This is the last post in a 5-part series on how to create good online video. Read the entire series — image, sound, editing, distribution and promotion.

After distribution, promotion is the largest stumbling block for most content creators. While distribution spreads your content to dozens of sites, the chances of your show succeeding are extremely limited without promotion — paid or otherwise. Creating promotion programs for online media is no different than promoting a product. The largest difference is personality. Your show should have a personality, even if you’re working behind the scenes.

Paid vs. Unpaid promotion

Many content creators invest significantly in creating content. However, they don’t engage in paid promotion. Paid promotion doesn’t necessarily mean buying TV/radio/newspaper ads. It can be as simple as creating and distributing posters. Anything that helps offline and online audiences connect with your show is called promotion. Some of this is paid; the rest is unpaid and earned. If you have a promotion budget, I’d highly recommend investing a small portion of that in Google AdWords to attract an audience.

Social Media promotion

Social media has grown in size and audience considerably over the past few years. As a content creator, ensure that your show has a Facebook fan page. Since it is important to have a personality driven show, make sure that everyone involved on the show is also on Twitter.

Giveaways

Giveaways are easy to do and engage the audience in multiple ways. Do frequent giveaways. These don’t have to be big items. Products like show memorabilia and merchandising are fine.

Email marketing

Despite its abuse, email marketing, when used correctly is still a great form of promotion. To learn more about how you can use email marketing, you can watch my NBC segment here.

This is the fourth post in a 5-part series on how to create good online video. Read the entire series — image, sound, editing, distribution and promotion.

When it comes down to it, the web offers the largest distribution potential for independent content creators. However, despite the potential, it is important to focus on specific venues so that you can build an audience. Without an audience, you won’t be able to support an active community. A dedicated audience also provides ideas — content or otherwise.

Fortunately, good distribution solutions are limited. Most of them are also free. The following list represents distribution options that should always be considered while distributing online video.

1. YouTube: Google owned YouTube is the world’s largest online video site. It can attract a niche audience as well as a mass audience. Every show should have a presence on YouTube.
2. Blip.TV: Blip has grown rapidly over the past 5 years. It is primarily designed for episodic content creators and has the ability to distribute content to set-top boxes, including TiVo. While it is a good solution, its player is a little buggy and may frustrate end users.
3. iTunes: Apple’s media portal is tremendously popular and continues to grow as the company releases more mobile devices. It allows content subscription that is far superior to other solutions.

The above recommended solutions are all free and distribute your content broadly across the web. However, you also need to embed videos on your site. While you’re welcome to use the YouTube or Blip.TV player, I suggest signing up for Vimeo+. At $60/year, it is far more customizable and cleaner than any of the other solutions. Furthermore, its video encoding quality surpasses YouTube and Blip.TV

This is the second post in a 5-part series on how to create good online video. Read the entire series — image, sound, editing, distribution and promotion.

Good audio makes good video. Without it, the end result is unwatchable, ignored by your audience and potential advertisers. With DSLR cameras, good audio is tricky because unlike traditional cameras, DSLRs have unusable sound functionality.

Audio recommendations largely depend on the type of show you’re producing. If it’s just a conversation, you can use a boom microphone. If you want to increase the audio quality, then you need to have lavalier microphones. This post will cover both types of recording situations.

Audio recording with boom microphones

Recording audio with boom microphones is great for on-location shoots for up to 2 people. For anything more, you need to have multiple boom mics.

1. Mics: Boom microphones are a dime a dozen. The one that I recommend is the Rote NTG-2. It’s a high-quality microphone at an affordable price. Price – $270
2. Mic stand: Unless you have an audio engineer on site, it’s best to have a boom stand for the mic. Just like mics, they vary in price and capability. I highly recommend the Manfrotto 420B microphone stand with a sandbag. Why the sandbag? So that your stand doesn’t tip over. Price with sandbag – $155
3. Audio recorder: Once you have your microphone and stand, you need to record the sound. Unfortunately, recording it through the the camera is not an option. The Zoom H4n from Samson is considered an industry standard for a good reason. It’s a great device and extremely capable. Price – $300

Total price for boom setup – $725

Audio recording with lav microphones

Lavalier microphones are great for controlled environments. They’re best for conversations and talk shows.

1. Mics: Good microphones are hard to find. Every audio professional has their own opinion as to what works and what doesn’t work. The one that I use and recommend is the Countryman B3. Price – $199 (recommended amount: 2)
2. Audio recorder: Similar to boom microphones, you have to run your lav mics into an audio recorder. In this situation, the suggestion remains the same – Zoom H4n from Samson. Price – $300

Total price for lav setup – $700

For audio recording, the environment matters a lot. Even the best microphones will produce poor quality results if you have a lot of background noise. Be aware of your environment and don’t forget to turn off your cell phones.

Over the next 5 days, we’ll be publishing articles that help you produce online video more effectively. Realizing that most independent content creators don’t have a  large budget, we’ll cap off our expenses at $5,000. Read the entire series — image, sound, editing, distribution and promotion.

Producing high-quality video for the web is a necessity and a reality. Most sponsors and advertisers will not associate with a show if it has poor production values. In part one of this series, we’ll focus on how to capture the best image from inexpensive solutions. Most of these solutions are recommendations and not necessities. If you prefer alternative tools, please feel free to use them.

1. Camera: In the past 2 years, companies like Canon and Nikon have introduced video capable DSLRs. When used correctly, these cameras produce images that often times rival $10,000 prosumer video cameras. While the primary purpose of DSLRs is to take great images, these cameras are extremely capable of shooting high-quality video. Canon’s latest DSLR, the T2i/550D is a stellar camera and produces fantastic results. Since it is a DSLR camera, you should familiarize yourself with 4 technical photography terms — Shutter Speed, F Stop, ISO and Exposure. These terms will help you produce better video. Furthermore, since the camera produces very large files, you also need to have fast SDHC cards. SanDisk’s Extreme III line up is a good start. Purchase at-least 4 of these cards. Total cost with ket lens and cards = $950
2. Lenses: Most pro photographers will tell you not to purchase a kit lens. For the most part, I agree. However, the lens that comes with the Canon T2i is a good lens and can offer a lot of flexibility if you’re just starting out. Unfortunately, it performs poorly in low light situations. One of Canon’s best lenses is the 50mm f/1.8. At less than $100, it is capable of taking images in low light. Another lens worth picking up is the Canon EF 35mm f/2. It also performs well in low-light and produces stunning images. At $300, it’s a good investment. Total cost for 2 lenses: $400
3. Tripod: An audience does not like shaky images. Therefore, you should invest in a good tripod. While tripods range in prices and quality, the one that I recommend is the Manfrotto 190XPROB. Combine that with the Manfrotto 496RC2 tripod head and you have a good start. Please note that this tripod combination is best for static shots, without panning. If you’re looking to do a lot of motion shots, purchase a video tripod head. Total cost for this combination: $250
4. Lighting: Good lighting is the industry’s best kept secret. Without good lighting, even the most expensive cameras can’t perform. Depending on the type of video you’re creating, I suggest picking up 2 Lowel Pro-lights. At $125, they’re a good investment. Total cost for 2 lights and 2 bulbs: $350

Total cost: $1950

Once you have acquired or rented the above gear, take some time and practice your shots. Shooting with new gear and with little experience is not suggested. In the next post, we’ll highlight how to capture high-quality audio for your online videos.

In yesterday’s post I provided a few basic guidelines to help you get started with digital and social media analytics. Today, I’ll share a simple one-page template that you can use to quickly determine your social media standing and digital marketing efforts:

Social Media Report

More and more marketers are turning to digital platforms for advertising and promotional purposes. However, with their transition to digital, they’re often times lost with what to measure and how it relates to their business. In this post, I’ll highlight a few ways to effectively measure a digital audience.

Step 01: Defining a goal.

Just like traditional marketing, the first step is to define a goal. What are you hoping to accomplish from your digital media initiatives? Do you want people to talk about your product? Do you want people to buy your product? Do you want people to promote your product? Do you want people to use your product? Once you’ve decided on a goal, stick with it and modify it only if necessary.

Step 02: Tools.

Good tools are important. However, there are numerous tools that can help you track your digital audience. Just like the number of Twitter applications, the space is cluttered with good and bad tools. The following is a list of selective tools that we’ll be using to track your digital audience:

• Viralheat: Social media measurement tool which presents data through a dashboard



• Bit.ly: Link tracking



• Feedbruner: Email subscriptions and RSS readers
• HootSuite: Twitter client

Step 03: What to measure.

There are way too many metrics in the digital audience space. However, we’ll focus on 3 crucial ones:

• Twitter: Twitter’s potential is tremendous and is used by tons of people on a daily basis. It’s great for niche content as well as for mainstream content.
• Facebook: Your brand should have a presence on the world’s largest social network. If you take a look at your favorite companies, you’ll notice that they spend a good amount of time promoting their Facebook page.
• RSS/Email: Whether you’re in the content business or not, you need to have a content presence on the web. You can use this to market your services, sell your expertise or talk about your industry. You can measure how many people read your blog or subscribe to your content via RSS / email subscriptions.

Step 04: Measuring your audience.

• General buzz: One of the reasons we selected Viralheat is because it allows nearly everyone to track their social media presence. You can sign-up for a free trial and see for yourself. It takes less than 10 minutes to setup and a few more minutes to gather information.
• Link tracking: It’s important to know how many people are actually clicking on your link and it’s crucial to use that same link across all your social media profiles. Promoting your site on Facebook? Use Bit.ly. Promoting your product on Twitter? Use Bit.ly. The service is free and provides great analytics.
• Facebook: Every company should have a Facebook fan page. It takes just a few minutes to setup and allows you to interact with your customers in an intimate manner on a platform that they’re familiar with.
• Twitter: While Viralheat is a good platform to track Twitter mentions and buzz, you should use HootSuite to schedule future posts and manage multiple profiles. Often times, your audience may be in a different time zone than you. HootSuite can also push out your message to multiple social networks, including Facebook.

Growing an online property has never been an easy task. In fact, getting noticed amongst millions of websites, has always been a challenge. In this post, we take a look at the bigger picture strategy of growing an online show. We will then cover these parts in detail on a later date.

Part 01: Content

First and foremost, content is king. Without content, none of the other factors will matter. Before you start creating content, keep a few things in mind:

• Audience: Determine who’s your audience and what that audience wants.
• Relation: Can the audience relate to the content? If not, make sure that you keep tweaking your content. Often times, when you start out, you will have to be change direction a couple of times until you’re happy and your audience is happy.
• Fresh: Make sure that content is updated at least once a week, preferably once a day. You want people coming back for new content.
• Interviews: Interviews are great — when they’re on topic. Do not make your show an interview-only show.

Part 02: Distribution and Promotion

• Distribution: The web offers dozens of distribution methods. However, for episodic programming, I recommend checking out Blip.tv. If you use their Pro feature, Blip will also create an iTunes compatible feed for you. Also, make sure that you use YouTube as a distribution channel. While the quality may not be the best, it’s still the world’s most visited video website.
• Promotion: Keep promoting your show — online and offline.
  • Online
    1. Newsletter: Create a newsletter for your audience. This will help you know who your audience is, and will also help you with the direction of the show.
    2. Feed: Most shows offer RSS feeds. If you don’t have an RSS feed, create that feed now. It’s crucial for repeat visitors.
    3. Forums: Forums take a while to establish and are challenging to maintain. But, once you overcome those hurdles, the forum community will become your most loyal community.
  • Offline
    1. Meet-ups: Attend topic-oriented or “web-tv” meetups in your area. Use something like meetup.org to find out your events.
    2. Networking events: Similar to meet-ups, networking events are more general. Meetup.org is great to find general networking events as well.
    3. Speaking events: You don’t have to present at the largest speaking events, but try to speak at as many events as possible. These can be at a school, university, or even your local chamber of commerce.

Part 03: Monetization

Every content producer will tell you that monetization of online content is a challenging task. Here are some tips that you may use to monetize your content.

• Advertiser: Don’t always go after the largest advertiser possible. While these large advertisers will certainly give you a lot of exposure, getting through to them may be difficult. Determine small businesses that are also advertising and try and target them.
• Packages: Offer variety. People like variety, and advertisers like variety. Make sure you offer custom packages for your advertiser that clearly show the advertiser the advantages. If a client doesn’t know how the advertising would benefit them, then they won’t advertise with you.

Now, some content producers choose to swap part 1 and part 3. While this may work, and has worked for companies — you need to be established or need to have a really strong vision to complete these tasks.

We’ll cover more advanced techniques in future posts. In the meantime, feel free to subscribe to the Digital Media Biz newsletter.

Every Friday, Digital Media Biz provides tips and techniques to media producers that are designed to grow and enhance media properties. To view all posts in the How Do You series, click here. Marketing an online show is incredibly challenging, as marketing efforts determine the sustainability of a show and the chances of it being financially successful. In this post, we take a look at some of the various options and tools that can help new media producers market and then monetize their show. Fact: Producing online video has become easy. All a person needs is a simple camera, and a way to upload this footage. However, what happens next will determine the success or failure of a show.

Business cards: Business cards are a must in any industry. However, business cards aren’t free. So, how do you make sure that the business card works for you? Put your contact information on one side, and your messaging on the other. If you’re looking for high-quality business cards, I highly recommend Overnightprints.com

Networking: Various HR professionals and industry experts highly recommend networking, because it works and delivers results. Networking events can get you in touch with new talent, new advertisers, or new partners that share a similar passion.

• Example: Visual Avenue‘s first show The TV Star Maker was only possible after the founders of the company met with Marta Tracy at her book signing event. Today, the show features numerous celebrities and industry leading experts and is viewed by thousands of people all across the world.

Online syndication: In television, a viewer may have as few as 4 channels, or as many as 250 channels. Compare that same number to the number of outlets on the web, and the number of shows on the web. You need to take your content to where the viewer is, whether it’s YouTube or Blip. How do you ensure maximum exposure? Use a syndication tool such as TubeMogul. It distributes your content to multiple sites and provides you with tracking information, which is crucial for planning and selling purposes.

Blogging: Unfortunately, video and audio content is not easily indexed by search engines. Therefore, your content may not appear in search engines. It’s crucial that your audio and video programming be accompanied by text. This will increase your search visibility and drive traffic to your site.

Every Friday, Digital Media Biz provides tips and techniques to media producers that are designed to grow and enhance media properties. To view all posts in the How Do You series, click here.

• Press-releases: Although considered to be a traditional media tool, press-releases can be beneficial in promoting your content and distributing it to the general public. You also don’t have to pay a lot to distribute press-releases. Mashable has a list of 20 sites that you can use to distribute your releases.
  • Example: Visual Avenue used a few of the above mentioned sites to announce it’s new show. Even 3 months after launch, searching for Visual Avenue displays these releases on the first page.
• Email Tracking: Mass emails to your contacts, including friends and family are easy. However, wouldn’t you like to know how many people opened their emails and clicked through? Even better, wouldn’t it be better if you knew who clicked through? Email marketing software like Vertical Response provide all that information to you, and much more!
  • Example: One of the added advantages of Vertical Response is that it lets you create free opt-in forms that can be embedded on your site. In preparation of Visual Avenue’s new show, Why Hasn’t He TV, we used this feature to collect information of interested viewers.
• Analytics: For monetization, competition, and growth, information is everything. Fortunately, there are numerous software applications that can help track your visitors and provide in-depth usage regarding your site, including, the number of visitors, the number of pages, average session length, geographical location, and numerous technical information. One of the most popular applications in this category is Google Analytics.
• Facebook: The popular networking site is not only for people. It’s also for businesses that are looking to promote their content. The social-network allows you to create groups or fan pages that promote your show. If you haven’t created a group or page, do so immediately!
• Twitter: “Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” – Twitter. A rapidly growing network, Twitter can be useful for finding a targeted audience and driving traffic to your content, and more importantly, creating a conversation around your content — in 140 characters.