Internet People

A bunch of us Internet People got together today for the Podcast Academy and it made me think about all the viral videos that are referenced in the video Internet People by Dan Meth and how the Internet People that are mentioned (Lonely Girl 15, Ask A Ninja, Dick in A Box, 39, Chocolate Rain, Paris Hilton, South Park, lonelygirl,Cosby,Lazy Sunday) are spectacles and the video Internet People is a story about Internet spectacles. It's also doing very well for NextNewNetworks.

NextNewNetworks is doing a fantastic job of marketing and building an Online Video Network but they are the guys who were there at the start of MTV. Look out for these guys.

Dixie Paper Products Company Sponsors “MommyCast and Friends” Channel on Podango

So here's some good news. A Podcast Channel is being sponsored by a big brand.

Way to go MommyCast!

Here's the press release:

“MommyCast and Friends” Network To Launch at Podango

SALT LAKE CITY, UT (September 26) – MommyCast®, at MommyCast.com, one of the most popular shows on the web, by and for women immersed in the fullness of motherhood and life, is launching the MommyCast and Friends Family Channel at Podango (www.podango.com) as part of an exclusive, multi-station deal with show producer KDCP Networks, LLC., the MommyCast production company.

As part of the deal, KDCP Networks will develop “MommyCast and Friends,” a new network of family-oriented audio and video podcasts at Podango, the online video and audio network that enables publishers and companies to “get heard” by today’s hard-to-reach, niche audiences.

Co-hosted by Gretchen Vogelzang and Paige Heninger, and sponsored by Dixie Paper Products Company, among others, MommyCast is a highly sought after new media show. MommyCast is for moms aged 25-54, offering valuable information on community, health, home products, food and nutrition, education, technology and music.

Podango President Doug Smith said,” We are thrilled to welcome Gretchen, Paige and the podcasters on the MommyCast and Friends network to Podango. The jewel of family-oriented, new media programming, MommyCast will bring and unprecedented sensibility of family programming and new media to Podango.”

MommyCast producer Paul Vogelzang added, “Our partnership with Podango gives MommyCast and Friends access to Podango’s superior platform tools and services that will facilitate new MommyCast and Friends programming and reach an even larger, online audience while promoting family friendly independent content of the highest quality.”

Podango lets podcasters host and manage their own podcast stations using the company’s hosting, syndication, audience measurement and Web site creation tools. The company also offers publishers WordPress compatible tools, an embeddable podcast player for use in websites, and unlimited hosting and storage of their media files. Hosting their programs at Podango for free, station owners earn income by sharing advertising revenue from the aggregate of Podango-hosted stations. Podango also owns and operates a state-of-the-art production studio in the Bay Area.

About MommyCast
Started in March, 2005, MommyCast. has been featured in the Hollywood Reporter, Washingtonian Magazine, BusinessWeek, Variety magazines and the USA Today. Paige and Gretchen of MommyCast have also been interviewed by CNN, NBC, the BBC, Brandweek and the Wall Street Journal. MommyCast holds the distinction of being one of the first independent podcasts to land a major corporate sponsorship, which came via Dixie Paper Co. They have also established themselves as a member of the Buena Vista Entertainment Press Corps and are sponsored by Walt Disney Studios for family fare DVD movie releases. MommyCast was the first podcast to do an enhanced podcast review of a movie, March of the Penguins, released by Warner Independent Pictures. MommyCast is proudly represented by The Endeavor Agency, Hollywood, California. MommyCast recently won the 2007 Webby, Best “Family & Parenting” Site category.






About Podango
Podango is the online video and audio network that enables publishers and advertisers to “get heard” by today’s hard-to-reach, niche audiences. Featuring such hit shows as The Apple Phone Show, Podango hosts over 1,000 programs — including a number routinely found among the top twenty-five podcast shows on iTunes — on a wide variety of interests and topics. Through the company’s hosting and syndication services, corporate, professional and independent publishers deliver episodic video and audio programs, and targeted ads to highly qualified audiences. Podango also owns and operates its own a state-of-the-art production studio in the Bay Area. For more information please visit: www.podango.com.

Media Buying

In his article for iMedia Connection Jay Friedman asks, "Will online kill the annual plan?" and that is the question I've been waiting to hear for two years!!!!!

What does an annual plan have to do with making money with viral videos? Well for starters the big bucks that are spent on TV advertising are planned a year in advance so that the TV Networks can raise the money needed to produce the TV shows that advertisers are going to advertise on. This process is known in the advertising and TV worlds as the "Upfront." At the "Upfront" that takes place each year in May the TV Networks each rent out a big space in New York city like Carnegie Hall and invite media buyers from ad agencies and large brands to come and watch Upfront Presentations of the Networks new Fall Schedule then party. The presidents of each Network will come out on stage and introduce a trailer of each TV pilot episodes and then based on those trailers media buyers will buy advertising time on the new shows ahead of time. - WITHOUT EVER SEEING A SHOW OR ITS RATINGS! The Networks will then take the money and go make all the new shows for Fall.

So this last May; ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and the new CW each showed a bunch of trailers of their TV Pilots and their old shows as well and then the media buyers broke out their check books and wrote checks for advertising on these new shows.

Now this week all the Media Buyers and TV Execs are waiting to see if the shows they spent money on are going to have good ratings when they premier this week. If they don't do well "heads could roll" TV shows will get canceled and Networks will have to "Make Good" or work out deals to make their advertisers happy.

It's a very inefficient way to spend advertising dollars compared to how things can be done on the Internet but because of the cost of the TV Shows and how long they take to produce that's they way they've been doing it for 50 years.

Well with internet video that all is changing and this Friday at 7:30 AM just before the start of the Podcast and New Media Expo there is a small group of us showing up in a donated ballroom to have the first meeting of the Association for Downloadable Media where we will try to create standards for online video and audio advertising so that media buyers can buy advertising on audio programs and viral videos.

Busy Week for New Media and Halo 3 Video Reviews

This week has a lot to offer New Media Content Creators. Thursday is the Podcast Academy in Ontario, California going on the same time as PodcampSoCal followed by the Podcast and New Media Expo AND GamersDaily has posted their review of Halo 3. Does Halo 3 live up to the Hype? Will Halo 3 suck? Will Master Chief land on Earth? Will you be able to get Halo 3 for cheep? Will you be able to find cheat codes for Halo 3 so you can use the Gravity Lift or be Jacking Ghosts?


Will there be a party this week with the French Maids of French Maid TV?

One of the Best Online Video Business Models

The "Leave Britney Alone" Guy has been trying to become famous for awhile by video blogging on Youtube but it wasn’t until a few days ago that he landed 8 Million views in a week with his Leave Britney Alone video. He now has a TV Show deal in the works but had he been selling something other than himself he could have already made some money with his online videos.

One of the best business models for online video monetization is where you are using your videos to sell your own products and you are getting paid on the back end as well.

Take for example the Will It Blend videos from Blendtec. (The one above is "Will It Blend Chuck Norris.") These guys are selling blenders. They make funny videos that are emotionally compelling commercials for their product then they post the videos on Revver and get paid thousands of dollars from Revver for the advertising that is placed next to their own commercial. Imagine getting paid for your own commercial?

The only thing better is if you were getting paid upfront to sell someone else’s products (that don’t cost you money to produce) so that your video production costs were paid for and you could sell your own products (say a DVD, T-Shirt or Calender) as well while still getting paid for the advertising.

So you get paid upfront by a sponsor, that covers your production costs, then you get paid by advertisiers and you sell your own products. Sounds like what Ask a Ninja is doing.

Now would you like me to tell you the Leave Brittney Alone Guy's Real Name ?

Making Money with Affiliate Marketing

One way of making money with online video is affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing guru Mark Ling makes a cool $1 million each year from online affiliate marketing and this video (the first in a free 6 part course!) shows you exactly how he does it. Affiliate marketing is a way of making money online that can be achieved by anyone with a computer and a high-speed Internet connection. In this video, Mark explains exactly what affiliate marketing is, and more importantly, what is possible with affiliate marketing. Take a look at some high ranking affiliate websites and learn profitable marketing techniques using both free and paid advertising. This is the first part in Mark's free 6-part Affilorama video course - sign up to receive the rest of it at http://www.affilorama.com/premium.

Find Your Audience Dummy

You can't appeal to everyone all of the time so think about who would really want to watch your videos and then super-serve that audience much like what the guys at Indymogul are doing.

Indymogul has created a channel dedicated to Independent Filmmakers and they are giving out free tips and tricks like the Backyard FX: Stunt Dummy. Along the way they are also trying to make money which makes me wonder why they are not using Revver. But besides that these guys are involving their viewers by soliciting ideas and then they go produce those ideas. They do a pretty good job of it and make it look fun. I wish they had been around when I was running and gunning it with my Grandfather's Beaulieu 4008 ZM4 super8 camera.

Who needs film school when you have Indymogul!

Back to You Looks Like Goodnight Burbank with a Budget to Me

According to CNN, "Grammer's back and Heaton's got him" According to me, "Back to You is Goodnight Burbank with a Budget." and I'm not just saying that because my name is in the credits.

What's next? Ask a News Guy? or TV Tiki Bar? How about Lonely Girl 18? or RocketBloom?

Halo 3 Early Release Sneak Peak

The stars came out for a Sneak Peak of Halo 3 and three-time Emmy Award seat filler, Woody Wittman, put on his gamer face and corraled a herd of nerds, including Dane Cook, Josh Duhamel and Matt Leinart, for a sneak peak at Halo 3.

I've never seen Woddy's show before but I after Googling him it looks like he's been doing his site Dateline Hollywood since 2003. He does have a mic flag so they let him next to the red carpet and he did manage to say several offensive things to the celebrities passing by. So he must be welcome there.

It looks like he's represented by UTA and is using Weblog Ads. I shot him an email to see if he's going to the Podcast and New Media Expo. I'd love to chat with him and see if he's making any money.

Mic Flags Make You a Professional

It doesn’t matter how silly or crazy you act in front of a camera as long as you have a mic flag with your logo on your microphone. Just Google mic flags and you can find several online places that will manufacture a microphone flag for you. But if you already have stickers of your logo made you can visit an audio shop like Location Sound, buy a blank microphone flag, stick your stickers on it and you are now a professional.

You will find it amazing how many people will talk to you or let you in to cover something if you have a microphone flag.

It's also a great way to market your podcast in public.

Unlocking Your iPhone

I've not yet purchased an iPhone for a couple of reasons one of which is that I can't use it on T-Mobile. Now Wired has announced that there is an easy hack for unlocking your iPhone.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Beyond having an unlocked iPhone I would like to see the iPhone be a little more durable. Nick Douglas from Valleywag posted on Friday that Digg founder Kevin Rose cracked his iPhone. I know I'm much better at breaking things than Kevin Rose is so that really makes me want to wait for the next version of the iPhone. Maybe it will have 60 gigs of storage as well.

All this said I do see the iPhone as a great platform for content producers to create new and exciting content especially when it comes to the world of ARG or Alternative Reality Gaming. Inagine watching a video on your iPhone then getting a phone call or IM from one of the characters in the video asking you to located something for them on a Google Map and text a friend. The possibilities are endless.

The Pros are Comming!

According to Digital Media Wire "Los Angeles - The producers of TV shows including "thirtysomething" and "My So-Called Life" have announced a deal to turn a rejected ABC TV pilot into a Web-based series called "Quarterlife," which will be distributed on MySpace."

What does this mean for you and me? It means that people who know how to tell emotionally engaging stories and have years of experience are turning to the Internet to paint their art and sell their wares. Get your butt in gear. This game just stepped up a notch.

Revver Pays Producers 1 Million Dollars!

Revver Reaches One Million Dollar Mark

LOS ANGELES --(Business Wire)-- Revver, Inc. (www.revver.com), the first video sharing service powered by advertising, today announced that it has paid one million dollars to video creators and sharers. To celebrate this success, which coincides with the site's one-year anniversary today, Revver presented Doug Bresler, the creator of the animated series "Doogtoons," with an honorary check for the millionth dollar earned.

"The time and place to be an independent creator is right now, online," said Steven Starr, founder and chairman of Revver. "Smart advertisers are financing an online economy that supports these creators, and the top talent will build fortunes. This is historic: It is the birth of a sustainable art form, and it's happening before our eyes."

Thousands of people have used Revver to earn money, sharing videos online to support their work or to bring in extra dollars. Today, Revver remains unique in the marketplace. Matching every video uploaded - whether professional or amateur - with an advertisement, Revver splits the ad revenue 50/50 with the video's creator and shares twenty percent off the top with the video's distributor.

"Today's achievement is further evidence that Revver's model works: Our ad products are bringing brand messages to willing audiences and driving revenue for our creators," said Kevin Wells, CEO. "Revver's creators are drawing millions of motivated viewers, and we're giving them the tools to capitalize on that. Since the introduction of pre-roll ads as an option this summer, many are earning four to seven times more revenue."

Revver launched the 1.0 version of its site in September 2006 to foster the independent creator community emerging on the Internet. From the beginning, the Revver business model sought to reward these creators for sharing their work. By screening submissions and not accepting copyright-infringing content, Revver is able to monetize each and every video. The company's performance-based advertising system also rewards video owners based on the popularity of their content without instituting barriers to entry. The result is the first open and effective marketplace for online video.

"When I began creating videos I found Revver, and I couldn't have picked a better way to start," said Doug Bresler of the animated series "Doogtoons" and recipient of the honorary millionth dollar earned with Revver. "Revver was built for someone like me - someone who wants to build a future creating videos for the Web - and that has made all the difference."

About Revver

Revver is the first video sharing service powered by advertising. Revver allows anyone to share videos across the Internet as well as broadcast and mobile distribution channels and rewards them with a percentage of the advertising revenue generated. Revver also upholds content owners' rights by not accepting copyright-infringing content. For more information, visit www.revver.com.

Make Money with Advertising on Video Podcasts

If you are interested in bringing Advertisers and Content creators together and creating a set of advertising standards for downloadable media and what ever new media comes along here is your chance to get involved and help jump start the monetization of vlogs, audio podcasts and video podcasts.

The recently formed Association for Downloadable Media (ADM) will hold its first in-person meeting at the Podcasting & New Media Expo in Ontario, CA. The meeting will be held at 7:30 a.m. PDT on Friday, September 28, 2007 in Ballroom A. Anyone can attend who is registered as an expo attendee. Free and paid options are available at http://www.NewMediaExpo.com/register.php.

Are You Using Twitter?

I'm thinking about cleaning up my Twitter friends before the PNME.

Act International Conference

A podcast consulting gig has brought me to Seattle for the Act International Conference on Transportation.

No French Maids here but they sure could use them. It’s kind of boring but it’s interesting to be here in that the transportation coordinators from cities around America talk about carpooling much the same way podcasters talk about podcasting. “Some day it’s going to happen. Some day it’s going to catch on.”

Well I hope for everyone’s sake they both do and we make the world a better place.

Vanessa Hudgens Nude Photos Got Her Fired?

CNN
says that Nude pictures of Vanessa Hudgens have been apologized for by the 18 year old actress of “High School Musical”but it looks like she may have gotten fired anyway.

Well I’m not sure if she would make a good French Maid on French Maid TV or not but we’ll have to see what happens to her career after this little mishap blows over.

When I was doing behind the scenes on her music video "Baby Come Back"last year I was really surprised at how sexy the shoot was and after the Mouse Police at the Mouse Channel got a look at the rough cut they also cut out the sexy shots and I had to cut out the sexy shots on the BTS and the promos for the World Premier of the video. And now Naked pictures of Vanessa Hudgens. What’s next? Is one of the French Maids going to get naked and embarrass me?

How do you measure your podcast?

There are many online videos that have more views than cable TV shows have viewers but online video producers don’t get paid the advertising dollars that cable TV networks do for ad sales. The above video Lucky Night has had over 4 Million views on Revver and in the Cable TV world that would generate some advertising dollars but online it has made only $62 in advertising revenue.

Top Brands are reluctant to spend their advertising budgets in online video because they aren’t sure what their brand will appear next to (like a fart joke, a kick to the nuts video or two girls kissing a lesbian kiss) and there are no standards in place for measuring online video views, downloads or ratings.

This is a topic we are trying to address with the newly formed.
Association of Downloadable Media .

The “ADM” Mission Statement is:

To provide leadership in and organization of advertising and audience measurement standards, research, education and advocacy to all those involved in portable media (Podcasts/ATOM/RSS media enclosures) across the Internet, iPods, MP3 players, mobile devices, P2P and other upcoming platforms.

We will be having an organizational meeting at the

Podcast and New Media Expo Sept 28th.

So if you would like to get involved and run for a position on the board or a committee now is your chance to help jump start this conversation and get some standards in place so that advertisers, aggregators and content creators can all speak the same language and really get the online video and podcast advertising business rolling.

Revver Pizza Party

Last night Revver through a Beer Bash and Pizza party for a bunch of us online video producer/ content creator types. It’s always fun to meet and mingle with birds of a feather. Many different show creators were there including Hayden from Goodnight Burbank, Julie and Sarah from Nontourage, (Sarah produced the “How to Share Photos” episode of French Maid TV), Bennett, Andrew from Getting Away with Murder, The AV Club, Studio 8, Bob from The Venice Walk, and a bunch of content producers and Revver people.

A big thank you to Steven, Angela, Jonathan, Alex, Korry, Marc, Brian and of course Richard for having us all over for Pizza and Beer.

ZapRoot Launched Today

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Sarah Szalavitz and Damien Somerset have posted the first episode of ZapRoot “an unconventional bite-sized news show that covers the fast
changing world of the modern Green Revolution. With sarcasm, silliness, &
sanity, ZapRoot encourages you to have a better time while making a better
world.”

They are doing this through their production company Viropop and with NextNewNetworks. The show is very well produced, wonderfully edited, with beautiful motion graphics, great music/sound design and the host, Jessica Williamson is smart, funny and very sexy.


In a posting to the Yahoo Video Bloggers Group Sarah said, “For the past few months, I have been working on Zaproot with my partner
Damien Somerset, Zaproot's star Jessica Williamson, and Next New Networks.
We were priviliged to work with Jacques Brautbar (www.jacquesmusic.com) &
Julianna Raye, who created our theme song, and Michael Dahan
(www.studiodahan.com) who took beautiful photos for us. For now, you can
check 'em out here http://www.box.net/shared/xxforrv1gk

The old green world told you that the world sucks and its your fault; while
our new green show, Zaproot, will show you that the world is ridiculous and
we can make it a little better."

In the first episode they focuses on FoldSchool, cardboard furniture for kids, what to do with your old sex toys, and the "Mac Guy" Justin Long talks about how many Toyota Prius Hybrid Cars he owns. It will be interesting to see if they can afford to keep these high production values up with the small amount of money NextNewNetworks pays.


In other news of note to online video producers, online ad network BlueLithium got scooped up by Yahoo for $300 million in cash. BlueLithium does targeting based on users' interests. It will be interesting to see how this affects Video Podcasters and Vloggers.

And, according to TechCrunch, VideoEgg raised an additional $15 million in funding and they also did a deal to sell advertising on Facebook.

Second Life Doc Sells to HBO for Six Figures

Have any of you been making a documentary of your online travels?

Wait, that’s called Videoblogging.

Well, according to Valleywag HBO laid down some big bucks for some online content that they feel will play well on cable. It a true “Digital facsimile of my carbon based self” with "My Second Life: The Video Diaries of Molotov Alva. Coming to a TV near you soon.

Maybe one of you can hurry up and put a doc about video podcasting together for Showtime.

Facebook Song

I attended a Facebook Developers Garage a week a go or so and met some really cool people from all kinds of Web 2.0 companies who were all looking for Facebook developers. Even Facebook had a guy working the room looking to hire Facebook developers. Everyone wants to make money on Facebook’s API

People are making new applications for Facebook every day and it’s already hard to cut through the clutter of bad Facebook apps. But the one take away I got from the Facebook Meetup was that if you build an application for Facebook it needs to be something that your friends can use to find out things about you and that you can use to find out things you want to know about your friends.

Stay focused on that and you can build a Facebook app that will make you money.

AdBrite’s InVideo Ads

Way back around the beginning of the year Online Advertising Network Adbrite quietly launched an online video player with advertising but I’ve not yet run across any of my friends using AdBrite’s InVideo video player for serving video and ads. Is anyone using this? Anyone have links to videos using this? Anyone Making money with AdBrite’s online video ads?

Random Air Show crash in Poland

US Television News has developed into a, “if it bleeds it leads” operation and Internet News is following suit. The resent mid-air collision of two small vintage airplanes hit the front page of CNN.
Once again it is spectacle vs. story as people search the internet for new video footage of the airplane crash at the air show in Poland.



This new distribution of video has opened up another revenue stream for online video producers and that's being a video news stringer that covers news and sells or licenses content to News services. The other option is creating a news video portal and selling ads in addition to licensing the footage.

Get Free Flu Shots - FluFlix Video Contest

The FluFlix Video Contest is on and while I think it’s a great campaign that is fun to watch and is getting the word out about getting a flu shot I think it has a few flaws.




First the people who really need flu shots don’t watch internet videos in large numbers. Maybe I’m wrong but when I visit nursing homes around the country I don’t see grandma and grampa giving Evolution of Dance a few extra downloads to ad to its 56 Million plus views. Maybe Wheel of Fortune, The Price is Right and reruns of Murder She Wrote but not Barbie Girl on YouTube.

Second, I have a problem with video contests. Right now some of us are getting paid to make videos on the Internet and a contest is a potential way to get paid but it’s not a sure way to get paid. If professional video producers enter contests to win money most of those who enter will not get paid but the company running the contest will say, “Hey look at all these “professional looking” videos people did for free.” Other companies will then look at those “professional looking" videos that were done for free and say, “Hey, look what this other company got for free. I’m not going to pay for online videos if I can get them for free.” And so it goes.

If you are an amateur trying to show off your talents, enter as many contests as you can enter. Have fun doing it. If you consider yourself a professional don’t work for free by entering contests. (Unless you are helping out a friend or have some other really good reason.) You will only be hurting yourself and other digital artists.

TMZ uses Brightcove

According to TMZ Brittany Spears showed up in Vegas to open a new club called LAX at the Luxor. I know, who cares about Brittany Spears? Well it's not her but the fact that TMZ is using Brightcove to serve their Brittany Spears videos and Brightcove does a fantastic job.

Now I’ve talked with Brightcove about using their service for French Maid TV and I would love to use their service to host videos of hot girls but the don’t have any advertisers that would be interested in reaching young men with sexy French Maids and I’m not interested in placing the French Maids on a site that doesn’t offer a way to monetize my videos.