Gary North

If you are ignoring the video revolution, it's costing you money. You are watching the parade go by.

It's time to get into the parade.

The digital communications revolution is real. It is making things possible that were not possible before. It is doing this in three ways: (1) innovative technology; (2) radical cost-cutting; (3) cheap distribution on-line.

We all have had our lives changed by e-mail. The Web is changing the way we shop and buy and learn. But most of what influences us is text-based: words on a screen or maybe on paper (print-outs).

Audio has been limited mainly to file-swapping of music. File-swapping is a huge market, but it's mainly for downloading now and listening later. Now the iPod phenomenon is upon us. This is going to undermine commercial radio. The Federal Communications Commission will wind up regulating an essentially empty bag. That is very good news.

Now web-based video is beginning to fly. But it's more like a bi-plane in King Kong than a jet in Top Gun.

Yet developments here are speeding up. On the production technology side of it, new editing programs are making possible highly sophisticated production for essentially no money. Time, yes, but no money to speak of.

On the distribution side is broadband. It's still overpriced. But competition is going to have its way.

THE VIDEO REVOLUTION

Today's home camcorders are incredibly good. For $600, you can get a camera better than a unit I paid $2,500 for a few years ago. It's a 3 CCD camera, which means that colors are sharper because each primary color has its own chip. It's 2.3 megapixels, which means the image is crisp, even for a DVD. For a web broadcast, it's overkill.

It has a separate input jack for an external microphone, which is an essential feature for producing a professional-looking amateur video. If you pay $25 to $50 for a lavaliere mic that clips onto your tie, that's really all you need. (I know people who spend more on a tie than I spent on a mic.)

What about lighting? That can be done for $100 if you're a big spender.

But what about a fancy studio? It's all digital. Use a green plastic drape tacked to the wall behind you. The studio background is graphically generated. I have several studio styles to choose from with my siftware (under $300).

Let me show you a nice example of what can be done with this technology. Victor Urbach has produced a video that is impressive. At first, it's animated. But when you get to the main section, it's real. Sort of. But the background isn't. This is one man standing in front of a video camera. Take a look:

His video is really valuable if you're in direct mail. It shows how to get people to open a solicitation letter.

I use the same $300 program that he does.

You can get the production and equipment details later. But first, consider the potential. . . .

A NICE LITTLE SIDE BUSINESS

Two decades ago, Bill Myers rented a video camera and produced one video. He recorded his presentation in his 28-foot used trailer at the end of a 7-mile dirt road. He would have used his house as a studio, except a tornado had blown it away a few months earlier. He advertised his tape with a cheap classified ad. When it was all over, he pulled in more than $200,000. Then he moved out of his trailer.

He still teaches people how to do this sort of thing. He has a site devoted to it.

Google is now accepting how-to videos from people like you. Google will post them, take money from sales, keep a reasonable commission, and send you the rest. I have a whole list of videos that I intend to shoot in the next six months. Each one offers the potential of generating a little stream of income.

These guys are marketing geniuses. Why not piggyback on their genius and their web-search technology?

THINK OF PROJECTS

Do you know of some out-of-the way place where you know your way around? Shoot a video. Sell it on-line through Google.

Do you have some specialized knowledge of how to do something? Hobby? Business? Craftsmanship? Shoot a video and sell it.

Think of Myers. He holds a seminar and gets people to pay to attend. Then he puts it on 10 DVDs and sells the set for $595.

Most people know the details of how to do something unique. They think, "everyone knows how to do this." In fact, hardly anyone knows how. There are always people who want to learn how. They will pay to find out how.

The problem has been to find distribution. I think Google will solve this problem. At least for some videographers, it will.

THE SHOELACE PROBLEM

Let me offer you a challenge. Tell someone how to tie a shoelace. Don't show him. Tell him. Words only.

It's not easy. It's close to impossible. If you wrote a manual on this, it would look like a 1982 manual on how to program a VCR to record a show when you were not home. It was easier to stay home.

Shoot a video. It's easy. As you shoot it, narrate what the person is seeing on-screen. You don't need a manual.

My point is this: lots of tasks in this life are the equivalent of tying a shoelace. Manuals are useless. You have to see it being done. A DVD that you can produce from a digital master and send by UPS for $4, total, can be sold for $19.95, plus shipping & handling.

It can be sold on a website as a download.

It can be sold through Google.

It can be given away. The fact that you mention your website or blogsite at the beginning and the end and even in between won't hurt.

CONCLUSION

You can do this. If you don't want to be on camera, just aim the camera at whatever it is that you think will interest a viewer. Narrate what you see as you shoot the video. Or insert it as a voice-over later.

If you provide useful information, nobody cares if it's not fancy. If you are really serious about pursuing this, and you want to know the equipment I use in my dirt-cheap home studio, click here.

Meanwhile, don't forget to subscribe to my free Tip of the Week report, which is sent every Saturday morning. The sign-up box is on the Home page.