This guy’s desk doesn’t even have legs! I sure hope his video editing skills are better!
I still have a VERY long way to go in my video blogging / video making / editting skills, but I found a bunch of very useful hints and tips that I thought I would share.
Please share your own hints and tips here if you would… I need all the help I can get!
30 Video Hints and Tips That Have Helped Me :
- Video settings: MPEG-4 (MP4) container, H.264 or MPEG-2 codec, <= 1400 kbps bitrate
- Audio settings: MPEG-4 (MP4) container, MP3 or AAC codec
- FFMPEG is a command-line tool for converting video
- Do not add letterbox or pillarbox bars – sites will do that automatically to fit viewer
- Be very specific in picking a CATEGORY for your video – it matters!
- Be “hard-skinned” and DO NOT feed the trolls
- Use very descriptive titles – include short purpose blurb, if possible – keywords!
- Really attempt to learn about video making techniques – quality does matter to some degree
- If can be done in 30 seconds to 2 minutes, then do it in less than 2 minutes! Period!
- Create an appropriate scene – the background does matter – be amateur with class!
- Have some form of ‘hook’ to entice and keep people coming back
- Be energetic, funny, entertaining (when appropriate) and DO NOT MUMBLE!
- Give people a reason to forward your video around
- Have some form of familiar routine sign-on or sign-off… build that relationship
- Present a call-to-action in every video – get those engaged who want to be engaged
- Try to treat every video as a stand-alone – don’t depend too much on others in your library
- Try something new every once in a while: scene change, more ‘actors’, new format, et cetera
- Put your link at the beginning and end of every video (and in between when it counts)
- Give credit where credit is due somewhere in your video
- Put your homepage / blog link in your video description – hey, some people check it!
- Use a BUNCH of tags and use them well – consider making a standard list / template
- Put up some ‘notes’ for the show on your website – give them something tangible
- Consider doing “video response” replies to other videos you really enjoy – tag it up nicely
- Make playlists for your video channels when you can – make it easy for the viewers
- Don’t forget to favorite and share the videos you really enjoy – it gets noticed!
- Cater to your super-fans: they are putting in good time for you – do the same!
- Ensure you have adequate lighting – dark, blurry, grainy videos don’t do anyone any good!
- Ensure you have decent sound – what’s the point of a presentation if you can be heard clearly?
- Consider using http://www.tubemogul.com/ to spread your video to multiple video sites
- You don’t have to do it all in one day – shoot one day, process another, & upload shortly after
Check out some more from Chris Pirillo’s post .