If you would like to spread the word about something you’re doing, YouTube is an amazing resource that you can’t afford to ignore. Here’s a quick story to demonstrate this:
I wanted to offer folks a few tips on starting a business, while also raising awareness of our new Start-up Clinic workshop.
I spent about one hour putting together a rough script, about two hours filming and three hours editing. The result was my How to Build a Start-up video which has been viewed over 10,300 times. Not bad for six hours work!
Here are a couple things I learned from this:
Simple editing makes a huge difference
I used iMovie ‘08 to add a simple intro, music and transitions. It adds credibility to the movie and makes it more fun to watch.
The content is everything
Make sure you have something valuable to say, before you hit the record button. No matter how slick the editing is, if you what you’re offering is of no value, people won’t view it or link to it.
Use variety
The first half of the video is me teaching in front of a blackboard, the second half is a simple screencast. It gives the video more substance and interest which means viewers get more value.
Focus on YouTube
I’d rather use Vimeo because it’s beautiful, but the truth is there’s a lot more people on YouTube. If you compare 90 views on Vimeo to 10,367 on YouTube there’s just no comparison.
Get a mic
Next time, I’ll spend a few bucks on a cheap lapel mic so the sound is clearer. However, if you’d like to get started today, just do it. No need for a mic initially.
Use Mousepose
When I did the screencast section, I used a simple tool called Mousepose.
If you’re showing people your screen, they obviously can’t see where you’re pointing ;) so you need a simple way to highlight areas of the screen. If you’re not on a Mac, Dragnifier does roughly the same thing.
Let Twitter know
I used Twitter to spread the word by letting people know I had posted the video. I don’t know exactly how many views this generated but I’m sure it helped.
Share your stories
That’s it - if you’ve had success with video on YouTube, please share any tips you’ve learned.
DigiKev
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:33 pm
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10,300 times, well done sir! That has got my ears burning, I will have to try and think of some useful content to put up on YouTube. Thank you for sharing this along with the link resources and I agree with sharing stories. This is a very encouraging way of marketing a new startup business.
How to Build a Web Start-up « Cynq
February 24th, 2008 at 11:50 am
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[…] Oh and there is also an how-to to the video at carsonified.com […]
Internet Bloggen » Blog Archive » Råd om hur man enkel video publicera sig på internet
February 24th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
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[…] Carsonified » Blog Archive » How to use YouTube to get your message out Skrivet i kategorierna Webmedia, youtube | Lämna en kommentar […]
24 de febrero de 2008
February 25th, 2008 at 4:15 am
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[…] Como usar YouTube para transmitir tu mensaje […]
Sean Tierney
February 25th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
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Ryan, thanks for sharing. Have you seen this->
http://redeye.firstround.com/2006/07/one_of_the_toug.html
it’s an iterative approach to doing cashflow predictions that forces you to acknowledge the accuracy of your last prediction and refine it. Pretty cool stuff. We’ll miss you on the SXSW panel next wk in Austin but congrats to you and wife on the baby!
sean
Dagelijkse dosis links 25-02-2008 | Weblog Syntra AB
February 26th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
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[…] dosis links 25-02-2008 Geplaatst op 25 Feb 2008 door Stefan Van De Velde | Geef commentaar How to use YouTube to get your message out (tags: advertisingyoutube) […]
Ryan
February 26th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
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Thanks Sean :)
andrej
March 1st, 2008 at 9:44 pm
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At first I thought the video was a 10-year-into-the-past timemachine thing, because a) you, Ryan look a lot younger, than the photos I have seen of you and b) you should have bought that mic ;)
I liked the part about stuff you don’t need. It can be amazing how much many you could spend on products that in the end will even hinder your success.
When is part II due and what will it feature?
Giving into community pressure | Hi, I’m Colin Devroe.
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:05 pm
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[…] Everyone uses the service. This may not fit with the Twitter / Pownce scenario as well as it does with the YouTube / (everyone else) scenario. Here is a quote from a recent article by Ryan Carson of Carsonified that he wrote about using YouTube to promote your message. “I’d rather use Vimeo because it’s beautiful, but the truth is there’s a lot more people on YouTube. If you compare 90 views on Vimeo to 10,367 on YouTube there’s just no comparison.” — How to use YouTube to get your message out […]
rama
March 4th, 2008 at 8:18 am
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you’re right.. even artist already use youtube to promote videos. i think promotion2.0 is coming too huh..
Laura Dewis
March 4th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
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Hi Ryan
The Open University have put up some of its open educational resources on YouTube at www.youtube.com/openlearn. Over the next few months we are developing our YouTube presence to include more stuff - partly to grow awareness of the opencourseware movement and extend access to the resources (many of which are published under a CC license), partly to help our communities group around video (giving a face to a distance learning university) and partly to make it easier for people to distribute our video content reusing it in a variety of informal learning spaces. It’s interesting as a distance learning university, with our background as the University of the Air, to be considering the importance of online video and to be creating low-fi and high quality video… so watch this space. Also hoping to be at the ‘Strategies for Sustainable Access and Creative Reuse of Images and Sounds Online’ conference - what a mouthful! Will share any lessons learnt…
Laura
tina
March 20th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
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Thanks for your time and work. l have been meaning to do video on youtube but did not know how to.
eplina
March 20th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
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great video for any beginner