How to make money with online video

If you love making videos, want to make money from them and become the next YouTube superstar, then success and riches are just an upload away.

If only it were that easy! Fortunately, I’ve created a guide on how to succeed with online video, which shows you how to use your video camera, the dozens of video upload sites and your own imagination to make real money with online video.

How to succeed as a Video blogger

There are two ways of making money from a video blog: either make yourself the focus of your videos, or create a blog that includes your own videos and those from other people.

Video blogging using your own and other people’s videos

If it’s Internet celebrity status you’re after, such as Robert Scoble, then you’ll need to include yourself in the videos you shoot, even if it’s only behind the camera. A much easier, way, though, is to mix video that you shoot yourself with videos from other producers.

The guys at YouGottaSeeThisVideo.com (left) did this to perfection, and were nominated for best video blog 2007 at the prestigious Weblog awards.

This is an easier way to have success with a video blog, as creating video can be quite time consuming, so combining your own video with videos that other people have created ensures you get more high quality content than you would if you were shooting all the vids yourself. Just make sure the other videos are related to the topic you focus on, and ensure that your video blog has a consistent theme throughout.

For tips on creating a video blog and monetizing it using your own videos and those from other people, check out the following:

• Using YouTube to become a leader in your blog niche – blogging and social media genius Maki (one of Digg’s top superusers) shares his thoughts on becoming a successful blogger by using a successful Youtube user as a case study.
• Make money with a video blog – superb article on how to make money with a video blog. Step by step advice on setting up your blog, choosing content, and even where to position your ads for maximum click-through.
• DigitalPoint forum on making money with a video blog – forum thread that expands on the above article, including more detailed advice for the budding video blogger.
• More top advice from Maki on making money for a video blog – does exactly what it says on the tin. Maki’s posts are so consistently good, you wonder how he has time to sleep!

Video blogging all by yourself

If you want to be YouTube famous, you’ll need to ensure you’re always in the video somewhere, even if it’s only as a voice over behind the camera. This will only work if you have a loud and engaging personality – no-one wants to see videos of dull people.

Look at Perez Hilton (left), for example. His whole site isn’t just about celebrity gossip, it’s about him and his personality.

If you want to be Internet famous, you need to be able to capture’ people’s attention in a similar way (well, maybe not in quite such a similar way! – there’s only room in this world for one Perez Hilton, surely!)

One way to test this out is to start live blogging yourself on Justin.tv. Here you can experiment with a small audience to begin with, and build it up over time, before branching out with your own video-based Web site around you.

If you don’t have a loud personality, or you don’t want to be Internet famous but like shooting video, then consider live blogging important people or events.

The best example of this type of video blogger is Robert Scoble, who scours the world to get the latest scoops on tech-related subjects, and interviews the people in the industry who matter.

You can live blog trade shows, conferences, launch parties – pretty much anything that people want to see. You can do it to generate traffic to your own blog, or to promote someone else’s for money. Effectively, you become a freelance blogger for someone who pays you to cover important events.

If you think this is for you, check out some of these sites on how to become a live blogger:

• Live blogging best practices (note: the page looks like it was designed in 1994, but don’t let that put you off – it was actually written in 2007!)
• How to do conference blogging – excellent set of tips on how to live blog conferences for your own professional development
• Conference blogging for professional bloggers – from Blog Herald, one of the top Problogging sites on the Web
• How to blog a conference – hardware, software and strategy for live blogging like a pro.
• How to Live Blog a conference – conference blogging tips from the experts
• Beth Kanter – prolific blogger for Blog Her, Beth has covered many live events and givdes some top tips for Live Blogging wannabes
• Live blogging the Web 2.0 way – great set of Web 2.0 sites to help you live blog an event
• Live Blogging the WebWorkerDaily way – loads of live blogging posts from one of the top blogs on the Web
• How to use CoverItLive for Live blogging – review of the live blogging site CoverItLive.com
• ProBlogger’s live blogging tips – tips from the expert himself.
• Free 6 page e-book on live blogging – extremely useful guide to live blogging,plus great links to opther experts
• Confessions of a live blog failure – some of the pitfalls to watch out for when live blogging
• The art of live blogging – does exactly what it says on the tin
• TopRank tips on Live blogging – includes strategies,software and top tips

How to succeed with viral videos

If you’re the creative type and love creating your own videos, then you need to make your video go viral if you want success.

A viral video is one that people like so much, they share it with their friends, who in turn share it with their friends, and so on.

The video literally spreads like an epidemic, gaining you maximum exposure.

Be warned, this is not an easy process, but the rewards can be huge.

Finding the killer hook you need to get your video to go viral is the secret to viral success.

It’s a black art, though, and will require much trial and error, but here are some excellent articles with tips and advice that’ll give you a head start:

• Viral marketing with Lisa Nova’s sexy videos – sex sells, and Lisa Nova (in the video, above) knows it, exploiting this age old marketing trick to perfection. She’s created a series of sexy characters that you can use in your own video clips completely free. Called Lisa Nova collab characters, they can help spice up your clips, while promoting Lisa herself – clever! Emulating Lisa’s strategy is one option, but using Lisa’s video clips yourself in your own clips may be a better option if you have the sex appeal of a moose’s arse.
• The secret strategies behind many viral videos – TechCrunch article into viral video promotion from the head of viral video marketing company The Comotion Group. See also this follow-up article, which clears up a few misundertandings from the original post.
• How to succeeed at YouTube – revealing interview with Andrew Nesbitt, who’s had several videos go viral.
• Forrester research’s interview with WillItBlend.com. Video Website WillItBlend.com has had enormous success with YouTube. Forrester research interview the guys behind the site and come up with some top tips for viral videos.

If you’re still looking for inspiration, check out the deeply ironic vid below on how to make viral video clips!

Custom video creation

If you love creating video and want to be paid for your efforts, consider becoming a freelance video producer. Companies will pay you to create videos to advertise their products or services. You need to be skilled in creating videos to do this, but if you’ve got the talent, head to MediaMobz and sign up as a producer. You can then bid for work producing videos for companies looking for creative individuals to produce advertisements for them.

Note that their homepage implies they only sign up advertisers. This isn’t the case at all – when you start the sign-up process you can select whether you’re offering your services as a producer, or whether you’re a buyer. Check their FAQ for more details.

Summary

Blimey, these posts are getting out of hand! If you’re into making videos for the Web, these links should help you focus on your videos’ theme, monetize them, become a YouTube superstar, and ultimately succeed with online video. If you know of any other great articles for online video success, or just want to share your own tips and advice,feel free to comment below.

Meanwhile, check out my other posts on the best gadgets for online video, and video sites that are even better than YouTube.