Skip to main content

Six Ways to Produce Quality Online Video on a Small Scale Budget

Image
By
Online video is hot. (Yeah, and people gamble in casinos, I know; what a profound observation of the blatantly obvious.) According to Compete.com, YouTube had nearly 86 million unique visitors and more than half a billion site visits last month. Business-friendly video sites like Vimeo, Viddler and Blip.tv are also seeing impressive traffic growth.

Video-CameraBut small businesses who want to take advantage of online video can be caught in a quandary. Shooting a basic home-video style piece with a Flip Mino or Samsung SMX-F34 (my personal favorite YouTube-friendly camcorder) may not project sufficient sophistication, while a professionally-produced video costing $8,000-$10,000 or more is simply not in the budget.

Here are six options for producing reasonably high-quality online videos, or at least something beyond standard home video camera fare, at a modest cost.

Convert PowerPoint to Flash

While Flash programming is a challenging and specialized skill few business people probably want to master, almost everyone can use PowerPoint. There are several tools available for converting manual or self-running animated PowerPoint presentations to Flash, with or without narration. Robin Good reviews three tools: E.M. PowerPoint Video Converter ($46), Lecturnity ($215), and iSpring PRESENTER. Other options include PresentationPro's PowerCONVERTER ($149) and PowerFlashPoint ($199). Your best bet is take advantage of the free trials offered by most vendors to find out which product works best for you.

Capture Screen Action with Camtasia or Captivate

Both Camtasia Studio ($299 from TechSmith) and Captivate ($799 from Adobe) enable you to capture any on-screen action (e.g. a software demo, PowerPoint presentation, online video) along with narration, edit the production, and output the final result to a variety of common file formats including Flash. Captivate offers greater options for interactivity, but also a significantly higher price tag. Either will work for basic screen-to-video production.

Jing

JingFor really limited budgets—and simple needs—Jing Pro provides the ability to capture any on-screen action (including web video), add commentary, and upload it to YouTube with one button. The negligible $14.95 annual fee even includes a free 2GB Screencast account. Editing capabilities are limited, but the price makes it worth checking out for straightforward needs.

Faculte

faculteThough technically more of a video distribution platform than a production tool (similar to Flimp), Faculte does offer some useful video assembly functions, such as the ability to upload video and images; arrange the elements; add narration; and add notes, drawings and annotations to the video mix. Pricing starts at free, which includes full video editing/production features, but is limited to 200 views. The $50/month base plan allows 4,000 views, plus adds advanced viewer tracking, the ability to use a unique URL for the video, and faster load times than the free option.

ArticleVideoRobot

Got the need for speed? ArticleVideoRobot will turn any written article into a narrated video in minutes, no camera needed. The basic package ($47/month) provides basic editing capabilities; one-click distribution to 17+ video sites including YouTube, Metacafe, Break, Vimeo, etc.; and a choice of "human-like" voices to narrate your video. The Pro package ($97/month) offers higher video quality, a Flash output option, and an advanced video editing tool. Since you aren't recording your own narration, the results can be...interesting.

SlideSix

With SlideSix , you can upload a presentation (e.g. from PowerPoint or OpenOffice), record audio and narration, attach external video files, and create a widget to share your SlideSix presentations on your blog. Though editing, distribution and formatting options are more limited than with other tools, SlideSix is free. Here is an overview of how to use SlideSix, enjoy!

With the explosive proliferation of online video, the key to making your video stand out is creativity. To maximize the impact of your video production, think beyond conventional ideas both in terms of your content and your video production options.

*****


Contact Mike Bannan: Mike@digitalrdm.com
Labels:

Comments

Iron Bowl said…
Great tips, I learned something new!

Thanks.

Robin Low

http://life-in-boston.blogspot.com/
10:43 AM
How to be an alpha male said…
Well... round about every blog posts online don't have much originality as I found on yours.. Just keep updating much useful information so that reader like me would come back over and over again.
12:10 AM
Stu Higgins said…
Great tool for brand development and advertising. Especially now while it's so popular.
10:36 PM
Ecommerce Software said…
Nice post! Online videos now are in demand. Visitors on your site appreciates a lot when they see videos. Through videos they could easily understand and see the actual demo of something they want to learn.
12:35 AM
Inbound Call Center said…
Great advice and share this info! Promoting to used online videos as an instrument to target market in less cost.
2:45 AM
Post a Comment

All Time Greats

Top Notch Digital Marketing Tip: Google AdWords and PPC

By Anonymous
MARKETING: 101 Looking for some online marketing strategy or social media tips to grow your business? Well, you’ve come to the right digital marketing resource! Web Market Central has been doling out the proper digital marketing advice for years. And as you already know, marketing to customers online is 100 times easier than using dated, expensive and traditional marketing tactics. Like seriously, who uses billboards in 2019? But you already know how effective digital marketing can be in the modern age. So now that you're totally convinced of what you already knew, let’s give you today's top-notch digital marketing tip! The Pure Unfettered Power of PPC (Pay-Per-Click) and PPC Campaigns Just like optimizing your site to rank for keywords, you can use our online marketing tips to pay to run advertisements on Google so that your business is shown on the first page of search engine results. Ranking this way is instantaneous whereas SEO (Search Engine Optimizati...
101 comments
Read more

How to Use SEO: Leverage SEO To Be Found Online and Boost Your Online Marketing

By
All businesses that want to attract customers online, no matter the business size or age, have few options other than Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  SEO In The Box™ by Results Driven Marketing®, LLC There are roughly 1.8 billion websites online, and basic SEO allows Google to find and index or catalog your webpages.  After that, Google serves you up to searchers in the organic section.  The question remains: where they list your site, on page one or page 22 or further back? SEO controls your positioning. Do you want to be found online or not? If your business is online or you want your product or service to be found online, then Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a must, and knowing how to use SEO to leverage the power of the internet is vital. Arguably, an effective SEO strategy gets you on the organic results section of the search engine results pages (SERP). Organic traffic is highly valuable and requires high-quality SEO. But even busines...
102 comments
Read more

Top Notch Digital Marketing Tip: Optimize Your Site

By Anonymous
Looking for some online marketing tips to grow your business? Well, you’ve come to the right digital marketing resource! Web Market Central has been doling out the proper digital marketing advice for years. And as you already know, marketing to customers online is 100 times easier than using dated, expensive and traditional marketing tactics. Like seriously, who uses billboards in 2019? But you already know how effective digital marketing and an seo strategy can be in the modern age. So now that you're totally convinced of what you already knew, let’s give you today's top-notch digital marketing tip! Optimize Your Site to Improve Search Engine Rankings Most small business owners know that their websites need to be optimized in order for search engines, like Google and Bing, to find them and rank them on the search engine results page. If you don’t know, that’s okay. You can learn all about Search Engine Optimization and SEO best practices here to help impr...
81 comments
Read more

Top-Notch Digital Marketing Tip: Advertisements That Make Sense

By Anonymous
MARKETING: 101 Looking for some online marketing tips to grow your business? Well, you’ve come to the right digital marketing resource ! Web Market Central has been doling out the proper DM advice for years. And as you already know, marketing to customers online is 100 times easier than using dated, expensive and traditional marketing tactics. Like seriously, who uses billboards in 2019? But you already know how effective Digital Marketing can be in the modern age. So now that you're totally convinced of what you already knew, let’s give you today's top notch-digital marketing tip! Advertisement Congruence If your business is running ads this is one of our most important online marketing tips! Ad congruence is when your ads and landing pages look alike or have the same message. Have you ever clicked on an ad and been taken to a page that looked nothing like the ad? When your ads look like the web pages they lead to, customers will feel like they are in ...
75 comments
Read more

The Wrong Way to Build External Links for SEO

By
Anyone who's worked on search engine optimization (SEO) for any length of time understands the importance of building relevant external links to a website. But whether you do choose to SEO internally, outsource it domestically, or offshore the effort, it's important to get this process right. If you're doing it internally, follow established best practices for this effort (including the information below). If you outsource your SEO, ask your vendor exactly how they perform their SEO work. I frequently receive reciprocal link requests for WebMarketCentral.com . Some of the requests are well-written, some inelegant, some spammy. But I recently received the following message, which was among the worst I had ever seen: Subject: Link exchange Dear Webmaster, My name is (name), and I run the web sites.: http://www.clickatest.co.uk/(PR>2) http://www.clickajob.co.uk/(PR>3) http://www.freshpromotion.com/ I recently found your site and am very interested in exchanging links. Y...
5 comments
Read more

What is CRO and How Can It Skyrocket Your Conversion Rates? Expert Digital Marketing Strategies Revealed

By
‍ Image Source: FreeImages‍ ## Introduction to CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) In the world of digital marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is a crucial strategy that can significantly impact your business's success. CRO focuses on improving the percentage of website visitors who take desirable actions, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing to a newsletter. By optimizing your conversion rates, you can maximize the return on investment (ROI) of your digital marketing efforts. Why CRO is important for your business CRO is important for your business because it can directly impact your bottom line. By increasing your conversion rates, you can generate more leads, increase sales, and ultimately drive revenue growth. Instead of solely focusing on driving more traffic to your website, CRO enables you to make the most of your existing traffic by ensuring that a higher percentage of visitors convert into customers. In addition to boosting your revenue, C...
2 comments
Read more

SEO Link Spam - What Is It and Who's to Blame?

By
Over the years, unscrupulous black hat SEO scammers have used a variety of tricks—keyword stuffing, link farms, white text and others—to try to manipulate search results, and the algorithms used by Google, Yahoo and the other search engines have evolved to identify and squelch the effectiveness of such nefarious tactics. A more vexing issue for the search engines is dealing with link spam, not only because it is difficult to detect and address algorithmically, but because there isn't even a clear definition. As a website owner, the term represents emails like this: Dear webmaster, As a part of ongoing campaign to increase the Link Popularity of My website I am looking for some good potential sites like yours. I review your site and find that, in SEO perspective your site is Perfect. Also, this would be a great resource for my visitors too. I would request you to consider listing my site. Title:- My Spammy Website URL:- http://www.indiaspamforyou.com Description:- mi...
10 comments
Read more

Digital Marketeers Are Hurting Their Clients With Local Citations; Some Just Don't Care

By
Digital Marketeers Are Hurting Their Clients With Local Citations; Some Just Don't Care Mount Pleasant, SC — Marketers are adding their clients to directories. Many of these directories are designed to provide businesses with industry exposure. But marketers across the globe are fouling up or disrupting various directory platforms. By listing businesses in the wrong directory to get local citations. What is a local Citation? A local citation is any online mention of the name, address, and phone number of a local business. Local citations can appear on various platforms, such as search engines, directories, apps, social media, and blogs. Local citations help Internet users discover local businesses and can also impact local search engine rankings. Local citations should be accurate, consistent, and relevant to boost the local presence of a business, according to MOZ.  Local citations have become critical to Google rendering accurate search results. Websites with little or no ...
8 comments
Read more