Guest post from Melissa Pierce
You’ve probably heard that video blogging or “vlogging” is next new frontier in blogging. Recent statistics show that two thirds of the U.S. Internet audience view online video, and of those viewers the average time spent viewing video was 356 minutes a month and rising. If you are a savvy business person, it only makes sense that you would want to capitalize on this trend, but is vlogging right for your business?
Assuming that you already have a clear vision as to what you would vlog about and why, and you answer yes to the following questions, it may be time for you to jump on the video blogging bandwagon:
- Who is your audience? Does your particular audience watch online video? Would your current subscribers appreciate the addition/substitution of video posts? What about your future subscribers, who would you like to attract via video? Where is your audience when they read your blog? (A disruptive video may not be appropriate for someone in a busy office but just fine for entrepreneurs who work from home)
- Are you comfortable being the spokesmodel for your company? The upside of video is it enables viewers to put a human face with your business, it’s also the unfortunate downside. If you intend to deliver your video message in the traditional way (in front the camera), are you comfortable with the possibility of being recognized by current and potential clients on and off the clock? If you are not ready to be the personality of your brand, are you willing to hire an actor or actress as a spokes model?
- Do you have the time/money to video blog? Vlogging can take as much or more time than writing a traditional blog post. Not only do you have to prepare content, you also must prepare lighting, adjust equipment, edit video, upload and embed it into your blog. For a beginner, the traditional 3-5 minute video blog post can take a full day to produce. Luckily the time it takes to produce video content decreases with experience, many expert video bloggers can get a good post up in about an hour’s time if there is not a lot of editing involved. If you don’t have time to learn to do it yourself it doesn’t necessarily exclude you from video blogging, there are many online video production companies that are willing to help you make a quality video for a nominal fee.
- Are you prepared to make it successful? Video blogging can be a great way to get new customers and engage existing ones, it can be an excellent addition to your online strategy, but video blogging takes a lot of time and attention. If you are not completely invested in making your vlog successful, it’s probably best to concentrate your efforts elsewhere.
Melissa Pierce is the CEO of The Optimist Lens Video Production Company and producer of the documentary Life In Perpetual Beta.
For tips on producing your own professional quality videos, download her e-book, Video Blogging Lifesavers (Lulu publishing, $8.75)
