D-Mac’s Blog

I ran across a blog post by Kyle Lacy today which is actually a reblog from Ellen Dunigan on Smaller Indiana.  The blog post included some good tips for creating a great video blog.  As you can imagine, it immediately caught my attention as I tend to include a good amount of video on my blog.  I found the article to be so relevant to what I was doing that I decided to give my first REBLOG a try using the link at the bottom of Kyle’s daily blog email.  This link took me to Zemanta’s Reblog service where I was able to install the Zemanta Firefox add-on and quickly copy the HTML for the link back to Kyle’s Blog I am including below.  It allows you to pick which section of the blog you would like to reblog- a really cool feature.

I found this fascinating quote today:

10 Tips for a Great Video Blog January 5th, 2009 by Kyle Lacy Posted in Viral Marketing, blogging, small businessKyle Lacy, Social Media – Indianapolis, Jan 2009

The article also motivated me to share the reasons why I include so much video on my blog.  So here they are:

1.  Video Helps Add Personality to Your Blog
One key factor to a successful blog is showing personality.  You need to be able to connect with your audience and allow them to get to know who you really are.  Convince them you are HUMAN.  Sure the content that you put in a blog allows you to do this, but video adds a whole new dimension.  Your viewers are able to actually see you and hear you as you are expressing your thoughts on a particular subject.  This makes it much easier for them to connect.  When people begin to connect with where you are coming from, you start to establish a rapport and build a level of trust.  This is key in developing your group of loyal followers.  This will be the group you can truly benefit from interacting with.

2. Video Increases the Level of Interaction on Your Blog
I have noticed that a large amount of my feedback has come from my YouTube videos.  Interaction on YouTube is the reason that I know OS version 4.7.0.85 is now out for the Blackberry Storm and that it is in fact possible to use Twitterberry in landscape mode.  A viewer saw my videos on YouTube and felt compelled to provide me with information that has been very helpful.  Of course this made my videos a bit inaccurate, but this is why I am telling you about it now.  I firmly believe that opening up your level of interaction by including video elements you are more likely to get your followers to open up as well.  

3. Video Enables A First-Hand Demonstration
My blog so far has included several product reviews.  By adding video to my blog not only am I able to write my review, but I can also show exactly what I like and dislike about the product I am reviewing first-hand.  This adds authenticity to your review as viewers know that you have actually experienced real life interaction with the particular product you are reviewing.  This is a great step toward encouraging others to value your opinion.  Because after all, if you opinion is not valued- what good is a blog?

All of that talk about including video on your blog and guess what?  I am not posting a video for this blog entry.  If you want a new video, I guess you will have to check back later this week!

And if you are looking for a review on video cameras- check out this blog post by Justin Bryant.