By Zeke Camusio

Congratulations – you finally figured out how to use WordPress! You just finished that compelling blog post and even know how to promote it. Just when you thought you were a master blogger, the blogging world threw you a new curveball – it’s called video blogging (vlogging or vidblogging).

The online community is VISUAL – audiences like images and fast, moving action (just ask any gamer you know!) If you want to make a lasting impact and take your online marketing to the next level, it’s time to ADD VIDEOS to your blog.

Advantages of Video Blogging
• Gets your message across quickly– You can only get so far with content. Video is interactive and people don’t want to spend a lot of time reading text. They relate better to visual images. This is called “attraction” marketing – get their attention FAST and hold it!

• A great teaching tool – Easier for your audience members to grasp difficult concepts through easy-to-follow video tutorials.

• Not everyone has jumped on the vlogging bandwagon – Vlogging is still a relatively new concept. Sites such as YouTube branched out in 2005 with this blogging concept, but it’s still slowly catching on and still considered a novelty in online marketing techniques.

• Puts a FACE behind your blog – Add videos of yourself. Not only does that personalize your blog but you add credibility to your site. A friendly face and confident voice attracts audience members – they WANT to learn and know more about you. A video can further enhance your expertise and professionalism.

Disadvantages of Video Blogging
• Lack of content makes it difficult to rank in search engines – Search engines don’t rank video-only blogs high in the search engines (a negative for SEO). Balance out the videos by adding unique content to your blog.

• Requires time and energy to upload videos – Vlogging can be more time consuming. Instead of just dashing off text-only posts, you’ll need to spend more time uploading videos to your blog. Make sure your videos upload quickly or you’ll frustrate users who visit your blog – the fastest way to lose your audience!

Tools Needed for Video Blogging
Digital Camera – You’ll need a way to shoot the videos. You don’t need to spend thousands on an expensive video camera. Most digital cameras include a video feature and videos can be directly uploaded from digital cameras. Read manufacturer’s instructions to learn how to upload videos correctly.

WordPress Plugins: Flash Video Player, Windows Media Embedding and Anarchy Media Player are just some of the plugins that can be used to add videos. Check out more WordPress plugins (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-video-pack/).
Editing Software – Cyberlink Power Director 7 Deluxe and Corel VideoStudio organize clips and trim down movies. You can also add special effects or 3-D dimensions to videos to make them really POP!

Web Cams – You can shoot easy, quick videos with web cams and the Pro version of QuickTime 7.

Live Broadcasting – For podcasts check out blip.TV (http://blip.tv/). You can upload your videos for free – you only need a camera (or web cam) and microphone.

Screencasts – Screencasts are animated videos of your computer screen. Free software such as Copernicus (http://www.danicsoft.com/projects/copernicus/) and Jing (http://www.jingproject.com/) allow you to record screencasts. Some of these programs such as Copernicus don’t record audio.

Zeke Camusio is a serial entrepreneur. At the age of 18 he started his first company, Electrolife, selling consumer electronics such as digital cameras, iPods, and the like. It was a great first experience for Zeke but the market was very competitive and he had a hard time remaining profitable. He is also a guest blogger with http://www.TheOutsourcingCompany.com/blog. (Article reprinted with permission)