Category Archives: Blogs on Video

advertising, Blogs on Video, book, Online Video, popular videos, Video Business, Web 2.0, YouTube

Join the YouTube Bubble-Burst Pool… no cash required and t-shirt and fame await you

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houseofcards.jpgNOTE: Log your votes on the above tab “YouTube Bubble-Burst Pool.”

We’re having a WillVideoForFood Pool on when YouTube’s bubble bursts. I’m saying 67 days. Here’s how the pool works.

You guess the exact days between now and the bust, and submit that number as a comment. The bust will be defined by any of the following:

  1. YouTube falls from the number one position for online videos (it’s leading by miles so this won’t happen first)
  2. YouTube announces its sale to a large media player, who ultimately over commercialize, sanitize and ride the business down a black hole. The deal doesn’t have to be complete for this condition to be satisfied.
  3. YouTube has a cover story on its failed business model by any of the following publications: Newsweek, Time, Forbes, or Fortune.

The day one of these things happen, I’ll return to the post and find the winner. That winner will receive a “I Guessed the Date of YouTube’s Demise” t-shirt (custom made at CafeExpress) and a special WVFF blog post that hails the individual as the great forecaster of the end of YouTube and the beginning of the next generation of online video. This burst is a critical step in the maturity of this market, and I want to get it over with quickly. That’s why I’m going with 67 days.

Put in your vote. You gotta vote to win.

AOL, BlipTV, Blogs on Video, Google, google video, Killer Video, Online Video, popular videos, Revver, Video Business, Video Sites, YouTube

The Sweet 16 Online Video Sites

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As an update on a recent report about popular online video sites, here are the latest site rankings of online video sites according to Alexa. Not all of the online video sites allow for uploading and sharing, so they’re not all packed with viral videos.

* Refers to those that give you the ability to upload

$ Refers to those that share revenue with video creators

  1. *YouTube: 17
  2. *Google Video: (Doesn’t rank video site alone)
  3. *Yahoo Video: (Doesn’t rank video site alone)
  4. *AOL Video: (Doesn’t rank video site alone)
  5. *Metacafe: 161
  6. Break.com: 297
  7. eBaumsWorld: 553
  8. iFilm: 859
  9. Heavy.com: 969
  10. Grouper: 2,981
  11. $*Revver: 5,799
  12. AtomFilms: 6,328
  13. GoFish: 8,434
  14. $*Blip.TV: 15,611
  15. $*Eefoof: 26,159
  16. JumpCut: 27,821

P.S. ClipShack: 37,750, CubeBreak: 294,151, The DailyReel: (too new)

advertising, Blogs on Video, book, google video, Killer Video, Making Videos, Online Video, popular videos, Viral Video, vlogging

The 10 Immutable Laws of Viral Video

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virus.gifSo my joking reference to the “second law of viral videos” at the close of this “YouTube Viral Video Broker” clip resulted in this question from Joe Chapuis:

What’s the first law of viral videos?

Fair question. I hadn’t really considered the rules yet… I was spoofing someone that would have the arrogance to cite “viral video laws.” But Joe’s question got me thinking about actually researching what makes a video viral. Then I realized it would be less work to suck down my fourth cup of coffee and make up my own.

So here they are, folks. The Immutable Laws of Viral Video.

  1. The definition of viral video is that the video prompts others to share it. It doesn’t mean it’s good by any definition.
  2. Stupid sells.
  3. Nobody can predict what becomes viral. My videos that achieve modest viral status (like the inane Google Earth one) are almost never the ones I expect.
  4. If you’re trying to market via viral, stay “unpackaged” and funny. And don’t get your hopes up. 2007 will be the “year of corporate viral video attempts” and most will fail.
  5. Topical is important. Viral is subject to “pile on,” whereby one viral explosion creates copycats. A clip is more likely to be discovered if it contains keywords from other viral videos that are being searched.
  6. There is no cure for the video virus, but it’s not life-threatening.
  7. Duration is “make or break.” Short will always outperform long. Stay under a minute for best results and never go beyond 3 minutes.
  8. The creator of the “Immutable Laws of Viral Video” (me) is allowed to break law number 7.
  9. There is no law number 9.
  10. If you try too hard to be viral, you probably won’t be.

In the early generation of viral videos, certain themes have emerged: dancing videos, music videos, impromptu moments, pranks, clever movie scenes, parodies, celebrity moments and, of course, AFV-like falls and stunts. … To get a glimpse into the “Viral Video Hall of Fame” see the About.com list of the top 10 viral videos of all times, and a more recent list.

Blogs on Video, Online Video, Web 2.0

Blah Blah Blog

3 Comments

This video is kinda mean, but I’ve never laughed so hard while editing a video. Here’s the setup. Adriana Cronin-Lukas is one of the more influential and interesting bloggers that I know. She’s advising my employer on an appropriate approach to engaging in blogs and other forms of consumer-generated media.

Yesterday I had lunch with her, and brough along my boss. While Adriana was waiting in the lobby, I convinced my boss to fake like she was falling asleep and had her videotape me doing the same. Then we got Adriana speaking, and I edited it so it makes no sense and inserted our reactions.

It’s a commentary on how boring bloggers are, but to be fair Adriana is far from boring.

AOL, Blogs on Video, Diet Coke, google video, Killer Video, Mentos, Online Video, popular videos, Video Sites, Viral Video, Web 2.0, YouTube

The Mad Search for the Most Popular Videos

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I’ve noticed that my most popular posts are not my deepest thoughts about the future of online video, or about how amateurs can make money. Nope, if I want blogger popularity I simply write about what video is hot that week.

popular.jpgIndulge me, dear readers, in an experiment. In this post I will write about the hotest videos. I’ll report back how many views this post gets. Did you know that Emmalina is the most popular YouTube uploader? BritBot& Simula Special gets more comments than most. The Diet Coke and Mentos fad, unfortunately, is not over. Today I’ll get at least 4 e-mails asking me if I’ve seen the Comcast guy sleeping. Don’t ask me why, but computer animation with musical scores are all the rage. Check out Naruto AMV- Hinata’s Perfect World. It’s one of the top rated videos on YouTube.

Today thanks to Google sponsors you can watch Felix the Cat for free (which is nice, because I’ve been wanting to watch him for a while, but didn’t want the guilt of searching for an illegal posting of him… that was sarcasm on both fronts). Paris Hilton is the number one video on Google Video. That name still gets searches, doesn’t it? Or is she yesterday?

Learning how to fold a perfect shirt seems to be hot on MetaCafe. And here’s one of the shortest most viral clips: Hiding the beer gut. And Dancing Around the World is one video that deserves the viral status it’s getting. Most people will stop watching this video of an Asian woman performing what appears to be an illicit act but is actually an ad.

Okay- I’m fried. It ‘aint easy finding the good stuff.

Blogs on Video, Making Videos, Online Video, Video Business, Video Online Tools, Video Sites, Video Software, Web 2.0

The “Consumer’s Report” of Online Video Sites

4 Comments

testinnn.jpgCourtesy of Deirdre Straughan, here's a site that tests a lot of video players in one spot. Some of them load automatically, so you'll have to scroll down and pause. You'll be greeted by some cool music. Thanks, Deirdre, for bringing this to our attention and doing the testing that the rest of us are too lazy to do!

For more comments on various video sites, check out Loaded Pun. Great resource on the pro's and con's of each site.

Blogs on Video, book, Making Videos, Online Video, Uncategorized, Video Advertising, Video Business, Video Sites

Promoting Your Online Video Content

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Since there's no model that has high traffic (YouTube) AND pay-for-content (Revver), this has been my strategy for making money through online video. Use it as your own risk.

  1. Create good stuff. I'm hit or miss, and still experimenting. Since I'm not interested in making sexy videos, I focus on humor. Sometimes topical, sometimes corny, sometimes I find a hit. Most of them are short, but the 1.5 minute ones sometimes work well.
  2. Market the hell out of it. People think they can post on Revver and watch their account grow. Wrong. There's no guarantee that good content gets viewed, and no guarantee that bad content won't get viewed. It's arbitrary and requires persistence, luck and promotion.

So how do you promote your video?screaming.gif

  • eMail friends. I'm not crazy about this because I feel like an Amway salesman. Unless it's something really good.
  • Befriend a blogger. Steve Rubel (www.Micropersuasion.com) has linked to a few of my videos and that has worked very nicely.
  • Create a site. I run www.CubeBreak.com on a shoe-string. Nothing but my time and a small hosting fee from Yahoo. But I get 1,000-3,500 people per day. So it helps.
  • Use YouTube to get famous, and drive people to a location on which you can profit. Since most of my CubeBreak visitors are typing in the name directly, I can only assume they're finding me because they've seen my bumper on my YouTube videos. Maybe there's some word of mouth.
  • Issue a press release. If you have good stuff, you can write a story for www.PRWeb.com and get some decent pickup. It costs about $80 though.
  • Most importantly, you have to tap a nerve. Who knows what makes something viral. Why do people flock to Mentos and Coke? Why are we obsessed with Asian lip synchers or the Numa Numa kid? Who knows. But I'll continue to experiment to see what hits, and I'll let you know.
Blogs on Video, Online Video, Uncategorized, Video Business, Video Sites, Viral Video, Web 2.0, YouTube

Will the “Video Revolution” Be As Muted as the “Audio Revolution”?

My friend Jack wrote this rant about online videos, and he said I could steal it. Click "more" below for the entire piece. Here are some highlights.audio.jpg

  • The revolution will be televised; but its just seems we needed to wait untill the television is really a large flat-panel LCD monitor with a PC hooked into the Internet.

  • The Consumer Generated Content Internet “Video Revolution” needs four things to hit tipping point: 1. eyeballs, 2. adoption, 3. famous and/or popular mavericks, and; 4. easy-to-use payment systems supporting artists.

  • Want to predict the future of the Video Revolution? Look at the Audio Revolution. Common independent music artists are still eating Ramen Noodles just like the 80’s and 90’s. Thanks to software like Garage Band, we have lots of tools to make the stuff…. However, no one really showed up with a system that paid artists directly and easily.

  • Really the Audio Revolution focused on pirated music of famous artists, not original content. More than six years past the commercial birth of the Internet we tune in to FOX and American Idol (on TV) to find our new music stars and not the Internet…all on a show made famous by a maverick record label guy from the UK who stole the idea for the show in the first place. We use our phones to vote; we can’t even e-mail it in.

  • This Audio Revolution was followed quickly followed by the Lawsuit Era.

  • Why did the Audio Revolution fail? No model to pay content providers. What if a presidential candidate put his/her videos exclusively on Revver (which pays content creators), with ad clicks going to the campaign bucket? “Sorry CNN.com, put the video town hall on your homepage via Revver or nothing at all for you.”

Continue reading Will the “Video Revolution” Be As Muted as the “Audio Revolution”? →

Blogs on Video, book, Future of Online Video, Making Videos, Online Video, Uncategorized, Video Advertising, Video Business, Video Sites, Viral Video, Web 2.0, YouTube

YouTube is a Giant Conference Call

concall.jpgI've been trying to figure out how YouTube managed to surpass video-sharing sites like Break.com, despite arriving to the market far later. Then it occured to me what may already be obvious to you. Most video sites are searchable television stations… putting the visitor in command to find video that appeals.

YouTube, however, is a giant conference call. It's made up of video posters watching and commenting on other video posters. They're connected, they have popularity (or lack of), and they react to each other. YouTube has recently launched the ability to send a video reaction to someone's video (instead of just leaving a comment). It's closer to MySpace in the social networking aspect. And it's what people want out of online video.

So despite previous posts, I think there will be a future for YouTube after the "wild west" era of copyright protection ends. It won't be as dramatic, but it will be there.

Interestingly, though, some of the popular video creators of YouTube are starting to migrate their content to other channels that give them income. For instance, YouTube idol, Morbeck, began posting on Revver.com (a site that gives creators half of the revenue generated by ad clicks). Others (like ZeFrank) are posting via Revver and asking people not to post it on YouTube or other online video sites.