I interviewed social video expert consultant and creator of one of the earliest – and still most successful social video series today, George Wright. In this rare interview, George shared with me the keys to how he managed to make BlendTec’s “Will it Blend?” YouTube video series a viral sensation and an economic success.  He also shared his tips for what we can learn from doing product videos in our own retail, e-commerce, and marketing activities.

I originally met and interviewed George Wright back in late 2008, when he was Blendtec’s VP of Sales & Marketing. (George has…

A good friend once told me that if I wanted to see what we’d all be doing with technology in 5 years,  I should spend a day observing the life of a typical 13-year-old girl. Well, I can do better than that. I’ll ask my 4-year-old daughter.

Without a doubt, millions of toddler parents would nod their heads in tacit acknowledgement when I say kids no longer wait until their teenage years to exploit the latest and greatest in technology. Here are just a few factoids about my 4-year old daughter that are sure to elicit a knowing smile (or…

I’m going to be speaking at Mediabistro’s Social Media Optimization Conference (SMOC) on May 23-24 in San Francisco, and presenting on the subject of “social video optimization.” I thought it would make for a good opportunity to share here about the role of social video with eCommerce today, showcase how some successful companies are using video eCommerce to maximize performance and profits, and dole out some of my own tips for optimizing your social video program for the buying and selling of goods, services, and solutions over the Internet.

The bar is being raised on the quality of user generated video.  Before I begin, I want to clarify what I mean when I use the word “quality” because it falls into a few different areas.  When I talk about quality video I’m specifically referring to production, content and distribution quality.  In short, production takes into account single or multi-camera set up, type of camera, lighting, sound, framing, angles and editing.  Content addresses what you’re actually saying on camera, along with enunciation, body language, eye contact and word emphasis, etc.  Distribution is how you leverage your final video asset to…

We’ve talked plenty on this site about the importance of creating a smart online video strategy, one that complements and advances your specific brand message and provides a roadmap toward the right style of video for your company.

But what about the video that you can’t affect? In particular, the hundreds of thousands of customer-generated videos now freely posted on YouTube and other sites that dole out brand opinions and product reviews to millions of passionately interested viewers.

How do you go about making that part of your video strategy?

That’s the marketing challenge many retail…

Grant Crowell interviews Video Commerce Consortium’s own Founder, Justin Foster, who moderated the panel, “New Strategies for Marketing and Ecommerce.” Justin and I discussed the new opportunities with video in for getting discovered and monetization, user-generated video innovations with retailers, and the different priorities around online video between marketers, talent, and producers.

Grant Crowell interviews Crutchfield’s Multimedia Producer Jon Schroeder about how their consumer electronics business’ own video marketing strategy makes the most of their in-house production and experts – utilizing video to build conversations with their customers towards better customer service.

A significant piece of new legislation, affecting all online video producers and creators, was signed in to law in October. The result could be added cost, legal exposure, and liability for online video creators.

The 21^st Century Communication and Video Accessibility Act requires that producers and content creators of online video must provide closed captioning. This has significant implications for e-commerce video, as these legal requirements will apply to all content producers, not just traditional television networks. While there is discussion of only requiring television producers to comply, the wording in the bill could be interpreted to mean any video…

Is posting product videos up on YouTube complimentary or counterproductive to their own business goals? ReelSEO’s Mark Robertson shares his thoughts about the “YouTube cannibalization theory,” and offers some valuable tips for “hosted and posted” video strategies.