Video Is Coming. In A Big Way. How Big?
On the day Google bought YouTube, Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google) said...
"Video is the next step in the evolution of the Internet."
Indeed.
Think you cannot "do video?" You can.
You don't have to, of course. Text is going to be important for decades, at least. But adding a little video to a content site is now within anyone's reach.
You don't have to compete with ABC or Fox... not even local cable.
Just be yourself, shoot and upload.
Relax, have fun, and get started.
The Best Way To Get Started? Get Your Feet Wet. Actually "Do It."
And here's one heck of a fun and lucrative way to dip your toes into the water...
Use this $10,000 first prize contest to learn how to make, show,
market and monetize video. Ready? You're going to...
- make a great little video
- upload it to SiteSell for this contest
- upload it to YouTube, a powerful marketing vehicle
- become a "Video Idol" and win!
- And after the contest? Your video at YouTube earns ongoing 5 Pillar SiteSell affiliate income.
Hey!
Can I call you "Quentin Scorsese" yet?
Soon!
See you at the Oscars! But first, the SiteSell Viddies!
"How Much?"
It's Our Highest-Paying, Most Prestigious Contest Ever!
- $10,000 for the best overall video... "The Golden Viddie."
- $5,000 for "The Silver Viddie."
- $1,000 for third prize, "The Bronze Viddie" (5 of them)."
- $500 for Honorable Mentions (as many as deserve it).
These contests usually go berserk and we end up giving way more
prizes than we expect. Take a look at our most recent contest,
the iDesign Too contest. I was expecting 33 winners, not 100!
This contest could easily go to $40-50,000 in prizes.
I may also announce $2,500-$5,000 prizes for "Special Viddies." For example,
"Best Totally Bizarre Animation" or "Wildest Cut Video" or "Flat-Out
Coolest" or "Best Darn Straight-From-The- Heart." I don't know...
It will take something really unusual, a video that captures intense attention and transmits the central "why-I-love-SBI!" message. But you can do almost anything with video. So I'm expecting to give out a couple of these. However...
You Don't Have To Go Nuts
I expect that most videos will be simple, straight-from-the-heart, 60-90 second videos of you at home, just telling the audience about your great experience with SBI!. (You'll see a link below for how to do this, with as little equipment as a regular digital camera propped up on a few books!)
No special effects.
No car chases.
No writhing death scenes.
Just tell the viewer what SBI! has meant to you.
Best Videos Win!
With a $10,000 first prize (and up $40,000 or more total), the rules to determine the winner must be pretty complicated, right? No, it's simple...
"Best" wins. It's as simple as that. What is "best"?
A great "I-Love-SBI! Video," one way or another, truthfully explains
to the viewer what SBI! means to you in very personal terms.
No theory, no "selling." Whatever transmits your magic of SBI!
most effectively, how it has impacted your life, is a winner!
It can be hilarious and fast-paced, or straight (but not boring) and from-the-heart.
However you want to present it is just fine. The core mandate is to catch the magic of what SBI! means to you.
Don't sell. Don't talk at the viewer -- have a conversation. Find your own
unique style.
Communicate.
At first, you may be a little uncomfortable in front of
the camera. When you see yourself onscreen for the first time,
you may feel as embarrassed as the first time you heard a recording of
your voice played back. "That's me??"
I know I felt that way. Keep going...
The video
above is my own "first take." Studying it now, it's a touch flat.
And I keep saying to myself, "Quit rocking on that blasted chair, Ken."
A few more takes, a bit more practice, and it would come across
as more relaxed and natural. But we're all friends here and it's
useful as an instructional video in its own right. And the lesson is...
Practice a bit in front of the camera. You'll get smoother, more
natural, and might even get a new, sharp idea to add to the presentation.
What Happens To The Winning Videos, Beyond The Great Prizes?
Good things happen for you and your video even if you do
not win, as we'll see in the next section. And great things happen, for everyone, with the winning videos...
The winning videos will be displayed on a new subdomain, ilovesbi.sitesell.com
(does not exist yet). This will be a new affiliate PREselling subdomain. Imagine the powerful effect on visitors who click on the wide (and wild) variety of winning videos.
The "I Love SBI!" messages on this page will "make the case" for SBI! (and for affiliates who send visitors here) more powerfully than the entire set of sitesell.com sites, combined.
And Here's How You Win, Even If You Don't Win!
Beyond the ilovesbi.sitesell.com PREselling benefit for all affiliates,
and beyond the prizes, each person who creates a video also builds a powerful individual PREseller for him/herself. Why? How?
Upload your video to YouTube. Then embed the YouTube video into your own site in such a way that you earn 5 Pillar affiliate income via your RR URL. YouTube is easy and contagious! Visitors to your site virally "Share"/spread your embedded YouTube video. I'll tell you more about that below.
And the added bonus? LIke anything else, after the first time, you can
do it again and again, for your own Web site. Once you have the hang of it...
Make, show, market and monetize your own videos, related to
your site's theme, for your own benefit. After you read
the TNT HQ articles about this (links below), see The Contest That Keeps On Giving further below. So...
Cut your video teeth on the contest and then leverage that experience
to grow your own SBI! business to even greater heights through video!
"Ready On The Set?"
"Action!"
I always wanted to say that!
Here we go, step by step...
STEP 1) Shoot Your Video 30-180 seconds (i.e., maximum of 3 minutes). Anyone can do this. If you only own a regular digital camera, use its movie function to shoot a straight-from-the-heart "Why I Love SBI!" video. Or a funny one. The key is you, not the technology.
Formats
Your video can be shot in almost any format, whatever any camera or camcorder shoots in...
AVI, ASF, QuickTime, Windows Media and MPEG formats are all fine.
For example, files ending with these extensions are good... .avi, .asf, .mov, .wmv, .mpg, .mpeg, .mp4, .ra, .ram, and .mod.
One exception... if you have an advanced camcorder that shoots widescreen, don't choose that option. Choose the regular 4:3 ratio if you have a widescreen option. Aside from that, the video should be produced using the highest quality settings possible (ex., resolution, FPS, data stream kbps, etc). If you send higher quality, the final output will be a bit better after we convert it. Speaking of which...
We will convert your source file to a 4:3 (320x240) FLV video to play
online in "Web quality" on ilovesbi.sitesell.com, very much like YouTube
and Google Video do. A video shot at 640x480 produces a slightly
better 320x240 end result, but not by much. So don't worry if your
camera only shoots in 320x240 -- we can use whatever you send.
Animation? Sure...
You can even use software like Camtasia to create animations/moving
screenshots to get your point across, although I don't expect many
SBIers to have that ability. Key point... the final output must be in one of the above formats. We do the conversion to FLV, so please do not save it in that format.
I'll repeat because this is important -- do not save it in FLV format. We'll do that.
I don't expect much in the way of animation, frankly. That is, after all, a specialized skill. But contests never fail to amaze me, so who knows? I guess all I'm saying is... "anything goes."
What Should Your Video Do/Be About?
Ah, that's where your magic comes into play. All I can say is that there are no limits. It can be a straight, clear, clean testimonial... shot in your office, on the golf course, underwater... even all three... or wherever and however you dream up. Key points...
- No camcorder? Use your regular digital camera, set to "Movie." Prop it on some books to keep it still if you don't have a tripod. Turn on the lights. Shoot!
- Keep it short. 60-90 seconds should do it.
- Talking heads can be boring. Shoot from different angles, even change scenes and then edit it together. Editing software is easy to use and comes free with Windows/Mac.
- Web users are easily distracted. Let the viewer see only what you want them to see behind and around you.
- Get creative -- a clever approach can win this contest, even if it's shot with the lowest end of equipment. (See this TNT article on super-simple video-making.)
It is as simple as that. No need for more. Why?
Because "Web video" is not television.
High-definition, widescreen web video is years away. Professional lighting or mikes are not critical. No makeup artists or technicians needed. All you need is you and a camera. Heck, you don't even need a tripod. Just set your camera on a few books for a "steady hand."
Naturally, if you own a camcorder, use it. Or beg, borrow, rent, but don't
steal one. ;-) Or, like I said, your regular digital camera will get the job done, too.
This is so, so do-able by anyone. It's certainly a heck of a lot easier than
creating a sharp Look & Feel for the iDesign contest!
See this more "advanced" article about creating your own video.
And once you're good to go, don't forget this pre-shoot checklist.
Shot your video? Great!...
STEP 2) Upload To SiteSell To do that,
visit the upload page.
STEP 3) Upload To YouTube Open a special account called a Director Account at YouTube. This account lets you use your RR URL to maximal benefit. Then upload your video there. First though...
See this TNT article about opening, uploading and managing a YouTube Director Account. They make it a snap. That, and the viral results, are why YouTube is
growing so fast. So jump aboard the YouTube Express! :-)
Before You Open Your YouTube Account...
Read the article carefully. Follow the instructions for best results.
Two Key Points...
1) Enter your RR URL for ilovesbi.sitesell.com for your uploaded video.
This way, when viewers click on it, they come directly to this page, with your cookie. The combination of winning videos is going to deliver high conversion rates for you.
You enter a URL in two places at YouTube... for the entire account and for each video. If you have no other videos at YouTube, use your RR URL in both places during the contest. (Later, when you add new videos for your own Web site, change the account URL to your site.)
Note: Winners will appear at ilovesbi.sitesell.com, along with a professionally produced video ad to head it up. So be sure to use your RR URL for ilovesbi.sitesell.com -- that's where you want to send those who view your video. That URL will take this form...
http://ilovesbi.sitesell.com/YOUR-RRURL.html (using your RR URL word in place of "YOUR-RRURL").
2) Add a special word -- " ilovesbivideo" -- as the tag when you fill in the information required at YouTube. That way, everyone will be able to see all the entries merely by doing this quick search at YouTube...
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ilovesbivideo&search=Search
To be eligible for the contest, your entry must appear in the search results
at the above URL. So please tag your upload with " ilovesbivideo" (without the quotes)...
There's another little benefit to this, by the way. Naturally, news of this
cool, unique contest is going to "leak" out (I'll make sure it does!).
People will do the above search to check it out. Those who like your
entry and click upon it, trigger a visit to SiteSell through your RR URL...
Click KaChing!
YouTube gives you the URL of your video after you upload it. Copy it to your
clipboard. You'll paste it during the next step...
Step 4) Submit Your Entry At The SBI! Forums
Make your entry into the "The $10,000 Why-I-Love-SBI! Video Contest" thread by doing the following...
- Subject must say "Video Contest Entry By Your-domain.com."
- Add some copy explaining and promoting your video.
- Provide the YouTube URL to your video (don't provide the site-embedding code -- it won't work in the forums -- use the direct URL).
Want To Improve And Resubmit? No problem!
Suppose the contest thread gives you some great feedback?
What if you wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea to
make your video better?
Here's how to submit an improved version of a previously submitted version...
- Improve the video.
- Upload to SiteSell (add "RESUBMIT" to the previous file name you uploaded, keeping the rest of the file name the same).
- Upload to YouTube. Delete the old video from YouTube.
- Double-check your YouTube info. (Include the special tag, "ilovesbivideo.")
- Make new entry in contest thread by providing new YouTube URL. (Subject must say "RESUBMISSION Video Contest Entry By Your-domain.com.")
- Collect check!
We'll consider the new video instead of the original. So this re-submission only
counts as one entry (re max of 2 entries per SBIer).
And That's It!
Deadline? December 14, 2006, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
I'll announce all the finalists in two months, on December 15, 2006.
Every finalist is automatically a prize winner. And...
At the same time, I'll post the "Final 7" for discussion by everyone. Based on your comments, Joe Chapuis (WebVideoZone.com, AKA "Joe The Web Video Guy" in the forums -- who has been so helpful getting us
ready for this contest and really knows Web video!) and I will make the final selection of one Gold ($10,000), one Silver ($5,000), and the five Bronze ($1,000) Viddies.
No poll. Just commentary. This one is for big bucks, so it deserves good
conversation. I'm sure Joe and I will end up agreeing with the
collective wisdom's choice. It never seems to fail.
It's simple...
- Shoot the video.
- Upload to SiteSell.
- Upload to YouTube.
- Double-check your YouTube info. (Include the special tag, "ilovesbivideo.")
- Make entry in contest thread by providing YouTube URL. (Subject must say "Video Contest Entry By Your-domain.com.")
- Collect check!
Maximum number of entries? 2 per SBIer. (The two entries must be completely different from each other. And it would take extraordinary videos to win 2 prizes.)
Time for that great YouTube bonus!
Now that you've created your video and uploaded it to YouTube,
put the viral power of YouTube to work for you.
Embed your own YouTube video into your SBI! "About Us" page (see WWW It!) or
non-SBI! Web sites, blogs, e-zines, sig files, etc. A click takes folks
to your YouTube page.
Where Do You Embed Your Video On Your Site?
Wherever you already PREsell SBI!. Or create a special new page for your video.
Of course, since the video is part of a bigger Web page, also provide other links to SBI! from your PREselling page (with the video) to great pages like ctpm.sitesell.com, using your RR URL.
Visitors who click on the video arrive at ilovesbi.sitesell.com excited and open-to-buy. And, of course, they arrive with your cookie.
Since a great video increases your Conversion Rate, and since ilovesbi.sitesell.com
is going to contain outstanding winning videos, expect superb results.
Login to
SiteSell Promotion Center and simply choose a couple of the PREselling RR URLs that fit best, to supplement the content that you wrap around your video.
And It Gets Better!
As I said, YouTube is viral. The embedded video not only adds to your PREselling effort, the Share button invites visitors to share with friends.
Whenever visitors share your video with friends, those who receive the
"check this out" message will go to your YouTube page with a link
to your RR URL for ilovesbi.sitesell.com.
Talk about multiplying your PREselling efforts!
Ginzu Knife Time! It Gets Even Better!
There's A Second Exciting Result From This Contest...
Once all winners have been announced, we will enable you to play any winning video on your site, with your RR URL.
Yes, really! All winning videos will be available for affiliates to pick and
choose, thanks to WebVideoZone.com (details in box).
Special processing by WebVideoZone.com enables us to provide you with a unique snippet of code (sort of like Google AdSense code) which you copy-and-paste to embed any winning video on your site, with your RR URL. Viewers view it just like YouTube, share it too, and best of all when they click on it...
Click kaChing!
Another Ongoing, Post-Contest Benefit?
It's "The YouTube Collection," an idea that came about well
after this contest was underway. Please read this
post and share your thoughts.
Best Of All Worlds!
- Use your own video to talk to your visitors.
- Show visitors what others are saying by embedding the "best-fit" winners on your own site.
- Every video is viral.
- Every one links via your RR URL.
Talk about WIN-WIN-WIN. This contest keeps on giving, even if you don't win.
But I've got a feeling you just might!
Everyone wins with The $10,000 Why-I-Love-SBI! Video Contest.
All the best,
Ken Evoy
President, SiteSell.com
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