Having a face on your blogs is a great idea – it provides authenticity. As well, as you grow in readership, people begin to actually recognize you. Another opportunity is to take a few videos and host them on your blog. Adding a video provides your readers with everything but a handshake.
It used to be a difficult undertaking… good quality video cameras were expensive, editing software was difficult (if not impossible) and hosting the videos was outrageously expensive. Thank Flip, iMovie and YouTube for plummeting prices and simple technology. Within an afternoon at work, I filmed the following video, mixed it using iMovie, and published it. The video intro was built by Cantaloupe and we can now drop it into all our movies.
Not bad – and it even utilizes YouTube’s high quality settings. I also have videos hosted on Vimeo, but find the broad reach of YouTube more attractive for putting up videos that I want to get around.
If you don’t wish to utilize YouTube and want to have your own video management system, solutions are beginning to pop up all over. Backlight has a robust solution that includes playlists and even the opportunity to place ad banners on your videos. Streamotor is low cost, no nonsense video hosting solution. There are, of course, the Cadillac of digital asset management solutions out there, too.
Video editing requires a robust PC or Mac, but the drag and drop capabilities and built-in effects are dramatically improved over the last few years. Microsoft has Windows Movie Maker and Apple has iMovie. I used to use QuickTime as well, but the latest version of iMovie made cutting and pasting video much easier (although the latest iMovie was a tough move from the older version I had).
Thanks to Ryan, the Simple DJ, for the recommendation to upgrade iMovie! The new transitions make the upgrade worth it.
Thanks also to Adam, owner of Connective Mobile (mobile marketing), a thank-you. When Adam purchased the Kodak HD, I ran out to purchase it but it wasn’t in stock. I bought the Flip HD instead and I’m extremely happy with the quality and ease of use. My only complaint is that the touch buttons are very sensitive – I’ve stopped and started filming a few times without even realizing it.
The Flip HD + iMovie + YouTube have been fun to work with in. You’ll see many more videos coming down the pipeline.
Last note: Be sure to pick up the Flip Tripod for Flip Ultra and Mino Camcorders, too. The video above was taken with the tripod wrapped around a chain to hold it steady. It worked great.
