YouTube – More Than Just a Place to Host Videos

Posted on by Mel

Is YouTube appropriate for screencasts? Absolutely.

ScreencastingWizard - YouTube ChannelIn fact, since YouTube changed the design of their network in December 2011, I’ve been paying more and more attention to it as a community worthy of more than simply being “a place to host videos.” In fact, “how to” videos are very well received on YouTube.  And that’s precisely the kind of topic that screencasts and presentation-type web videos are ideally suited for.

Unfortunately, YouTube as “…the second largest search engine in the world….” has become a phrase that may now have been uttered so much that the implications of that phrase almost doesn’t even resonate with most folks anymore.

A couple of years back, I did a presentation that showed the results of a short-duration experiment I did to test the meaning of that phrase.  [Reference: YouTube - The Second Largest Search Engine In the World - So What?].  (I saved you the preamble.  The embedded video fast-forwards to the key part, which is at about the 3:15 point in the video.  From there it’s less than 2 minutes long.)

YouTube Is More Than Just “A Place to Host Videos”

So, if you’ve let YouTube slide for a while, I’d like to encourage you to revisit it. Consider integrating it as a regular part of your online presentations and course delivery.

Even if you create proprietary content and deliver many of your courses behind a members’ only area, it might be worth revisiting YouTube as a community that can help give more visibility to your proprietary content and digital know-how.

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SMMOC Highlights and Mindmap – February 11, 2012

Posted on by Mel

smmoc whiteboard notes

On the heels of last week’s SMMOC meetup, today’s discussion topics were no less charged.  I have to hand it to the always awesome Bob Watson for keeping our herd of cats well-facilitated.

There was lots of interest in “fringe” topics like machine learning (thanks Eric Stegemann!), voice recognition and implications for privacy, as well as some grounded gadget and business/marketing discussions related to: Pinterest, iPad3, FourSquare (thanks John Chow!) and Siri.

But!  Today’s SMMOC discussion was also filled with a bit of controversy.  (What do you think about Pinterest?)

Pinterest controversy and more discussions at the SMMOC meetup on February 11, 2012[Stay current. Subscribe to the updates.]

Click the interactive mindmap above.  Then, expand the mindmap branches under Shiny Gadgets and then Pinterest.  There you’ll see some of the notes I took about a bit of controversy in discussions that ensued around the growing social pinning site, Pinterest.  Specifically, there seemed to be some differences in thought about the approach Pinterest has taken in monetizing their social network.

Should Pinterest Disclose Their Skimlinks Relationship?

Most–if not all of us–I think, didn’t seem to be opposed to the idea of Pinterest choosing to monetize user activity and user content (we all have to put food on the table, after all).  Rather, the controversy seemed to revolve around the degree to which they have been transparent (or not) about using skimlinking (I know, that’s a new term for me, too – thanks Daniela Bolzmann!) to attach affiliate marketing links to certain content that can be affiliated.

Related articles:

Some in our group thought it was perfectly fine.  ”It’s their site, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to use them.”

Others of us seemed to believe that disclosure was necessary if only to maintain transparency and user trust.

I went a little further.

When someone suggested that Pinterest may be modifying affiliate links posted by some users who have affiliate marketing relationships to offsite vendors (note: it’s not clear to me that this is, in fact, happening), I suggested that I would consider that practice to be unethical.  This raised a vocal objection from my friend Steve Zengy.  Which brought on a lively debate in the meeting.

My love of debates notwithstanding.  Let me ask ya, what do you think about the whole Pinterest approach to monetization?

You should join our meeting sometime

I’m tellin’ ya.  If you’re anywhere near the Orange County, CA area on any given Saturday morning, you should drop by and join us.  Except for bringing a measure of enthusiasm and interest, attendance is otherwise free.

If you do decide to join us, please let me know.  I’d love to say hi in person.  In the meantime, here’s the link:  www.SMMOC.com

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How to convert non-YouTube video to the best format for the web

Posted on by Mel
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So, at the end of my previous post about 7 Great Tips for Making Video From PowerPoint, we ended up with a WMV — a Windows Media Video — file format.  Now, that’s perfectly fine if you’re going to upload your video to YouTube.  That’s fine because YouTube does its own conversion and formatting resulting in online video that’s perfectly acceptable for most people who will access video online all over the world.

The problem comes when you don’t want to put your video on YouTube.  There can be a number of very good reasons for this:

  • It could be that maybe you’re creating a proprietary series of video-based courses for which you want to charge a fee
  • Or, maybe you just want to host it yourself because maybe you want to put your video on a member’s only website
  • Or, maybe your video is a video-proposal or pre-listing presentation to a prospective customer or client and you’d rather control which websites your video is allowed to be played from

There could be a number of other reasons.

The challenge remains:  Unless you’re uploading your video to YouTube, then, at the end of the day, WMV video isn’t really a format that is readily accessible for most people in the world trying to watch non-YouTube videos over the internet.

What’s the proper video file format for the web? And, how do you convert video to the proper format so it’s web ready?

So, the trick is to make your video web ready.  You need to take that WMV file format and convert it to another format that’s more accessible for the vast majority of your online viewers.

I typically use the MP4 format.  And to make that conversion, I can recommend a conversion software called Handbrake.

The video above shows you the steps — and the exact settings — you’ll need to make in Handbrake in order to convert your web video into a format that’s web ready.  That is, web video that can stream to the majority of your viewers — without the assistance of YouTube.

Shameless plug:  If the next question in your head is, “…where can I host my own videos, if not YouTube?”  Then you’ll want to check out either Easy Video Player (if you want to buy your own copy of this cool software), or my Easy Video Player hosting service.

Quick Steps Checklist

To supplement the video above, you can follow along with the checklist below.

1.  Options menu:  Deselect Use iPod/iTunes friendly (.m4v) file extension for MP4.

2.  Main window:
A. Source:  Select the filename of the video you want to convert.
B. Output Settings Container: Choose MP4 file.
C. Enable the Web Optimized checkbox.

3.  Main window / Video tab: Choose H.264 under Video Codec.

4.  Main window / Audio tab:  Choosse 128 under Bitrate.

5.  Main window / Advanced tab:  Choose 4 next to Reference Frames.

6.  Back to Main Window / Video tab:
A.  Average bitrate:  Set 600 – 700 for screencasts.  Set 700 – 1000 for live action videos.
B.  Choose 2-pass encoding.

7.  Main window:  In the Destination field, choose the folder where you want to save your converted file.

8.  In the tool bar, choose Start.

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7 Great Tips for Making Video From PowerPoint

Posted on by Mel

You can easily turn your knowledge to online video courses

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My friend James Roughton reminded me recently about the versatility of PowerPoint movies when he posted his article about Creating Awesome Marketing Videos Using Powerpoint.  Along with my video screencast above, James’ article would make a great point-sheet for you to print out.  He does a great job listing each of the steps sequentially.

The Main Thing: No More Excuses!

The main thing I want to drive home is that, if you’ve been holding off on creating online videos — or perhaps you’ve been holding off on making an online training course or online marketing presentations — because of any perceived difficulties or concerns about being technically challenged when it comes to making online videos, then my screencast above should be a breath of fresh air.

By using PowerPoint 2010′s built-in video making features — Yes. I said “built-in,” you no longer have to worry about stage fright or getting that hurried feeling when recording video.  In fact, you can write a full-on set of notes for your presentation and then record your video from the comfort of a well-prepared script.

7 Great Ideas For Making Video From PowerPoint Presentations

1.  Use the Notes feature in PowerPoint to script your powerpoint presentation, rehearse it, and then record it, along with your voice, without the worries of stage fright.

2.  Read your script into a voice recorder FIRST.  Then, when you’re ready to record the powerpoint presentation for video, PLAY the recording of your narration WHILE you record the mouse movements on PowerPoint AND capture the pre-recording of your voice at the same time.

3.  Use the PowerPoint-to-Video conversion feature to create an online course series.  If you have a niche area of expertise, you could even make your online content available for a fee in a member’s only site.

4.  Remain top-of-mind with client prospects by sending a short video-based PowerPoint proposal.

5.  Create a video-based book.  Sell it on your website by using a service like e-Junkie.

6.  Use PowerPoint’s rich animation and linking features to create a video-based PowerPoint presentation that highlights your business’ services.

7.  Create a video post-resume summary sheet.  After your next job interview, send a thank you note, along with a link to a 2-or three slide video presentation using the tips in this screencast that highlights your main skills and accomplishments that you’d like the interviewer to remember about you.

What else?  How else do you think a video-based PowerPoint presentation could help your business or professional career?

Posted in content strategy, How to, screencasts | Tagged , | 1 Comment

How to easily hide icons on your desktop – For Mac and PC

Posted on by Mel

Subscribe to ScreencastingWizardDotCom updates This is a short, yet really helpful tip for hiding your desktop icons.

So what?  Why should anyone care about hiding icons on their desktop?

Screencasting projects aside for a moment, this is really helpful if you conduct webinars, help customers online via desktop sharing software or capture screenshots for eLearning projects, or technical documentation.  (Think: Remember the last “professional” webinar you attended where the webinar host used a big picture of his dog as the chosen desktop image?)

This issue might very well be a non-point for some people, but then again, you’re not always in control of the psyche of your attendees.  Or, consider a situation where you might be a webinar panelist for another webinar host.  In that instance, you would be representing your host.

Having a quick toggle readily available can help you quickly switch on/off a professional online desktop image without having to compromise your picture of Fido when your offline.

Some of the resources mentioned in the video above include:

Do you take the time to clean up your desktop before a webinar or screencast?  What tools do you use?

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SMMOC Meeting Notes – Feb 4 2012 – Is It Fair to Use Superbowl Buzz For Keyword Stuffing and Traffic?

Posted on by Mel
SMMOC Interactive Meeting Notes - February 4, 2012

Click to enlarge. Flash 10 or greater needed to view.

Above is the interactive mindmap meetng notes from today’s SMMOC meetup.  Wherever you see the “+” symbol, just click it.  It wil expand that branch to show another layer of detail related to that topic.   Hint:  Click-and-hold to reveal the “hand” that will let you drag around the canvas.

Key Highlights:

  • Attendees.  Contains links to snapshot images with the addies for attendees whom opted to list their various social media addresses for: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn.  These folks are power networkers and will welcome linking their network with yours.  (By the way, do you recognize the guy in the pic?)
  • Shiny Gadgets.  This groups the new tools that we invariable discuss in small bites during these meetups.  (Caution:  Potential time suck if you’re not strategic with your time.)  :)
  • Twitter Chats.  The topic of twitter chats came up in discussion.  Folks at the meeting debated whether or not these were timesucks or not.  The consensus seemed to be that, when properly moderated and supported by a large network with common interests, then Twitter Chats can be a great platform for ideas and networking.  The #SMMOC back channel that goes on every Saturday morning (Pacific time) is one example of a twitter chat.
  • Current Social Issues.  This branch shows some of the more interesting topics of the social implications of social media and social business.  One of these is the topic raised by Loren Nason about the issue so-called copyright trolls.  Check out the notes on this and make sure to click-through the referenced website.
  • Marketing-related Discussion.  This grouping contains a lot of the discussion I usually find most interesting.  That is, the constant exploration of how small businesses can use the tools and techniques we discuss for the “forces of good” in their business or non-profit.  One interesting sub-topic here was the debate about whether — and how– small businesses should/could piggy-back on all the buzz around this year’s Superbowl XLVI in exchange for increased traffic and visibility to their blog or website?There was a bit of lively debate here with some of today’s attendees opining that it would be fair game to do so provided the theme chosen could be spun appropriately so as to be relevant to a blog or website’s niche audience.  Others said it they wouldn’t appreciate it; it would make them “Un-like” any such shenanigans.

What do you think?  Would it be appropriate for, say, me to spin Superbowl buzz for keywords and traffic on ScreencastingWizard?  (A little like what I did in the subject header.  See what I did there?)  ;)  Would you appreciate it?  What would make it “okay?”

P.S.  Here’s another clue as to the identity of the guy in the image above.  (I’m gonna start calling him “John-the-Cyclops.”)

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How to create a custom email signature in Mac Mail

Posted on by Mel

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Talk about “found footage.”

The video above is another one of those tutorials I made a couple of years ago that had since apparently amas just sed quite a few followers — and which shamefully went unchecked by me.  :(    My friend Raj Qsar indirectly reminded me that it exists and is likely relevant to readers of ScreencastingWizard who are also Mac users.

I hope it helps!

Here are the quicksteps:

PRE-REQUISITES

1. (0:44)  The images/icons you use must reside on a web server. (i.e., This video assumes you know how to FTP files to a web server.) Also, tip! Your images should be in gif, jpg or png format. (Don’t use tiff or other non-web standard formats.)

2. (1:03) You need basic access html skills. (Needed to design your signature in html format that references the images and icons you placed on your server.)

3. (1:20) You need to use Safari web browser. (Safari has the ability to save a *.webarchive file from an html file. You’ll need this.)

STEPS

(Disclaimer: Need I say it? No warranties or guarantees — express or implied — are being made here. I’m sharing with you the steps *I* used. They work for me. It stands to reason that you — or a friend — should have a reasonably decent grasp of basic FTP, html and file structures.) Good luck! :)

1. (1:40) Design your signature in html format.

2. (2:20) Save your design into an html file.

3. (2:46) Use Safari web browser to open your html file.

4. (3:22) Once opened in Safari, use the Save As function to save the html file on your local desktop somewhere as a webarchive file.

5. (4:00) Open Mac Mail and create a new signature file in the desired email account. (This creates a system generated webarchive file in your Mac’s /Library/Mail/Signatures folder. Hint: Look at the date stamp of the system-generated webarchive file. The one you want is the one with a time stamp that’s closest to “now”.)

6. (5:58) Use the copy function to copy the *exact* name of the webarchive file in Step 5 above.

7. (6:15) Use the name copied in Step 6 above to rename the webarchive file on your local desktop. (i.e., Rename the one you created in Step 4 with the name you copied from Step 6.)

8. (6:40) Replace the file in Library/Mail/Signatures (referenced in Step 5) with the file containing your design (i.e., the one referenced in Step 7.)

9. (7:10) Restart Mac Mail and test your signature!

Did this help?  Let me know in the comments below.

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