We continue our interview with social video expert and viral video sales sensation, George Wright. George shared more of his tips with me for what we can learn from doing product videos in our own retail, e-commerce, and marketing activities.

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I believe that web video is going to play a key role in the future of commerce.  If you’re reading this, you probably do, too.

Like many believers in the power of video to sell, I pay close attention to video’s ability to enhance marketing & merch efforts, whether they be SEO, conversion, mobile, or social.  These areas are critical for any video commerce program given the constraints of today’s e-commerce industry.

The problem for retail executives – and the video commerce industry as a whole – is that focusing on the areas where video increments performance of existing channels …

I interviewed Andrew Henshaw, CEO of the live video chat technology provider vee24, about the many competitive advantages businesses get from offering live video chat assistance on their own website, with real-world conversion metrics to share from existing clients.…

For over a year now, the folks at Heels.com have been using a live video chat technology for real-time customer service right from their own website. Read my interview below with Heels.com’s founder and CEO Eric McCoy, and learn why he says that live video chat has been a worthwhile investment conducive to getting more purchases and improving customer relationships.…

The annual cable convention hosted by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) has traditionally been a glossy event where past and present moguls from the Vanity Fair 100 list rub shoulders and compare their respective company’s most recent mega-media conquests.

But faced with disruptive new technologies and competition from online video and streaming services, the mood at Cable Show 2011, held earlier this month in Chicago, was far less certain—despite the show’s “Let’s Not Panic Here, Folks” theme.

This was certainly evident during an opening day panel discussion when executives from three of the biggest U.S. cable operators—Comcast, Cox, …

I interviewed Paul Verna, senior analyst for the digital intelligence and research agency, eMarketer, to talk about how Facebook credits can be a key strategy for retailers to reward customers, and turn “likes” into loyal fans.

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With just a shade under 45 days remaining until the 2011 Video Commerce Summit kicks off, I have some exciting news to share with our VCC readers.  YouTube has accepted an invitation to headline the event.

YouTube will speak to a topic that directly impacts retailers: the evolution of video from a media associated with TV, to one that is increasingly consumed across channels and in non-traditional contexts (e.g. shopping).

From my vantage point, YouTube’s acceptance of the headliner role is the ‘icing on the cake’ for what is poised to be the largest video commerce summit ever – with …

Equipped with an array of social media tools that amplify their collective voice, today’s customers have arguably become the savviest ever, working together to get what they want out of the marketplace.

Connected and more aware, brand audiences have grown increasingly suspect of the kind of overt sales pitches found in most direct marketing campaigns—or any hawkish outreach that appeals to them as simply a “consumer,” instead of an individual of many interests, tastes, and passions—eroding the impact of the tightly controlled advertising campaigns.

“I believe we are living through an amazing revolution,” said David Jones, Global CEO of Havas …

That title’s a lot more catchy than, ‘ROI of Video Commerce Platforms, Part 3,’ isn’t it?  Thought so!

It has been over a month since Part 2 in the ‘ROI of Video Commerce Platforms’ series, so my apologies up front for the wait.  It took longer than I thought to gather the data required for this post.  Now, I have it, and it’s time to share some revenue calculations and an example for how video commerce technology generates revenue.

Before we get too far into it, two disclaimers are warranted: First, I’m one of the principals of Liveclicker, a …

There’s an ongoing discussion in the publishing business about the value of book trailers; the short, promotional videos often produced as part of the marketing campaign to support a book’s big release.

Even if you’re a big reader, it’s possible that you’ve never seen a book trailer before. Unlike their better-known cousins from Hollywood, there are no established forums or venues dedicated to the viewing and discussion of book trailers. No packed movie houses, no IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes or Apple trailer sites for books, no DVD releases to target a receptive viewing audience. Not in the book biz—at least not …