Tag Archives: YouTube

Free Online Monitoring Via YouTube

Monitor your brand if videos are uploaded using your brand in the keywords.

Marketers debate whether they should engage in online video, but there’s simply no excuse for not paying attention to what’s being said about your brand. There are good services that can do comprehensive audits (such as Buzzmetrics). But here’s the poor-man’s solution…

Subscribe to your brand’s name on YouTube. If you’re Coke and you’re not at least scanning videos that are tagged with the word Coke, then you may miss something important. It’s as simple as registering on YouTube and going to your subscriptions. Then enter your brand name in the “tag” section, and you’ll have videos waiting for you if they use your name in the tags.

There are other services doing more comprehensive, advanced and ongoing monitoring by turning speech into text, and then analyzing the content in sophisticated ways. But this is a nice place to start. It’s as easy as setting a “Google Alert” for your brand name to ensure that news and major blog posts aren’t missed.

Let’s Make a Collab

SongsfromaHat Collab songYou know, if I ever questioned whether it was worth writing an eBook (“How to Become Popular on YouTube Without Any Talent“), it’s all behind me now. Songwriter Abby Simons has made the homepage of YouTube with “Let’s Make a Collab.” For those of you new to this space, a collab (collaboration) is when several online-video creators combine their lack of talent to create a video where, in theory, the whole is worth more than the sum of its parts.

I’m deeply honored that Abby (aka “Songs from a Hat”) credits my eBook in her description. Says the strangely addictive guitar player:

So I just finished Nalts’ eBook about getting popular on YouTube, and he says that the best way to increase your profile is to do collabs. But I got one tiny problem…

The song is addictive, emotional, self-depricating and mentions me. That makes it a 5-star. You have to hand it to a singer that can make a solo-collaboration that’s funny, touching and, well, mentions me.

Finally The Queen Can Make Spare Change from YouTube

YouTube announced on January 30 (see YouTube blog) that UK ‘tubers can now join the Partners program and share in advertising revenue. Why do journalists often frown at this? Here’s a Texas journalist who is saddened by the idea. When I was interviewed by Fox after the program started in the US, the interviewers had the same opinion.

If YouTube began commercializing homepage features (getting paid) that would be the equivalent to Time Magazine getting paid to run a story about a business. But sharing advertising revenue with content creators is the very thing television is built around. Know any good TV producers making content for networks gratis? Infomercials maybe?

Paranthetically, I’m in London to personally congratulate local YouTubers. Well, actually I’m here for business and it’s coincidenal. And my wife and children are back in PA under the careful guard of former Green Beret Pipistrello.

Join us if you like!

Monday (Feb 4) 6:00 pm:
(Smaller gathering- it’s a bar so I think you need to be 18)
The Shaston Arms in Soho
(Closest Underground stop is Oxford Circus)

Wednesday (Feb 6) 6:00 pm:
(Larger gathering- bring family and friends)
The Royal Festival Hall
Directions

The Power of Blogs for Video Viralization (MacBook Air Parody Case Study)

gizmodo1.pngAs I mentioned in my recent eBook (“How to Become Popular on YouTube Without Any Talent“), Obama-Girl creator Ben Relles taught me about the power of blogs to get a viral video to a tipping point. Candidly, I’m usually too lazy to go searching for blogs that might like a video, and kinda hope they’ll find it on their own. But Gizmodo (a very popular blog) recently posted about my “MacBook Air Obsessed With Thin.”

Back story: this short parody of a Mac ad (see original post) took about 20 minutes — from idea to upload. So I decided to invest another 5 Googling a few Mac blogs, and sending them the video’s URL. I had to move quick because the Ambien, at this point, was bringing me down like a tranquilized elephant with a dart hanging from his neck.

This paid off. I would have forgotten about my little self-promotion binge (I’m prone to “black outs” after my post-Ambien activities). But this morning I noticed the Mac parody had 40K views already, which far exceed my YouTube inbound linknumber of subscribers (27K) and what I’d normally get by being the 3rd-highest rated comedy of the day. Paranthetically, my antecdotal feebdack suggests the video has some innate viral elements because a) my wife liked it (rare), b) I got a call from my advertising agency about it, and c) the CEO from Xlntads sent me an e-mail about it.

Still, a little “blog gasoline” on the “viral spark” is well worth its time.

Is it working? Google your video’s unique title to see if there’s uptake. Also, 0n YouTube, you can select “links” under a video (it’s easy to miss), and see if any individual site is tossing a lot of traffic your way. I don’t usually notice a lot of activity here, but I do recall finding an Asian porn site throwing my “HappySlip on eBay” video a lot of views).

Today it shows that 12K of the 39k views were coming from Gizmodo. I couldn’t recall sending them the URL, but it appears they posted about the video and credited Cult of Mac (I suppose I had sent the video to Cult of Mac before Ambien shut me down completely). Oddly, Gizmodo reports 6000 people reading that post, but I’m seeing 12,000 coming to my video via Gizmodo. Huh? YouTube usually drastically under reports the inbound links.

Are you paying attention or glazing over this in an ADHD fog? Let me summarize with the “least you need to know”: if you do a video that has viral potential, find some bloggers who might be interested in the story.

Don’t spam bloggers, but send them a personalized, relevant note and connect the video to their readership so it doesn’t look too self pimpin’. And I wouldn’t advise this tactic unless you’re fairly confident they’ll get a chuckle over the clip. It also makes a big difference if you’re a regular reader of their blog and can demonstrate that. I’ll confess I wasn’t a regular reader of Cult of Mac, but now I’m hooked.

“How to Become Popular on YouTube (Without Any Talent)” – A Free eBook

YouTube Popularity bookThank you, dear readers, for your help finalizing this version 1.5 of “How to Become Popular on YouTube Without Any Talent.” Honestly, if I look at this document another moment I’m going to boot. If you’re looking for my real book, “Beyond Viral,” published by Wiley & Sons in 2010, please click here.

(Warning- clicking the image to the right will cause you to download the book, which is annoying but probably what most people expect).

This post marks the official release of the book. You can download it (for free) by clicking this link, which will open the 30-page PDF: “How to Become Popular on YouTube (Without Any Talent), version 1.5” by Kevin Nalts, WillVideoForFood.com. If you post the PDF on your own blog or website, please keep that title, and my name and URL. You might want to list this post’s permalink, since it will point to future downloadable versions.

While you’re waiting for Adobe to open (insert “car rusting” joke here), I hope you’ll RSS this blog so we can keep each other current. If you’re a YouTuber and haven’t subscribed to my videos, visit YouTube.com/Nalts, then select the orange button labled “subscribe.” Okay- enough self promotion for one day. I’m going to take a nap.

Here’s the book on Skribd for easy access.

Here’s a free 2-page synopsis of my book, “The Prophet of Online Video.” If you want to use this outline and write your own book, go ahead. I’m so not writing for a while.

Sneak Preview: “How to Become Popular on YouTube Without Any Talent” (Free eBook)

[NOTE- THIS POST IS OLD. FOR THE MOST RECENT VERSION OF THE BOOK, SEE THIS POST]

On Friday I’m releasing a free eBook titled “How to Become Popular on YouTube Without Any Talent.” I won’t make any money for each copy downloaded, but I’ll make it up in volume.

Below is a draft that still needs some fine tuning, but I’d appreciate some feedback from some of you core WVFF readers. Here it is as a PDF (version 1.3, which includes some of  your edits on 01/03/08): How to Become Popular on YouTube Without Any Talent

If you’re a blogger, I know I can’t stop you from posting this, but it would be great if you could wait until the Friday (January 4). Unless you’re some big-ass blog like TechCrunch. Then you can do whatever the heck you want. The several days I spent on this would be time well spent if it resulted in an inbound link from a big ass blog (BAB). Up until now, TechCrunch has only given the black-hatted viral marketers a spotlight. 😉

That said, I’m kinda hoping to “soft launch” it to the WillVideoForFood regulars before it’s officially released. I’m somewhat anxious about releasing something via pdf, and knowing I don’t have the ability to fix some horrible mistake that’s bound to be lurking within.

Thanks!

PS Here’s a synopsis of my forthcoming “The Prophet (Profit) of Online Video: Book synopsis,” which is being written to help marketers, agencies and creators capitalize on the growing field of online video.

The Thrill of Fake YouTube Battles: What The Buck vs. Nalts

whatthenaltsprofilepic.jpgI learned some time ago that online video viewers aren’t the most discerning bunch. When Charles Trippy and I created a fake feud, many viewers fell “hook, line and sinker” for the drama (in which we pretended to give out each other’s cell phone numbers, which were actually numbers to the “rejection hotline.”) Here’s my video and here’s his, and the responses and comments will show how vigilant the “fans” of one YouTuber get to protect the honor of their weblebrity (here’s one example). We thought people would be more skeptical, and eventually I had to to this satire spoofing his overzealous fans. Trippy also came clean, and he’s since updated his video title to reveal the joke.

whatthenaltsbannersmall.jpgHistory repeats itself this week. Recently I decided to claim that I’m the writer behind the popular What The Buck Show. It began with some banners, and I’d like to thank Gage Skidmore (the creator of the Nalts logo) for his recent banner collection displayed here (He’s also created a delightful Nalts cartoon you can see by selecting “more below,” although I look a bit doughy if I’m keeping it real).

what the buck michael buckleyYesterday evening my e-mail starting filling with hate mail. It seems Michael Buckley, one of the most popular YouTubers, posted a dramatic video on his Peron75 channel that chastises me for lying. It’s rather convincing, and Michael has a knack for Tammy Fay-like tears. I must confess there was part of me that thought he was serious. His fans not only believed he was upset by me, but many sent horrid comments, videos and e-mail that urge me to die.

Nothing I haven’t seen before. It’s the price of being one of YouTube’s most annoying creators ™. Nonetheless, here’s my spoof response, where I take fake claim to scripting his fake video attack. We’ll see if Michael is compelled to “clear the air” in his What The Buck blog, but frankly I prefer the confusion. Who wouldn’t rather be despised than forgotten?

So what have we learned here? Don’t believe it when YouTubers pretend to feud. It’s all part of promotional drama, and clearly another example of how far some YouTubers will go to hitch their star to my wagon.

wtb-nalts-banner.jpg Continue reading The Thrill of Fake YouTube Battles: What The Buck vs. Nalts

YouTube Is My Life (Destined for Feature)

YouTube is My LifeI don’t think there’s been a video in 2007 that I’ve watched as many times as this recent discovery, “YouTube is My Life.” Seriously. I think I’m up to 19 views.

It’s by ChurchofBlow (aka WeepingProphet). His real name is either Jeremiah McDonald or Bernard Smith, and he’s a former film student based near Boston. (Parenthetically this is the first Google result if you search “Kevin Nalts real name… stalker! :). As he waits for his career to take off (and I’m quite confident it will), he has worked in the coffee industry among other places. Here’s the musician behind the most excellent score.

I’m on a mad campaign to get this featured by YouTube editors because it’s just perfect. Clever, well produced, fantastic cameos by some YouTube weblebrities (TheHill88, MarkDay and Sean Bedlam). It’s a totally addictive song, it’s well lit, the sound effects are fantastic, the acting is dead pan, the humor is intellectual, the camera movements are thoughtful, and the stop-animated finger puppets are just plain cute. It’s a great example of what an amateur with talent can do with scarce resources.

Here’s another one we seem to be watching some what obsessively (Farting Elves from JibJab).

Here Comes Another DMCA Whiner

Lane Wants Her MoneyI try to be fairly objective on this blog, but I really have no sympathy for whining photographers that hire attorneys because their photos appear for a second in a popular YouTube video. The photographers, like the writers striking, are under the delusion that they’re being deprived of their rightful income. The reality is that there is no damned income.

It’s like a feuding family competing for the box of molded National Geographic magazines their dead father left behind.

Background: “Here Comes Another Bubble,” by “The Richter Scales,” is a case study in copyright lunacy. The penniless a Capella singers stitched their song to random photos they found on the web… because a YouTube music video with a black screen (or worse yet, facially-challenged a Capella singers) just wouldn’t have been as viral. They received no advertising revenue because they weren’t yet in YouTube’s partner’s program (if they were, they would have known the risk, because YouTube puts us through a daunting meeting with an attorney before we get into the program).

Along comes photographer Lane Hartwell (whose image above is used without her permission) and sends YouTube a DMCA notice because she finds one of her photos in the montage.

  • Explains Richter Scales: “when Lane emailed us shortly after the video was released, we immediately gave her a credit, with a link, in the “About This Video” section on YouTube, but weren’t able to assess whether that was sufficient because Lane wouldn’t talk to us via phone and didn’t respond to our emails with any requests or proposals before she issued the DMCA take-down request.”
  • Fartwell’s attorney claims The Richter Scales were cavalier, and Hartwell herself said: “the band opted not to work with me toward a fair resolution of the issue. I have to say that I’m very disappointed with the members of the band I negotiated with in good faith.”
  • This appears to be a divided issue, but isn’t it amazing how radically different these accounts are of what happened before the DMCA notice was filed by Hartwell?

Lane’s attorney friend is sympathetic but acknowledges she has little legal recourse. So what it this about? Standing for principals or fame whoring? I’ve got my theory. (Parenthetically, here’s an article on this subject from Wired, but don’t expect objectivity since Fartwell contributes to the publication).

Now this stupid thing is a debate of magnitude proportions:

How about you photographers save your energy for when someone is actually making money on your images instead of doing it on principle? Or find a way to put your talents to making your own profit, instead of whining when someone else uses your photos to not make money. There’s no mistaking that the a Capella group violated Hartwell’s copyright, but it’s not like they were out selling her framed photos to line their limos with puppy fur… they didn’t make any money directly from the viral video, and to date have sold a few of their legacy music CDs that don’t even contain the “Here Comes Another Bubble” song.

Here’s the essence of the problem. It’s a good motive gone perverse. Photographers, video creators and a Capella singers are all in the same boat. We’re artists who are not generally making significant dollars via our passion, and so we want to preserve our rights. But do we chase each other down for our fair share of dink, or find ways to collaborate and monetize?

My videos are constantly ripped and posted. Sometimes I’ll alert YouTube, but I usually consider it free advertising. The only time I ever took objection is when someone posted my “Bored at the Mall” on Break.com and made profit from it as it hit ~1.5 million views. But I didn’t go on a witch hunt and didn’t expect to get a dime.

If creators instead invest the time they spend whining about copyrights in promoting their work and monetizing it, things will change. And the only ones who will suffer in that scenario are ambulance-chasing copyright attorneys.

Thanks to NewTeeVee for getting me all riled up before my second cup of coffee. By way of disclaimer, I have no relationship with The Richter Scales and I’m a strong believer in artist rights — hence my passion for models like Revver. But I have zero tolerance for unreasonable behavior like this.

Hey, Lane. If you’ll drop this, I will personally send you a check for their entire proceeds of 8 CDs. But if not, please have fun filing DMCA notices against those strangers that participate in my “Lane Hartwell Video Collage contestusing your Flickr photos (See my video rant).

Research About Online-Video Viewing

More research about online-video and television viewing. This Harris study tells us so much and yet so little. What I was hoping (based on the lead) is that it would talk about how online-video is cannibalizing, if at all, television viewing. Certainly for me I spend far more time watching video on my monitor than my overpriced HDTV.

  • More television viewers are turning to the Internet to watch videos, films and TV episodes, according to a new survey.
  • Approximately 65 percent of the 2,455 U.S. adults surveyed by Harris Interactive said they have watched a video on YouTube, compared to 42 percent during the same time last year. More than 42 percent of YouTube viewers said they visit the site frequently, up from 33 percent last year.
  • Apart from YouTube, which most people favored because they felt it had almost every video they could find, 43 percent said they have watched a video on a TV network Web site, followed by 35 percent on news sites and less than 30 percent on search engines such as Yahoo and Google.
  • Online viewers said they would watch more TV episodes and full-length movies if more were available. There was less interest in viewing more amateur or user-generated videos, news and sports, according to the survey.

Via Reuters. By Claire Sibonney; Editing by Patricia Reaney.