Six tips for getting higher YouTube rankings

YouTube is free, but viewership has to be earned. So if you want lots of YouTube views, here’s a few techniques that will get you more views and more hits on your own website.

 1. Keep it short.
Don’t make videos that take forever to load. People have other things on their minds, and an aggregator site like YouTube has far too many choices for them to pick from already. A recent study on video-sharing websites suggests that a video works best when it is under 5 minutes in length. So even though YouTube allows you a maximum of 10 minutes, keep it under 5 minutes.

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Trade show video coverage packages a good idea

Broadcast Engineering recently featured an interesting article on Trade Show News Television, an enterprising production company that shoots tv-style interviews and news clips for its clients at their trade show booths.

Customers choose one of three streaming video packages based on marketing and distribution needs. The footage is captured, edited and then made available for video streaming.

According to the article, the concept has attracted the interest of trade show managers, online publishers and exhibitors. “More than ever, business customers and prospects access their information online through streaming video,” states Bob Lipp of Trade Show News Television. “Our concept gives trade show exhibitors a unique sales tool that continues to support sales long after the trade show has ended.”

It’s something to consider when expanding or diversifying your video offerings as well.

Use YouTube to captivate, not to sell.

For best results remember that YouTube -or any other video aggregator site, for that matter -is not your marketing collateral. In other words, don’t try to hard-sell your products or services on YouTube; use the website wisely to get people interested in who you are and what you do. Then, once they start flocking to your website, you can sell them all you want. The minute you start boring viewers with frenetic ‘Buy Me, Buy Me!’ messages, they’re gone. The best way to market yourself or your company on YouTube? Come up a few videos that are entertaining enough or interesting enough (or both) that viewers will sit through them willingly, and want to see more. When you have half a dozen of these types of videos online, viewers will certainly want to know more about you, your company or your products. And that’s when your marketing really begins.

1860 voice recording discovered

Great article in Tech Gadget Update about the recent discovery (and playback) of the first sound ever recorded, circia 1860. It was made in France by Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville on his invention, “the phonautograph.” While it recorded properly, says the article, M. de Martinville didn’t have the playback quite figured out…and thus it languished for lo these 147 years until a group of audio historians learned about its existence earlier this month, nabbed it, and managed to capture and reproduce the audio -a 10 second clip of someone singing a French folk song. Quite cool. Here’s the audio…

Shrinkage is great for your DVDs…

Shrink wrapping, that is! Shrink wrapping your customers’ CDs or DVDs is a great value-added touch, and it’s easy to do. Pick up a shrink-wrapping system for about $150 from The Video Store Shoppe and charge your customers an extra 25 cents for shrink-wrapping their duplicates. Your product will look far more professional and it’s surprising how quickly those extra quarters can add up into meaningful dollars.

Free stock video footage and photos…

If you’re looking for a way to dress up your presentations and videos, stock footage may be the answer. It’s amazing what a few choice royalty-free shots can do to give your little league production a major league look.

Here’s a few places to check out.

Free Stock Exchange: 100,000+ quality high-res images,a great resource. I use this one myself quite often.

Morguefile -I’ve seen this recommended on several sites and it looks good:

DHD Multimedia Gallery -Smaller collection of multimedia stuff.

BurningWell -another small and royalty-free collection.

DeviantArt -very big and eclectic collection of creative images, flash animations, creative stuff. Not sure what is considered royalty-free, though.

Internet Archive -wide variety of media here.

Footage Firm -some nice scenics and big city shots,uncompressed AVI format. They also buy and sell stock footage.

Feel free to suggest others if you have ‘em.

"And why should we hire YOU to do our video?"

On one of our Video Business Advisor members-only discussion boards, VBA member Case Marsh remarked how, when he was preparing to graduate from college and just beginning his search for work, he came across one of the handiest resources he had ever used.

“One of the books I bought,” says Case, “provided a list of 20 questions that a job seeker should be prepared to answer quickly, calmly, and convincingly. This book offered the reason behind the questions the interviewer asked, and how a job seeker could use these questions to their advantage, as well as sample answers.”

Well – being the resourceful folk they are, VBA members got together early this summer and developed a list of 16 questions they most often encounter when approaching new client-prospects. And then came the fun part: They chipped in their ideal answers for each of the questions; answers that you can take and use for yourself while you’re out there building your own successful video production business!

Thus was born “Great Answers to Tough Questions” –a book that tackles all the tough questions, from “Why are your prices higher than other producers?” to “Can we just tape the stuff and bring the footage into you to finish?” This book will have you nodding in recognition and taking notes for your next encounter!

Currently, “Great Answers to Tough Questions” is available to VBA members only. It’s an exclusive resource that is going to give them a huge head start on their competition. If you’d like to be in the select group that will benefit from this uncommon book, join the VBA now, and you’ll have your own copy in about half a minute.