The increase in audio and video form of content creation may be as a result of low cost in equipment.

Low cost of equipment, ease of use, along with better output quality help to bring audios and videos for most business with less effort.

As we have already mentioned in the blog section, text posts and articles are not the only type of blog content. It is true that text might still be the dominating type of content, but audio and video content is quickly catching up. Video podcasts can allow your audience to feel like they are a part of the conversation as you bring them along during narration / content creation.

Electronic prices have reduced drastically in the last 5 years that made most audio and video equipment affordable for the masses. It is no longer necessary to be a professional photographer or camera operator to own decent equipment.

How Podcasts And Videos Can Work For You

 

Podcasts and videos are gaining popularity at the speed of light. Podcasts, which are recorded audio, are often used for interviews, reporting news, how-to, etc.

Of course, in comparison to videos, podcasts have limited abilities to communicate ideas, but their advantage is that you can download them to your MP3 player and listen to them when it is convenient for you – in your car or when you are taking a walk.

Portable movie players of good quality are also becoming a commodity, so it is a safe bet that soon videos will catch up with audios in terms of portability.

In the recent years, videos, video syndication and video marketing have become some of the latest top tendencies online and they are successfully used in organic traffic building.

There are many sites where you can upload your videos for the world to see – sites such as: –

• www.Youtube.com
• www.MetaCafe.com
• www.Truvue.com
• www.Blinkx.com
• www.Revver.com
• MSN Live Video Search
• www.BlipTV.com
• www.Veoh.com
• www.AOLVideo.com
• Myspace Video
• www.Download.com and
• www.CNET TV.com

You can always use the keyword ‘video upload’ in Google to search for more sites where you can upload your video.

Advantages of Video

It’s a powerful way that allows you to communicate your message quickly and effectively – make it short and simple to hold your viewers’ interest.

It allows your viewers to watch at their own convenience and pace.

Production of video and audio is now cost effective and easy to use for everybody.

You can give a great deal of information into a 10-minute video to educate your viewers.

You can use video to promote your products or services and get great results with your how-to instructions to help simplify your process and show your product in action.

You have the ability to portray your organization’s positive image and promote your brand – some people will include the tour of their office and how they operate their business. This makes the business look more real in the mind of your viewers.

Video has a greater chance of getting your viewers’ attention.

You can use video to present standardized information in relating to your business processes, information, and trainings. This will save time and money – set it up once for your sales meeting, tradeshow, point-of-purchase display, or customer training and use it over and over again.

Some big organizations record their processes and send it out to their business partners to save travel time. This help to maintain their standard while they save travel time and money.

We save the best for last; video is a great way to personalize and package your information. Take your time to put your scripts together along with your images, sounds and other great things that can get to your visitors emotional side. You have the time to practice and put it all together without worrying about stage fright or forgetting what to say in front of your clients.

Bearing in mind all these numerous advantages video has over text and audio; it is certain that video tendency and acceptability will continue in the next years as well.

New video blogs (or vlogs) are appearing all the time. Videos (and audios but to a lesser degree) create a sense of instant trust and bonding.

Additionally, with audios and videos you can reach those readers who do not like reading and who will not make the effort to read even the most interesting article but who will gladly play the audio/video file and will even resend it to their friends, thus creating a viral video chain for you.

What Makes Podcast/Video A Good One?

We have mentioned that a video can express more than text but if you want your messages to be communicated clearly and professionally, you need to take into account the genre limitations.

Most of the points we listed in the How to Create Good Blog Content section apply to video blogs as well but there are some specific points to take into consideration when you record audios or shoot videos for your blog.

Tips for Creating Good Audio/Video Blog Content

Here are some tips, which are useful to know when you are trying to create audio/video blog content:

Tips #1 – Keep your audios/movies short.

When you record an audio/video post, do not forget that you are not recording a full-length movie! While full-length movies have their audience, generally this audience is not visiting your vlog or YouTube in search of a long movie to watch over the next weeks.

Generally, it is considered that the optimal length for an audio/video post is from 1-2 minutes to 5-6 minutes at most.

If you are new to audio/video blogging, it might look that a 5-6 minutes audio/video is too short for your enthusiasm and creativity but just try to fill in these minutes with good content and you will soon discover that 5-6 minutes actually is a lot of time.

For audio posts, 5-6 minutes could be the equivalent of 2,000-3,000 words, which is the length of a very, very long magazine article.

But even if you can fill more than 5-6 minutes with good content, don’t do it because longer audios/videos tend to get boring and even if you are talking about the most interesting things in the world, your audience will drop somewhere after the first half of the clip.

Tips #2 – Use short sentences with easy words.

We have mentioned this in the Blog Advantage chapter but for audio/video posts this is even more important because long sentences with complex words are very difficult to comprehend even if your listeners/viewers are proficient in the language the audio/video is in.

Tips #3 – Consider creating a script first.

Being spontaneous is great and your creativity might be endless, but it is often better to make a script (or at least a brief plan of the points you want to include) before you start shooting the video.

Of course, if you are recording live events (i.e., you witness something spectacular), you can’t possibly make a script but in all other cases, your video will be much more coherent if you follow a script.

For audio, a script is almost mandatory because unlike video, where you can have frames without any text, silence in audio posts is a big No-No.

Some audio-bloggers even write their speech before they start recording but this is not always a good idea because very often it is obvious that you are reading the text, instead of spontaneously speaking your mind and listeners are irritated by this.

You might consider having an outline to help guide your topic in a logical manner.

Tips #4 – Keep your movie natural.

It might be a little confusing after you have read that plans and scripts are good practice; Now, I am saying you need to keep your video natural.

There isn’t anything confusing or impossible in having a script yet keeping the video natural.

The idea is that if you behave naturally, rather than overact, the video will be more spontaneous and realistic.

Tips #5 – Use captions and voiceover

Audio and video have the advantage of voice and picture but very often you cannot communicate all ideas only by showing them.

In those cases, when you need to comment/clarify something, do not leave it to the user to guess what you had in mind but use captions or voiceover.

Whatever you do with your visuals, you do not want to go to extremes.

Using a narrator occasionally in the video is fine but if you leave him or her the task to communicate the ideas all the time, why are you actually shooting a video – you’d better go for audio/text posts instead!

Tips #6 – Learn how to properly handle the camera/microphone.

Now, we have inevitably come to some technical stuff. Recording audios and shooting videos can’t be done without the proper equipment and without the proper knowledge how to handle this equipment – an exception to this is if you are recording for personal use.

It is true that sometimes recording an audio/video is as easy as pressing the ‘Record’ button, but most often this is not enough.

There are many technical details to how to make your audios/videos sound/look professional.

Some of the things you need to consider are: –

light (for videos),

surrounding noises (for both audio and video) and,

how you can eliminate them (or at least filter them to an acceptable level),

sound/picture quality,

Content quality etc.

But do not worry; you don’t have to read thick books just to be able to record/shoot a clip of decent quality.

You can learn more tips and how to shoot a video on these sites: –

• reelseo.com/video-tutorial-shoot-video/
• reelseo.com/video-creation-tips-videos/

There are many more resources you can get for free on the web – type the keyword ‘video creation tips’ on Google to get more tips if you want your videos to be more professional.

Tips #7 – Use a professional microphone and camera.

While it is true that it is your creativity, which matters most for the attractiveness of your audios/videos; you really do not want to underestimate the technical aspects of audio/video quality.

Blurred images, choppy audio, hissing, different artifacts, etc. – all this deteriorates the quality.

Even if you are a pro in post-processing, you can encounter some damages that are beyond repair and in many cases such damages are due to the poor quality of the microphone or camera you have used.

If you plan to get really serious about audio/video blogging, then you can’t go on like that and you need to get more decent equipment. Decent equipment does not necessarily mean expensive equipment – the rule of thumb here is that you should get the best you can afford.

Tips #8 – Hire help, if you need it.

We have already mentioned this in the Blog Advantage chapter, but it does not hurt to repeat it here again.

If you want to have good audios/videos and you either do not have the time to personally deal with all the details, or you just can’t do it, or don’t have the equipment to do it – hire help.

In many cases (i.e., when your voice is unpleasant to listen to, or when your accent/dialect is too heavy, or when your intonation and articulation is far from perfect) the best you can do is hire a professional voice artist/presenter to take part in the audio/video clip.

There is nothing to be ashamed of when you hire a pro to do the job for you; you have a better chance of getting a great results.

Tips #9 – Give a clear textual description of your audio/video.

This is one more aspect in which audios/videos are different from text. When you have a text post, your readers just scan the article over and decide if they want to read the whole of it or not.

With movies it is different. Yes, you can create a short trailer (or preview) of your movie but what actually catches the listener’s/viewer’s attention is the textual description of your clip.

If people are not intrigued by your abstract they will hardly watch the whole movie, so you need to do your best to have a catchy title and description of the clip.

Now, after you have learned the major points in creating good audio and video, the next step is to learn how you can use this great production to drive traffic to your site in the next chapter.

 

Chapter Checklist – Podcast/Video

• How Podcasts and Videos Can Work For You
  • Use video syndication and video marketing to promote your product.
  • Audios and videos can be used to build trust with your customers.

Advantages of Video

• Communicate effectively.
• Allows your customers to watch at their own convenience.
• Reduces cost to virtually nothing.
• It is effective in capturing attention and easy to use.
• It gives a great deal of information in less than 10 minutes.
• Create How-To instructions for your favorite topic you love and want to share to get great results.
• Use it to promote your brand.
• Use video to get your viewers’ attention.
• Use video to present standardized information.
• Save your partners and clients travel time.
• Use video to personalize and package your information at your own convenience to avoid mistakes and anxiety.
• Clear message and professional recordings are the major factors that makes a Podcast/Video a good one.

Tips for Creating Good Audio/Video Blog Content

• Keep your audios/movies short.
• Use short sentences with easy words.
• Consider creating a script first.
• Keep your movie natural.
• Use captions and voiceover.
• How-to properly handle the camera/microphone.
• Use a professional microphone and camera.
• Hire help if you need it.
• Give a clear textual description of your audio/video.

 Click on this link to find out more on how video marketing can improve your business.