preferred option. If you’re not as picky as me, the $30/year represents fantastic value. Sign up and give it a try!

]]> http://www.no-bs-marketing.com/videos-video-marketing/quick-easy-video-creation-animoto/feed/ 0 http://www.no-bs-marketing.com/videos-video-marketing/easy-video-commercials-drive-traffic/ http://www.no-bs-marketing.com/videos-video-marketing/easy-video-commercials-drive-traffic/#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:05:45 +0000 admin http://www.no-bs-marketing.com/?p=757 Over the last several months I’ve been talking a lot about video, and how I think it has real potential for small businesses trying to eke out a living on the Net. We know people love videos – heck, eMarketer is reporting 144 million online video viewers in the U.S. ALONE this year. And even better, Google really seems to like them, featuring them prominently in their search results.

One of the issues I’ve been wrestling with is figuring out how to use video efficiently; the videos I’ve created to date (see the “5-7 Day Free Scam” video and the “hCG” video) have been fairly time intensive. Since I wear “many hats” over at UltimateFatBurner.com, I can’t devote huge blocks of time to creating long and fairly complex videos.

I think I’ve come up with a solution. I decided to create a short “commercial” (30-90 seconds) that PREsells material on UltimateFatBurner.com, and teases the visitor into clicking over to the web site. I am using TubeMogul to syndicate and track the effectiveness of each video, so I can measure the potency of this strategy.

Well, here’s my first attempt…

… as you can see, it PREsells the review of Quick Trim’s Extreme Fat Burner. The video itself is about 60 seconds long, and it took about an hour to put together (with the bulk of that time put towards finding the right backing music).

If this works (and it will take sometime and the creation of numerous other videos to determine if it does), then quite possibly, this may be one way to leverage video efficiently to grow your business. One other way, of course, is by recoding live video, which is something I’ll investigate next…

It doesn’t really address some of the really cool ways you can use video to leverage your web site, and its existing content. Since this discussion of video is near and dear to my own heart (I’m eager to find the best – and most efficient – ways to use it on my own site – UltimateFatBurner.com and Real-Customer-Comments.com), I’d like to share with you some of the more exciting avenues I’ve investigated, or am currently investigating.

When I decided I had to tap into the online video craze in late 2008, the first thing I did was to go looking for a “how to” manual; I figured there had to be a smart marketer out there who was already capitalizing on video, and who had documented the entire video-creating process in a manual (frankly, I’m the sort of person who figures if someone has already done it and perfected the process, why waste time doing the same thing yourself? It’s cheaper and more efficient to buy the manual than to learn new software and develop a system on your own).

After some major digging, I finally found both the manual and the marketer. The manual was called “Unleash An Avalanche Of Targeted Pre-Sold Traffic By Recycling Your Articles On You Tube” and it was written by Kevin Riley, an American Internet marketer who makes his home in Japan.

The concept of the manual is pretty self explanatory from the title; take existing material already in place on your web site, convert it into video format, “position it” (with the appropriate keywords and so on), upload it to the big video web sites, and divert “pre-sold” traffic directly back to your web site.

It sounded like a pretty darn good idea, so I thought I would give it a try.

After a little reflection, I decided I had the perfect article for the experiment, “The 7 Day Fat Burner Free Trial Scam & Why You Must Avoid It!” Since this article covers deceptive billing tactics, it would be perfect material to use to further establish the credibility of UltimateFatBurner.com and drive new visitors to the site.

So I bought the manual, and, following the step-by-step process documented therein, created my first video (which has received just under 18,000 views in a year)…

Needless to say, I learned a few things.

Converting a 400 or so word article into a video takes a lot more time than you think. Or at least, I thought. For instance…

• Your article does need to be re-worked somewhat, since you are now “talking” to the viewer. I found my article needed to be modified somewhat to make it seem more conversational and more like a video. I did not want it to seem like I was simply reading an article. I wanted to communicate directly with my viewer.
• When read in a relaxed and conversational tone, my article – complete with additions -  ballooned into almost 7 minutes of audio. If you view my video, you’ll see that still photos accompany the spoken narrative. To keep the viewer entertained, those photos must change every few seconds. That’s a LOT of pictures that need to be sourced, sized, and inserted into your video.

In other words…

Even when you factor in that this was my first video, and accord significantly more time to the creation process than would be necessary in subsequent productions, it still turned out to be a major undertaking. If I am really going to be able to leverage the power of video, I’m going to have to be able to use it more efficiently, and create videos much more quickly. After all, I still have to remain focused on the regular day-to-day elements of running an online business; creating new content and so on.

Accordingly, I’m now working on a new video based on my review of the “hCG Protocol” over on UltimateFatBurner.com. This time, instead of sourcing still photos for the video, I’m displaying the text on the screen, so the viewer can read along with the narrative, which will provide an overview of the presented text.

The text will change with the narrative, so there will be plenty of visual stimulation. So far, it has taken much, much less time to put this video together, although it’s tough to tell how well it will be received just yet. I’m hoping to have it finished this week, and will post a link here as soon as I do. That way, you can check it out and share your comments with me.

I really love the “converting articles to videos” concept, but really need a way to do it faster. This may work. We’ll see.

Despite my reservations, I can’t fault Kevin’s manual; I honestly couldn’t have put this video together without it. He really does show you how to orchestrate the entire video creating process – from “story boarding your video”, to sourcing images and audio, to the actual step-by-step process of putting it all together with the Camtasia software. If this – converting articles into videos – is something that interests you, I have no reservations about recommending his publications.

Not anymore. High speed access is now so commonplace, that  video is taking the Internet by storm. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Our love affair with television suggests it. The YouTube phenomenon proves it…

Many people prefer to watch than to read.

Of course, given the nature of the ‘Net, and the way Search Engines process information, text-based material will always be important (that’s not to say you won’t see YouTube videos showing in top 10 keyword searches; frankly, I’ve seen more and more lately).

But how do you leverage video effectively? How do you add it effectively  into your current content mix? And most effectively, how do you actually create videos – especially if you’re not technically  minded and you don’t even have a video camera? (It’s the latter question that I intend to focus on in this article).

These are all questions I’ve been asking myself lately, as I determine how to best create and use video on UltimateFatBurner.com. And while I own a video camera now (although I haven’t yet taken it out of the box), I did not when I tackled my first video.

When it comes to video, you have two options…

1) Use a video camera to record your message, optimize it for the web, and upload it to your web site, and other popular video hosting services like YouTube, Yahoo! Video, Google Video, Vimeo, etc. (If you don’t have a camera there are hundreds of options. Try to select a camera that offers a “one touch upload to YouTube” feature. This will make your life a lot easier – I bought a JVC with this option).

2) Use a series of still photos with an audio track, and combine them together using software (like Camtasia or Windows Movie Maker) into video format. This is the format I used when I made my first video which you can view here. Although it’s a little more work than simply recording yourself in front of a camera, I think it’s probably the best option for a newbie video-creator.

Why?

Well, your background images will provide constantly changing visual stimulation, which can have a lot to do with visitors actually sticking around to watch your video. Speaking in front of a camera may be easier from a technical point of view, but there’s a real knack to communicating effectively via camera, and keeping your visitor glued to the screen. I was pretty sure this wasn’t the way I wanted to go… at least initially.

If you decide to go this route, you’ll need a few things…

1) A microphone: For my first project, I used a cheap mic I purchased at Staples, but I wasn’t really pleased with the sound quality, so I upgraded to a Samson Recording/Podcasting pack.

2) Audio software: I use the free Audacity software, which seems to work well enough for my needs.

3) Software: I managed to snag a copy of Camtasia 3 from  Techsmith – they were offering V3 of the software available for free, with a significant discount to upgrade to the newest version. Alas, this offer no longer seems to be valid, but you can still download a 30-day free trial of the software if you like. As previously mentioned, Windows MovieMaker is also an option; if you’re running Windows, it’s likely already on your computer.

If the idea of purchasing or having to learn the intricacies of a new piece of software is unappealing to you, there are low-tech options. Ganesh and the guys over at Article Video Robot have a option that allows you to convert articles (or any text based information you like) into videos – really, really, easily.

This service has been marketed fairly aggressively lately, so I signed up for the free trial to give it a “go.” I’ll have to say that although I think the service is pretty decent and the customer support is superb (I sent tech support an e-mail and received a response in an hour) I wasn’t able to create the sort of video I had in mind.

Since I already have the necessary software and tools, and have mastered the most intense part of the software learning curve, I’m going to stay the course with Camtasia.  Nonetheless, it costs nothing to sign up for the free trial of the Article Video Robot – go ahead and do so and make your own judgment call (one suggestion; record your own voice over and do not use the computer voices provided by the service… you’ll see what I mean).

Of course, the biggest issue I had when I began my first video project was finding a complete “A-B-C, here’s how to create your own video” tutorial in a step by step format . I have WAY too much to do (and no inclination) to spend ages trying to learn the complexities of a new piece of software. It’s always easier and more cost effective if you can find a tutorial-type document that will walk you through the entire process.

After some digging, I finally found exactly what I needed in Kevin Riley’s Video Creation products (which documents the video creation process using the Camtasia software).

I’ve purchased about 3 of them in total (my first video was created following the process outlined in his books) and I would recommend any of them to anyone looking for a step-by-step, easy to understand documented means to create your first video.

So here’s the process I’d suggest if you would like to try the hands-on video creation process.

1) Download the free trial of Camtasia (I’ll explain why in a minute).

2) Download the free Audacity audio software.

3) Buy a cheap microphone from your local office supply store (Office Place, Staples, etc).

4) Purchase one of Kevin Riley’s video creation products. Kevin uses the Camtasia software in his video creation demonstrations, which is why I suggested you download the software. Use the free trial to create a video or two, and then, once you’re familiar with the process, switch to the free Windows Movie Maker (most video / movie creating software is similar, so you should be able to make the jump from applications fairly seamlessly). Or, you can purchase the full version of Camtasia, if you like.

Whatever you decide, I highly recommend you make an investment into a product that will show you how to create your video properly. There’s a lot more to creating a great video than the technical aspect. Your video will need to be story-boarded, optimized, and properly distributed. Kevin’s products show you how to do all this and more – I’ve actually found them much more helpful than the several books I’ve bought from Amazon on the subject.

I’ll be talking more about leveraging video effectively in the near future.

Good luck!