Google gloats that over 2 Billion videos are viewed on YouTube each day, but don’t discount the value of posting video to your business fan page on Facebook. After all, Flickr was the most popular photo sharing site until sharing on Facebook became so popular. Now photo sharing on Facebook dwarfs that on Flickr. Youtube has big advantages over Facebook

Although views of videos uploaded directly to Facebook have more than tripled over the last year, according to comScore, and more and more phones have video cameras built into them, I don’t expect the video sharing on Facebook to take over Youtube’s positioning. For one thing, many video cameras including the iPhone make it super simple to upload video directly from iTunes to Youtube. Also, Facebook video quality is relatively poor compared to dedicated video sharing sites.

Facebook lacks HD Video

One thing that Facebook could do to encourage growth in video uploads to the social networking site is to provide HD video upload capability. As of now, file size and file quality are still too low for most folks to spend the time rendering their video files for the relatively small video audience on Facebook. For now, linking out from Facebook fan page to your HD video hosted on Youtube, Vimeo, or Blip.tv are best bet.

Google Maps has neatly integrated photos and videos that have been geotagged.  If users take the time to put their media on the map when uploading, Google Maps users are provided with links to your media!

Hey, it just takes an extra minute to properly tag you photos with map information.  You are already tagging your photos with compelling titles and keyword tags, right?

Online videos are an excellent way to promote tourism.  Background music and sound effects are an important component of the production.  And as much as you’d really like to use tunes from your iTunes music library, it’s simply not legal to use commercial music in your online video projects.

The solution! Free online music and sound effects resources for online Video

We were delighted to come across http://freeplaymusic.com which licenses free music tracks to enhance video production projects for Web distribution.  We use this site almost exclusively to lay down music on videos.

Another source of Creative Commons Music for videos can be found at http://creativecommons.org/legalmusicforvideos/

Do you know of any other sources of free music for online video production and distribution?
Please share your free music resources for online video in the comments.

This past month we’ve been working with a television production graduate intern who showed me how much talent I was lacking, despite my best efforts to record and edit video. Topher Earl produced a handful of fabulous promotional videos like the one below.

In 2003 when I started training tourism folk in Internet marketing there was NO video on the Web.

In 2007 (it seems like only yesterday) I presented an Internet Marketing workshop with a slide that showed 9 million videos being viewed on the Internet each day, up from 8 million just a few months before.

How times have changed.
In just five short years of existence, Youtube video viewership has ballooned to what Google reports as 2 Billion video views per day, double what it was just 18 months ago.

What does the online video revolution mean to tourism businesses?
Some of us are in the online media business now. I spent the weekend working on a job description for a new position with our tourism business at Northern Edge Algonquin.  We’re hiring a full time video producer.  Specifically, we’re looking for a graduate from a media production program at a community college to produce, record, edit, and distribute online video on a full time basis.  The successful candidate will produce media for more than just ourselves, but you get the drift.

It’s show time!

TripAdvisor’s TripWow is a little over the top, but the idea of helping travelers create embeddable multimedia is a great one for the travelers.
The promise: Create a Slide Show that will make your friends go “Wow”.

The benefits for TripAdvisor – click throughs to TripAdvisor destination pages via keyword-laden hyperlinks to kickstart the travel planning process for TripWow slideshow viewers. Interestingly, the terms of use for the TripWow widget prohibit users from disassembling the widget and removing the keyword hyperlinks. The secondary benefit for TripAdvisor is some serious keyword SEO for TripAdvisor destination pages.

If growing traffic is your aim, make it easy for visitors to create and share media
If I was in the travel information archiving business (travel review sites, destination marketing organizations and travel associations), I’d forgo the development of my own platform and work with a company like Animoto to help folks create travel videos that more effectively focus on the photos of the traveler, with embedded music tracks.

A custom branded version of Animoto would create greater interest in your travel information site while adding a small revenue stream for Animoto, perhaps leading to the DMO, travel association or travel information site to pay for the higher resolution services of Animoto’s great travel promotion tool – making it free for travelers to create and share media promoting your website.

I’d also make sure that it was easy to geotag the photo sets and create a similar mapping graphic as shown in TripAdvisor’s TripWow tool part of the show. TripAdvisor’s map owes it’s inspiration to the likes of Indiana Jones, and the maps work well but frankly speaking, most of the other graphic elements of the video take attention away from the trip photos.

I am a fan of the social media tools that pop out from the right side of the videos. They make it easy to share the media by Twitter, Facebook and making the media easy to embed. The Video branding and destination keyword links are sure to drive serious page views for TripAdvisor.

TripWow’s bow is perhaps the inspiration you need to get into providing media production tools like this with a partner who has demonstrated expertise in creating Wow video that focuses on user generated photos and video. Page views are sure to follow.

Technology came in the form of computers.

After a few hard drive or computer crashes where all was lost, I got petrified and backed up everything.

Technology moved to the cloud.

Email, calendars, spreadsheets and documents, photos and videos are available to me all the time like magic on any computer or handheld device.  I love it!

I got lazy – and start trusting the gatekeepers of my data to back it up and provide limitless free access to MY STUFF.

I realized, I’M OUT OF MY MIND! after reading @CC_Chapman’s tweet.

Regularly backing up MY CRITICAL STUFF to a hard drive and using an online service like Backupify (2 Gig free backup & paid accounts for more) to back up my stuff online I have to take responsibility for looking after MY STUFF.  No use whining about those big bad companies like Google limiting access to my stuff – they have terms of service, they are the gatekeepers to MY STUFF when I use their services.  If I violate the terms of service (based on their interpretation of my actions) they can shut me down.  I agree to that in the TOS.

Secondly, I’m back to changing my password regularly… got lazy there too.  It would be far worse for someone to hack into my email and change my password on me gaining access to my valuable data.  That news about Googles Gaia security system being hacked in January…. it got me back into prudent mode.

I’m back to being the gatekeeper of MY STUFF.

How about you?  Are you taking action to safeguard YOUR STUFF?

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Technology came in the form of computers.

After a few hard drive or computer crashes where all was lost, I got petrified and backed up everything.

Technology moved to the cloud.

Email, calendars, spreadsheets and documents, photos and videos are available to me all the time like magic on any computer or handheld device.  I love it!

I got lazy – and start trusting the gatekeepers of my data to back it up and provide limitless free access to MY STUFF.

I realized, I’M OUT OF MY MIND! after reading @CC_Chapman’s tweet.

Regularly backing up MY CRITICAL STUFF to a hard drive and using an online service like Backupify (2 Gig free backup & paid accounts for more) to back up my stuff online I have to take responsibility for looking after MY STUFF.  No use whining about those big bad companies like Google limiting access to my stuff – they have terms of service, they are the gatekeepers to MY STUFF when I use their services.  If I violate the terms of service (based on their interpretation of my actions) they can shut me down.  I agree to that in the TOS.

Secondly, I’m back to changing my password regularly… got lazy there too.  It would be far worse for someone to hack into my email and change my password on me gaining access to my valuable data.  That news about Googles Gaia security system being hacked in January…. it got me back into prudent mode.

I’m back to being the gatekeeper of MY STUFF.

How about you?  Are you taking action to safeguard YOUR STUFF?

As the summer tourism season gets nearer, and marketing campaigns move into high gear, we’re investing in online multimedia to carry our message to our ideal guests.  Maybe your DMO should be too!

This month, we’ve been purchasing studio equipment to put polish on our video and audio and produce our own in-house video. Not only that, but because we know how important it is to tourism industry, we’re helping tourism businesses in our region get the media they need to sell tourism on the Social, Mobile, Media Rich, Here and Now Internet before another Internet buying season moves into full swing.

Getting Great Media

Great Video, audio and photography doesn’t just happen, it takes planning and execution with the tools (hardware and software) and investment (time and money) to get it right.

Sadly, most tourism operators don’t have the money, knowledge or time to create top notch audio and video to promote their business. For those in the CVB, DMO or Meetings and Convention partnership business, now is the time to invest in media production capacity to help your members make the most of the Web.

Don’t have the knowledge to be able to pull it off yourselves, grow relationships with professional production organizations and help make it cost effective for operators to get the photography, videography and audio they need to make the most of the media opportunities they have on the Web.

A Membership Boost

Small businesses are counting on their membership organizations to help them make an impact with their marketing.  By investing in a social media studio and associated services you could help your regional members get a leg up and in the process make your organization more relevant and boost membership.

Note to DMO’s. CVB’s, and other associations. Keep an eye out for new media projects to be streaming forth from South River, Ontario, Canada real soon.  We’ll explain our whole crazy idea and the components necessary to make such a project come to life!

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There are three essential ingredients to getting started with video:

• shooting video (which was the focus of part 1 of the series)
• editing and producing video
• posting and sharing video

Editing and Producing Video

Editing and Producing Video is perhaps the most challenging aspect of getting great video online for your tourism business.   It can be made a whole lot less challenging by doing things as efficiently and with high quality when shooting video.  The less edits you need to make, the fast your video production will be.

How long should my finished videos be?

If you speak to most people who watch videos online, shorter is better.  Once you have edited your video and you think you have a finished story, go back and trim even more content.  If you have edited a very good 5 minute video, chances are you will have a great 3 minute video if you trim back the content even more.  I like to think of video production as much like making maple syrup.  In the forest we start with 33 gallons of sap and distill that down to just one gallon of syrup.  We could stop boiling sooner and we’d have more sweet liquid for folks, but most people prefer a smaller amount of a better product.

How much video does it take to make a great three minute video?

In general, the more video you start with, the better the finished 3 minute video will be.  Sometimes, a video can be very good, with very little editing.  In general, you’ll only use about 10-20% of the actual raw video you shoot in a great three minute video.  That means 15-30 minutes of video captured on your camera and loaded into your computer produces three minutes of finished video.

What does it cost to edit and produce videos?

The vast majority of video producers will never in their lifetime need to purchase software to make movies on their computer.  The only real cost is time.

How long does it take to edit video?

For starters, plan on spending one – two hours of editing for each minute of finished video.

Do I need any special computer hardware to make videos?

Any new computer or laptop has more than enough power for anyone to edit and produce video.  Computers designed specifically for the task of editing video (like the MacPro) have more processor power so they can do most tasks more quickly.

Most people will find it much easier to edit video if they setup their computer with dual monitors – one for using the editing tools and one for seeing the video as it is being produced.  Desktop PC’s can easily add a video card which makes it easy for a second screen to be added.  Both Mac and PC laptops are ready to use a second screen just by plugging one in and setting the screen preferences, so you can use your laptop screen and an external one, side by side.

The most important consideration for editing video on a computer is free hard drive space.  Hard drive space is where the very large video files go while you are editing your video.  Editing Video and HD video requires a significant amount of free space.  This is why laptops are sometimes a poor choice for editing video, particularly if they are used for a lot of other tasks.  If serious about editing video, the smallest hard drive I would recommend for a desktop computer is 1 Terabyte.   Same goes for external hard drives for laptops.  Bigger is always better.

How do I make the best use of space on my computer?  What about backup copies?

The solution we have used for years in dealing with large video files is to keep as much space as possible available on the computer hard drive or flash drive at all times.  We upload the video files we are editing onto the computer, and once a final video is produced and uploaded to the Web,  we move the new video to an external back up hard drive for safe keeping and delete the original video files – freeing up space for the next project.  Digital video camera tapes are relatively inexpensive.  Most professional video producers keep the original tapes they used to shoot video as their back-up, clearly labelling the original tape with the date and video content information and storing tapes in a safe location.    If shooting video to a hard-drive or flash drive video camera, consider saving the original video files used to edit your video to a back up hard drive, along with the finished video.

What software is needed to edit video?  Is it beginner-friendly?

If you are new to making video, most computers come with basic, easy to learn, editing software that lets you slice video clips and move them around on a timeline, add simple video effects like titles and screen transitions, add photos and audio tracks.  If you are purchasing a new computer to edit video, use what James Cameron and his team used to make Avatar - an Apple Computer.  Most beginners find Apple’s iMovie simple to learn and use and it has numerous effects that can be used to add your personal touch to your productions.  It comes pre-installed on Apple computers and it will take years of production before you are probably ready for a more powerful editing tool like Apple’s Final Cut Express. When you feel like a pro, join James Cameron who uses – Apple’s Final Cut Pro, core component of Final Cut Studio.

On a PC running Windows, Movie Maker has come pre-installed on XP and many versions of Vista.  The new Windows operating system – Windows 7 requires movie-makers to download MovieMaker.  It’s free to anyone.  When ready for extreme movie making on a PC, move on over to Adobe Premiere.

I haven’t got any time to make movies, how can I get video online?

For the absolutely fearful beginner, online tools like Animoto let producers slice together photos and video into instant automated videos shows for free.  Although we produce and edit our own movies using software and tools described above, we also sometimes like to produce quick little videos with no muss, no fuss.  That’s why we subscribe to a paid version of Animoto in addition to our other investments in video production.

Where do I get music to add to my videos?

The easiest, least expensive and legal way to add free music to your videos is by using CreativeCommons licensed tunes from Jamendo. The music on the site is royalty-free, meaning you pay nothing to download and use these tunes in your videos.

Is it OK to add music from my commercial music collection to videos I make to promote my business?

NO.  Never.  Seriously.  Never.

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Online Video viewership continues to grow, making production and distribution of video a must for any tourism business serious about marketing on the Web.

ComScore reports the average viewer watches 187 videos per month in the U.S.  In the month of December 178 million people watched 33.2 billion videos.

How to Invest in Video:

There are three essential ingredients to getting started with video:

• shooting video
• editing and producing video
• posting and sharing video

This first of a three part series on investing in video focuses on 14 Keys to think about in Shooting Video.

1. Prepare an informed consent waiver. You will want to feature your team members, staff, guests and community members on camera.  Have them sign a simple release that gives you permission to use the video freely.  We make a video and photo waiver part of our registration form.  Try a google search for video permission release or check out Docstoc for a simple video release form. Keep signed releases on file.
2. Put your hands on a camera. There is no excuse for not having a video camera.  Sure High Definition (HD) is nice and it’s the way of the future, but even iPhones and iPods can shoot video.  For less than $200 you can get an HD Flip video camera that is one-button-simple to operate.  Most new cameras also feature video recording capability.  Get your camera out and practice holding the camera steady.
3. Take care of your equipment.  Dust, moisture on the lens will make even the best video cameras shoot poor video. Use non-abrasive lens wipes to keep your lens clean.  If you shoot video near the ocean, salt deposits can form on your lens and scratch your lens when wiping.  Take special care to lightly moisten your lens with tap water before wiping clean.
4. Get a tripod that fits your camera.  Just do it.  Handheld video is very difficult for most people to watch.  Whenever possible, use the tripod to ensure a steady camera.  Tripods also make a one person video shoot much easier to manage.
5. Keep a Video Log or Journal. Include things like ideas for future video recording, records of video shot, sample interview questions, informed consent forms. You may also want to have an inventory of your video equipment and a sign out process for keeping track of where and when cameras are used. Focus on stories that would best be told with video.  Make notes on what worked and what you’d like to do better next time.  We do this using Google Calendar and GoogleDocs shared online documents.
6. Schedule video shoots: Make a list of the events and projects that you are involved in throughout the year, and put them on your calendar.  Bring your camera and shoot video.
7. Shoot B-Roll throughout the Year.  Preplan the video you want to share with your guests and schedule outings to capture B-roll.  Plan sunrise shots,  birds and wildlife on your property.  Does your facility have a special sparkle and shine at certain times of the day because the light is right – make a plan to shoot it.  Walk your trails, shoot a slow pans across the horizon.  You don’t have to have a plan how you will use the video while shooting it, but you do have to make a plan to get B-roll.  B-roll video can be used to enhance an interview or make any video subject more interesting.
8. Interview your team on camera.  Just encourage people to smile and be themselves.  Invite your most engaging, outgoing, animated staff to share a story on camera.
9. Focus on quality sound first, then worry about the video.  Poor sound quality will make your video unwatchable.  If its a windy day, find shelter.    If shooting an interview, be sure others know what you are up to so that there isn’t nearby distracting conversation or off camera sounds that will be distracting.  If off camera audio interferes with your interview, stop and start over!  It is always easier to record it again, than to try to fix poor audio in the production/editing process.  We are investing in wireless microphones, a boom mic and even a separate digital audio recorder to ensure we will get great sound.
10. Hire a Twit, give ‘em a camera and set them free.  Most of your young summer staff are media savvy and many have the capability to capture and produce the video you need.
11. Add social media skills a section on every job application. Even if the rest of their job is doing dishes or making beds, make hiring media skills a priority.
12. Give your team an opportunity to get the experience they need to produce great video.  If you give them the time to shoot video, you will see dramatic increases in the quality of content that is produced over time.
13. Get video off your camera and onto a computer as soon as you shoot it. Keep your videos well organized and labeled so you will be able to find and use the raw video when you want to use it.
14. You are the director. Give video team members direction.   Clearly describe the content you want and review the video that are shot with your team.  Help them understand your vision.  Encourage shooting multiple takes.

Learn more:

• Mashable Online Video continues steady growth.
• Tourism Keys: Catchy Video needs to appeal to your ideal guest

img credit: adamjackson1984

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