Check out this great article by Chris Potter (founder of ScreenLight) on what your business can learn from DollarShaveClub.com’s recent funny marketing video that went viral with currently over 3.5 million views on YouTube.

Creative content with share motivators is key! This promotional video for the new Julia Roberts movie ‘Mirror, Mirror’, asks the question- What if the evil queen from Snow White was alive today and used social networking?’

It’s better watched then explained. How can you not want to share this video? AND take note- not a single frame of video was actually shot…it tells the story entirely through simulated screen capture.

The episode above is the Seattle episode that I produced and oversaw post production and edit of. So far the episode has over 122,000 just on YouTube. The video also ran in ad units on a whole network of websites but I don’t have the stats for that.

The Flip Video family of cameras have always been somewhat appealing to me; they are small, easy to use and cheap ($200 or less). Almost perfect for the blogger, or small business owner getting their feet wet in the world of web video marketing. The one problem: No audio input! How very annoying! The video quality is pretty darn good for what you pay but the audio leaves a lot to be desired.

Thankfully a couple of other companies have noticed that hole in the market and are picking up the slack. I’m going to take a brief look at three possible solutions for an affordable handheld video cam that has quality audio capabilities.

Wired magazine recently profiled the Zoom Q3 videocam. Zoom is known for making audio recording devices (think the perfect little pocket recorder for bootlegging a U2 concert), therefore this new device has a top-mounted mic that records in 44.1/48kHz 16/24-bit Linear PCM or MP3 audio up to 320kbps . In other words pretty damn good audio, even though it doesn’t have an external mic jack. The problem may be that this device is an audio recorder first and a video recorder second. In a time when most pocket camcorders are upgrading to some sort of HD flavor, Zoom is sticking with SD- 640×480.

This might be OK for some users if the picture quality holds up, especially in low light scenarios. The Zoom Q3 isn’t out until Oct. 9th, 2009 and I have yet to find any good footage and audio tests online. Therefore the jury is still out on this one, but it has potential. This is probably the best solution around if you are shooting lots of concerts, as it also has on screen audio levels to help with dialing in the correct levels. The cost for this video camera is $249 on Amazon.

Next up is the new Kodak Zi-8 that is out in stores Sept. 15th. This HD video camera is around $180 and has a mic jack! Yay! Finally! A cheap video camera with the ability to plug-in a good microphone! Looking at a few video and audio tests it seems that, for  the cost, I don’t think you can beat it. The main issue with this camera and similar pocket cams is the shaky footage. It would be good if they came with some sort of little stand or I would recommend finding a way to clamp or tape it to a tripod.

Kodak Zi-8 VIDEO TEST:

Kodak Zi-8 MIC TEST:

The other option I happened upon while researching this topic is the Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS3. It’s positioned first as a digital still camera, but it also has powerful video muscle. The HD video quality is sharp, colorful and smooth. It doesn’t have a mic jack but it does have Dolby stereo sound. I would like to see it tested in more of an interview or person talking directly into camera situation, but from the test videos I viewed the sound was decent. The ZS3 is a little pricier though, at around $327.

Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS3 VIDEO TEST:

As part of what my producer Craig Bland calls ‘Branded Social Programming,’ I shot and edited this promotional web video for JCP Teen’s Schooled in Style with Whitney Port campaign.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The reality style webisode features Whitney Port (“The Hills,” & “The City”) and one lucky $1,000 Back To School shopping spree winner at the new JC Penney’s in Manhattan. Whitney styles the 16 year old Mary Ann, and gives her tips to look her best in the new year.

We sent Mary Ann a FlipCam before the shoot day to get an authentic taste of who she is and the world she lives in. The video she shot serves as a nice introduction to the meat of the video package and proves how the proper use of lower quality cams can add a very effective “real” element (now if they will just make a FlipCam with a mic jack!) I talk a little bit more about our pre-production process for the shoot in my post from a couple weeks ago.

The final video was distributed across the Celebuzz network including Whitney Port‘s official blog.

Incorporating video into any online promotion adds an dynamic and engaging element that is otherwise not possible.

Central Park, NYC. August 2009

OK, so this post is going to be a bit Dear Diary-ish but I wanted to give a quick update and a little explanation on why I launched this blog and then basically disappeared for half a month.

First off- I moved. I only moved a few blocks from my old place but as you all know, moving is a big project and not the most fun activity. However, I love my new place! It has high ceilings and much more sunlight shining in. Which makes for a much better location for shooting videos!

Last weekend I was in New York City shooting Whitney Port (star of “The Hills” and “The City”) for a JC Penney back to school fashion promotion video. One lucky fan won a $1,000 shopping spree with Whitney acting as personal stylist and we filmed the whole event for a web video series.

We hired a local 2nd cameraman and audio guy that had been recommended to us from a trusted production company and they were both totally on point. This is actually a BIG tip- if you are outsourcing crew always get referrals from people you trust. I learned this the hard way (audio disaster).

Whitney was kind, patient and professional (as she always is) and the experience was a thrill for the 15 year old contest winner that drove in from Illinois.

The shoot went pretty darn smoothly. The reason: Lot’s and lot’s of PLANNING. Even though at first glance the shoot seemed fairly straight forward, there are always hidden logistical issues. My producer, Craig Bland, and I went over the shoot schedule, script, and shot list a dozen or more times over the week leading up to the shoot. Each time we did some other little issue that needed working out arose. We also did a walk through of the location (the new JC Penney in Manhattan) a few days before to identify exactly where we would shoot each segment.

Bottom Line: Pre-production is key to a successful shoot.

While I still have some boxes to unpack and I am still at full throttle at the day job, I am getting back into the groove of writing and making videos for this blog. Stay Tuned!

Now for a few shout outs:

-Special thanks to Daniel Sevitt, the Director of Corporate Communications over at EyeView Digital who wrote up a review of my free ‘Web Video Is Key‘ report on his blog. EyeView Digital is completely focused on using video to engage viewers and turn them into customers.

-Dan McAllistor, a Realtor in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL has begun making video tours of his properties and he emailed me with a few questions regarding exporting and conversion. The questions deal with issues I know I a lot of people are having and I am way over due in replying.  Dan – I promise to get to your questions this week and I will post the possible solutions up on this blog as well.

-Wistia has developed some pretty cool technology to track, in real time, how someone views your video. You can see what parts they viewed, when they jumped ahead or fast forwarded, and when they stopped watching. Visually displaying the results in what they call a video heatmap- pretty darn cool.

In the 3rd installment of my Video SEO series I will quickly go over some best practices for titling your web videos.

These tips refer to the title of your post or page that contains the video as well as the title that is included in your video’s metadata. As well as your video title on video sharing sites like YouTube.

• 1. Utilize your strongest keywords within the title, but keep it short and relevant. Anything over 15 words is probably too many, around 10 is better.
• 2. Begin title with ‘Video:’ or ‘Video of…’ This will help identify the content and attract readers to the fact the post is a little ‘special.’
• 3. Identify a specific topic(s) covered within the video. For example if it’s an interview with an expert on web design, instead of saying “My Interview with Web Designer Jack Armstrong” you might say “Video: Web Designer Jack Armstrong Talks CSS, Layouts, and Browser Considerations.”
• 4. Be creative and use attention grabbing words (while avoiding being too cheesy). For example: “Web Design Tips & Tactics with Jack Armstong.” Here are few more attention grabbing words to get you started: Secrets, Ideas, How To, Profit, Success, Easy, New, Fresh, Free, Unique, Useful, Inspirational
• 5. Using numbers can peak interest (magazines do this all the time). For example “7 Fresh Web Design Tips with Jack Armstrong.”
• 6. Proclaim the strongest benefit to watching your video in your title. Ask yourself, what will the viewer get out of it?
• 7. Make sure your video delivers on what is promised in the title.
• 8. Read your title outloud. Does it sound like an advertisement or it’s selling something? If it does, rewrite it.

A great little video from passionate video blogger, Sukhjit Ghag. Sukhjit talks about how beneficial this medium is in terms of human connection, social interaction and getting feedback. She also touches on how easy it is to get started and some specific equipment you can use.

This video also introduced me to a new site, GuruTube.net. I am often turned off by YouTube because of the amount of mindless crap that is posted. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I love mindless crap but if I’m trying to find a useful how-to or tutorial video I don’t like having to sludge my way through all the junk. GuruTube focuses on bringing you unique video guides and how-tos from a (currently) small pool of experts. It will be interesting to see how this site matures.

What the heck is that man doing?

Like life, your content and marketing strategies are all about balance. You don’t want to put so much time into producing your videos that your written posts, interaction with your followers or other communication methods suffer. Video is a very important piece of the overall puzzle but in planning your video content strategy you must keep in mind all of the pieces.

[Sidebar: For more on leveraging web video on your site download my free 20 page report here.]

Creating video content can also seem a bit daunting at first, so the idea is to keep it simple until you get the hang of it. And you will get the hang of it. Start out with a simple introduction or product demo video and once you get the process down move up to a regular video post schedule. Ideally weekly or even bi-weekly, but if your schedule doesn’t permit make time at least once a month. Whatever works for you well enough and is not stressful. Making videos can be really fun to do but only if you are not forcing yourself to produce them on an unrealistic schedule.

To minimize your video turn around time planning becomes key. Script out or at least create an outline of what you are going to say. Use some sort of teleprompter (check out this $10 iPhone app) or print out your outline in a large font and tape it to your tripod. Keep your videos less than 5 minutes, and usually 2 to 4 minutes is better. We live in a day and age where people’s time is very valuable and everyone is pretty “click happy” when surfing the net. Anything over 5 minutes you should break it up into 2 parts.

Shoot for as little editing as possible. Do it all in one take if you can, then all you have to do is capture, maybe add some text or photo cutaways, a logo for branding and you are all set.

Should you write it or shoot it?

When you have a content idea for your website, sometimes it will be clear if the information would be better served by text or by video. Sometimes you will want to do both, so you can take advantage of multiple distribution outlets. If you write a great post about “new ways to find customers,” you can’t post a text version on YouTube. But you can make a video version that links back to your written post.

Another reason for doing both is that currently web videos are difficult for search engines to index the entire internal content of the video. So including a transcript, written version or at the very least a summary will help out with your content being found by search engine spiders. It is also possible to have the video version and the text version listed on the same search engine results page, doubling your exposure.

The main idea is to think of using web video as a key part (but still just a part) of your overall content and marketing strategy. Don’t get bogged down by the technology, editing and SEO elements. You don’t have to do it all correctly the first time, or second, or third etc. You will make mistakes and that is OK. But believe me, adding web video to what you offer will raise your production value, allow you to more authentically connect with your followers and gain you more traffic through new distribution channels.

Lately search engines, like Google, have been becoming more video friendly. However unless you properly optimize your video content, it can be a challenge for search engine ‘spiders’ to find them.

At first the complete video SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy may seem a bit overwhelming and time consuming. But you will find that most of the steps quickly become second nature and the increased traffic to your videos is well worth the work.

I’ve decided to break the ‘SEO Tips’ into bite size posts that I will release over the next few weeks. This way you can digest them one at a time and implement them organically into your workflow.

Naming Your Video Files:

This is a very often overlooked tactic; properly naming of your files is important as it is one of the first things search engines spiders look at to identify what it is.

• You should name your files with accurate identifying keywords. Including the word ‘video.’
• Use hyphens (dashes) to separate words and to make keywords stand out. Is using  hyphens better than an underscore? At least for Google SERPs (search engine result pages) it looks to be. Read Matt Cutts comments on the topic.
• Use lower case characters in your titles. This will avoid issues for Unix systems that are case sensitive. For example you could post a file titled ‘Cool-Stuff-Video.flv, but it might be processed as ‘cool-stuff-video.flv.’ by a SERP but therefore would link to the wrong file on a Unix system. This sort of thing is rare but to be safe I would stick to lower case.
• How long should your file name be? I have yet to find a good argument for a set max character length, but I would keep it under 50 characters. It’s good to be relevant, descriptive and use prime keywords but you don’t want it to look too long or spammy. You will also be using longer titles and descriptions so there is no need to go overboard in naming your video files.
• Do not change previously named and published video files, as they may already be indexed or linked to.