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Who Wants to Learn How to Make Web Videos That Sell? Posted: 30 Apr 2008 05:53 AM CDT I’m starting a new course this week (as a student) - it’s called WebVideo University. Over the past 6 or so so months I’ve been experimenting more and more with using Video on my blog. It started out with just an experiment or two but the response from readers was so encouraging that I set myself the goal of running weekly (or as it turned out every second week) video posts. Like I say - the response has been wonderful - there have been numerous benefits: For starters I’ve noticed a lot of new readers commenting on the blog. It seems that video connects with a different kind of reader. While some prefer text others prefer audio/visual teaching. It’s added a more personal dynamic to the blog - when I was at the SXSW conference earlier in the year I had a lot of people come up to me because they recognized me from the video and had a lot of comments along the lines of ‘I feel like I know you from your videos’. It allows me to express myself in ways I’d not really been able to do before with just written words and still images. Being able to use body language and different tones of voice enables a different level of communication. The problem with video on a blog is that it is a lot of work. It also means learning a new skills set and spending a lot of time on things like filming and editing - time that I would previously have put into other core blogging tasks. I personally think that there is a lot I could learn to improve my video so recently when David Kaminski from WebVideo University contacted me to see if I’d be interested in promoting his video making course I told him that I wasn’t interested in promoting it - but instead I was interested in DOING IT. If you’d like to join me in some learning the course starts on 1 May. It’s short notice (I’m sorry, I was meaning to promote this earlier but it’s been a crazy few weeks) but I’m sure some of you will have time to leap into it. The course goes for 4 weeks in a ‘virtual classroom’ where you log in to get your classes (video based lessons - what else would you expect in a course like this). The course isn’t just focused on producing talking head videos but has more of a sales angle to it (creating web videos that sell/web commercials). I’m looking forward to starting the course tomorrow - hope to see some of you as classmates! Share This

Google Page Rank Updating…. But…. Posted: 29 Apr 2008 08:51 PM CDT This is a short post that might hopefully stop the flood of emails that I’ve been getting for the last 24 hours: Google’s Page Rank seems to be updating. Thanks to the 47 people who have emailed, Twittered and IM’d me to let me know. While these updates can be a little exciting for some I’d encourage us all to…. Video created in September 2007 Share This

What Topic is Your Blog? [POLL RESULTS] Posted: 29 Apr 2008 04:15 PM CDT Last month the ProBlogger Poll asked readers to tell us what their blog’s topic is. The results are in and it’s a fairly even spread across 11 categories. There were 3043 responses that categorized themselves as follows: I was actually quite surprised by the evenness of topics covered. There is probably a skew towards ‘internet’ as that is the niche that this blog is about but it goes to show just how diverse the blogosphere has become. Following is another chart of the same information - showing the percentages. Share This

Five Reasons Why Mom Blogs Are the Blogs to Watch Posted: 29 Apr 2008 12:29 PM CDT The following post exploring the rise of Mom Blogs is by Michelle Mitchell from Scribbit. In the Wall Street Journal’s April 10th issue Sue Shellenbarger interviewed Heather Armstrong (known to millions of fascinated fans as Dooce) and a gasp of surprise went up from print media around the country (even my hometown paper The Anchorage Daily News picked the article up off the AP wire). But I’m here to tell you that there’s nothing surprising about Dooce’s super-stardom and in fact not only is it to be expected but other mom blogs are following in her wake. Mom blogs are poised to become the next big “It” when it comes to the internet–they’re gathering power like no other blogging niche and will only get bigger and better. Here’s why: 1. Moms can blog at home You don’t need a PhD, an office or a small business loan to start up a blog and this especially appeals to mothers who are looking for ways to bring in extra income while they’re at home with their children. It’s a job that they can do while the kids are napping or away at school and allows women like me who have left the work force to raise a family to feel part of the tech age–always a benefit when your days are filled with diapers, dishes and drool. Mom bloggers don’t have to leave their day jobs and they don’t have to make enough money to live off of–all they need is a little extra to pay for soccer lessons or a family vacation. 2. Moms need the sociality of the net I couldn’t possibly count the number of days that I’ve spent without the live interaction of another adult (except maybe the clerk at the grocery store). Women want–no we crave and demand–social interaction and for those of us whose office is our home the internet and blogging opens up a new world of friendship, debate, learning and conversation. No longer do we have to pretend to hold conversations with Steve on Blues Clues just to talk to another adult, now we can blog. Women need to read about other moms’ struggles and disasters–it’s how we feel that maybe our own traumas aren’t so bad–and there are more and more moms daily that are discovering how the world of mom blogs helps them feel connected to other women. 3. Moms have a wealth of material to use Tech blogs are just about technology, celebrity blogs are strictly about celebs but a mom blog could focus on parenting, protecting the environment, politics, crafts, food, homeschooling, gardening, household products, design, travel or just funny stories. They’re usually written with an emotion and personality which connects with readers in ways that other niches often can’t and they speak about subjects that naturally carry strong emotions: home, family, marriage, children, the environment–all of which encourage dedicated readers. A blog about the latest techy gadget, while interesting, doesn’t carry the emotional weight that a post about home and family does. While other bloggers may sneer over moms posting stories about life with little ones and the oddities of every day life there have been plenty of writers from Erma Bombeck to Dave Barry to Jerry Seinfeld that have built careers on noticing life’s quirks and inconsistencies and mom blogs are cashing in on this. 4. Moms are record keepers Blog means “web-log” and most blogs are started as online journals. Moms naturally tend to be the record keepers for their families whether it’s a newsletter, scrapbook or photo album and more and more women are turning to blogs as an easy way to keep their family’s diary. Staying in touch with Grandma, recording a child’s growth, these are the reasons women are turning to blogs and even though 99% of them will never see traffic outside of their family those who blog read other blogs. And who are they going to read? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not TechCrunch. 5. Mom blogs wield economic power In Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point he writes of the importance of mavens–those who are trusted for their opinions and who pass along information on what products, services and ideas are the best–and mom blogs are the maven nesting grounds. Moms want to know which products work and which don’t; they want to give an opinion on what’s worked for them and share their experiences with others and advertisers are just beginning to discover this advertising pot of gold. Because women are generally the buyers for their homes in everything from clothing to food to minivans mom blogs talk about things that can be bought and sold, products that can be promoted and services that most households need. Proctor and Gamble, Sony or General Electric can throw up their logos on PerezHilton and that might make them look rather hip but if they can get Dooce to say she liked their stuff that’s when the sales start rolling in. You’ve heard “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world”? Well she who does the shopping then blogs about it rules the net. Mom blogs are growing and it’s not going to be too long before Dooce stops being an anomaly in the blogosphere and becomes the matriarch of mom blogs everywhere. Share This

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