Video Podcasting for B2B

Still inspired by the release of Steve Garfield’s Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business, I continue to focus on video in a series of related posts this month. This latest post includes slides which I saved from awhile back, after my participation at PodCamp 4, in Boston.

There, HubSpot’s Mike Volpe and Karen Rubin described Video Podcasting for B2B Marketing, in one of the best sessions I attended, from a memorable series of sessions, at last summer’s sea-side unconference on podcasting.

Volpe and Rubin described the level of risk involved in producing different types of video podcasts, as follows:

  • High Risk: Viral Videos
  • Med Risk: Interviews, Video Podcast
  • Low Risk: How To Videos, Webinars, Company Overview

The slides link to examples of different approaches to video for B2B Marketing. (To view one of my all-time favorite viral videos, you must see You Oughta Know Inbound Marketing with HubSpot’s Rebecca Corliss. Also included in the slides below is a link to a video interview with PodCamp co-founder, Chris Penn, on Podcasting.)

Hosts of HubSpot TV, Volpe and Rubin racked up an impressive 70,000 views in their first year of video podcasting. At PodCamp 4, they provided lots of helpful advice from their podcasting experience, including Video Content Tips and Things to Avoid for Video, as described below.

Video Content Tips

  • Short is sweet.
  • Focus on first 10 seconds.
  • Live videos require no editing.
  • Camera shy? Try screen recording.
  • Be yourself, outline not script.
  • Iterate.

Things to Avoid for Video

  • Backlight or window backgrounds
  • Expensive camara
  • Tile floors or empty rooms (echo)
  • Expensive editing software

They also recommended including a call to action, at the end of your B2B video podcast.

For more helpful tips, especially on how to promote and track analytics for your podcasts via YouTube, blip.tv, and TubeMogul, make sure to check out the presentation slides.

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Contacting the Author: Content for a Convergent World – Peg Mulligan’s Blog

Podcast Tools: Tips on Livestreaming from PodCamp 4

Last summer, at PodCamp 4 in Boston, well-known video blogger Steve Garfield joined HubSpot’s Karen Rubin and Mike Volpe, in providing tips on Best Equipment for Video Podcasting.

Rubin and Volpe opened the session, describing the equipment they use in the weekly live video podcast, known as HubSpot TV (airs every Friday, at 4:00).

Volpe explained that HubSpot has used Modulus (now rebranded as Livestream) and more recently, Ustream.tv (which Vople said is a bit cheaper), for streaming the HubSpot TV show.

He went on to describe the two duplicate setups, which HubSpot uses for the live broadcast:

  • Setup A: Consists of a mike connected to laptop, which in turn connects to a webcam, allowing for livestreaming via the USB port.
  • Setup B: Consists of a mike connected to a standard camcorder, which provides a higher quality recording than the webcam, and is used for distributing video podcasts on iTunes.

Volpe went on to recommend investing in a camcorder, with an external microphone jack, because most camcorders come with bad audio. He also mentioned that light helps a lot in reducing shadows and suggested buying at least two inexpensive lights, to use on either side.

Garfield clarified that the reason HubSpot requires two cameras—one for livestreaming and one for recording—is because HubSpot’s camera, like most recent HD cameras, does not come with FireWire. (Instead, newer cameras now usually come with an SD card or USB cable.) According to Garfield, older high quality cameras came with FireWire, which enabled livestreaming onto your computer, from your HD camera. It’s still possible to get HD cameras with FireWire, but these cameras are now usually more expensive, in the $3500 range.

Garfield further advised to always look for the light, while Rubin explained that the person with the camera should always stand with his or her back to the window, and with the light shining on the videotape subject.

An audience member added that qik.com supports streaming from your mobile phone.

For more tips on how to make your own TV podcast, see How to Make Your Own HubSpot TV Podcast in 10 Steps.

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Contacting the Author: Content for a Convergent World – Peg Mulligan’s Blog