A man spills his coffee. A woman gets angry. Using telekinetic power, she sends him flying upward against a wall. Then she sends coffee tables sliding away with the wave of her hand. Finally she screams, and pictures fly off the wall and books fly to the ground.
This is one of the best pranks I’ve seen, and it’s also a masterful promotion for Carrie, the new movie adaptation of Stephen King’s classic. So it wins the official 2013 WillVideoForFood Best Viral Video Promotion award.
YouTube just released 150 free music tracks that you can download and use royalty-free in your videos. Unlike the existing150,000 audio tracks that video producers can use as background music for their videos, these new tracks can be downloaded or remixed. This is a nice alternative to the free, royalty-free music Kevin McLeod has offered via Incompetech.com.
To be clear, “free” means you don’t buy the music
“Royalty free” means you can use it without penalty or paying the artist.
In case you share my obsession with “My Singing Monsters,” you’ll need a breeding guide to get the advanced monsters. Download the images below to your phone so they’re easy to reference. And friend me: 2846120DC – or visit me on YouTube!
The Canon EOS R50 is my favorite entry-level mirrorless for video creators and photographers who can’t afford a pro camera but need more than their phone.
Real quickly- if you happen to be looking for a great entry-level digital camera, be sure to check my review of the Canon EOS R50– which is designed to help creators make better videos than with their phones and for a price tag ($799) that doesn’t get into the $1000-$3000 range.
For a birthday gift try the Verenix Hyehehe plush doll – as one commenter says, “”If misfortune befalls you and you hear a snickering laugh nearby, you’ve been pranked by the one and only Hyehehe.”
Or here’s the ultimate My Singing Monsters birthday party decoration kit that includes a 5×3 background, 24 inflatable balloons for less than $15… pro-tip- you can gently iron the back side of the backdrop but put a layer of cloth down first.
Photos of the Best Gifts
Here are just a few of my favorite “My Singing Monsters” gifts, toys and shirts – that have the best ratings on Amazon.
Now On to the Breeding Guides!
Here is the Nalts pictorial guide on how to breed such monsters as Shrubb, Oaktapus, Forcuron, Fwog, Drumpler, Maw, Pummel, Clamble, T-Rox, Entbrat, Dandidoo, Pango, Ccybop, Spunge, Thumpies, Congle, Bogart, Quibble, Dedge, Cybob, PomPom, Scups, Riff, Reedling, Shellbeat, Quarrister, and Shugabush.Go get ’em! NOTE: for advanced monsters, your odds could be as low as 1% so keep trying!
Sure this has nothing to do with online video, but I figured the blog has been dark for a while… so why not?
Here’s the “My Singing Monster” sticker collection for less than $10.
Sticker kit with 64 My Singing Monsters stickers for laptop and phone
I love small businesses (I got my MBA in entrepreneurship). I want them to succeed in online-video marketing because it’s a guerilla marketer’s dream channel.
So when Britt Klontz sent me a note about this interactive tool for small businesses interested in YouTube… well I just had to share it. The cool thing about it is this: it links out to a bunch of relevant articles based on where you are in your process.
This interactive tool helps small businesses figure out YouTube.
Looking for some new stats on YouTube and Advertising? Here’s a roundup thanks to eMarketer, Credit Suisse, Mashable and an infographic from MDG Advertising. Some highlights:
The CPM for midtier sites and placements in 2013 will be approximately $25 and reach nearly $33 for premium destinations.
Marketers are projected to spend $4.14 billion on the medium this year and invest billions more in the coming years to reach more than $8 billion in 2016.
“Gangnam Style,” the most popular YouTube video ever, saw $870,000 in ad revenue from YouTube.
Check out the MDG Advertising infographic for more fun stats:
Variety reports that YouTube’s most popular comedy duo, Smosh, may be making its way to television. The YouTube veterans have hit 10 million subscribers, placing them as the #1 subscribed YouTube channels.
Writes Variety:
Alloy Digital, the company behind the top-ranked YouTube channel, is in talks with multiple cable networks about finding a second home for the talent across Smosh’s five channels, according to sources. Negotiations are focused on both scripted and non-scripted fare; Alloy is already signing up writers to support the expansion.
So can Smosh creators and actors, Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox, translate to TV? I believe they can. They’re funny, good looking and have shown their ability to attract and maintain an audience with bite-sized skits (Teleporting Fat Guy remains my favorite).
There’s finally some precedence too. Fred (Lucas Cruikshank) has done well with Nickelodeon. Daneboe has brought Annoying Orange to Cartoon Network. And Ray William Johnson apparently has a script deal with Fx.
Online video is growing faster than any other type of consumer service offering, and by 2017 will be more popular than Facebook, Twitter and Co, according to Cisco’s new Visual Networking Index forecast and this Gigaom article. The forecast is based primarily on data use. “Bandwidth points to social networking as the world’s most popular type of consumer service,” according to the report.
Here are some tidbits:
Online video services had just around 1 billion users worldwide in 2012, according to Cisco. The company estimates that this number will almost double by 2017, reaching close to 2 billion users worldwide.
Online video will account for 69 percent of consumer internet traffic by 2017 (up from 57 percent in 2012).
Mobile video will grow 16-fold from 2012 to 2017, and account for 66 percent of all mobile data traffic during that year.
Much of the data I’ve read also suggests online-video advertising will continue to outpace many mediums, although mobile advertising may surpass it.
A very recent AdWeek article (YouTube Stars Represent Massive Media Shift) alerted me to an oped piece by Hank Green (Vlogbrothers, VidCon, etc.). It’s titled “Lessons Learned From YouTube’s $300 Million Hole.” Hank observes the success rate of the YouTube creator grants, and how most of the channels failed. Go read it.
What do you think? Do any of the new channels strike you as being successful? Hank mentions SourceFed.
As you’ve no doubt heard, the new YouTube channel design is available for us unwashed masses. You shall like it, so proclaims some YouTube luminaries in this promotional video. So how do you activate the new “YouTube One Channel” and customize it?
Here’s my new channel design so far
First you need to activate the new channel. Visit YouTube One’s overview page (which describes features), and scroll to bottom. Press button. You’re in business.
Now you’ll need one photo that will serve desktop, tablet and television. The specifications are described on YouTube’s blog. You want an image that’s 2120 by 1192 pixels. You can download a png template here. The image that appears on this page is a condensed version.
template for 2013 redesign of youtube channel
To customize your image in Photoshop, here’s a YouTube Channel One Photoshop Template I created. Obviously you’ll want to delete the images from mine, and keep the template page visible so you can size things. Be sure to leave space for your thumbnail, which automatically appears over the image. If mine doesn’t work, here’s a nice YouTube One template.
Note that your logo needs to be in the middle of this giant rectangle. The entire image shows up on TV, but only the center rectangle appears on desktop and mobile.
While you’re editing your new channel, go through the checklist in the upper right corner to customize links and ensure the correct icons are overlaying your image.
A man spills his coffee. A woman gets angry. Using telekinetic power, she sends him flying upward against a wall. Then she sends coffee tables sliding away with the wave of her hand. Finally she screams, and pictures fly off the wall and books fly to the ground.
