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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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A Plea for Videos Featuring On-Air Talent Rants & Outtakes

Dear production team, For years you’ve quietly enjoyed that old Beta tape packed with outtakes of your abusive talent — sharing it only with select friends after dinner (and a cheaper version of the beer your talent drinks on his bloated network expense account). Now you’re seeing your production-crew comrades upload clips of nutcase anchors…

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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…

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YouTube Technical Problems Create Pissed Unpaid “Partner”

He’s one of the most prolific YouTubers with more than 123,000 subscribers, daily comedic and topical rants, and he makes his primary income from YouTube’s “Partner Program.” But Sxephil was so frustrated by YouTube’s technical problems — which he said deprived him of ad revenue — that he turned his daily rant toward the Google-owned…

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Want to Be Seen and Paid on YouTube? Your Relatives Matter…

As many as 25% of the views of a video may come from people finishing a related video. This chart shows the percentage of views that come from various sources to my “The Best of Naked Vlogs.” This is not a representative example, but look at the percent of traffic that comes from “related video”…

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Media Stereotypes Online-Video Clichés

There’s no question that traditional media tends to characterize online video — and YouTube in particular — as a cute fad. Certainly the bulk of the stories are about the “one hit wonders,” Internet clichés, and sensational hits like Chris Crocker, Sneezing Pandas, laughing babies and Star Wars Kid. When I saw some recent Comedy…

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Southpark on Monetization of Digital Content

Kyle from Southpark puts it well in this 30-second clip from “Canada on Strike.” The clip’s called “The Promise of Future Revenue.” Thanks to Jan for finding it. Boy I’m sure glad that’s over with. Me too. Yeah, but you know I learned something today. We thought we could make money on the Internet. But…

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Exclusive, Leaked BS: How to Manipulate YouTube

All the bad advice on how to manipulate YouTube in one handy video. Where do I start? Buried in this, actually, is some good advice… Like being creative about tagging with less competitive terms. And keeping a video shocking and fast, and coming up with clever names and thumbnails. But much of it is futile…