Mar 2, 2010

Blogging Basics: Vlogging, Part I

So you've been blogging awhile and you want to venture into vlogging – video blogging – maybe to demonstrate a skill you're addressing or maybe to boost your SEO. More people will watch a short video than read a short or long blogpost. 52% of viewers take action after watching a video. Yeah. That's pretty impressive. Also? Most viewers have a two minute attention span. Ouch.
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Before you begin, here are some things to think about.

Hardware:

  • What is your price point?

  • Is your desired use indoor/outdoor, low lighting?

  • How will it be viewed? HD SD?

  • What kind of storage do you want to deal with -- SD cards, hard drives, tapes...

  • Tapeless camcorders advice: stay away from the ones with movable parts, use ones with flash ram built in

  • What acc/attachments will you need to improve? -- Lense, shotgun mic, etc.

Software:

  • What are your system limitations, memory?

  • What is your price point? (One of the session speakers said "I hate to sound like your mother, but price really is a consideration.")

  • How fancy will you edit? You may require expensive editing software or you may be able to use the free stuff.

  • Keep in mind your end game – selling videos usually requires HD exporting capabilities.

  • Start with windows movie maker cause it's free.

Hosting:

  • vimeo

  • blip tv

  • viddler

  • momtv

  • tubemogul

  • youtube

Copyright Issues:

  1. Be careful with music. Youtube sometimes won't let you put video up if you're using copyrighted music. Just crediting the music doesn't make it legal. Look for royalty free. Some songs you can download if you give them credit.

  2. Locations – get managers of restaurants, etc. to sign release. Sometimes you need individuals to sign a release.

  3. TV

  4. Live concert videos

  5. Movies and trailers

  6. Commercials

  7. Photos


This is the first of a three part series on Vlogging, lessons I learned at the Blissdom Conference in a session brought by the following: Esther Crawford @faintstarlite, Audrey McClelland @AudreyMcClellan, Jo-Lynne Shane@dcrmom, Danielle Smith @ExtraordMommy, Jendi Pagano @jendisjournal

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