I guess I’m not a big believer just yet that a video sharing portal can actively provide real value to me in terms of subscribers and new viewers, simply because the numbers (example, people using Viddler or Blip) just aren’t there yet. They just aren’t. If they were, I would promote it in a heartbeat. I hope you get what I’m saying… from a marketing standpoint, I’m just not buying that video player communities are much more than just “players” of my content… yet, and I’m much better of focusing on driving viewers to my own site for now.

Of course, I’d like to be wrong. I’d like to have my own site viewers, AND have a home like Viddler where I could count on a community as well that meets my branding and marketing goals.

As far as how you pull that off – I’m all ears. Because I’m learning as I go here.

@Colin, I’m giving serious thought to dumping using Tubemogul all together and just picking a player as you say. Need time to think about it.

TubeMogul (whoever you are ) Thanks!

I post videos into multiple different communities to drive eyeballs to focus back on my brand/blog for rss subscribers and to promote my consulting and speaking stuff, etc… That’s what I value the most.

So, I guess my home base is my blog. I don’t necessarily believe that any video community, in the short term, can overpower my blog in terms of building a fan base. I think in the long run, maybe, eh, but not yet.

However, this did get me thinking today, and the fact that I was recently declined from the YouTube partner program while other lame and unworthy people are getting accepted, that I may just abandon YouTube completely and pick a player like Viddler. Thanks for the good discussion.

What is Viddler’s stance on business type content like mine? I get the feeling from YouTube that the don’t want my content. I’m not preaching MLM crap or anything like that. My content is very similar to Gary V’s personal blog stuff. Entrepreneurial and motivational stories stuff.

I don’t think YouTube wants my content? Does Viddler?

Sorry if I didn’t explain it better than I have!

What do you think about this question re: bringing people along and drawing them in when they aren’t already part of one of the video communities? People who aren’t tech tend to think video=YouTube, even though the sort of content they’re actually looking for (business-related content, anyway) would probably be on one of the other services. Are trailers the way to go to bring them over? This is part of the larger issue of helping people learn to use the next generation of interactive effectively…

Gfox: Perhaps “watering down” a brand isn’t the best way to describe my thoughts. Maybe the brand doesn’t take a hit as much as having all of these smaller, less connected, communities that are surviving in their own little areas on each service. When, in reality, they could all be brought together with the right tools.

I don’t see how distribution to multiple platforms can water down a brand… Exposure is exposure, right?

One of the key things to consider, though, is how well they market. People with charisma like @garyvee have no problem getting people excited about their content, but sometimes people with truly stellar content have a rough time “getting discovered”. I firmly believe that ideally, the branding should happen at your own personal site. But realistically, some people need the exposure.

Thanks so much for the feedback.

And yes, maintaining a presence on all these sites is cumbersome. As it is, I have to maintain a web site for my production company (www.CrashCamFilms.com), the roller derby documentary that’s currently out on the fest circuit (www.HellOnWheelsTheMovie.com), the animated series I’m working on (www.ApeShitTheMovie.com) and my new, in-the-works animated project (www.CrashToons.com). Add to that the MySpace pages, the FaceBook pages and the four blogs, and it’s a ton of work. But making a film is no cakewalk either.

The bottom line for me is more exposure creates a wider fan base and is helpful to the films I make. Ideally, the flicks will get people interested in what I do and they will swing by my web site(s) and investigate a bit. Several of the clips I have uploaded are trailers for feature films (or music videos that support the feature), or are of a similar style and theme to some of my feature work.

The jury is still out on weather this strategy is worth the time, but I’d rather err on the safe side, work my ass off and see what happens.

Thanks for involving me in the conversation!

Cheers!
-bob ray

Also, I just started these blogs with the idea that they’d be more useful in promotion than the old text-only “news & updates” pages. I’m happy as hell that they seem to be working on getting the word out.

Peep this fresh and spiffy Hell on Wheels blog/update: http://www.hellonwheelsmovie.wordpress.com

Scope out the CrashCam Films blog for all the good it’s worth: http://crashcamfilms.wordpress.com/

Lay your I-hole on the far out APESH!T blog: http://apeshitcartoon.wordpress.com/

Check out the new CrashToons blog and news page:
http://crashtoons.wordpress.com/

Is this the right strategy? For most, probably. You will find that by strategically placing your content, your “brand” will be more valuable and people will come to you. That is my ultimate goal and probably the goal of many out there trying to establish brands.

However, your brand could have one of those big bang moments where it becomes so dense and so hot that it blows up and starts to take on a life of its own. When that happens it’s time to refocus and reevaluate where your expanded audience is and go there. Gary V. and WineLibraryTV does not have a YouTube audience and probably never will so I don’t think he’s serving his brand well by being there.

I suppose the gist of this comment is, serve your brand well by starting small, earning credibility and growing with your audience.

But, my point goes beyond my affiliation with Viddler. I really do believe that whatever service you choose (as each of them has their own strong points), you should pick just one and really put a lot into that community.

I’ll have more thoughts after I get my interviews done, I’m sure.

I’ve been using TubeMogul to put the Geek Force FiveCast up in a number of different places. My hope is that I’ll draw people back to my main site, where I use the Viddler player exclusively, and that they’ll see how cool Viddler is, visit Viddler, and sign up.

Chris Kieff: Excellent point. “Getting in front of your audience” is definitely a concern. Perhaps this could be a branch to a new topic of how to market to your audience. I think that while you might want to get in front of people where they are, there might be better ways to do it than to spread your content all over the place.

Ron: Really great idea. I love the idea of creating “trailers” for your content and posting those to various places online. That is the point of commercials, to advertising “something else”. Let me know if you do this, and how it works for you.

OK, that was a side track.

On idea I’ve had is to create Trailers of my content and upload those to everywhere, and put a link in the description to the main site I want to use. Then you get the reach, but still have the control of the central point.

BTW: I had the idea to consolidate all my stuff into one site like you have right before SXSW. I like what you’ve done.

Good Topic

Thanks,
Chris