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Want your Gmail to replace your YouTube messaging? Sorry- but
here are some pretty thumb icons you can use to rate comments!
Who would have thought the market would be so beholden to YouTube’s inside-out design… half way through 2008? By now, I would have predicted that Web 2.0 would offer us endless options for customizing a video experience using someone else’s player. They can pay for the bandwidth and make ad revenue, but please allow us to customize, widgitize, and private-labelize. You know- the open source, altruistic dream that borne Revver, and its open source API (whatever the hell that is).
Nope. Maybe that’s in the Web 3.0 upgrade. Not now. No soup for you.
Alas, market dominance means you innovate on your own terms. YouTube and Google were designed to solve a problem its founders felt, but the market didn’t quite know it needed. That works well when you’re in start-up mode or innovating, but can inadvertently spawn arrogance that hardcore users begin to resent. I’ve been an informal adviser to several smaller video-sharing sites, and found it very rewarding when those sites responded to our needs (or at least convinced us they were). Note: I disclose these relationships and they’re not paid — otherwise I’d lose my objectivity on them. And risk hating one less than another.
Now lately I’ve been confronted with some needs that are on the edge of YouTube’s functionality. So I did what any YouTube Partner would do: I went to both my dedicated YouTube technical liaison, Eric, and community representative, Brenda, to solve these issues.
No I’m just kidding. They don’t take my calls either.
No, friends, we’ve got battered user syndrome.We don’t expect YouTube to fix itself. It’s tired after a long day of work, and we did spill its beer on the counter. So we’ll search for our own tools we can use on top of YouTube… despite it. The bad news is that we’re limited to offering this to people via channels we can control. The good news is that they solve problems that YouTube doesn’t see, doesn’t care about, or views as off strategy. The more bad news is that we don’t know what tools are safe or effective.
Suppose you had a cheese playlist and wanted to randomize it (like the Oreo contest entries) so each video gets a fair shot at being first. Or maybe you’re using the playlists as a free, copyright-violating jute box. Well you can’t do that. You’d want the Randomize YouTube Playlist script (mind you I’m not vouching for these things- I wouldn’t know what to do with them even if I could get past the porn ads and download them).
Then there’s the YouTube Search Script. I suppose that one allows you to customize search and embed videos based on parameters? Then there’s the “YouTube Script” which represents itself as a poor man’s custom YouTube (with that impossible promise, I’m guessing it’s a virus that turns your monitor into a camera and broadcasts your life 24/7 in Stickam). I am having fun playing with Overlay.tv (which is kinda like YouTube’s overlay tools on steroids). But I may do a promotion video for Overlay.tv… so more on that later. And don’t give me crap about promoting them because it’s like a skateboarder endorsing a skateboard brand. It’s cool. It’s why I pimp TubeMogul for free.
Anyway- share your own YouTube hacks below (not the zillion YouTube rippers, thank you). And don’t expect Eric or Brenda to call you back. Nope. Leave it to Web 2.0 to foster a monopoly where we love a website even when it beats us. We deserve the beating, though. We didn’t behave, and the website is under a lot of stress lately.
P.S. I dare someone to turn this post into a video blog and make it look like they’re not scripted. I’ll add a link here if you do. You gotta do it like Pat Condell… with articulation and enough emotion that you don’t look like you’re reading.
P.P.S. Domestic violence is not funny. Go get help, please, if you experience it. I am just using the analogy to exaggerate the learned helplessness we face with some technologies.
I met the Marketing Diva (Toby Bloomberg) at a Cox Communications event. She pulled out her Flip cam and asked me to define social media. So I gave her a quick answer. Then along comes “The 60 Second Marketer” and packages this spontaneous clip into the following video called “What is Social Media.” Suddenly, my “pull it out the bum” verbal exposition looks rather comprehensive and definitive.
Let’s explore what makes this clip so trustworthy:
I think the next time I decide to represent my random opinion as fact, I’m going to proceed and follow it with Slater doing a deep, rich voiceover that summarizes it.
Remember I predicted that we’d see live news via amateur cameras in 2007? Imagine the next bank robbery where you get to watch along? Maybe there will be an interactive chat so you can give the hostages survival suggestions, and tell them they suck and are gay.
Grant, I was a bit early on that bank robbery prediction, but that’s because I’m cursed with remarkable foresight. And now you can host live streaming video via your stupid iPhone (see Steve Garfield’s demo). So the next time you’re watching a newsworthy event break, just turn on that iPhone. And don’t forget the rubber band. And the Nokia N95. And be sure someone else is watching. Bring Steve Garfield along too. He’ll help you through the technology, and even give you ideas how to clean blood off the marked bills you swipe, cope with post-traumatic shock, and reduce the swelling on your gun-smacked head.
Hey, Garfield. Can you do a tutorial on how to get my stupid iTouch thing to raise its volume? You should have seen me driving home Friday desperately trying to figure out where Mac hid the volume control on that bastard. Googling via the Blackberry, and finding nothing. [Editorial Note: found the answer in Yahoo Answers, which is incredibly well optimized on Google. Great idea, Mac. Let’s make the volume look like a time bar for the track].
I like this “Viral Video: Cashing In or Selling Out” by Jennifer Hollett (Canadian Globe & Mail), and not just because I’m featured in it. It’s actually a well-balanced view of the issues surrounding paid sponsorship and product placement.
As you may know, there are two different ways to make money via online video. You can share in the percent of ad proceeds based on the publisher (Revver, Metacafe, and now YouTube’s Partner Program). This is easier, but low margin. And you’re at the mercy of the publisher. Currently it would appear YouTube is selling fewer InVideo ads associated with amateur content, and I’m seeing more Google Adsense copy ads or display only. InVideo ads are far, far more profitable to YouTube and creators — selling at about $20 per thousand impressions. Advertisers get much more exposure, since the ads peek up at the bottom and are interactive (a far cry better than banners that we tend to tune out). The second way a creator can profit is by working directly with brands to feature products and services for a fair fee.
If you read this blog regularly, you’ll recognize my POV on this article (worth a scan). I satirize “selling out,” but I actually think you can find a balance between helping an advertiser and entertaining. I even contend that promotion need not come at the expense of the entertainment and vice versa. That said, I do respect the opinion of Kalle Lasn, editor in chief of Adbusters magazine and author of Culture Jam. Kalle, according to the piece, feels product placement on YouTube is a sad development. Lasn says there are already between 3,000 – 5,000 marketing messages coming into the average North American brain everyday. “I don’t think we really need 5001,” he says.
The article highlights (oh I hate that word) Brandfame, which helps facilitate the interaction between creators and sponsors. I’ve also met with Placevine, which represents a number of different brands interested in tapping creators. This article references a video I made called “Viral Video Broker,” where I spoofed this industry almost two years ago exactly. (Another one of those videos I wish I had shot with a better camera, but at least I was somewhat ahead of my time… the voices were, of course, people in my offices at J&J not real weblebrities).
Watch for five trends in this area in 2008:
The Swear Jar is a campaign by BudTV.
According to AP Business writer Jim Salter, this “Swear Jar” video is part of a “fast-growing growing trend, now increasingly embraced by beer makers and other mainstream marketers.”
This post is for those of you dumb m&thr f*rs that have only been looking at the pictures on WillVideoForFood for the past 2 years ,and needed to play catchup. Thanks, Marilyn, for this post. It’s about time you carried some of your own weight on this blog.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=EJJL5dxgVaM]
Micropersuasion and your obsessed fans, take note. Five shiny stars for this pitch from Jason. Let’s review what makes it work:
Learn from this, dear PR people. Especially you 1.0 PR people that are still sending bloggers press releases. That is so 2002. Mind you, I sat on this for weeks and haven’t exactly been to the websites below. But I trust the campaign is the most progressive one ever for a brand, and Jason can put that in his client binder. The dude even followed it up with a gentle nudge this week (knowing how bad I am about e-mail).
Subject header: “Opening myself up to your pointed criticism!”
Hey Kevin,
I’m the social media guy for Beam Global and long-time admirer. We’ve just launched a campaign (hoping to soon call it a “movement” though now that I think about that, I need a thesaurus) that I’d love your feedback on if you can spare a moment or two. Figured since you’re a marketing big shot who gets Web 2.0, it might raise your eyebrows.
Jim Beam is spending its budget this year marketing people who exhibit the brand persona, not the brand itself. (Bear with me, dude. It’ll make sense in a sec.) We’ve found an initial group of people who exhibit true character, integrity, perseverance through struggle, etc., (The Stuff Inside) and we’re marketing them — helping them because it’s the right thing to do. We’re walking the talk. One such subject is even a comedy troupe you might enjoy called Summer of Tears. Good videos.
Social Media Release: http://www.thestuffinside.com/socialmediarelease/
Site: http://www.thestuffinside.com
I developed the social media strategies. Beam’s being kinda brave changing the way they market themselves. I’d just love to get your feedback on it all.
Thanks for the time, man.
Jason
Okay. I went to the site now. It moved horizontally, and reminds me of the AMeetingWithPhil site, only it has a more goeey web 2.0 feel. And everything worked well, which is a nice surprise when you’ve seen your share of bloated flashturbation sites. Check out SummerofTears, one of the many artists the site features. They’re funny and drink Jim Beam responsibly of course.
Here’s an excerpt of a wonderful post on Cracked.com titled “YouTubers That Will Never Be Famous.” It’s an opportunity for me to “clear the air” about being a self-proclaimed “weblebrity” (which is, you see, rather distinct from being a celebrity). LONG post, here, folks but this one is jam-packed with delicious goodness.
The internet is a big place, but there can only be so many Tay Zondays and LonelyGirl15s. Not everyone can become a crossover internet celebrity, and behind every one of these superstars there are a thousand others just like them, posting video after video and hoping one of them sticks. The following users represent only a fraction of a percentage of the YouTube users currently clogging up the internet tubes with absolute garbage – if you can think of others that deserve to be shamed, feel free to add them in the comments below. Or don’t, actually – additional exposure will only encourage them.
Let’s start by explaining that securing weblebrity status facilitates all the dysfunction of being a real celebrity, but none of the perks. You see, you receive hundreds of messages a day from viewers critiquing your work (probably more than many movie stars). The positive comments give you false self esteem, and the negative ones crush you like a lemon wedge. Eventually you develop thick skin, stop posting, or decide to find your self worth in a more healthy place (like at the bottom of a nice glass of vodka stired by a Xanax).
But, friends, there are at least 5 perks:
Now let’s look at VisibleMode. Do I watch him daily? Nope. Does he watch me? Probably not, except when I happened to pick him for the YouTube Secret Santa (I sent him a mug so he could sell out like me).
VisibleMode is one of the top YouTubers in Canada, and Cracked.com’s pick for someone who won’t get famous. Obviously it would be even more interesting to see a Cracked.com list of the few YouTubers that actually might get famous (a harder list to write, and a shorter one).
So now I’ll get to my point, which Cracked might have overlooked. VisibleMode may not soon be in a b-grade film or even an extra in a television commercial. Heck even Michael Buckley (one of the fastest growing, and television-ready weblebrities) may fade like many stars. But VM tells me today he’s had 6,760,748 cummaltive views of his videos. If Google sold those InVideo ads surrounding his videos at $20 per thousand ($20 CPM is the list price), VisibleMode would have hypothetically taken a portion of more than $135,000 that advertisers would pay YouTube/Google. Let me say it again. Even if most of the ads weren’t sold, the CPM wasn’t $20, and VisibleMode only got a small portion, he’d be making decent take-home per month. Will it last? I’m the wrong guy to ask, because I would have bought Revver stock. But I’ll bet he’s enjoying the ride and not too worried about missing a red-carpet event in LA.
The sustainability of YouTube and weblebrities, of course, hinges on advertisers garnering an ROI on the ads that surround this content. They’re fairly targeted and hard to ignore. And they’re in the context of content you’ve chosen to view. So the branding benefit should be worthwhile (a cent or two an impression) even if the direct-response may underwhelm more transactional brands.
So assuming marketers sell products (or believe they are) via YouTube promotion, the advertising revenue will flow. A shake-down of creators will naturally occur, but the audience of YouTube is growing in depth and frequency, and media consumption continues to fragment. There’s a volume of valuable ad inventory lurking in the long tail, folks…. so...
Nalts may or may not appear on SNL, but he’s having fun while this lasts. I just wish Cracked would have picked me for someone who’d never get famous. Hey- I know. I’ll do a sunburn video. Worked for ShayCarl.
You know I really don’t care if anyone buys the “If You Don’t Like Farts, Stay Out of the Library” t-shirts. There are some things you do for others, some you do for money, and some you do just for some inexplicable self indulgence.
So here’s the shirt I just designed for my CafePress Nalts store, and it’s a homage to “Farting in Public.” (even thought the image is from “Poor Man’s GPS“). Oh, you haven’t heard of the 5-million view fart video? Then this must be the first post you’ve read on WillVideoForFood.com. 😉
Want to make your own shirt? Here’s the image in full resolution: farting in public t-shirt (Nalts and Spencer). And here’s the “Farting in Public” video via Overlay.tv, where I can create a floating ad for my DVD.
“Guacamole Ukulele” was a source for my music video this morning, and now live shows by Accio Bodyguard are making it to YouTube. Here they are talking about their YouTube success, and here’s a better sounding version. This is a song that has been dancing about in my head for days (since my first post about it).
The Wizard Rockers’ “Ruby Tuesday guacamole song” is destined for viral status whether anyone watches it or not. See that was a contradiction in terms that, no doubt, flew below your radar.
Lately it’s “The Attack of the Killer How-To Videos Sites.” We’ve already seen ExpertVillage, Instructables, AOL’s How To, VideoJug, and of course YouTube’s How-To section.
While uploading on TubeMogul.com this morning, I noticed three more sites that have surfaced. Most of these models depend exclusively on advertising revenue. While that’s a nice interim model for targeted buys, I do see the potential for sites and creators to post modest fees for instructional videos.
If it was “iTunes” easy to buy a “how to” video, you’d probably pay a modest fee for “just-in-time” learning. Anything to avoid the instructional manual, attending a class or hiring a pro. Here are some examples:
And if you don’t like what you see, find a free Web 2.0 platform and aggregate your own “how to” videos around some ridiculously niche topic. Or just create your very own revenue-producing “How To” video using Revver (see a video I made back in Sept. 2006). Better buy one of these coin counters (see video) to help sort your pennies.
While you’re at it, please create a “how to” video on attracting weary advertisers.
Pete Cashmore reviews some of the best “how to” video sites at Mashable.com, including SuTree.com (a site that aggregates them but isn’t working as of this writing).