This is guest post by Krizia who is the co-creator of The Blog Income for Women Blueprint
I’ve made a huge decision for this year!
I’ve decided to quit blogging!
Yup, I’m not going to write blog posts like I used to in the past.
Let me give you a little background.
I’ve been blogging since 2007 and have written well over 2500 posts on my different blogs.
I type very quickly and never suffer from writer’s block (I love writing just as much as I love talking), but recently, I’ve not been as motivated by blogging and I was looking for a way to get excited again about my work and also increase my readership. After doing some research, it seemed that a number of smart marketers were turning to videos as a way to boost their business.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been doing vblogs for a while now, but I wasn’t following a clear strategy and because of that my results were less than spectacular. I’ve made the decision to invest into video marketing this year by taking courses and also by applying everything I learn.
A lot of people fear video production because they are afraid of being on camera. I’ll admit it took me a while to get over this fear, but now I’m fairly comfortable and I don’t worry about some non-flattering comments left on my YouTube channel.
That said, you can create a lot of videos without ever showing your face. If you use screencapture tools like Camtasia (for a PC) and Screenflow (for MAC), you can easily create videos from Power Point that are informative and entertaining (and that will get you visitors to your site).
I’ll admit to being excited by my new MAC because I can finally use a program like Screenflow which allows me to capture what I am doing on my screen and while still showing my face in the corner – it’s just a little bit more personal that way (Camtasia doesn’t offer this functionality).
One of the easiest ways to get started with video blogging is by turning a post or an article you’ve already written into a PowerPoint presentation! It might seem like a lot of work, but these easy steps should get you started quickly.
Before we get started, there are a few important tools you’ll need:
1) A screen capture tool like Camtasia (for a PC) and Screenflow (for MAC)
2) A microphone (sound quality is imperative)
3) PowerPoint (for PC) or Keynote (for MAC)
4) A YouTube account
So how do you turn your post into a video?
1. Take a post that you’ve written and extract the key points in bullet points in PowerPoint or Keynote.
2. Find a template that you like that’s not too busy to give your presentation some flair.
3. Source photos to add some visual element. If you are reviewing a product, it’s important that you include a shot of the product in question. You’ll be adding those photos inside your presentation.
4. Make sure your opening slide refers to your brand.
5. Close your presentation with your brand and with the URL you want people to visit.
6. Open your screencapture program.
7. Read out the screens you’ve created in a lively way.
8. When you are done, convert that into a flash format that you can easy upload.
9. Upload the video on your YouTube channel.
10. Make sure you add the URL that you want people to visit to your video description and make sure you add an interesting description.
11. Grab the embedded code from YouTube and add that to your blog post and also add a bit of an introduction to the video.
Now, if you are still not convinced you’re interested in going down the video blogging route, I’ll leave you with these eye-popping statics:
* There are over 200,000,000 blogs on the internet (writing content is not enough to get noticed anymore).
* YouTube exceeds 2 Billion views per day!
* YouTube videos are among the most consumed content even outside of YouTube…sites like MySpace, FaceBook, social networks and independent sites and blogs.
* More content is uploaded to YouTube every 60 days than in the last 60 years on all major U.S. TV networks combined!!!
If you’re not exploiting the power of vlogs and video marketing to attract new readers to your blog or more buyers to your products … you are missing out!
Here’s another great thing about vlogging – if you have affiliate programs you’d like to promote, you’ll get ahead MUCH faster by using video marketing than by writing a simple post.
About the Author:
Krizia is the co-creator of The Blog Income for Women Blueprint which teaches women how to turn their blogging efforts into blog income.
You can watch a free video tutorial and download a free report here:
The Blog Income for Women Blueprint
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Andrew is a website builder and helps small businesses with their on-line presence…so they can grow their customer list and increase sales. That’s it! That’s what we do each and every day.
Interesting and tempting article. I am on a Mac and I have Screenflow (and of course I have Keynote) – but I wonder what template you were referring to when you mentioned
“Find a template that you like that’s not too busy to give your presentation some flair.”
Any pointers?
Hey Krizia
Excellent tips, I actually just started youtube, in a similar way you describe and it is not my 3 best traffic source behind google and facebook.
The thing I like is that it’s kinda set and forget traffic, I upload the video once usually with tubemogul, then the traffic just keeps coming.
Many bloggers will benefit from your post, Alex
Hi Krizia,
This sure is a very informative post on videoblogging. Thanks for sharing with us your knowledge and experiences from it.
Alex,
I’m so happy to see you are also doing more videos and using the power of Youtube!
Thanks for your feedback.
Krizia
David,
I’m talking about a clean templage inside Power Point.
You don’t want to pick one that is too busy.
Krizia
Felicia,
I’m happy you found it valuable and thanks for your comment.
Hi Krizia!
I started to incorporate video to my posts. Actually, when I first started I was a bit nervous of being in front of camera – now it’s not a big thing anymore 🙂
I figured out that having a video can add some extra value to the original content. Of course, I want to point out something extra in my videos that wasn’t mentioned in the original post.
Hello Krizia,
At first I thought Andrew was thinking about quiting blogging and I was a little shocked :).
Now on to the main subject, youtube videos and vblogging. I think everyone enjoys reading but people just love sitting idle and looking at a video, especially if it has great images to illustrate what the man/woman is talking in the background. Also, with podcasting and all those video syndication services at our disposal, videos can become viral very quickly if it provides quality and helps your readers… I mean viewers :).
And turning your posts into videos, it’s just like an other way to promote your blog, this will tap into the group of people that don’t want or are to lazy to run, but want to know more about your subject.
So all thumbs up for video blogging.
Hi Andrew,
Krizia’s post about Video Blogging is very informative, at least for me. I have made an YouTube account a long time ago but never uploaded a single video till now. But now I have collected courage to make and upload videos on it to start vblogging.
Hi Krizia,
This is a wake up call for me. I’ve actually used this process to create a few videos in the past but simply did not push on with it. However, recently I’ve been thinking of some ways of revisiting my past posts and this is one of the options I’ve been thinking about. Your post is kind of a push for me. Thanks so much.
The best posts in my opinion have both, with text backing up the video…best of both worlds and builds your readership.
Krizia,
I was also thinking Andrew quit blogging!
Though I have to check again who the poster is after reading the post, since under the title, Andrew’s name is there, but under the post, it is Krizia 🙂
I have been using videos on my blog and I am surprised with the result, Video in blogging and marketing is a trend, it seems.
Thanks.
Future blogging is Video blogging. Camtasia is great tool to make video tutorials. Thanks for showing its scope.
Wow, Krizia your post engulfed me right from beginning till end. I have been telling myself that vlogging is not my kind of type but you just changed my view at a snap of a finger.
Hello Krizia,
have you checked how well your YouTube traffic is converting into prospects and sales? My results have not been good, YouTube converts at just 10% of article traffic. That could be different for different niches, though.
Hey Krizia,
I think vblogs are a great idea but it’s like you said you need to have a strategy. Thanks for the great tips, I learned a few things I can use. I also agree with your final point that video marketing will be great for video marketing. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you for your thoughts regarding vlogging. I haven’t spent too much time in the vlogging world, but I hope to soon. From your thoughts, I see many places I haven’t thought of before regarding the viral power they can harness.
I think in a few years or so, VBlogging is going to dominate and become the preferred blogging method. It takes much less time to make a video post than it is to make a text based post.
Of course one of the main benefits of turning your articles to video posts is that you get to reuse your articles and get the most out of each article.
Anne,
I say go for it! It might be scary at first, but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of things in no time.
Krizia
Timo,
Videos are amazing and you can convey feelings!
Most of us were nervous the first time!
nazimwarriach,
I hope my post motivated you to start posting videos. They can even be simple power point presentation recorded with screencapture software!
Chadrack,
I encourage you to push forward my friend. Embrace video … in a couple of years you’ll be happy you jumped in!
Dennis,
Indeed having both is amazing. My next step is to actually find a transcript service.
I’ve now start doing fancy stuff with power point and will learn more software in the coming months.
Aren’t we talking about video in a blog post?
Corinne,
JUST DO IT!
Alex,
People love being entertained and video does that.
Add a splash of information and you have a winning combination!
Kimi,
It’s more than a trend my friend … it’s the future on marketing online!
Nope, Andrew is still blogging … I’ll be vlogging!
Rakesh,
I couldn’t agree with you more my friend!
Anne,
My friend, I’m blushing. I’m honoured by your kind words.
Thanks!
I’m actually going to have a channel soon documenting everything I’m learning with video blogging and video marketing and I hope people who want to jump in will want to follow my adventures!
Kai,
I’m now learning form guys who drive all their traffic from YouTube and turn that into 6-7 figure businesses!
I too had traffic, but no conversions … but then again I wasn’t doing it the right way.
That said, my VA is still writing and posting articles for now.
Christian
Video will surely harness the power of viral traffic!
Satrap,
I also feel the same and the more I study this … the more I feel this way.
Also, as mobile marketing becomes a force … videos will play an even bigger role.