Category Archives: Making Videos

copyright, Making Videos, Online Video

Royalty-Free Music for Cheap

First a disclaimer. I don’t take any spiffs to mention a company or product on this Blog. I’m a former journalist, and I only cover something if I find it interesting myself or for my largely anonymous readers. I’ve gotten some e-mails from folks asking if this is my day job, so I’ve updated my bio on the “About Me” tab above.
That having been said, I want to tell you about SoundRangers.com. I registered and have been ignoring the e-mails. But this morning I discovered they’ve got some decent music and sound effects that are royalty free. If you’re making amateur videos and expect to profit from them (even marginally) you’ll want to make sure you’re using royalty free stuff.sr1.jpg

The problem about most royalty-free content is that it’s as expensive as hell. But SoundRangers has price points even a small video can afford- from $3 to $30 from what I’ve seen. My next video will experiment with one of their nice collection of instrumental tunes. They’re mostly short so that will help me edit with more discipline.

copyright, google video, Making Videos, Online Video, popular videos, Revver, Video Business, Video Sites, Viral Video, YouTube

When a Copyright Violater Gets Violated

I like scoring my videos with copyrighted songs, but I started to realize that it’s not sustainable. So now I’m carefull with copyright issus — using royalty free content or my own creations on GarageBand (Mac).

I had a new awakening about copyright violation yesterday when speaking to a guy from Google Video. I realized (see image below) that my “Google Earth: Has it Gone Too Far” had been submitted by two other people. Then while we were speaking I realized his team had selected Crackberry as a “Google Pick.” He asked why I hadn’t included the name of my company and I said it must have been an oversight. But when I went to edit the video entry I realized… I hadn’t submitted Crackberry! Someone else scraped it from YouTube or Revver.

As he observed, this isn’t an issue for those seeking viral fame. But for those with content they hope to commercialize, it’s a bummer. It’s also a risk as someone could easily edit my work, add something offensive and submit it as me.

To be honest, I’m flattered that someone would go to the trouble. Yet if someone starts making money on my content I’m going to have to create a fake URL of an attorney’s website and send out really good BS letters from him. I think I’ll use the name Mike Huntz.

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Making Videos, Online Video, Video Contests, Viral Video

You Can Actually Win Contests

1 Comment

Before today, the last contest I won was a liquor wagon in high school. My dad took it all away, but left me with the red wagon. But thanks in part to you, dear readers, I’ve won the first weekly “Be the Bee” prize. Here’s the note I received:

Dear ‘nalts’, Congratulations, you are the BarterBee.com ‘Be the Bee’ Round 1 WINNER for your video entry ‘MiniBee’!!!!

We are extremely pleased to announce that you have won a Toshiba SD-P1800 Portable 8 Inch DVD Player!  You will receive your prize shortly via UPS 2nd day air.  It is being sent to your attention at:

We also want to let you know that you are now eligible to win the grand prize, a Panasonic 42″ Plasma HDTV.  The grand prize winner will be announced on September 12th, 2006.

Thank you again for your entry in the ‘Be the Bee’ contest and remember that BarterBee.com is the “Cheapest Way to get Movies, Music and Games!”

Happy Trading!
Nicole
BarterBee.com Customer Service

Making Videos, Online Video

How Do You Have Time to Make These Videos?

3 Comments

Have you ever heard the line: "How do you have time to make these videos?"

That translates to- "I'm not interested in your humor. Please take me off your distribution list." This also goes for "you're crazy," "you are so weird," or "your kids are going to need therapy."
The highest compliment for your online video is, contrary to popular believe, not "LOL" or "Funny as Shit!" The best way to support someone else's video is to comment on one specific moment you thought was funny. This is nice for two reasons: 1) It shows you actually watched it, 2) It's constructive so you know what created impact. The second best response is constructive feedback- I love when someone tells me something was too long or missing a good ending. That helps too.

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.

book, Killer Video, Making Videos, Online Video, Video Advertising, Video Business, Video Contests, Video Sites, Viral Video, Web 2.0

An Incentive to Post Comments

3 Comments

To encourage reader comments, I'm offering links to related sites from this blog — which gets as high as 300 people per day. All you have to do is comment frequently, and if your site is related I'll throw in a link on the right column. I'll also do a post covering your site if it's relevant to the readers of WillVideoForFood.

The blogs I'd like to identify (for myself and readers) are the following. Those that discuss:cricket.gif

  • Tips and software for amateur video makers
  • Online video websites and trends
  • Onine advertising- especially pertaining to video ads
  • Sites identifying video contests
  • Killer viral videos  (like those that identify a good viral video each day)
  • Other ways to make money through online videos

The only thing that won't get covered is a site or blog that's self serving (trying to sell stuff as opposed to being educational and helpful) or sites that really aren't related to this area. If you read this blog regularly, please let us know what else you read that's complementary. I want to update my RSS feeds so I'm reading related blogs, and I'm sure your fellow WillVideoForFood readers will benefit as well.

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.
book, Future of Online Video, Making Videos, Online Video, Uncategorized, Video Advertising, Video Business, Video Sites, Viral Video, Web 2.0

How Will Amateurs Make Money from Online Videos in 2007?

4 Comments

Right now there are only two ways for an amateur to make money on short online videos, but this will soon change.

  1. Provide a website or network exclusive rights and get a one-time payment. We've seen certain amateur content creators already stop producing content for YouTube because they've been presumably approached by "content scouts." Remember MadV? He said good-bye and I would expect to see him appear somewhere else. I've seen celebrity YouTube stars also vanish with ambiguous plans about entering into a different arrangement. money-large.jpgI've been contacted by such content scouts, but the financial transparency isn't clear so I haven't done anything.
  2. Serve videos through a revenue-sharing site (usually non-exclusive that allows for ongoing income based on view volume). Eepy Bird's $15K plus income on their Coke/Mentos is a good example of this. They opted to run their videos through Revver and opted to post them exclusively even though Revver doens't require that.

As 2006 continues, we're going to see some new models emerge, providing more options to amateur artists. These will require some serious trade-offs for content owners because we'll have to weigh options without knowing exactly which will be most profitable.

For instance, some online video sites are developing "exclusive revenue-sharing models" whereby you'd turn over exclusive rights to your video for ongoing revenue based on views. This only makes sense if you expect to get dramatically more views in exchange for giving up your video forever.

But if you apply proven media models to the online space, it makes sense that this will be an option. A website can't sell its content upstream (to cell phone providers, for instance) if most of their content is non exclusive and violating copyrights. So the future for a value-added intermediary depends on garnering traffic, getting good content, and then distributing that more broadly.

In any event, there are three things that are critical. 1) Good content (defined as funny, sexy, short and viral). 2) Traffic (there's no advertising revenue without traffic), and 3) Distribution and promotion (someone has to market the videos… more on that soon).

Killer Video, Making Videos, Online Video, Uncategorized, Video Contests, Viral Video, Web 2.0

Help Starving Video Blogger Win Prize

Okay, the competition for the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang contest is better than I expected. Which means I need to blog a desperate plea for votes. If you have a second, please give the following three short videos "5 stars." You don't even have to suffer through them or click the ads. And if I win, I'll let you borrow the iPod whenever you want…

Bar Scene- my wife and me

My kids do Apology scene (mostly bloopers)

EvilFist's entry

Thanks!