Entries from April 2008 ↓

by Mark Robertson

In 2008, there is plenty of buzz about the new and exciting online promotional tactics related to online video marketing and online video sharing.

The most popular website online for online video is YouTube. This video sharing giant has fast become the default website for users to learn about online video sharing, how to upload videos, and how to market videos online. However, it is important that you learn a few techniques to optimize your video so that when you upload it, it results in the best possible quality video. Youtube converts videos to Flash on the fly and in doing so, it compresses the video and has difficulty processing digital garbage. With a little bit of technique, you can optimize your videos for prime-time.

Obviously you need to first determine the camera and video editing software that you will be using. Know the format of video you are starting with. Most digital cameras today shoot video, as do most phones, which is a great cheap way to start. It is irrelevant where your video comes from; the responsibility lies on you to make it breathtaking. There are tons of editing tools on the Internet available for anyone to use on almost any platform; the latest computers already have these tools along with the basic install for just such editing requirements.

Of all the free tools out there, I would suggest that you use something other than Microsoft Movie Maker as it will give you more difficulty when trying to edit videos from a mobile phone source. Quicktime is nice with almost all formats.

It is important to note that youtube does not support all of the many many different video formats that are available, and for good reason. However, as a result, you should try to utilize a format such as mp4 or even mov. Most video editing software will support this but if yours does not, I would suggest downloading another program.

The video should be set to the YouTube recommended size of 320240 QVGA. Your camera may have shot the video at a different aspect ratio than the 320240. So be prepared for some exercise but do not stretch or pull the frames.

It is advisable to make your video as bit-rich as you can. You can use a bit rate around 1000 kbps. Around 1200kbps it would probably overkill and take the video longer to process. 700kbps and 1000kbps should be the ideal range, you should be looking for.

Once you are ready with size, codec, and quality set up, it is time for the selection of your audio format. It is better to use the MP3 audio codec, which should be standard on your editor.

Take the output of your video file as .mov or .mp4 and before you move further it is time to have the preview of your video file. It should look nice. If you are satisfied with the outcome, go ahead with uploading your video.

After your video is uploaded to the servers of YouTube it can take up to an hour or so to get actually published on the site. As YouTube formats your file and encodes it for their flash streaming. This process is fully automatic. Now all of your efforts would produce a real gem a really optimized video that looks better than others.

For Video SEO purposes, you need to make sure that you include the most relevant keywords and phrases in your title, description, and keyword tags. This is the only way that you will be able to attract the audience that you are hoping for.

Choose and appropriate but popular category to post your video in and allow users to post comments, ratings, and embed your video elsewhere as this attracts incoming links to your video page on Youtube and provides you with the opportunity to show up in the Google search results as a result of their universal search initiative and purchase of Youtube.

Good luck to you and your video sharing success.

About the Author:

For a detailed list of video sharing websites ,visit ReelSEO.com, the expert resource for online video search optimization information.

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Many businesses want to use promotional products to help them advertise their business. However, one of the main problems is finding something that can fit the small budget that a company may have. If you look hard enough there are several different types of promotional products that are very affordable. If you use these then you will be able to get word out about your business if you hand them out at major events.

By putting your logo or company name on items such as pens is an inexpensive and effective way to advertise. Many larger companies still use pens with their logo to advertise because it is not only less than .50 cents a piece to produce but they are a constant reminder of your business by the person who is using it. Everyone needs an extra pen around and some people even collect the pens as a keepsake.

Business card magnets are even less expensive, if you are using an average size of four inches by two inches, to purchase then pens. They can come in so many different colors and designs and are useful ways to hold paper or appointment cards on your refrigerator.

Key chains are fun to design and give out and are still cost effective as an advertising and promotional item. They are very popular because everyone needs to use a key chain and, who knows, somebody could use yours for many years. You have a lot to choose from when it comes to the style, shape and color. You can make them unique or use an existing design and just add your logo. The cost could be anywhere from .50 cents up to $3.00 per key chain.

Plastic water bottles or toys are another type of low budget advertising concept. Many companies have chosen these types of promotional items because they are something that a consumer could use every day.

Preparing a budget not only helps you to determine the type of promotional items you can purchase but the number of items too. It can be so easy to get carried away with your advertising costs and exceed your budget.

It is important to be creative when you are using promotional materials. For example, if you want to promote your business at a popular outdoor event then you may want to consider using a paper fan. This will help people stay cool and they’ll really thank you for giving them something so wonderful on a hot day. In addition paper is relatively inexpensive so it can keep your costs down. You really don’t have to break the bank in order to afford something to give away.

Promotinal activities are very important to the success of your company so start today and get your name out there.