Videoney

Using Music in your Online Video

2007-03-01T05:32:00.000-08:00

Music can make or break an online video. Many very popular online videos have become very popular because of the music they have used . Unfortunately many of the songs used in these million plus viewed videos were used illegally and that’s no way to build a business. Until the record labels work out a micro-payment and tracking system to legaly use copyrighted music works there are a few options to find and use music in your online videos.

First, there are sites like Podsafe Music, ioda and rumblefish where you can “promote” new music in your online video. Then there are sites like 5 Alarm, Xtreme and megatrax where you can pay money to license stock music for your videos.

Contracts for Online Videos

2007-02-26T06:55:00.000-08:00

I’m not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV or the Internet. But legally speaking you might want to think about putting together some contracts for all the different things you are going to need in your online video.

If you have actors or on-camera guests in your videos you should get signed on-camera talent releases. If you have shot at a place you don’t own or rent you should have a location release. If you have uses other peoples personal property like a car or boat you should get a materials release. If you have had crew help you shoot the video you should have work for hire deal memos with them just so that they don’t get the idea that they own a piece of your video. If you have used other people’s photos or videos in your video you should get a release for the photo or video, a release from the people in the photos or videos and a release from the photographer who shot the pictures. Last but not least if you have used music in your video. You will need to license that music and this can be very complicated. As with all these links, they are just examples. You should consult your attorney because when you start making money with your online video if you don’t have your contracts in place people will show up wanting their cut of the money you have made.

Viral Video vs. Viral Brand

2007-02-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

Having a viral video is great. It’s fun to upload a video that you’ve created and see it downloaded millions of times but you can’t pay your rent with free downloads. As you conceive your video ideas and execute them be thinking about what your brand strategy could be for those videos. Are there revenue streams other than advertising? Can you create merchandising opportunities? Are there places that you or the cast of your video could appear for performance fees? Are there book deals that could happen based on your video? Could your video be made into a TV Show or Feature Film? How far can you build your brand?

Digital Footprints

2007-02-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

As you travel the web watching online videos and searching for information to help you build your business in online video be sure to comment on information along the way. When you leave a comment be sure and leave a link back to your site. You never know who might click on that link and then add a link from their site to your online video.

Making Friends

2007-02-20T15:01:00.000-08:00

No matter what business you are in making friends will help you grow your business. The Internet has made it easy to find people interested in the same things you are and it is easier than ever making contact with them. If you live in a big city you will find that there are podcaster meetups, podcamps, barcamps , New Media Conventions, Video on the Net and large interactive conventions like SXSW. Even if you can’t make it to a convention or seminar you can join an online Yahoo or Google Group about online video, podcasting or vlogging. Some of the members of these groups even get together for Flash Meetings.

Advertisng Your Online Video

2007-02-19T16:45:00.000-08:00

Television Networks have entire departments devoted to advertising their TV Shows. These departments are called On-Air Promo Departments and they create spots or “promos” to advertise their TV Shows both on their own network (On-Air or On-Net) or on other networks (Off-Air ), (Off –Net) or (Cross-Channel), you can do the same thing for your online video and if you use Revver you can even make money while you are doing it.

First, create a promotional video that explains what your online video is about, where people can find it and any other info you want your viewers to know. Then upload your promo to Revver and post your Revverizes promo online at your site (On-net). Next contact other online video producers and ask them is they will link to your promo as well as your main online videos.

Pursuing Your Passion

2007-02-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

If you are looking to make money in online video you might want to pursue something that you have a passion. Whether it be Cars, mysteries, or political views and news , You’ll find that pursuing your personal interests will keep you motivated so that you can stay focused and make a business out of online video.

Affiliate Programs

2007-02-16T22:43:00.000-08:00

Sites like Commission Junction have agreements with large and small websites across the net and pay people money when they sign up as an affiliate and send business to these website.

By signing up for CJ and placing banners on your site you can earn a few bucks but make sure that in your video you tell your viewers to click on you affiliate links and use your affiliate numbers to support your video.

Advertising in Online Videos

2007-02-15T16:27:00.000-08:00

The market place for advertising in online videos is developing Google has posted a page of Google AdWords Video Ad Formats and Video Ads Demo Page.

Media Kit

2007-02-14T06:16:00.000-08:00

A Media Kit is a PDF that has all the info about your online video, viral videos, video podcast or VLOG listed along with the stats and inventory where an advertiser can place their ads.

If you Google “Media Kit” and you will find links to Media Kits for magazines, news papers, websites and if you are lucky you might find some for a video podcast or two. Inside you will find the info that clearly explains what the property is about, how often it is published, how many subscribers it has, how many views and downloads it has and where and how a advertiser can spend their money.

You can create your own media kit using an application like Apple’s Pages or you can have someone else create one for you by posting an ad on Craigslist.com but keep in mind you will have to provide the person with the copy, stats, info, and photos to create the Media Kit. The person you hire just can’t magically pull all the info about your online video together. You will need to know or create a list of your advertising inventory and what you are comfortable advertising.

Tracking Your Numbers

2007-02-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

One of the things you will need to do to make money in online video is be able to track your numbers so that you can share them with potential advertisers. There are several ways to do this. First your hosting company can provide you with your webstats and that’s a good start but not good enough. If you are using a blog you can install some Free Web Stats but the real important numbers are going to be the stats about your videos.

If you are looking for a one stop shop, Libsyn comes highly recommended from some very popular online video producers. But if you already have a hosting deal or a free blog somewhere you might want to look into FeedBurner and Podtrac.

Podcasting

2007-02-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

You’ve heard the term podcasting but you are not really sure what it means. Is it some kind of radio show you listen to on your iPod? Well, not exactly. A podcast can be a radio show on your iPod but it can also be a video that gets delivered to your computer and that you watch on your computer, your TV or yes even your iPod.

Since guys like Adam Curry and Doug Kaye started creating audio content that you could subscribe to using RSS, podcasting has grown to include video that you can watch on your TV. Video Podcasting is also a great way to build and monetize your online video audience. Just make sure you are able to track your numbers. Here’s a video to watch if you are up for a laugh and want to learn How to Video Podcast.

Building an Audience

2007-02-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

Normally in business you first sell your product to the industry and then you sell it to consumers. In order to make money with online video you will first need to sell to consumers, then sell to the industry and then sell again to consumers.

Translated that means you need to build an audience first, then get sponsors or sign up for affiliate programs that will pay you money or get an advertising deal with an ad agency or selling your own products and services.

To build an audience you will need to have video content that is emotionally compelling. Something that will make your audience laugh, lust, cry, get scared, feel sorry for someone or somehow move one or more of the human emotions like laughing and lusting.

Posting Video You’ve Shot

2007-02-10T06:58:00.000-08:00

Everyone can post video they’ve shot to YouTube and soon you might be able to make money with YouTube video ads but for now the only place to upload video and get paid is Revver.com. There may be a few more and a few more on the way but for now Revver.com is the place to get paid for your video.

Instructions for creating an account are all there on Revver and you might want to sign up for a PayPal account as well so that when it comes time to get paid they just dump all your money into your PayPal account.

Finding Videos

2007-02-09T06:55:00.000-08:00

Sure you can make money with your own online videos, but you can also make money with other people’s videos already posted on the Internet. Sites like Revver are full of great videos that you can embed on your blog and earn money when someone clicks on or views the advertising.

Getting Started

2007-02-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

One of the first things you will need to do to make money with video on the internet is create a blog or Weblog. You can create a blog in many different ways. One of the easiest ways is to use blogger but you could also register a domain at GoDaddy.com and create a blog there or use the domain that you have registered and install WordPress or some other popular blogging software.