In this article Chris Harris explains exactly why comparatively few people like you are monetising their “know-how” and offers a practical, easy solution to get you up, running and making an online income from video.
Over to Chris…
Why an online income from video is within your reach
Online video has come a long way in a short period of time, and when you remember that YouTube is less than six years old, the impact of web video on our lives is nothing short of extraordinary.
Right now, online video accounts for about one-third of all Internet traffic. Within four years that number is expected to swell to 60%, but by 2013 – when one factors in ALL the ways web video will be consumed; film and television downloads, stand- alone promotions, video sharing, etc – it’s predicted that online video will account for a staggering 91% of all Internet traffic. (Source Cisco Systems)
Web video is widely used within the news and entertainment sectors such BBC, ITV, Mail Online, etc., but it’s nothing compared to the huge volume of content consumed on YouTube and numerous other video-sharing facilities. (One YouTube stat reveals that more video is uploaded onto their server in 60 minutes than the three major US networks created in 60 years!)
Web video has also been embraced throughout the business sector, which is good news for us! As a video production company specializing in web presentations almost our entire turnover is dependent upon B2B video.
Used wisely, its soft sell, friendly approach (the opposite of television advertising) can target individuals and specific demographic groups. This personable, direct-to-customer communication helps to build credibility and trust whether it’s used to promote a product or service, provide information or flaunt testimonials. It’s one of the most effective and persuasive marketing devices available today.
So, online video is well and truly with us, and it’ll continue to grow at an astonishing rate, but in our experience there are very few individuals realising the full commercial potential of video on demand, seeking to monetise their most valuable assets; their know-how, expertise and experience, on any single topic, which is a constant surprise to us.
And this isn’t limited to the business world, in our everyday lives too there are many instances where we are failing to profit from our experiences – from parenting and practical skills to hobbies and pastimes, every single person has innate talents, things they’re good at.
It’s called know-how – and the bottom line is this; if you know more than the next person, then there really is nothing to stop you from imparting that knowledge for an appropriate fee.
OK, you can’t expect anyone to pay to watch a welcome video, client testimonial, or gossipy vlog, but you can certainly charge people for valuable, pertinent information. I’d say at least half the companies we deal with could offer their experience or business knowledge for a price, whether it’s teaching a practical skill such landscape gardening or providing specialist information that the viewer could capitalise on such as property investment, tax savings, accountancy, legal advice, marketing, alternative investments or financial trading; the list, quite frankly, is endless.
Take a solicitors, for instance, they could offer pay-to-view video content on landlord and tenancy agreements, wills or the power of attorney, while an accountancy firm might provide tax advice or an insider’s view on the budget, generating additional revenue outside of normal business hours.
An excellent example of video on demand is
www.lynda.com, a website that specialises in video tutorials for virtually every piece of digital software you can think of.
For around £20 a month (you don’t have to pay an annual subscription) you get access to their entire database! Check out the video section where there are over 100 different courses alone.
Lynda.com provides easily navigable, affordable and, for the most part, well produced on-demand video tutorials.
They’ve been around for a good few years and they’ve grown at a phenomenal rate, and how they do things should be an example to us all. We just need to think smaller, create a similar model that is cost- effective, easily manageable and financially rewarding.
So let’s cut to the chase and presume you have information you’d like to share – or more specifically, information you feel is a saleable commodity. This can be just about anything you can think off, but it ought to satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
• It will make your customer money
• It will improve the quality of their life
• It will educate and inform them
• It will help them grow as individuals
• It will make them feel good about themselves
Incidentally, even if you’re not an expert there’s really nothing to stop you thoroughly researching a subject – preferably one that interests you – and assembling it into strong, entertaining content. The essential thing is to ensure that the information you’re providing isn’t commonly available and will surprise and enlighten your viewer.
Alternatively, you could collaborate with a friend or a colleague – someone who has the necessary, saleable knowledge – let them provide the content while you undertake the production and marketing. On the other hand, you can pay a production company, such as my own, www.screenpost.co.uk to write the scripts, create video content and build the website for you – or part-pay, whereby the production company maintains a percentage of the revenue.
There are obviously time and financial implications whichever way you look at it, but how much is largely down to you. The more you are able to undertake yourself, the more you can naturally save, but it’s possible to create the whole package – from inception to web-implementation – for less than a couple of hundred pounds.
If you are in a position to write the content think of it as putting together a presentation. The principle is ostensibly the same, but instead of placing yourself outside of the piece, alongside the screen or projector, you just need to pop yourself into the presentation!
Now there clearly isn’t enough space here to go into every detail regarding web video production (budgeting, planning, scripting, lighting, sound, filming, editing, post-production, effects, compressing and web implementation amongst many other considerations!), but here’s a condensed overview which will hopefully go some way to getting you up and running.
Writing your content
The script is a complete blueprint for the production and editing of the video. It describes every visual and audio element of the piece. All videos are created on paper first, so take the time to get the script right before you spend any time or money producing the video.
Focus on your target audience while you write your script, and always put yourself in the position of the viewer. Think visually and keep things simple. Use the images on the screen to reinforce the message and help move the video along.
Write your video script in two columns, with the audio of the script (words, sound effects, music, etc.) in one column and the images (video, photos, captions, tables, etc) in the other. The audio and video will run side by side, exactly as they will appear together in the finished script.
The content – let’s call them tutorials, whatever the subject, should comprise between 6 to 20 lessons of around 5 to 10 minutes each.
The actual total video content should be between 25 minutes to 90 minutes. Each tutorial should be supplemented with exercises and downloadable PDFs (so subscribers can undertake written tasks).
Allowing for pausing a tutorial (to undertake certain tasks) it might take the viewer several hours to complete.
And don’t forget to write an introductory video outlining all the benefits of your video and what’s in it for your viewer. You don’t need to over gild this or create a too salesy piece, make it friendly and to the point. The introduction should be between 90 seconds to two minutes in length.
Digital media
While you’re writing your scripts, assemble as many appropriate images as you can, create graphs and tables, bullet point captions, make a list of video shots you feel would make good, relevant cutaways, anything that will help reinforce your message and give your tutorials visual texture. As well as informing the viewer you need to keep them entertained. Remember, the Internet is rapidly becoming a medium we watch, not read. The biggest advantage of web video is that it’s currently perceived as entertainment and this relaxed approach to learning not only helps increase retention by over 50% compared to reading the equivalent text (Source BBC), the viewer is more likely to subscribe to the service in the first place.
And one final thought, decide early on how you will present these tutorials, will you appear in front of the camera, pay for a presenter or will the piece be narrated?
Video Production – How to create your video
You have several options.
• Option One: Engage a professional video production company.
Although the most costly, this is by far the easiest and time-efficient solution, all the stress and hard work is removed and you will end up with polished, professional looking, web-ready content.
• Option Two: Film & edit the content yourself.
Unless you already have access to professional or prosumer equipment, or have some experience in shooting and editing video, video production to the uninitiated can be a time-consuming and problematic undertaking, having said that, it’s more user-friendly and affordable than it’s ever been and editing software such as iMovie and Windows Media Maker, although limited, can produce some excellent results.
Before you embark on shooting your tutorials, take a good long look at what other people are doing, make a note of what works for you and what doesn’t. Copy what’s good! Just make sure you use a decent camera and capture the sound with an external mic. Shoot a lot of close-ups, they’re generally more compelling than wide shots, especially on smaller web formats, they’re also easier and cheaper to light, arrange and shoot. If you don’t have proper lighting shoot in daylight.
Like scriptwriting, good editing makes a major difference in how successful the video is for both you and your viewer. Keep the tutorials moving and to the point and ruthlessly eliminate anything that’s weak. • Option Three: Create the tutorials using screen video capture software.
This is the easiest and most affordable solution, but it is limited compared to video production. Depending on your computer, picture and sound quality can often let the presentations down (always invest in a good mic) but it’s possible to make some excellent pieces.
Camtasia Studio is, perhaps, the best-known screen video capture program and is ideal if your presentation is ostensibly caption or still-image biased, although it captures video too. It’s used to great effect in software tutorials – or anything that is desktop-based. The user assembles photos, captions, tables, videos, etc, brings them up onto the desktop, defines the relevant area to be captured and presses record.
When all the material has been captured, the presenter is able to revise it by cutting and/or pasting different parts, as needed. In addition, the presenter is also able to overlay their voice, as well as sound effects or music onto the presentation.
Most screen capture programs allow audio recording while screen-capturing is in progress, so the presenter can narrate the demonstration as it is carried out. Most presenters, however, prefer to wait until they have finished the screen-capture, and then record the narration from a script as the application is playing back the recorded capture.
Camtasia Studio costs around £75 for Mac users and about £200 for PC users. The program allows files to be stored in its own proprietary format, which is only readable by Camtasia itself; this format allows for fairly small file sizes, even for longer presentations. Camtasia also allows the generated video stream to be exported to common video formats which can be read by most computers, even if the Camtasia software is not installed, such as MPEG-2 or MPEG-4.
An example of a Camtasia screencast can be found here
Camtasia Studio can be downloaded here
Website
Remember, if you’re going to charge for your video tutorials, you will need to have a membership website (that people pay to access) to put them on…
If you already have a website chances are you know a web developer and the simplest solution, if not necessarily the most economical, would be to get them to run up a couple of additional pages.
Alternatively, whether you have any technical know-how or not, you could create a simple subscription website online using customisable “drag and drop” templates available from most web hosting companies.
Prices start at around £10 per month. www.subhub.com is one company that provides various hosted and managed platforms incorporating easy-to-use templates, content management systems and a range of additional income-generating options including advertising and affiliate marketing tools.
Whichever you choose, your website should comprise the following:
• Home
• About us
• Benefits
• Course
• Sign up
• FAQ
• Contact
> Home: This is the landing page and should outline briefly and precisely what it is you’re providing. You’ll need to explain what the tutorials are about and who they are aimed for. You should include the introduction video here highlighting the benefits and content of the course.
> About us: Who you are and why you’re qualified to offer this material. Make sure you list a couple of benefits and let the viewer know what’s in it for them, or better still, record a short video.
> Benefits: An overview of what’s on offer and why, what subscribers can expect and achieve, i.e. what’s in it for them.
> Course: What’s in the course, a bullet pointedlist of each section.
> Sign up: The process of becoming a member, paying for full access. Subscribers fill in a few details, name, username, password, etc, pay via PayPal, receive a confirmation email and they’re up and running.
Subscription would be for six months and would cost anything from £20-£500 depending on what information you’re providing. (Information that can be turned into capital such as stocks and shares would cost considerably more than, say, a Yoga course.)
> FAQ: Written questions related to the course.
> Contact: email, telephone, address.
Make sure the tutorials are available online only, they should not be downloadable, embeddable or shareable. Subscribers can view the course at any time, and they may watch the lessons as many times as they like during the term of their subscription.
And that’s about it, well, not quite, you’ll need to promote your tutorials, of course, which is a whole subject in itself!
Perhaps you could create a course, I know a lot of people who would subscribe to that – and pay good money! But get up and running by alerting everyone you know – and ask them to tell everyone they know. Write a little advertising copy and spread the word. Submit articles for ezines, post on free noticeboards and chat rooms, create a blog, promote the site through every available free online resource such as Gumtree, and use social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Linked in.
One last thing, feeling it only right and proper to practice what we preach, my own video production company, www.screenpost.co.uk, are currently producing a full-length video course on just this very article you’ve been reading – How To Monetise Expertise, Experience and Know-How.
The course, which is open to everyone, will guide you through each and every step of the process from identifying what sells, producing it, and delivering it online as income-generating content.
In addition to providing templates, scripts and video examples for you to copy and download, we will show you how to create your entire project for nothing – that’s right, nothing – where to find free equipment and software, and how to by-pass fee- charging hosting companies altogether – sorry, there wasn’t the space to include that information here.
So, as web video continues to pick up speed, my advice would be to jump on board as soon as you can – now is the perfect time to position yourself in the marketplace and sell your knowledge, expertise and experiences for a premium.
By Chris Harris