Running a video blog is an easy way to get quality engaging content on the web with very little effort. Granted it’s up to you to make the video posts quality and engaging. We can usually do a post in one take which can take anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes. This is a lot less time than it takes to write a well thought out blog post.

Video posts are great for several reasons:

• Little effort to take in information
• Easy to compose
• Tone helps get messages across easier
• Puts a face to the voice

So which site should you upload your video to?

Here are a few of the sites that have stuck out to me over the years. I’ve had the opportunity to play with most of these sites but please give any additional feedback you feel is necessary.

Viddler

Viddler has been my favorite for some time now. The main reason being I like that people can comment on the timeline. The comments can be text or video. You can also tag your video at a specific points in time. Then to kick it all off you can brand your player with your own colors and even your logo.

Vimeo

I’ve always liked Vimeo, mainly because of their sleak web player. You can even upload video up to 1280×720 in HD.

YouTube

Would this list be complete without YouTube, most definitely not. You can’t ignore the ridiculously large user base and their list of functionality seems to grow pretty regularly. It’s a simple classic that you cannot go wrong with.

Seesmic Video

Seesmic has a very loyal community which is probably it’s biggest selling point. I also love the Twitter integration and threaded video reply functionality. I once asked a question on Seesmic and posted the video to my blog and I received more video replies than text comments. Just thought that was kind of cool.

Revver

Tho I have no personal experience with this site, I’ve heard good things around the blogosphere and they boast some pretty cool features.

Be sure to check out Magicomm’s new “Series of Opportunities” and our previous endeavor, “The Dead Series”

- Photo by stevegarfield

I’ve talked about the Future of Flash in the past, and well, technically now that the future is here I thought we should discuss it again.

First of all, I still stand by my original thoughts about Flash and SEO, however, Google has recently made some interesting improvements. One problem flash developers were facing was that Google would index any external content linked in the flash files as a separate entity. That’s if Google would index the external content at all. But now Google has added “external resource loading”.

This means that when a SWF file loads content from some other file—whether it’s text, HTML, XML, another SWF, etc.—we can index this external content too, and associate it with the parent SWF file and any documents that embed it.

- Official Google Webmaster Central Blog

So What’s The Current State of SEO and Flash?

Although most SEOs would argue to stay away from flash because of it’s inability to index the content properly, I would argue that it almost doesn’t matter anymore. SEOmoz said something that caught my ear in their “New Policies Based on Updated Correlation Data“. They basically implied that header tags have less weight associated with them than they did in the past. It almost seems as if Google is paying less attention to the HTML markup and more attention to incoming links and conversations around the content.

So if your flash is getting indexed and you have a quality content with relevant incoming links, you should not have any problems with Flash being indexed and ranked properly in the search engines.

Now before you go and rip my head off I should state a few obvious problem that still exist:

• There are still accessibility issues (portable devices) when using flash elements however a good flash developer should know their way around them.
• HTML still provides a better format to organize your content for more efficient indexing

The main takeaways here should be that people should not be afraid to at least experiment with flash. It no longer has the indexing issues it used to have. Also, Google still supports the use of SWFObject which takes care of a lot of the indexing problems flash still has.

- Photo by Mazintosh << de nuevo en Granada >>

When you think of personalized communications, what comes to mind? Possibly something along the lines of “Hi Joe, check out this offer” or “Isn’t New England cold this time of year?”. But what kind of value does this sort of personalization actually provide. With advances in technology and new media, why are we not providing more value through personalization rather than just trying to impress them with our fancy greeting.

Well, we at Magicomm have been thinking a lot about this recently and have worked hard to come up with unique campaigns that go beyond traditional personalization. For example, in a recent campaign we did for Canon USA we wanted to establish each prospects pain points and address their issues in a unique manner. We achieved this through a set of video testimonials that reorganizes itself based on the individuals responsibilities. What we ended up with was the beginning of a conversation that we hope to continue in the free webinars that are a component of the campaign, which includes personalized mailer, purl, responding email, and the videos.

So the more information I have about my prospect the better?

Well not necessarily. You don’t want to scare them away as there is such thing as TOO personal. Instead of talking about how you know where they were last week (creepy), why not instead use that information to write a more appealing call to action.

Now taking this idea of personalization to your every day marketing strategies, wouldn’t it be cool if you could welcome your users to your blog with a customized message based on how they came across your blog. For example, if you know someone found your site through YouTube, why not also ask them to friend you on YouTube and check out the rest of your companies videos. The technology exists, it’s just on us to push it’s limits.

Personalization was fun at first because we could “see our name in lights”. Now it’s time we become more sophisticated with our marketing communications by providing relevant information that is taylored to the receiptants interests. It’s not rocket science … just the next logical step.

Image by FotoDawg

At a time with so much economic turmoil, it is widely understood that marketing budgets are the first to go. While I don’t agree with most of these decisions, there are many variables that go into the decision making process for these companies. My feeling is that marketing yourself is one of the most important things a company can do. With marketing budgets shrinking and the the pressure on marketers increases, it is time to fight back. As a marketer whose success is hard to pinpoint, it is now time to show your organization what you are worth. In the age of declining marketing budgets it is time to do more with less. Don’t be worried though, through shifts in today’s marketing world your job can become easier by adopting new tactics. If you are faced with the dilemma of a shrinking budget and your boss breathing down your neck you need to do two things.

1. Just like you are doing in the stock market, it is now time to diversify your marketing budget and it’s time to shift to a new form in internet marketing.
2. Show people what you are worth, tighten up your Marketing metrics

Shifting your marketing dollars to the internet is all you hear about these days, but it is inevitable. Internet marketing costs less than traditional marketing (in most cases), is more direct, and is trackable. Developing a strong internet presence combined with pr efforts can be very successful for the audience searching for your company or product. In a poll by Epsilon 63% of the senior marketing executives polled predicted an increase in interactive/online marketing. Showing your target audience quality information is more important than the soccer mom who drives by that billboard about the latest Seth Rogan movie every day. Instead, there are many places on the internet that would be better suited for this advertisement. In this instance, advertisements on Facebook, Myspace, google ads, etc. would probably capture the target audience more appropriately and yield better results. As I noted before, internet marketing is growing and it is time for you to jump on the bandwagon before everyone else does.

Marketing metrics is your friend. Narrowing down your marketing metrics will turn that yelling and screaming conversation with your boss into a calm discussion about how your favorite football team did last weekend. If you know how successful you have been and you can prove it, there is no way you will be the bad guy anymore. In an article “B2B Marketing’s Balance Act” in Marketing Management it lists marketing metrics as the number 4 challenge facing marketers today. This should lead marketers to plan out their marketing budget more appropriately. Marketers need to invest in methods that promote their company or product effectively and can be tracked. If your efforts lead to millions in sales and you are not getting credit for it, there is something wrong with that. Internet marketing is a trackable solution through Google Analytics, Alexa, Technorati, etc. Boosting your companies internet presence combined with effective internet marketing techniques can make your efforts trackable and more effective in the long run.

Overall, the ability to track your marketing efforts is a problem that most marketers find with traditional marketing efforts such as print ads, billboards, etc. Being able to shift marketing dollars to the internet and reach a directed audience combined with the ability to track your success will save you a lot of hassle. The best way to tackle your decreasing marketing budget and untrackable success is to attack it and think through the process. Making these necessary changes can save your company money and increase the impact of your marketing department.

Recognizing the merging of media workflows is HUGE for Printers and their customers

I have reviewed the new Adobe Creative Suite 4 features and I have only one thing to say…AWESOME…INCREDIBLE….WOW!

Ok, that was more than one word, but Adobe has really outdone themselves this time. What is clear is that they have recognized that “Content is King” and the creators of the content need to move faster and be more efficient, while enabling them to move across different medium seamlessly. Consider It Done, Number 1!

In reviewing the key new features of the entire CS4 product line, I have some thoughts. I know that many of you will be surprised at that, but let’s discuss that at another time. My thoughts are below.

• Speed Enhancements: Photoshop really got a supercharged upgrade. Moving large file without having significant wait times is a big deal. None of us get paid extra for watching the screen refreshing. That just costs us time and money. Besides, we have a tendency to be bored and then our attention will wonder to Twitter (@ricklittrell) or check the local news on the economy (well, maybe not. I don’t want to get depressed). Also, adding real time Preflight lets us fix things while we are working on them and will help us down the road as these files get deeper in the process, where all changes are more expensive and could impact the final delivery. Multiple art boards in Illustrator shows that they recognize the reality that in integrated marketing has many parts and that they all may not be the same. Good Call!
• Image Editing: Content-Aware scaling is INCREDIBLE! When I first saw it in the announcement, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’m sure that situations will arise that will cause some hiccups, but just making the scaling algorithm more “content sensitive” is very cool. I don’t know how they did that, but my hats off to them (whoever “them” is at Adobe). Additionally, enhancing the editing of 3-D images will make these tools a “must have” for those of us (and who would not qualify in the graphics industry) that provide solutions integrated with the internet. I can only image what type of Avatars will come from this feature set. This will be fun to watch.
• Video: They have clearly shifted into high gear with the video functionality. With video being one of the fastest growing areas on the internet, having more tools at your finger tips for video and audio editing and integration will be a huge time saver, as well as allowing us to better build the imagery that our clients push us to. Variable video will become easier to produce and deploy. By adding their new “Speech to text” abilities that will link directly to the metadata, will enhance our ability to search for specific scenes and make these clips more internet search friendly. The search engine optimization friendliness of this function is HUGE! Don’t leave home without it.
• Interaction between Adobe applications: They have completed (for the time being) the integration of Macromedia into the Adobe core product line. Bouncing from medium to medium, without losing significant features in the process, allows designers/illustrators/photographers to play in all mediums at once. This will not replace the skill sets required to excel in each medium, but this recognizes that being “multi-media” friendly is the new world (and very fun world) for the creative and graphics production community. Kudos to Adobe for giving us the ability and tools to do this more easily. This is a step forward with enabling us to produce cross media solutions quicker. It’s still a challenge, but the mediums have so much overlap in today’s marketing, graphics production, and creative world, it just got easier to do. NOT EASY, just easier.
• Collaboration: By bundling in with Acrobat Connect, they understand that everyone on the team for a project may not be in the same location. That is the reality today for most of us. Due to the complexity of the integrated campaigns that have become the norm, most of us partner with others to expand our abilities to support our clients in an expanding media world. NO ONE, not even the biggest companies, can have on staff the necessary skill sets to produce, at a high level, an integrated campaign without assistance from outside groups and individuals. With “the outside” being potentially beyond your country boarders, even on the other side of the world. We are in a worldwide economy (the past week’s events confirms that even more), we need tools that allow us to build best-in-class teams, from a selection of partners that potentially could be located anywhere in the world. We will still have the language and cultural issues that have to be dealt with, but the geographic issues just got reduced and we all are now closer and the better for it.

So, that’s my cut on the new Adobe Creative Suite 4. With Magicomm focusing on cross media solutions, that use variable data printing, customized emails, personalized url’s, and variable video (with social media thrown into the mix for good measure), we are very excited about this release. Many of you already know that I have been a HUGE (both physically and philosophically) supporter of Adobe for many years and with this released they have confirmed my support. Great job, Adobe! Now the challenge is…What do you do next to top this?

“See” Ya Later,

Rick Littrell

Magicomm, LLC

The term ‘viral marketing’ gets thrown around a lot but do people really know what it means. A lot of the most popular viral videos were unintentionally viral, so what do they have that my marketing campaign doesn’t.

Here’s my basic rubric for viral success:

• People enjoy quality original content (You have to stick out from the rest of the crowd so this is extremely important)
• Simplicity (Load times and ease of use weigh heavily on viral marketing campaigns)
• Scalability (Can your server handle the rush?)
• Viral enabling tools (We use a ‘refer a friend approach’ but you can use social media sharing buttons like ‘AddThis’ or ‘ShareThis’ that utilize social media to drive visits)

The most important component of any viral marketing campaign is again, the quality unique content. Magicomm uses rich interactive media in our websites to try and stick out, whether it be a variable video or some type of flash application. It’s becoming harder and harder to catch Internet users off guard because we’ve already seen a lot of it.

So remember the number 1 rule: Quality Original Content

So it’s no news that a personalized landing page as a response portal to any kind of direct marketing campaign can increase response rates dramatically, but where’s the next step up?

Well it seems as if there are multiple cross-media technologies emerging from the web to help engage, interact and even entertain the user, therefore increasing conversions. We’ve seen how XMPie can personalize images with its powerful VDP engine, but what if the user could change their name at runtime? Furthermore, what if the users name wasn’t in an image, but in a short movie? This is the future of PURLs and will be a hit in the social media world.

I received a link through Twitter for a website about a TV Show on FX and I was amazed at what they had done. Here is the PURL someone made for me. This type of PURL has both a viral marketing factor to it and a huge fun component. Everyone wants to be the star of their own movie and show it off to all of their friends. Personalized video could very well be a key component in the future of PURLs as VDP in images becomes all too familiar.

Another key component will be the “on demand” factor. General URL’s are limited in how they perform once you leave the realm of your database. So how do you appeal to the masses with personalized landing pages? Well, why not have the website change at runtime. Here’s something my own company put together. Basically I wanted the user to be able to interact with the flash movie in real time from outside of the movie via the web-form. Using JavaScript, I was able to insert the users name into the newspaper at runtime and it’s had an amazing response. Using this method there are endless possibilities to creating unique personalized experiences where everyone has their own PURL.

People need a break from their everyday activities and these fun side trackers give them this opportunity and not only will these methods produce higher responses, but they’re great for PR. So the future is about Interactivity and Engagement, have fun!

People are starting to steer away from using flash in their websites and I think this is STUPID. We’re in the middle of an information revolution and Flash is one of our more advanced tools for making this happen. I think websites should use flash, as long as they do it right.

First off, people believe that flash is SEO unfriendly. Let me clarify, it’s flash developers who make their flash SEO unfriendly. Their are multiple ways to make entire websites in flash and Search engines can and will index them accordingly. One way of doing this is by using Geoff Stearns’ swfObject javascript. You just link to the main javascript file in the page head, and then call the function at the point on the page where you want your Flash movie to replace the default content. It makes it so users who don’t have Flash never even have to know that they’re missing something. Of course you have to make sure you have the content both on your site and in the flash movie.

Another method is by just loading the content from a separate XML. Voila, now Google can index your site.

So here is my extra two cents about the future of flash. I believe developers need to start using flash to its full interactive capabilities. By engaging the user you are more likely to entertain their presence on your site for longer and increase the productivity of your site. This can be done with interactive calendars, appointment booking systems, forums and blogging tools, Content Management Systems and whatever else your mind can conceive. The idea is to take everyday tools in life or software on your desktop and make them accessible online from anywhere via your website.

Another method of engagement, and sometimes a little harder to pull off, is personalization. Maybe a non intrusive way of using flash to make the website “Theirs”. This is is being used more and more in the marketing world and can open many doors to client/company relations. For example you can display text dynamically in your flash movie according to the date/time, the users location, or even their name. You could take it farther if somehow you could get information about the user before they even came to your site. Maybe you had them fill out a discrete form on one page to access private content, then on another page the possibilities are endless.

I guess people have been doing these things for awhile i just believe they haven’t been done right or creative enough. Engage your user and give your site functionality. Surprise them with what your site can do that others cant. PUSH FLASH TO ITS LIMITS. I don’t mean kill the users CPU. I mean be clever. Their was a pretty cool book put out awhile ago by O-Reilly called Flash Hacks that kind of gave me a glimpse into how flash can be manipulated to do cooler things. If you haven’t already, also look into AMFPHP, SWFObject and SWFAddress. All will make your flash experience 10 times better.

So that’s all i have to say about that for now. Ill be the guy with the personalized flash logo.