Getting your video productions out to a wide variety of web sites increases your exposure and can help to drive traffic to your web site and advertising revenue.
TubeMogul will take your video and allow you to submit it to 15 different video sites with a few clicks, including the appropriate title, description and keywords.
You need to visit each site at least once to set up your account and profile, but then you enter that login information to TubeMogul and it can submit new videos directly from its interface. As an added bonus, the site also allows you to track all your videos, on all the services in once central location.
I have been talking for a while about how podcasting can help to promote sales of books and it seems some authors are starting to get on the podcast bus.
I love The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper, but I found I was rarely around a radio when it aired. As podcasting started, I found myself wishing that more shows would podcast after air, simply so I could enjoy them. Well, The Splendid Table crew started to podcast a few months ago and I am an avid listener. I have to imagine that their listenership jumped dramatically once folks could listen on their own terms.
Now, Kasper and producer, Sally Swift have created a book entitled The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper. (Available April 8, 2008) More importantly for this blog, they have also started a podcast to accompany the book. The first episode is casual and comfortable and discusses topics expanded on in the book.What a great way to expand their exposure, starting first with their loyal listeners of the radio show, and then branching out to a whole new audience via podcast.
What a great way to take one audience and bring it over to an entirely new product. Every author should be doing this regardless of whether they are writing a cookbook, novel, short stories, essays, whatever. Of course, writers often tell me “oh, my readers aren’t interested in what I have to say outside my books.”…and they’re wrong. People love insight and insiders knowledge. They would love to hear how you came up with the idea for the book, the basis of the characters, and your trials and tribulations while writing it. Writers shouldn’t sell themselves short. There are people interested in them and their work, even they only reached out and engaged them.
If you are creating anything, you should seriously consider creating a companion podcast. If you could have your own personal television of radio station, dedicated to your products — why wouldn’t you? This is exactly what you have in podcasting.
As the economy started its recent downward slide, the overall mood of the country (and the Internet) has turned dark, too. This is only to be expected, of course, but it can bring about an even more insidious problem. It can cause your most important lessons and messages to be buried beneath the weight of negativity. In most cases, you might not recognize this is occurring, but your audience most certainly will.
The danger of continued negativity was brought home this week when I noticed that two of my favorite tech info sources seemed to be falling into a deep hole. Their blog posts and Twitter messages took on a darker and cynical tone. Nothing, it seemed, pleased them. Sure, there was an occasional gem buried among the doom and gloom, but it was becoming difficult to find the insight among the complaining. Even worse, I was wondering if it was even worth the trouble of looking for them.
…when you are addressing an issue, you must try to provide some possible solutions. Otherwise you’re simply complaining.
Let me be clear. I don’t recommend putting on a Pollyanna face and pretending all is sunshine and lollipops. Facing issues is the only way to solve them. Rather, when you are addressing an issue, you must try to provide some possible solutions. Otherwise you’re simply complaining. Further, these solutions should be a the forefront of your writing, posting or Twittering. Dwelling on an issue and then throwing out a possible solution at the end has little effect, even if your solution is top notch. It can’t counter the overwhelming bad feeling you have established.
On a related note, it is important to monitor the tone of your micro-blogging, using services like Twitter and Pownce. When quickly dashing off message after message, you can miss the overall town you are giving to your readers and followers. It is very easy to develop a reputation for cynicism, or downright meanness, as people start to see your messages as part of a whole. You might only think of them as small, individual message, but anyone reviewing a page of your posts sees the overall tone. If you want to gain a better understanding of how your are presenting yourself, you need to look back over your archived messages and view them as someone who had never heard from you before. What would they think of the person, and the message, related in those posts?
Problems, errors and omissions need to be addressed, but if you aren’t providing solutions…if your messages aren’t providing hope above scorn…you are likely to be branded as a simple curmudgeon. This damages you, your message and limits the impact we so all desire.
Ever wanted to make an interesting Twitter background? Here’s how I did it.
Side note: This post comes to you straight from an email reply to fellow long-time podcaster Michael Geoghegan in regards to my Twitter background.
Also of note, this layout works best on higher res monitor settings. I imagine that most active Twitter users that are going to be viewing the site as opposed to sms or mobile versions are on high res settings. That said, let’s roll.
I am involved a wide variety of new media projects these days, both large and small, but one important point is quickly being “brought home” to me. In traditional media, projects that required millions of dollars, but held promise to earn even more, could take months, year or even decades to come to fruition. In most cases, this wasn’t a problem, as the potential earnings were so great and the financial stability of the players so well established. If a producer or director had made $10 million on their last movie, they could go a considerable time before directing the next, without adversely effecting their lifestyle.
In new media, though, we are under no allusions of big, lump sum, payoffs or multi-million dollar budgets. Instead, the powers that new media producers wield is action and speed. Even with limited sums of money, new media producers can launch a product and begin bringing in income via advertising, sponsorship or premium content almost immediately. They can, if only they will act.
Even with limited sums of money, new media producers can launch a product and begin bringing in income via advertising, sponsorship or premium content almost immediately. They can, if only they will act.
With many of my contacts coming from the traditional media world, there is an almost overwhelming “big budget” mentality. Most don’t want to move forward until all the financing, content and personalities are lined up. They can’t imagine budgets in the thousands, after working with millions, even though the costs of producing new media are dramatically lower.
Unfortunately, this often prevents the project from ever moving forward. The principals talk and talk and talk and produce nothing. It is a dark trap left for those traditional media producers when they enter the new media world. While some rules are the same, many of the basic beliefs are different. Unless they can reach beyond the “truths” of the traditional media industry, there is a danger that they may never enter the new media industry.
When I am working with people, I consul them to take some immediate, direct, physical action on the project — film an interview, design a logo, set up web hosting or blog, record a sample 5 minute podcast, even if the final project calls for a full hour. Do something! Regardless of what the final project might look like, these direct, active steps help to make the project real and provide substantial momentum. Otherwise, projects can get bogged down in their own inertia.
The truth is, at the beginning, new media projects often require nothing more than time and action. While a potter might study book after book on pottery, it is only when they hands to clay that something special begins to happen. If you are serious about producing new media, you need to sit down and create. Otherwise, you might simply talk forever.
I was out preaching the new media gospel today to some clients and I got talking about this concept – the New Media Multiplier.
In a pinball game, you can increase your score dramatically by hitting various multipliers on the playing field – 2x, 3x, 5x. Each hit and each bonus gained is worth more and more. New Media is like that for your work and life. New Media can easily multiply the effect you have on the world, if you cultivate it just a little bit.
How does this work? First, you need to start capturing all the content that you are already creating – every day – whether you realize it or not. Giving a talk to the Boy Scouts? – record it. Working up an excellent presentation at work? – record it. Have a good (or bad) experience at a shop, a restaurant, a park? — record it. Have neat friends with cool ideas? — interview them and record it. Get the picture?
“First, you need to start capturing all the content that you are already creating – every day – whether you realize it or not.”
Some people will complain, of course, that this is a lot of extra work. Why? If you are already talking to the Boy Scouts, and you are going to do it anyway, how much more work is it to record it? If you are going to got the restaurant, how much more work is it to make a little videoblog? If you already have cool friends, how difficult is it to get them on tape (or memory chip)? The fact is, with very little effort you can apply a multiplier to everything you are already doing. Each one of these scenarios produces content for a blog, videoblog, web site, podcast, whatever. Too many people think that producing new media requires too much work, but really it is simply about capturing, and using, the content you are creating every single day. Suddenly, everything you do is being used 2, 3 4 different way, reaching 4 different audiences and raising your profile around the world.
How do you think I create all the content for WelchWrite.com? If I had to go out and dream up all this stuff, I would be buried. It would take more time than a typical 40 hour job. Instead, I have integrated new media into my life and continually mine my life for things to share on the web. I was going to bake cookies for my big Christmas Party anyway. Why not record a quick videoblog each day to share with friends, family and the Internet as a whole? I was going to go to a park anyway. Why not record a quick Places LA segment to share with others. I was thinking about the New Media Multiplier and how it effects my own life. Why wouldn’t I type up my thoughts and share them here for you and others to read?
Instead of having an experience and then letting it disappear, why not share it with others. Why not multiply the effect of your experiences 2, 10 or 100 times over. This is the “Year of Visibility” and you need to show people the interesting things you are engaged in. You need to share your life so people can get to know you better – both personally and professionally. Using the New Media Multiplier is one great way of doing just that.
What content could you be capturing today? What thoughts could you be sharing? What great ideas go you be developing with the help of others? The truth is, all of us have some amazing ideas, if only we let people know they exist.
I have been playing around with a new, free service called Utterz.com and I quickly realized that it can be used to create an instant podcast by anyone who wants to try a podcast without jumping through a lot of hoops. Here’s what to do:
Create an account at Utterz.com and follow the instructions to connect it to your cell phone or landline
Call in and make your first post
After you make you first post you can upload text, video or pictures from your phone or the web site to annotate your post
People can subscribe to your Utterz, either though the web site or using iTunes by subscribing to the RSS feed listed at the top of your MyUtterz page
What could be simpler than that?
Of course, if you already have a web site, or accounts on social networking sites, like Facebook, you can have Utterz post your Utterz automatically, so all your friends can find them wherever it is convenient for them.
If you have ever wanted to try out podcasting, for free, take a look at Utterz and have fun!
Problogger points to this web site which allows you to gain some more stats from your Feedburner feed data. Averages, monthly trends and more. Don’t ask questions you don’t want to really know the answer to, though. You may not want to see that negative trend in your data. Use at your own risk! (SMILE)
Blog Perfume has put together an interesting blog tool that is designed to analyze the data that Feedburner provides publishers and to put it into a more useful (and pretty) format.
How many videos and short movies are ruined every day from bad audio? People will forgive mediocre video. If it is slightly out of focus, handheld, dim lit or whatever. But they will hit the stop button, change the channel, or grit through their teeth with bad audio. How important is it?
I had the opportunity to attend 2 unconferences over the last month, participate in many sessions and meet a lot of great people. That said, I also began to notice an interesting trend in the podcasting world…one that also effects the world at large.
In many sessions and personal discussions, podcasting experts and their philosophies were discussed to a large degree. Everyone was looking for an edge to help monetize their podcasts and turn them into money-making operations.
Many discussion were along the line of, “This person says do this. This person says do that.” That, in itself, was not worrying. There will always be “experts” in any given field trying to either help those around them or position themselves as experts in the field. What began to worry me was when others would say, “Person A says you need to do this…and they have a service/book/product that will help you do exactly that.”
These statements immediately brought thoughts of conflict of interest to mind. As much as you might believe what someone has to say, the moment they begin selling services based around those ideas the potential for conflict of interest increases dramatically. Are they creating and recommending their services because they truly believe in them, or are they only doing it because of its earning potential? How do you know? What questions do you need to ask? Should you just assume that there is no conflict of interest?
While I am not aware of anyone crossing the conflict of interest divide in any egregious manner, the possibilities are enough to prod me to write this warning to consumers of any books/products/services touted by their creators. Be very careful buying your advice and your services from the same person, whether you are talking about podcasting or any other area. Carefully watch the intentions of those selling the services and be aware that conflict of interest can and does arise on a regular basis. Do not commit too deeply to a particular product or philosophy without deep investigation and thought. Otherwise, you might just find yourself a willing source of income for someone who is more interested in their bottom line than they are in helping you.
While I can certainly understand why experts want to create services around their expertise, it can be a slippery slope. I have my own example from my own life as a computer consultant. Early in my career I made the decision to not sell computers to my clients, unlike many other consultants who often customer built PCs for their clients. While I had a variety of reasons for this, one important factor was the perceived conflict of interest in being the person telling them what to buy and the person selling the product. I felt there would always be a question in my client’s mind whether I was recommending a new computer because they needed one, or only because I wanted to sell one. In my case, I decided to step back from that perceived conflict of interest, even though it might have added substantially to my bottom line.
Podcasting experts will have to make their own decisions regarding the perception of conflict of interest as I have, but it is also up to the consumers of these services to understand the potential problems that can arise when advice and services are purchased in the same place.
Last Sunday, I was part of an event that provides an almost perfect case study on how organizations can capture content and then use it to promote their organization throughout the year.
The UCLA Extension Writers’ Program held their annual Writers’ Faire that gives potential students a sneak peak into the classes the program offers. This year’s event included 24 individual panel discussions in 6 rooms over 4 hours. Each panel discussion lasted about 40 minutes.
Imagine, now, that you were able to capture all of these sessions on audio or video. In my own personal case, I recorded to both my iRiver MP3 player and my iPod 5.5G using a Belkin TuneTalk Microphone attachment. It took nothing more than setting it on the table in front of us and pressing the record button. There are many other, easy choices for recording though, including DAT tape, memory card recorders or even a laptop with a microphone and free recording software.
Once you gathered these sessions, you can quickly edit them into finished podcasts, ready for distribution from your web site or through your blog’s RSS feed. This doesn’t require any special skills that can’t be gathered in about an hour’s worth of training. You trim the head and tail of the audio you recorded, removing any extraneous information. Then you add a nice intro explaining where these recordings came from and giving the link to your web site. Then you export them as MP3 files.
Now, after only about 3 hours of work, you have 24 individual podcasts – enough for a regularly scheduled, twice-monthly podcast for an entire year! Remember, this is from content you would have created anyway. The only difference is this time, you captured it. Add a few interviews or speakers recorded during the rest of the year and you could easily have a weekly show – all designed to educate your students, customers or donors and convince them to use your services – using content you have already created.
The influence of these shows grows and grows, too. Not only can you release them on your own site, but those involved can also link from their own personal web sites, spreading your message further and further. If you captured video, you can also place your shows on the various video sharing sites, like YouTube and on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.
I hope that this small case study has given you the impetus to insure that you capture every bit of content you are creating today. Most companies simply throw content away, letting it disappear into the past, despite the face that hundreds, thousands and even tens of thousands of people would love to see or hear it.
Do you want to learn more about how your company or organization can capture content and put it to use promoting your services or products? Write me at cip@welchwrite.com, comment on this blog post, or call the listener line at 818-804-5049
As I have said in the past, everyone has something to say, and nearly every company has a reason to be podcasting and engaging in other new media. Whether large or small, every business is looking for new business, more business, better business. Even more important, you want to find great clients and customers who understand what you do and why they need it. In many cases, a podcast can do exactly that. A regular podcast can help you to build your best clients by offering a little education to everyone.
When I was in Columbia, Missouri this summer, I met some great people who run a local PR company. They serve a large area of north central Missouri, in the rural lands between Kansas City and St. Louis. As with any business outside of a major metro area, they find they often have to spend a lot of time educating potential clients in order to show them the benefits of advertising and how it is done.
As we talked about ways of using new media in their business, we also discovered it could be used to build their business. Based on their extensive knowledge and work experience, I recommended that they start a regularly scheduled podcast that teaches small business owners how to work with a PR agency.
From my personal experience, most small business owners rely on the tried and true methods of yellow pages and newspaper advertising, simply re-running their advertisements week after week. They could use all benefit from the many new advertising methods and strategies that exist today – if they only knew about them.
Creating a podcast to teach the public about your business specialty not only bulds good will but gives dramatic proof of your expertise. It also teaches potential clients how you work. You are growing your own clients from those that might otherwise might not know about your services, or be too intimidated to call you directly. You might even find your company expanding beyond its traditional geographic boundaries, as people all over the world start to hear your message.
So, if you haven’t yet seen how podcasting and other new media might fit into your business plans, consider starting your own podcast to spread your knowledge, build your prestige and create the customers you always wanted.
This post echoes a lot of what I have been telling my own friends and clients over the last several months. Chris also breaks down 2 case studies for specific situations (Independent Musician and Software Company) in the article, giving you a framework to put his thoughts into action.
Yesterday, I gave you my social media toolkit (and if you’re extra clever, click that link to read the comments section, because folks made some great additions to the primary post). Jeff Pulver asked you about about social media strategies. Here are a few ways to put this together and consider a strategy around your use of social media and networks. (Note: there are TONS of ways to consider there, so these are just examples).
Lately I have been talking to many non-profit charities about how they might use podcasting, new media and social networking to boost the impact of promotions and community outreach and, eventually, fundraising. Many of these organizations have an annual event that is the cornerstone of their fundraising efforts. Since it only occurs once per year, they are very concerned with it being as large a success as possible, as so much depends on them.
As I was thinking about these projects, it struck me that rather than holding an annual event, why not make the live, face-to-face event merely one part of a year-round series of promotions. Imagine the response to the live event if you have spent the entire year promoting it, instead of just the 2 months or so prior. Why not keep your event in their sight throughout the year using photos, audio, video, webcasts and other technology?
Of course, how do you move from your traditional “annual” mindset to this new “throughout the year” mentality? It isn’t as hard as you think.
Your biggest asset in promoting next year’s event has always been the media captured at this year’s event. Did you take tons of photos? How about video? Did you interview someone? Too often, if this media is captured at all, it is not leveraged in the promotion of the event next year. Sure, you might use some photos on your web site or in a newsletter or other mailing, but most of it goes unused. Even worse, most organizations are not even thinking of capturing this information during the event, so all of this great, useful content is simply lost.
If you want to make your next event even greater than it already is, here are a few guidelines to help you use new media to enhance the effect of everything you do.
Promotion of next year’s event starts the day after the current event
The best time to plan for the future is when everything is fresh in your mind. How could you have used new media this year? What content were you able to capture? What can you do tomorrow, next week, next month to keep the energy rolling and the word spreading?
Launch a daily blog and weekly show to highlight the successes of this year’s event and help draw interest in the next
Your weblog is a focal point for all your event-related communications. It needs to be updated regularly with new content. The great thing is, it can also be used to release videos, in podcast or YouTube format, and any other media used elsewhere. Event photos, interviews, attendees comments can all be repurposed for the blog and help to keep the conversation going.
Start using any content you collected to create regular shows and gather subscribers to share your message throughout the year. If you didn’t collect enough content this year, try to contact some of the speakers or guests and interview them now. Create video slide shows of still photos, if that is all you have. Do everything you can to continue the energy and good feelings created by the live event.
Plan to collect more media content during the next event
Start planning now for photographers, videographers, audio recording engineers and bloggers to capture all the happenings of the next event. Make sure these roles get prominent attention when asking for volunteers. In some cases, you might even be able to attract a donor to be the official sponsor of the event podcast, live web stream or more.
Today there are a host of services that will allow you stream your event, live, on the Internet, so that those who cannot attend in person can still get some of the feeling and benefit of your speakers and events. Of course, these live events are then recorded and added to the collection of media you are gathering. Above all, make plans today for any live events, interviews or other media that might accompany your event. Don’t let it go to waste.
Use social media (Facebook, MySpace, discussion groups, etc) to engage in a conversation with your donors, year round
It is time for all organizations to reach out to the next generation of donors. This generation simply doesn’t respond to traditional mailers, newsletters and pledge drives. You need to meet them where they live and this means engaging in the new social media sites based on the Internet.
Dedicate someone to this new method of engagement with your donors. You won’t be disappointed. Sharing your content through your blog, podcast and other methods is sure to generate conversation and you need to be present on social media sites to take advantage of this conversation. This new generation of donors wants to feel more involved in the charities and projects. They want more frequent information. They want to engage with other donors. They want open discussion on new methods and opportunities. Social media sites, along with your input, provides that.
You can include your events in online event listings (See Upcoming.org), create groups on services (See Facebook.com) to highlight your events, photos taken by yourself and others (See Flickr.com). You can also hold discussions, contests and more on many of these sites.
Develop small, mini-events throughout the year
Using all the tools mentioned above, hold online and on-site mini-events throughout the year to keep people engaged and involved. Can you webcast an interview with an important expert? Can you podcast important sessions from a recent conference? Can you host an entertainment event online that allows you to get your message out in a subtle way? Can you hold an online panel discussion on the important issues surrounding your cause?
The goal of all of these methods is to drive donations, membership, knowledge — whatever the cause you are promoting. You are doing this work throughout the year, so that by the time you open up ticket sales or reservations for the live event, people are ready to sign up — NOW!
I think you will find that your live events will be more successful than you ever imagined, because you are not counting on the distant memories of last year’s event, or 2 short months of promotion before the event to drive interest. You have been communicating with your clients, your donors, your subscribers throughout the year. You have turned the annual live event into the grand culmination of an entire year of fun, engagement and activity.
If you would like to learn more about how your group can start to leverage the power of new media, podcasting, and social media, email me at cip@welchwrite.com, post your questions or comments below, or call my listener line at 818-804-5049 and leave your questions and comments.
Any reader here knows that I do all I can to get those around me engaged in the new media world, whether that is through podcasting, web sites, YouTube and other online video, it doesn’t matter. I just want them to get engaged.
I do this because I hate to see wasted talent — something that surrounds me here in Los Angeles. Everywhere you turn, there is more undiscovered (and under-utilized) talent than anywhere else on the planet. Whenever I come across someone who is making something great, I try to get them to expose their work on the Internet in hopes that it might gain a bigger audience than it currently has (which is usually, nothing). I always figure that 10, 100, 1000 people seeing my work is far prefarable to an audience of 1 — myself.
Exposing your work on the Internet is nearly free, except for your time, yet I am greeted with a host of reasons why people can’t, or won’t, make it happen. They’re too busy, too tired, too scared, too unconfident, too computerphobic, etc. Even worse, nearly everyone wants a company with deep pockets offering them the proverbial “bucket of money” for their content.
There are several problems with this scenario. First, if no one knows about you and your work, how will they ever know you are worth a bucket of money? You may have the best show, script, voice, smarts on the planet, but if no one knows about it, it doesn’t matter. If your content “tree in the forest” falls and no is around to hear it, it never really happened. Scripts don’t sell themselves in a drawer. Movies don’t sell themselves in the camera. Music doesn’t sell itself in your head. You need to do something with them!
The world of selling treatments, ideas, outlines, etc is gone — if it ever really existed to begin with. Distributors today want to see completed projects, shows, podcasts, videos, scripts, etc before they ever invest a dime. Harsh? Welcome to the new media world! When nearly everyone has the tools of new media, everyone expects you to use them to present and sell your ideas. You need to be a producer and take on all the duties of that role. One big benefit of this, of course, is you also get to retain the lion’s share of any proftis you do make, as well as complete creative control. Not a bad trade-off, really.
So folks, I am pleading with you — begging even — if you have something you want to sell, share it first. I’m not saying give away the farm for free, but you’ve got to attract attention to yourself if you ever hope to make money. Farmer’s Markets don’t hide the produce under the table, only allowing you see it after you give them the money.
As mentioned previously in Careers in Podcasting, I recently started producing Mortgages Made Simple for my friend, Rick Gundzik. When thinking of ways to promote the podcasts, I stumbled upon the idea of using past podcasts instead of the typical “music on hold” for Rick’s office.
I am sure others have had this idea, but I have never heard of it being put to use, or run into it in my own “on hold” adventures. This makes me think that there might be some PR possibilities in placing your podcasts on your friends, neighbors and companies “music on hold” systems. Does someone you know have an office that could benefit from your content?
For me, I am going to add this very recommendation to each new podcast project I pitch. It only makes sense to give your customers something interesting to listen to, and spread word of your podcast, to those who, theoretically are a perfect market for it.
MP3 player and my iPod 5.5G using a Belkin TuneTalk Microphone attachment. It took nothing more than setting it on the table in front of us and pressing the record button. There are many other, easy choices for recording though, including DAT tape, memory card recorders or even a laptop with a microphone and free recording software.