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Sponsored Fun or Selling Out? Comedy Duo On Road Trip for Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz.

Rhett and Link, comedic video amateurs, are mountaineering above the overhang of “The Great Cliff of New-Media Sponsored Advertising.” They’re harnessed to each other with a taut rope, knotted with creativity. The friends swing effortlessly to the next hold in a pendulum traverse. Rhett knows the objective danger as he firmly grabs his nub, and Link’s total attention is committed to…

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10 Famous People That Are Less Popular Than Me (Nalts)

In a move so brilliantly self promotional that I myself am in awe, TubeMogul ranked the top 40 most-viewed users. This is a delicious marketing tactic because (a) we popularity whores cannot resist bragging rights on this, and (b) if you want to pull a “whose your daddy” on me, you have to use TubeMogul….

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Video Sponsorship Trends: “Cashing In” or “Selling Out”

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…

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Long-Tail Celebrities Won’t Get Famous and May Not Care

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…

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The Attack of the Killer How-To Video Sites

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…

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Pratfall Spices Up Viral-Video Panel

So I took a deliberate spill while hosting a panel at Streaming Media East called “Creating and Promoting Amateur Videos.” Paul Kontonis, CEO of For Your Imagination, screamed like a teenage girl, but was one of few people that realized it was a joke. The fall is 1 minutes and 9 seconds in. Warning: Per…

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Selling Out? Cashing In? The Canadian Perpective…

Canadian publication “Globe and Mail” did a story about viral video: cashing in or cashing out. I’m mentioned a few times in the piece, and it’s an interesting exposition… Globetechology.com Jennifer Hollett takes on a variety of views about the appropriateness of sponsored ads. I was tickled to see Hollett digging up this old piece…

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YouTube Now Advertising Free!

 Well it’s been a week or so since I’ve seen an Invideo ad on YouTube. I’m not aware of a public statement regarding what is allegedly a technical issue. My new banner is “Nalts: Now With No Advertising.” And I’m still posting away… At least the subliminal ads are still running (see YouTube Picks).

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How to Win a Contest (Case Study)

ZackScott, one of my favorite fearless video creators, returns for a guest blog post about winning a recent Xlntads ProQuo contest (disclaimer: Zack and I both contribute to Xlntads as members of a “creative advisor board, and he wins contests while I think about them). Zack told me yesterday, “I’m hoping people think I’m such…

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Streaming Media East (NYC) on Tuesday, May 20

I’ll be moderating a panel for Streaming Media East tomorrow (Tuesday, May 20) at the NYC Hilton. The topic is “Creating and Promoting Amateur and Viral Videos” (A103) 1:45 PM – 2:30 PM The session explores what makes a video viral and how marketers and amateurs can promote their video using online video sites and…