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What is the EASIEST Way to Make VIDEOS that Work?

by hockmasm
18 replies
Is anyone creating super simple videos that work to help drive traffic and SEO to their websites?

Of course, I aspire to have my own 5-10 min. show where I share tips and tricks on my niche, but at this point it is not feasible.

Right now, I'm looking to create 1-2 min. quick videos I can upload every day or every other day that help drive traffic to my site.

Any help would be great!
#easiest #make #videos #work
  • Profile picture of the author Victor Edson
    The easiest way to create a short video is this...

    turn on your webcam.
    speak.
    upload to youtube.

    If this sounds simple, you're right.
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  • Profile picture of the author LexiB
    I'm not sure about using videos to drive traffic in tradtional ways and I can't stand SEO but the best way to do video is screenflow or camtasia for screen caps. IPhone/Tripod/Iphon Mic Connection/Wired Mic for direct to cam.

    Upload them to AWS for the best streaming and personally I like EasyVideoPlayer.

    Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author hockmasm
    I think i came up with a great idea. What do you think of this...

    Create a short highlight video of my existing tutorials. In text form on video, showcase the top tips that you will learn in the full text post. Add this video to the top of the blog post.

    Then I have youtube exposure pointing back to my site and a video on the blog post giving a summary of what you will learn in the full post.

    Good idea?
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    • Profile picture of the author Gail_Curran
      Originally Posted by hockmasm View Post

      Create a short highlight video of my existing tutorials. In text form on video, showcase the top tips that you will learn in the full text post. Add this video to the top of the blog post.

      Then I have youtube exposure pointing back to my site and a video on the blog post giving a summary of what you will learn in the full post.

      Good idea?
      Yes, providing useful information is always a good idea! If you're making videos that are mostly text, summarize the info (take out extra words) and place only 1-3 lines of text per screen. Make the text large enough so it's easy to read. Add some images or screenshots to make the video more engaging. Always include a call to action at the end of the video - "read the post to learn more about X" or whatever is appropriate.

      .
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  • Profile picture of the author hometutor
    Use your webcam for your face and Camstudio (the free one) for your desktop
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  • Profile picture of the author WordpressManiac
    I use screencast o matic although I use the paid Version they also offer a very nice free tool. Have a look, you will like it :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyW
    I found this recently...

    Slideshows Made Easy - for DVD, PC and YouTube

    -- TW
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  • Profile picture of the author worldzaki
    You can use PowerPoint it's easy
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  • Profile picture of the author troy23
    It depends on your subject to a large extent.
    I uploaded a lot of videos when YouTube started out.
    The quality was not great, but those same videos have now aged and bring in constant Adsense every week of the year. I think I gave good value in the videos though because they have on average 40,000 natural views over the years. So......just make videos giving a lot of value to your audience and optimise them well. Keep within YouTube's guidelines and you will be ok in the long term.
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  • Profile picture of the author TopOfTheMornin
    I agree with what's been posted. Just get good at ad libbing some content into your camcorder. It doesn't need to be fancy, but pay attention to backdrop. You can use a plain wall behind you with maybe an erasable marker board hung on it. If you know your topic, it should be easy.
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  • Profile picture of the author vtotheyouknow
    Ok...regarding this "just turn on a camera, speak and upload" business:

    That COULD work. If you're Tony Robbins.

    I suggest instead, you think a bit about the video as a composition. Some dude on stage playing a guitar and randomly making up lyrics doesn't quite hold your attention the same way as even a roughly put together song.

    Put yourself in the shoes of a potential viewer. What do they want? What problems do they need solved? What benefits do they need delivered? And then find a way to make the video (gasp!) interesting. HOOK your viewer.

    Put some love into your videos. Use powerpoint or Keynote and keep 'interrupting' on the visual and auditory channels (this is why UGLY sales videos work. You anticipate the next slide with the next batch of words because your eyes are following along. It's a stupid-simple psychological phenomenon that makes a lot of people a lot of money because it works).

    There are a million and one schmucks rambling about who-cares-what on YouTube already. Nobody cares about you and your smiling countenance (yet). You have to make your videos interesting and valuable, especially to people who don't know/trust you yet. Would YOU watch them? I bet you'd get bored listening even to yourself yak after a few minutes. Imagine what somebody else thinks.

    Take action. But work smart, not just hard.
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  • Profile picture of the author HarrisonJ
    You can also use your cell phone if it has a camera. Turn down the settings so the file size doesn't get too large, then email it to yourself, and upload it to a video hosting site or your website.
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    • Profile picture of the author Benny L
      Originally Posted by HarrisonJ View Post

      You can also use your cell phone if it has a camera. Turn down the settings so the file size doesn't get too large, then email it to yourself, and upload it to a video hosting site or your website.
      Yes indeed. I did a video this way and it came out quite well with some editing. One thing though is that cell phone cameras do very poorly in low light.. and the camera's idea of low light is vastly different from your own. "I can see fine in this room" is much too dark for a cheap camera. "Oh holy hell!!! It's really bright in here!!!" yields far superior results.

      I've even gotten pretty good quality audio from my camera phone by taking some time to properly treat the room and applying some audio restoration to remove the background noise. The cheapest software for this, that I've found, is from DiamondCut. Their DC Millenium (clicky linky) costs 59 bucks, but the Continuous Noise Filter in it is an absolute gem and isn't hard to learn. (I'm not an affiliate. As an audio geek, I just think their products are undervalued, underpriced, underappreciated, and underutilized). In fact, I have a demo I recorded on my cell phone, that I then put through their software. PM me if you want to hear a snippet. And they do have a 10 day free trial if you want to try it out on a recording or two.

      If you're interested in the audio side of things at all, podcasting style and whatnot, I've created a couple of squidoo pages on the topic which you may find interesting. Here's the second of the series.... it links to the first which you may also find to be valuable, especially when starting out on the audio side of things.

      Don't Buy a USB-Powered Microphone Without Reading This First!
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      • Profile picture of the author hometutor
        Originally Posted by

        I've even gotten pretty good quality audio from my camera phone by taking some time to properly treat the room and applying some audio restoration to remove the background noise. The cheapest software for this, that I've found, is from DiamondCut. Their [URL="http://www.diamondcut.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1"

        DC Millenium (clicky linky)[/URL] costs 59 bucks, but the Continuous Noise Filter in it is an absolute gem and isn't hard to learn. (I'm not an affiliate. As an audio geek, I just think their products are undervalued, underpriced, underappreciated, and underutilized).
        What about Audacity? It has a noise filter.

        Rick
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        • Profile picture of the author Benny L
          Originally Posted by hometutor View Post

          What about Audacity? It has a noise filter.

          Rick
          I've tested the Audacity filter exhaustively. I've found that it leaves a lot of noise above the spoken words... In other words, the silent parts sound fine, but as soon as somebody starts speaking, there's a bit of fuzz creeping in above their voice and it's really distracting. And if you get more aggressive with the settings, you start getting weird digital artifacts. That's true for any noise reduction actually... but the Audacity version doesn't have a lot of flexibility to help you minimize it.

          On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being hardly helps at all, and 10 being the holy grail of noise reduction, where you can make any recording perfect with just a little effort... I'd rate Audacity at about 3 or maybe a 3.5, just because it's simple to use. I'd rate DiamondCut's Continuous Noise Filter alone, just that one feature, at about a 6 or 7.

          To give you some background - I use Audacity and Reaper now. I exclusively use free VST's. I don't pay for any software related to my music (except for Reaper). Since it's a hobby of mine, I'm stingy about it. But I still found Diamond Cut to be money well spent. In fact, I lost my license for it and am trying to get it back through the company (can't remember my email from the 8 years ago when I purchased it). However, if I can't get it back, I'm going to buy it again. It's really that good for cleaning up audio.
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    • Profile picture of the author hometutor
      Originally Posted by HarrisonJ View Post

      You can also use your cell phone if it has a camera. Turn down the settings so the file size doesn't get too large, then email it to yourself, and upload it to a video hosting site or your website.
      Cell phone camcorders are getting pretty awesome. I bought a 32 gig memory card to make it my main recording device for promotional videos

      This example is noncommercial and recorded on an Android Attrix 2

      New Hope Voyager's Group Baptism - YouTube

      Rick
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  • Profile picture of the author GuyDon
    I use videopad its pretty easy to create videos using images n sound clips.
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  • Profile picture of the author betterwtveter
    I know it sounds weird, but I am starting to use Google Hangouts more often to make my product review or any helpful tips on my products I sell. It is super easy to setup and uploads to youtube immediately after you finish.
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