Featuring marketing tips, tech news, digital wonders, some personal things and everything in between . . .
Category: You-Tube
Fall Foliage in New England
Tuesday September 30, 2008
Reading Time: 2minutes
Growing up in New England my favorite time of the year was fall. The beginning of school, crispness in the air and of course the brilliant fall colors. Our small country roads filled with “leaf peepers”, the name sounds funny to me now.
New England is starting to enjoy their fall colors and so in memory of cider doughnuts, cold rosy cheeks, and crunchy leaf piles I am going to repost Saco River Canoe and Kayak’s fall video.
Besides the autumn poets sing, A few prosaic days A little this side of the snow And that side of the haze. ~Emily Dickinson
Music is a universal language, it has no boundaries – no limits. When we find ourself in trouble or heartache the only thing that can make us happy is music. I live for music and my music lives through me, it is how I communicate with myself and others.
In the past the only way people could experience their music is with their ears, the only bands with music videos were big and commercialized. Digital Video Cameras and YouTube have allowed musicians to share their music across the spectrum. Everyone with a computer or an IPhone have the ability to watch and listen to your art. Flip cameras are a dream come true when it comes to sharing the experience of music. You can record a video and instantly upload it from your camera to a computer and spread it across the universe via YouTube and Google Video. The band that I am in has taken full advantage of Flip Cameras to help us share our music with the world. The image quality, as well as sound, is amazing!
Anybody who has a message, musical or not, has the ability to share it now. Flip cameras help musicians as well as businesses spread their word online like never before. Here are a couple examples of Flip videos:
Whiskey Change’s “West Love Blues”
La Fuente Restaurant Tucson Arizona
Reading Time: 6minutes
For years I was a fan of the television show “Everybody Loves Raymond”. Even today if I just want to take a break I might tune in to watch a rerun of this show. One of my favorite episodes was #171 which first aired in 2003. If you are a fan, you might remember “Robert’s Wedding” as a day when Marie Barone (Robert’s mother)interrupts the wedding ceremony as the minister asks if anyone knows of a reason why Robert and Amy should not be married. Later at the reception Raymond is asked to give a toast which was probably one of the most touching scenes of the entire series. Referring to his mother’s interruption of the wedding ceremony, Raymond opens his toast by saying: “I think I know one thing that can make this day all better…editing. When all is said and done we will only remember the good stuff. I think you’re gonna remember about today what you want to remember.”
Editing as defined by Websters means:1 a: to prepare (as literary material) for publication or public presentation b: to assemble (as a moving picture or tape recording) by cutting and rearranging c: to alter, adapt, or refine especially to bring about conformity to a standard or to suit a particular purpose .
Editing as it applies to your website can be critical. Your text, photos, videos, and documents should all be carefully reviewed. This process takes time and almost always requires the efforts of more than one person, as we all know after you look at text long enough your eye doesn’t catch all of the misspellings, grammatical mistakes, etc. The same applies to photo and video editing. Photos and videos are powerful. Original unedited photos or videos can make us laugh out loud or cry. Perhaps that is why Google videos and YouTube are so successful. We can see people at their best and worst, for the most part unedited.
Recently Webconsuls was asked to make some videos of the mariachi performers at La Fuente Restaurant in Tucson, AZ. The stage area is almost completely surrounded by dining tables and walking paths for the waitstaff and guests. Try as I might, everytime I would try to shoot a video people, other than the musicians, would come into the field of view. But I videoed about eight songs and sent them to our SMO specialist to “edit.” Much to my surprise he decided to put up all of the videos on Google videos and one in particular is very comical. The song being performed is Guadalajara. As you watch this “unedited” version you will see patrons and staff cross in front of the stage, then suddenly the parking lot security guard comes into view and stops in front of the performers to “check out” the tip basket. It gets better. Within a few seconds, Dennis, my husband, gets up from his table and proceeds to walk to the tip basket to make a donation! By now I just keep shooting only to see the security guard come back through camera’s angle of view “dancing” to the music.
To appreciate the art of editing, I invite you to preview both videos. Here is a link to the unedited version and here is a link to the edited version of this performance. Editing…only remembering the good stuff. This weekend we will update La Fuente Restaurant’s website to include the “edited” version of Guadalajara. I hope you will visit their site. La Fuente has been in business since 1959 and has a colorful history.
Reading Time: 2minutes
I am sure most people by now have at least heard of Randy Pausch’s story, and his famous book/lecture, The Last Lecture. If not here is a link to the you tube video, viewed about 7 million times- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo In short, its a story of a professor of virtual reality with Pancreatic cancer lecturing on achieving your dreams and how to live. He has just passed away a month or so ago.
Today I wanted to bring to any one’s attention who was inspired by Randy’s story and lecture a video of another talk I wasn’t aware of until yesterday called Time Management. This is another lecture format video.
For those of us who feel helped by a this man, a stranger to most, any material is welcomed.
Webconsuls would like to wish his family well.
Reading Time: 5minutes
You can write great text for your website and the search engines will crawl your site. Hopefully the search engines will like your text, consider it new and unique, but the bottom line is when the human being clicks on your site they usually look at the photos or videos first. Why is this? To my way of thinking it is human nature. We are looking for a connection and our brains focus first on photos and videos. It is a quicker connection. Viewing a photo about a product or service is sometimes easier than taking the time to read. The photo to the left was taken on 9/5/08 at 7:00AM. By 10:00AM the flower had closed, never to reopen again. I could write an essay about this cactus, but the image tells you all you need to know. One moment in time!
Let’s face it, we use photos and videos throughout our daily life. When tragedy strikes some of the first items that people will try to save are their photos and videos. The photos and videos help to validate one’s heritage and existence. This phenomenon might explain why those of us who grew up being filmed by our parents using a Bell & Howell 8mm now spend an excessive amount of time and money to have these old films converted to DVDs. And so it is when you use photos and videos on your website. The site and the services/products become tangible.
For almost ten years Webconsuls has worked with their clients to provide original photos that can tell the story. Furthermore, we sometimes were given videos or slide shows to work with; however, this medium was in its infancy stage on the internet. Enter Google videos and YouTube.
In a recent article from Site Pro News, Randy Zlobec states, “On YouTube alone (which accounts for more than ninety-eight percent of the videos viewed via Google), more than eighty-two million people watched over four billion videos last year. That makes YouTube both the top video sharing site and the top video search engine. YouTube receives as much as thirteen hours of new user-submitted video every minute, and more than fifty percent of the people watching videos online share links with other people. So, getting a good YouTube ranking could be an important way to bring people to your site.”
If you are interested in having Webconsuls create a video for your site, remember this can be accomplished by using still photos. We invite you to look at two samples: Saco River Canoe & Kayak’s Fall Color on the Saco River (this video also provides closed captions) or Cottonwood de Tucson’s Equine Therapy for Addiction Recovery (this video includes original music specifically written for the video).
Check back next week for a short discussion on editing!
Reading Time: 3minutes
The Internet today offers several avenues for exposure beyond traditional Search Engine Optimization. Working in concert with a firm that has expertise in these avenues can increase visibility, search engine rankings, and business. These avenues are often considered part of Social Marketing.
One is to use the Internet to publish articles. You write the article and your web development company publishes it on a myriad of Internet sites. Well written and interesting articles can not only get wide circulation, but enhance your reputation as well.
A second way is to use blogs. The web development company would set up the blog and you regularly add content. Done correctly, the blog pages that you add would get wide and fast circulation.
You might consider adding video content to your site. Relatively inexpensive equipment is available to take acceptable videos. You may already have suitable equipment. Well done videos are interesting content which can be publicized them on the Internet. There is also much less competition for videos. For one client’s main keyword there were over 750,000 pages indexed by Google, and less that 175 videos.
Webconsuls, LLC We are a web site development company with expertise and experience in designing and building web sites, in Search Engine Optimization, and in Social Marketing.
Webconsuls > SEO
Reading Time: 6minutes
There is a world out there, more of a world. With the push of a button, a million possibilities await you; this Utopia is smaller than a note card, and lives inside your pocket. The new IPhone is the cutting edge of technology, the Alpha y Omega; there are many instruments that try to compete and at the surface appear to be similar, but with a little investigation you find something quite unique.
Your music, photos, and email accessible with a touch-screen, is only the tip of the iceberg; real time GPS and any kind of application you could think of, with more to come. The question is not what your IPhone can do? Rather, what can your IPhone not do? Having the ability to manage your social media real time makes social media more universal. Millions of web sites have and are making their pages IPhone friendly; companies have become aware of the implications and the potential of this virtual treasure chest. Wake up on time, plan your day, work from anywhere, and do all of this while listening to your favorite tunes! On a daily basis I find something new and exciting regarding the capabilities of this hand held computer. I am experiencing the joy of this product, like no other gadget I have ever had; at times the excitement can be too much to handle.
I can still remember: my first desktop, my first laptop, my first Discman, and my first IPod. The desktops were bulky and slow and were inefficient; speed got better, but what about size? Laptops made up for the size problem, and for a time satisfied your needs; but you could never fit your laptop into a pocket. Discmans made sound mobile, but they skipped and you had to carry all your cds with you wherever you went. IPods held all the music you wanted and could fit into a pocket, but in a pocket already containing: car keys, cell phones, palm pilots, and whatever else one carries with them daily. Was all the clutter convenient?
It seems like so long ago that I started this technological ride into the future. I felt like I was on the brink of something amazing taking place; with every year that passed, the horizon became closer. The anticipation of a new gadget that would make my computer more universal, faster, and a little better was what I dreamed about. The release of the IPod was the pinnacle of technology when it came to media; first with music and recording, and then with video. I was satisfied beyond belief with IPod, and wondered where Apple could go next with this device? A phone? An IPhone?
With the advent of the IPhone it became very clear that the sky was the limit. You could now manage your whole life with this masterpiece; from organizing your media, all the way to managing your business, work and play had truly become One. Isnt that what life is about? The freedom to accomplish your needs from wherever you exist at any given moment; especially in this fast paced world, a world where every second counts, when he who arrives first gets the prize. The plot has been set, the characters are in their right places; I welcome you to the climax, enjoy!
Reading Time: 2minutes
America is addicted to foreign oil.
It’s an addiction that threatens our economy, our environment and our national security. It touches every part of our daily lives and ties our hands as a nation and a people. The addiction has worsened for decades and now it’s reached a point of crisis.
In 1970, we imported 24% of our oil. Today it’s nearly 70% and growing.
As imports grow and world prices rise, the amount of money we send to foreign nations every year is soaring. At current oil prices, we will send $700 billion dollars out of the country this year alone — that’s four times the annual cost of the Iraq war.
Did you know you can follow the Pickens Plan on Twitter, and Youtube?
Reading Time: 7minutes
A while back, I read a very interesting book that compared life to a train ride or a series of train rides.
Life is like a train ride it read. We get on, we ride, we get off. We get back on and ride some more. There are accidents and there are delays. At certain stops there are surprises. Some of these will translate into great moments of joy, some will result in profound sorrow.
When we are born we first board the train, we meet people whom we think will be with us for the entire journey. Those people are our parents.
Sadly this is far from the truth, Our parents are with us for as long as we absolutely need them. They too have journeys they must complete . We live on with the memories of their love, affection, friendship, guidance and their ever presence.
There are others who board the train who eventually become very important to us in turn. Those people are our brothers, sisters, friends and acquaintances whom we will learn to love and cherish.
Some people consider their journey like a jaunty tour. They will just go merrily along. Others will encounter many upsets, tears, losses on their journey. Others still, will linger on to offer a helping hand to anyone in need.
Some people on the train will leave an everlasting impression when they get off. Some will get on and get off the train so quickly, they will scarcely leave a sign that they ever traveled along with you or ever crossed your path…
We will sometimes be upset that some passengers whom we love, will choose to sit in another compartment and leave us to travel on our own. Then again, there is nothing that says we cant seek them out anyway. Nevertheless, once sought out and found, we may not even be able to sit next to them because that seat will already be taken.
That’s okay everyone’s journey will be filled with hopes, dreams, challenges, setbacks and goodbyes.
We must strive to make the best of it no matter what…
We must constantly strive to understand out travel companions and look for the best in everyone.
Remember that at any moment during our journey, any one of our travel companions can have a weak moment and be in need of our help.
We too may vacillate, or hesitate every trip hopefully we can count on someone being there to be supportive and understanding.
The bigger mystery of our journey is that we don’t know when our last stop will come. Neither do we know when our travel companions will make their last stop Not even those sitting in the seat next to us.
I know I will be sad to make my final stop. My separation from all those friends and acquaintances I made during the train ride will be painful. Leaving all those I am close to will be a sad thing. But then again, I am certain that one day I will get to the main station only to meet up with everyone else. They will all be carrying baggage…most of which they did not have when the first got on the train.
I will be glad to see them again, I will also be glad to have contributed to their baggage… and to have enriched their lives, just as much as they will have contributed to my baggage and enriched my life.
We are all on this train ride together. Above all, we should all try to strive to make the ride as pleasant and memorable as we can right up until we can make the final stop and the leave the train for the last time…
Reading Time: < 1minute
The Google Earth Plug-in and its JavaScript API new from Google will let you embed Google Earth into your web pages. Using this API you can draw markers and lines, drape images over the terrain, add 3D models, or load KML files, allowing you to build sophisticated 3D map applications. If you have an existing Maps API site, you can 3D-enable your page with as little as one line of code.
Now with Google maps you can explore locations around the world! View local photos and YouTube videos, discover popular searches and places of interest, and browse user-created maps or design your own!
Surfwise Sneak Preview Tonight, May 7th on HD.net, at 6 PM PT, with an encore at 9 PM PT.
Surfwise follows the odyssey of 85-year-old, legendary surfer Dr. Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, his wife Juliette, and their nine children – all of whom were home-schooled on the beaches of Southern California, Hawaii, Mexico and Israel; they surfed every day of their lives, and were forced to adhere to a strict diet and lifestyle of animals in the wild, by their passionate and demanding, health-conscious father.
Set to “I have a fast connection. Always play higher-quality video when it’s available.”
And click save.
Above is a short video we put together for Saco River Canoe & Kayak Adventures trips in New Hampshire & Maine’s White Mountains, notice how much better the higher quality version looks?
Reading Time: < 1minute
Dallas Taylor the drummer for Crosby Stills Nash & Young was kind enough to have Webconsuls come visit and take some video with our new “Flip” video camera. 6 min, 1 take, Dallas is a true professional.
This is a fine example of what is going on in the marketplace.
Are you having a conversation with your customers?
Reading Time: 4minutes
Whether your YouTube video has 10 views or 10,000,000, people always want to know the same thing: who’s watching this? Where do viewers come from? How did they find my video?
Finally, Youtube has some answers. Today there are releasing YouTube Insight, a free tool that enables anyone with a YouTube account to view detailed statistics about the videos that they have uploaded. For example, uploaders can see how often their videos are viewed in different geographic regions, as well as how popular they are relative to all videos in that market over a given period of time. You can also delve deeper into the lifecycle of your videos, like how long it takes for a video to become popular, and what happens to video views as popularity peaks.
How does this help you? Well, using these metrics, you can increase your videos’ view counts and improve your popularity on the site. For instance, you might learn that your videos are most popular on Wednesdays, that you have a huge following in Spain, or that new videos that play off previous content become more popular more quickly. With this information, you can concentrate on creating compelling new content that appeals to your target audiences, and post these videos on days you know these viewers are on the site. (Maybe even post your next video in Spanish?) And for those of you who are also partners, the more popular a video is, the more advertising revenue it can generate.
Youtube will be making new features and additional information available fairly quickly — like a specific breakdown of how viewers discovered the video — so keep an eye out as they roll out new features. As for now, you can find currently available metrics by clicking under the “About this Video” button under “My account > Videos, Favorites, Playlists > Manage my Videos.” The YouTube Team
Reading Time: 2minutes
For all you visual learners who want to add features to your blog, but don’t have the patience to browse bloggers help articles, we’ve created the new Blogger Help YouTube Channel. There you can find videos that show you step by step how to use Blogger features.
There are only a few videos at the moment, and we’ve decided to start with the basics:
In the coming months they will be adding more videos. If you have a suggestion for a video you’d like to see, let them know by posting in the Help Group. In addition, you can give feedback on each video’s comment form. They are always trying to find new and better ways to help us use Blogger and they appreciate our feedback – thanks!
Reading Time: 5minutes
I am one of those people who need to justify most purchases. When that iPhone came out my creative juices started flowing. Hmmmm … how can I convince myself that phone is vital to my existence, maybe not vital, but how can it help me? Sometimes you just need a little inspiration. The iPhone is a powerful tool and with every update new functionality is added.
Social Media takes time. Some say it takes more time than they can fit into their hectic lives. What if all you needed was a mobile phone? You could promote your business in your down time, those frustrating times when you can’t really do anything productive, the commute home, waiting for doctors appointments, waiting in line at the grocery store, you could even use that iconic device to open up conversations about your business.
Here is a list of the ways I have used the iPhone for social media optimization.
1. The dynamic duo “photos” and “camera” turn you into a photoblogging superstar! Take a picture and upload immediately to your blog. Get more bang for your post and cc your social sites while you are at it. Setting will have to be preloaded and the contact for each social site added to your contacts for easy and immediate access. Once settings are in place shoot your tantalizing picture and post. Be sure to add a compelling title.
2. Find the videos you have loaded up on YouTube and watch them, send them to social sites, email them to contacts, or make the person in line with you at the grocery store watch it. Bookmark your videos on your iPhone. Depending upon your industry and chattiness you will find opportunities to share your videos.
3. I was never a text message sender before the iPhone, but the iPhone’s large (by mobile standards) qwerty keyboard makes it easy and accessible. Combine your iPhone with a microblogging client such as Twitter and there are a variety of combinations to utilize. For example: Monitor your keywords and find the conversations as they happen. Using Twitter you can add ‘bots’ to search conversations which have your keywords in them. These messages containing your keywords can be sent directly to your phone and then your conversation begins. IMPORTANT POINTER: Be sure to adjust your text messaging package to insure your keyword alerts do not exceed your current text messaging package.
Buy technology you love and optimize your settings, bookmarks and features to remove all obstacles to using that technology.
Reading Time: < 1minute
Watch this Youtube video and learn how to set up Gmail IMAP on the iPhone in one minute and thirty six seconds.
Reading Time: 2minutes
Google again in the news with Google sky, a new feature in Google Earth. Stargazers in the family are going to love this one. Google continues to bring innovative and fun products to the marketplace. What makes it even nicer on the pocket book is that they are giving these tools away for free.
To use Google Sky, open Google Earth 4.2 and click “Switch to Sky” in the “View” Menu, or just click the “Sky” button in the Google Earth toolbar. You can do all the fun things you do in Google Sky that you can do in Google Earth, Like Zooming in and out, Dragging around the stars, Search for your favorite planet, Galaxy or other far flung corner of the known Universe.
With Google Sky, Google has successfully brought together a millenia of human knowledge in one easy to use location.
