The Scariest Sites Online

By Carl Weiss

Want to see something really scary? Well you don't have to prowl the streets on Halloween in order to see the kind of things that give you goose bumps.  All you have to do is trawl the Internet's backchannels for an hour.  Once there you will discover creepy crawlies galore, including a search engine designed for and by hackers, a black hat (not cat) convention in Las Vegas and ghost sites that will creep you out. Below is our list of the top 10 scariest sites on line.

10.  What Happens in Vegas

Around since 1997, the Black Hat Convention held yearly at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas is the place where hackers hang their hat.  Interested in learning how to carry out cyber-spying on cellphones?  No problem.  Want to know what it takes to bypass traditional malware detection measures.  Piece of cake.  This convention is a veritable candy store where everyone from security experts to nerds looking to take down a small government come to hone their skills.  After the now defunct Silk Road website the black hat convention is one of the scariest in-your-face threats to cyber security that is not only officially sanctioned but wildly popular.  To quote the BlackHat.com site,

“Black Hat USA is the show that sets the benchmark for all other security conferences. As Black Hat returns for its 16th year to Las Vegas, we bring together the brightest in the world for six days of learning, networking, and skill building. Join us for four intense days of Training and two jam-packed filled days of Briefings.”

9. Don’t Want to Wait for the Movie?

Then read the book, Hacking for Dummies, now in its 4^th edition.  Why travel to Vegas when everything you need to start hacking can be found online?  This book is designed to show you the ins and outs of what it takes to get started as a hacker. 

As an information security professional, your toolkit is the most critical item you can possess — other than hands-on experience and common sense. Your hacking tools should consist of the following (and make sure you're never on the job without them):

·         Password cracking software, such as ophcrack and Proactive Password Auditor

·         Network scanning software, such as Nmap and NetScanTools Pro

·         Network vulnerability scanning software, such as GFI LanGuard and QualysGuard

·         Network analyzer software, such as Cain & Abel and OmniPeek

·         Wireless network analyzer and software, such as Aircrack-ng and CommView for WiFi

·         File search software, such as FileLocator Pro and Identity Finder

·         Web application vulnerability scanning software, such as Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner and WebInspect

·         Database security scanning software, such as SQLPing3 and AppDetectivePro

·         Exploit software, such as Metasploit

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/hacking-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

8. Want to Know How the World Will End?

Just in case the specter of cyberterrorism doesn’t put the fear of God into you there’s a website called Exit Mundi, that catalogs dozens of ways in which the world as we know it could meet its end.  Everything from asteroid strikes to gamma ray bursts, to nuclear terrorism, to a drug that would render the human population certifiably insane (too late) is described in detail on this site.  So if there isn’t enough stress in your daily grind, here’s the place to help you ring the bell the next time you get your blood pressure tested.

http://www.exitmundi.nl/exitmundi.htm

7. Alien Abduction Sites

UFOs: Seeing Is Believing (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As if we don’t have enough problems on Earth, there are sites that show you how to deal with threats from
 beyond the solar system.  We’re talking alien abduction here and there are a number of websites devoted to this phenomenon.  Googling “Alien Abduction Sites,” returned 7,580,000 results.  So despite government denials, this is a hot topic.  Scanning the first few pages of the results I noted everything from a wiki where you could share your abduction recollections(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_abduction) to the International Center for Abduction Research, http://www.ufoabduction.com/ which offers information that offers "Straight Talk About UFO Abductions" 

If the threat of being abducted by aliens causes you to lose sleep at night, fear not, because there is a website called http://www.stopabductions.com/ that shows you how to make a “Thought Screen Helmet,” designed to foil those insidious intergalactic interlopers.

6. Ghost Sites

Wikipedia defines a ghost site as “A Web site that remains live but is no longer updated or maintained or only done so very infrequently.”  However, if you Google the term you will find tons of sites more inclined to Ghost Busters than webmasters.  Included is everything from http://topparanormalsites.com/ that lists everything from ghost hunter sites to occult and paranormal investigation sites.  There was also listed on the first page of the search a spooky website that hit close to home, literally.  JAXHistory.com listed a number of spooky things such as UFOs over Jacksonville to something called the Florida Skunk Ape, which is purportedly “The Southernmost Bigfoot in the USA.”

http://www.jaxhistory.com/Jacksonville%20Story/Ghosts,%20Monsters,%20and%20UFOs.htm

5. The 20 Scariest Street View Sightings

Mashable collected the 20 scariest sightings posted on Google’s Street View that includes everything from what looks to be the climactic scene from the Alfred Hitchcock blockbuster “The Birds,” to a bizarre group of Japanese citizens who were spotted as they walked down the street sporting pigeon heads. (Don’t ask.) https://www.google.com/#q=scary+sites+on+google+maps

4. Seeing is Believing

If you think that Google Street View has cornered the market on weird things that happen every day you’re wrong.  There are literally millions of websites and videos that show everyone just how weird the world really is.  One site called http://www.abovetopsecret.com is a collection point for bizarre-but-true stories that get little attention from the media.  A recent headline includes, “Melting Starfish and Odd Orca Behavior in the Pacific Ocean,” that quotes a Seattle biologist that describes some of the bizarre changes in the sea life in the area that alludes to the fact that since the Fukushima Reactor meltdown in 2012 that the environmental impact to the Pacific Ocean has been nothing short of catastrophic.  The blog also states that, “There are other reports of seals with what appears to be radiation burns on their skin and Polar Bears showing signs of large hair loss.”

3. Conspiracy Theory Sites

Of course, conspiracy theory sites thrive online.  This can make it tough to weed out the chaff from the wheat.  For every site that purportedly sheds light on some facet of society that could turn around and bite us, such as the recent revelation that the NSA has been spying on the phone calls, internet searches and financial transactions of millions of American citizens, there are also sites that purport that the top 3 conspiracy websites crashed at the same time that the government shutdown took place, thus proving that they are owned and operated by either the CIA or the NSA.  Love them or laugh at them, there are conspiracy theory sites that claim to prove or disprove everything from government mind control to the New World Order.  So if you want to go there, here are a few hot tips.  But I’ll deny I sent you there if questioned by the authorities.

16 Conspiracy Theories That Turned out to be True http://www.trueactivist.com/16-conspiracy-theories-that-turned-out-to-be-true/

I Want to Know http://www.wanttoknow.info/conspiracytheories

Disclose TV’s Camp FEMA American Lockdown which details the recent legislation that attempts to legitimize the use of internment camps to detain citizens in the event of an uprising or civil unrest.

http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/155614/Camp_FEMA_American_Lockdown__FULL_MOVIE__86_min/#ixzz2j80svCye

2.  Cooking Show Gone Bad

The Halloween episode of Man Cave Munchies purports to show viewers how to prepare “a dish that’s so easy it’s scary.”  However the intro to the show depicts the host as a meat cleaver wielding ghoul that could put you right off your diet. Check it out if you dare. http://youtu.be/n1bLP1VffBM

1.      The Scariest Site of Them All - https://www.healthcare.gov/
You think that a meat cleaver wielding zombie chef is scary?  This is nothing when compared to a site that has put the fear of God into hundreds of millions of citizens of the USA.  This government owned and operated site starts off with the innocuous motto, “Find Health Care Coverage that Works for You.”  Then it stubbornly refuses to let the majority of people sign up, much less find coverage of any kind.  Worse yet, for those who either refuse to sign up or just plain can’t sing up, there is the threat of a stiff monetary penalty.  While the press refers to this system as Obamacare, I think a more appropriate term would be ObamaScare.

When he isn't scaring people, Carl Weiss is the president of W Squared Media Group, a digital marketing agency based in Jacksonville, Florida.  He is also co-host of Working the Web to Win, an online radio show that airs every Tuesday at 4 pm Eastern.

Put a Little Pep In Your Online Step

Baby, it's cold outside...unless like me you live in Florida.  Alright, so it's a brisk 73 outside.  Brr.  The point I'm trying to make is that during the holiday season there's a chill in the air that puts a rosy glow on your cheeks and a little extra pep in your step.  So why not use the reason for the season to step your blogs, vlogs and social networks up a notch or two.  Why let the big boys have all the fun.

Spread a little Holiday Cheer

As you know, nothing online has a higher probability of going viral than humor.  I mean, 10,500,000 funny cat videos can't be all wrong.  So why not use the touchstones of the holiday season to spice up your web presence.  Madison Avenue and Hollywood have been featuring Santa, elves, and/or a snowman or two in their advertisements and motion pictures for years.  You don't have to be David Ogilvy or Stephen Spielberg to get in on a good marketing schtick when you see one.  Just roll up your sleeves and join in the fun.

Lights, Camera, Sleigh Bells

For instance, last year we shot a humorous video featuring Santa Clause asking a 12 month old toddler what she wanted for Christmas.  (See the video below)  While the video didn't exactly glean thousands of views, it did generate a lot of  good-natured responses from those who viewed the video, which was broadcast on our social networks and newsletter.  It was also clearly passed along to friends and family of many viewers.  We also tagged the videos on Twitter with #santababy which helps to promote it beyond the local neighborhood.  We also rebroadcast the video this year.

Santa Baby Part 2

So this year, we thought we'd try the Santa Clause theme once again.  So we rented a Santa suit and hired an actor to play Santa.  Only instead of using an infant, we decided to opt for a little eye candy, in the form of a vivacious 25-year old blonde actress.  Once again aiming for a tongue in cheek approach, we asked  Santa Baby the same question as we had the little girl from the first feature.  Her answer, along with Santa's surprising response, is sure to make this video an even bigger draw than the one previous. (See below)

You Can't Get Enough of that Jolly Old Elf

While we had the suit, we also decided to shoot a third video, this one showing how the Internet has clearly effected Santa's business in 2011.  We will drip this video (below) and the one above out over the course of the Christmas season.  All told, the entire project set us back less than $200.  Ho ho holy mackerel, what a jolly good deal.

The bottom line is that if you get into the spirit of the season and employ a little creativity, there is no telling what you can come up with to entertain both prospects and customers while simultaneously promoting your business.

I think next year we'll give the Grinch a shot.

Have a happy holiday from all the elves at Access-JAX.com.

When Carl Weiss isn't directing jolly St. Nick, he helps clients maximize their results online.  If you want to find out how you stack up online, go to either of Carl's sites at http://access-jax.com or http://jacksonville-video-production.com and sign up for a FREE Web Presence Analysis today.  

The 64 Billion Dollar Question

Where is advertising heading in the twenty-first century?  That’s the one question that every business owner needs to ask themself.  Why?  Because if you don’t know the answer to this question, then you can’t devise an effective long term marketing plan.

Back in 2009 $155 Billion was spent on local advertising in the US. Yet only 7% of that figure was spent online. Why so small a percentage do you think?  Was it due to the fact that online advertising was priced out of the reach of most small businesses?  Hardly.  A month’s worth of online advertising on Google can cost less than a couple days of display ads in a major metropolitan newspaper. Was it because online ads are only good if you are looking to promote your products on a global basis?  That may have been the case back in 1995, but the birth of Geo targeting has provided the solution to that conundrum.

So what’s the real reason why so many businesses seem to be reluctant to embrace online marketing?  Especially when it is predicted that 50 percent of local advertising will shift to electronic media in the next 5 years?

Personally, I believe that inertia is the real culprit.  It seems to me that all too many businesses have been clinging desperately to old style print and broadcast advertising simply because that’s the way they have always done business in the past. 

Are you using yesterday’s technology to promote your business today?

Well let’s take a look at print advertising, shall we?  Face it, this medium has been around for a long, long time.  Up to the end of the twentieth century, it was one of the dominant forms of advertising.  But it’s starting to show its age.

Sorry to say it, but most traditional forms of print advertising have been in decline for years.  In 2009 alone, industry analysts reported that newspaper readership across the US dropped 28 percent.  That’s huge!  Nearly the same holds true for Yellow Page advertising. Last year U.S. yellow pages revenue declined 11.8%. A recent quote from Simba Information predicts that the industry’s revenue slide is expected to continue in 2011 as the transition from print to digital products continues.” 

Let me ask you, is anyone out there still using the Yellow Pages?  What do most people use instead? Google.  If you have been paying attention to the news you will remember hearing about Google and Facebook duking it out for number 1 visited site on the Internet, right?  But what you probably didn’t catch was the fact that Google all by itself currently accounts for nearly 6 and a half percent of all Internet traffic. 

Getting back to traditional broadcast venues, just like print advertising, TV and radio have been feeling the pinch.  You have to feel for the poor tv networks. In 2010, they took a 12% hit in advertising revenue compared to 2009.  Yet during that same year the Yankee Group reported that although TV advertising as a whole dropped, internet advertising actually increased – in part due to the popularity of, get this, “online tv”.  Since the advent of Tivo, many viewers simply switch TV ads off.  Even if they don’t, nearly everyone on the planet has the ability to mute TV ads.

Of course, there’s always radio.  In 2010, while radio ads were experiencing a double digit dip in listenership, online radio revenues actually rose more than 500%.  So what does that tell you?

It seems obvious, that as Americans continue to become ever more connected, their reading, watching and buying habits are following suit. Conversely, more traditional advertising media, such as newspapers, direct mail and TV commercials, continue to decline in both popularity and profitability. 

Now let’s take a look at electronic media.  In 2010 Google took in more than $26 billion in revenue.  And that trend is not expected to end any time soon.  In fact, Google reported revenues of $8.44 billion for the quarter that ended December 31, 2010, an increase of 26% compared to the fourth quarter of 2009.

Online Ads Break Out of the Box

Why the sudden groundswell in online marketing?  It seems that technology is one driver. With the advent of such things as the i-Phone, i-Tunes, Netflix and Kindle, American consumers are shifting more and more of their viewing, reading and buying habits to online media.  And I’m not just talking about their laptops.

How many of you have a smart phone?  Well guess what, so do many of your customers.

With 72% of all mobile users in the US using text messaging, mobile marketing is in overdrive.   eMarketer predicts that spending on text message marketing, mobile banners, video and other mobile based media to crack the one billion dollar mark in 2011. Growth from 2009 to 2010 almost doubled at 79% with next year predicting another increase of 48%.

Let's face it, online marketing is here to stay; And with good reason.  As you have seen, most traditional forms of advertising are in decline.  What you may not be aware of is the underlying cause.  You see, print or broadcast ads are based on what is known as “The Shotgun Approach,” which predicates that if you send enough shot into the air, sooner or later you will bring down a bird.  Face it, even at its best, this is not a very efficient form of marketing. 

Fortunately, online marketing doesn’t use this principal.  People go online and key in their area of interest.  They are then presented with a list of vendors who can satisfy this desire.  This makes online advertising more like a smart bomb than a shotgun.

Then all you as a business owner has to do is intersect with this traffic and give that person a reason and means of doing business with you, right? Well, almost right.  As you will see in upcoming blogs, the devil to creating, tweaking and managing a successful online advertising campaign is in the details. 

Carl Weiss is president of Access-JAX, which specializes in online lead and sales generation.  Call him at 904-234-6007 for a FREE Web Presence Analysis that will show you how your company stacks up online. http://access-jax.com http://jacksonville-video-production.com

Must-See Online TV

All of us have seen HGTV and the Food Network, where chefs and contractors are turned into celebrities overnight.  Getting the call from Hollywood not only translates into popularity for these newly minted stars.  It also means added profitability for their businesses as well. While that’s all well and good for those lucky enough to be approached to host a cable show, what are the chances that you are going to get star treatment.  Probably not very likely.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that you don’t have to wait for Hollywood to beat a path to your door.  

YouTube to the Rescue

With the advent of YouTube, you can easily create and distribute programs of your own.  Best of all, they don’t have to be the standard 22 minute length required for a half hour cable show. (The other 8 minutes are reserved for commercials.)  On YouTube less is more.  That means that you can create microcasts of 2-4 minutes in length.  This will give you the chance to dazzle the audience without having to break the bank.

Now for the big question: How do you shape your telecasts?  For starters, there are three gotta-haves for must-see-online-tv.  

1. Funny – Never underestimate the value of humor to make your point and generate an audience.  While I am not suggesting that you add a stupid pet trick to your lineup, unless your business revolves around pets, what you need to do is look for the lighter side of life.  For example, check out my video: The Care and Feeding of the 800lb Gorilla.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZhLs-g1qjY
2. Solves a Problem – The reason that how-to shows are so popular is that they help people solve a problem.  I have a pet theory about the fact that most of the people who watch all those cooking shows can’t do toast.  So it is the allure and not necessarily the delivery of a tangible solution that can help you get viewers to tune in. Take a look at my video: How to Get your Video on Google Page 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwmC0V2QeZE
3. Eye Candy – No, I’m not necessarily talking about a buxom blonde, although that never hurts.  What I am referring to are elements in your videos that offer something in the line of visual appeal.  Watch me bring the house down in my promo for Access-JAX.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfNilfGHjxY

Putting on the Producer’s Hat

Now for the hard part…i.e. using these three guidelines to come up with programming.  When I take on a new client, the first thing I do is explain to them that if they want to produce a series of broadcasts as opposed to the standard one or two videos that most website owners post on their sites (if that), then they need to put on their Associate Producer’s hat.  What I tell them is that they need to start thinking like a TV producer, which means being cognizant of the things that occur in their businesses everyday that would make for riveting programming.  

In order to facilitate this, I tell them to bring a digital still camera and a small notepad on the job with them.  Whenever they start a job, they need to shoot a series of before photographs.  Then during the job, they should take notes, as well as shooting a few pics while the job is underway.  Last but not least, they need to take the after photos.  Between the photos and the notes, they should be able to gather enough material to rough out an episode.  (I remind them that it is benefits that sell prospects and not features. The reason that someone buys a drill is not for it's power or torque, but to make holes.  In other words, don't talk tech to your audience.  Act as though you were trying to explain the process to a twelve year old.)

Once they have a couple of episodes in hand, they come to me to shoot the intro and closing shots on our green screen.  This provides the look and feel of an HGTV show.  It is at that point where they give us their photos and notes from which we produce the polished episodes before loading them onto their YouTube channel.

I also tell clients to always be on the lookout for visually appealing and/or funny scenarios that occur during the course of business as usual.  You would be surprised at how many times clients tell me about oddball moments on the job.  If they weren’t able to capture them on camera, many times we can do a reenactment.  The most vital ingredient is to train yourself to make notes of these moments in order to turn them into killer episodes.

Life is the Ultimate Reality TV Show

 The thing is to avoid is making the performance of these duties a chore.  Have fun.  It should take no more than an hour or so a week to actually capture the elements needed to continue producing your series.  As you gain more experience your production values and your audience will continue to grow.  Eventually producing your own online series will become as natural as pulling on your shoes in the morning.  As a bonus, you will be able to rerun these videos on your website, your blog, your social networks and even in your printed literature by using a QR code.  As your YouTube channel gets more programs, both Google and your audience will take note.  Suddenly your videos will start popping up on Google page 1and your viewers will start passing your videos along to friends and family.  Who knows, if your series becomes popular enough, maybe you will hear a knock on the door one day from your friendly cable producer.

Carl Weiss’ video production company, http://jacksonville-video-production.com specializes in viral video marketing.  If you are looking to shoot a video for promotional purposes, check out Carl’s blog at http://jacksonvillevideo.blogspot.com/ or follow him on Facebook 

Get Your Best Customers to Toot Your Horn

If you need yet another reason to join in the online video frenzy, allow me to say two words: Video Testimonials.  Now I know what you're thinking, "I already have testimonials on my website.  Why do I need to videotape them."

If you want the short answer to the question, pick up the phone and call a friend and ask him or her when they look at a printed testimonials, who do they assume wrote them.  Nine times out of ten the answer you will receive will be, "The website owner."

That's the problem with printed testimonials. They lack credibility.  Just like backlinks, it is all too easy to rig the game by planting bogus testimonials on a website. Video virtually eliminates the possibility of chicanery.  Since seeing is believing, by taking the time to shoot a 60-second testimonial, you automatically gain points on the old credibility meter.

However, that's not the main reason that I encourage all our clients to videotape their testimonials.  There's a better reason.  You see, when it comes to video, your clients are able to toot your horn the loudest.  Where you would draw incredulous stares by brazenly stating what a wonderful job you do, or how much your services help the public, a client can tell your audience exactly how they feel about your business.  They are not hemmed in by the constraints of humility in the same way that a business owner would be.  They can call it as they see it.

For a sample of a video testimonial, click on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la983Nbwmek

Te best part is that it's not all that difficult to get a customer or two to agree to tell their story via video.  In fact, it's been my experience that most customers are thrilled to be invited to a taping.  Some of them are real hams.  The important thing is to tell them that they don't have to rehearse what they are going to say.  All they have to do is answer a few simple questions in front of the camera.  That's all there is to it.  Then you or your videographer can cut and paste the best sound bites together and leave the rest on the cutting room floor.

Video testimonials do not have to be long or involved to create real impact.   You would be surprised how much a happy customer can tell an audience in 60-90 seconds.  The objective is not to program a TV show, but to give prospects a few choice bits of information about your business in order to goose them into taking action.


Employed properly, a couple of carefully crafted video testimonials can be some of the best sales tools you will ever have.  So let your best customers toot your horn for you.  You'll be glad you did.



Access-JAX.com specializes in viral video promotion.  To see samples of their work go to:
http://jacksonvilld-video-production.com

What is Your HGTV Moment?

Anyone out there who watches HGTV is familiar with the fact that it is storytelling that is crucial to making someone want to watch paint dry, or tile get laid.  Not to mention the fact that having your face on TV can do wonders for promoting your business. 

Well what if I told you that you could have both of the benefits above without having to beg a cable affiliate to make you their next celebrity contractor.  What I’m talking about is the phenomenon of Microcasting, which could be coming to a PC near you.

Unlike cable TV, where a 30-minute program is equated with 22 minutes of video, online TV shows need to only be two to three minutes in length.  Also unlike broadcast TV, online you don’t need to pay for a timeslot to broadcast your show.  All you need to do is create a channel on YouTube for free.

Of course, if you want to build an audience, you will need to take a lesson or two from all those “Fix This House” shows.  What this boils down to is coming up with programming that people will want to watch.  More importantly, you want to produce shows that people will want to pass along to their friends and in so doing help you build audience share.  Accomplishing this does not require you to pay for studio time or invest in CGI special effects.  All it takes is a little imagination. 

As a rule, there are three maxims for reality TV:

1. Humor
2. Solve a Problem
3. Eye Candy

Take for instance one of my clients, Bill Aldridge at Aldridge and Sons Plumbing.  After extolling the virtues of microcasting to him, he was interested but skeptical. 

“I hear what your saying,” he told me.  “But how do you make plumbing funny?”

So I told him to think back to all the times he managed to narrowly avoid disaster (think flood), or anything that surprised him (like the time a cat got stuck inside the wall the one time I tried to fix a leaky pipe in the bathroom), or in short anything that would have visual appeal.  So after kicking a few ideas around, we both decided to put our heads back together the following day.

Fortunately for me, it didn’t even take 24 hours to come up with an Eye Candy idea for Bill.  After talking to one of my business associates, Andy Stansfield, about my interview with the plumber, he told me, “Let me pitch you a show.”  It turns out that a couple of months back, Andy had called Bill for help fixing a clogged drain.  Bill dispatched his son Billy to do the task.  While he was there working on the drain, Andy told him that lately some rather rank odors had been wafting up from the kitchen sink.  Billy looked at him and said, “It’s probably your dishwasher.  What say we clean it out.”

Andy agreed and Billy proceeded to open the freezer and take out the storage compartment from the icemaker.  Walking casually over to the disposal, he filled the contraption up to the top with ice.  Then he drizzled a few drops of liquid dish detergent on top of the ice.  Then he turned the disposal on.

“The disposal started churning with a noise like a sno-cone machine gone wild,” Andy told me.  “A few seconds later up out of the drain came this column of foam.  It practically filled up the sink.  It was the craziest thing I ever saw.  All I kept thinking was, ‘I should take out my I-Phone and videotape this for YouTube.’

Needless to say, not only did Andy get a sparkling clean garbage disposal out of the incident, but I also got my inspiration for Bill’s HGTV moment, which we are going to shoot as a reenactment later this week.

While this kind of programming is just the ticket for hooking viewers, you can’t rest on your laurels.  Not if you expect to build an audience. To do that you need to feed the monkey.  By that, I mean that you need to produce a series of microcasts. 

For Bill Aldridge, what I suggested was that his son buy a low cost video camera and an inexpensive external hard drive (nothing eats space faster than video).  His assignment is to follow his techs from time to time and shoot enough how-to footage to enable us to put together four episodes at a time.  Since we are going to feed his audience a blog a week and a video every two weeks, this will mean that we can put together enough material for two months of broadcasting with one post-production session.  Once he has the material, we can shoot the intros on our green screen and then produce four shows every other month.  This way Billy won’t have to quit his day job and Bill Sr won’t have to break the bank to pay for post production.

Mind you, we aren’t looking to teach the audience how to do Bill’s job.  What we are looking to do is show them some helpful hints and colorful stories, as well as cue the audience as to when it’s time to call in a professional before the task gets way out of hand.  (Like my attempt at fixing the leaky bathroom pipe.)  I also told both Bills to keep a weather eye out for any amusing anecdotes that either they or their technicians pass along as this is grist for creating enertaining reenactments, such as the disposal incident. 

No matter what your business, by putting on your television producer’s cap and having a preproduction meeting with you staff, you too can create must-see-online-tv.  It beats waiting for Hollywood to come knocking at your door.

Carl Weiss has been producing online and cable programming, corporate and how-to videos for more than 6 years.  For samples of his videos, check out his Jacksonville Video Production website today.  If you want to see some humorous programs, click on the "Commercials" tab.

How Video helped a Start-Up Land Shelf Space at Wal-Mart

I guess everybody here is waiting for me to write an article about the public launch of Google Plus.  Well, I’m going to hold off on that for another week. Instead I want to tell you about an article I read on Monday on the Wall Street Journal online, titled “How a Start-Up Landed Shelf Space at Wal-Mart.” 

The piece profiled an entrepreneur who spent $40,000 to develop the Orabrush, not a better toothbrush mind you, but rather a brush that you use on your tongue.  To make a long story short, they offered this device to a number of big box retailers.  You want to guess how many sales they racked up?  That’s right a big fat goose egg. 

Now desperate to try anything that could possibly leverage a sale or two before the company went belly up, the patent holder approached a marketing professor at Brigham Young U, who was so impressed with the product that he promptly passed the project along to an undergrad student.  This student volunteered to create a 2-minute YouTube video for the company for $500.  After spending forty grand, the guy behind the Orabrush figured, “What do I have to lose.”

So I guess you’re wondering how effective a two minute video about a tongue brush could possibly be?  Today the company’s YouTube channel, called Cure Bad Breath, has racked up nearly forty million views, making it the third most popular after Apple Computer and Old Spice. 

Not only did the company get that coveted shelf space at Wal-Mart, but before the big box could sign them on the dotted line, Orabrush had sold in excess of one million units online.

So if that’s what a little online video can do for the inventor of the tongue brush, just think of what it can do for a business like yours.

If you want to read the article in its entirety, click on the link .

Carl Weiss specializes in viral video marketing and video SEO.  To view his video knowledge base, go to Access-JAX and Jacksonville Video Production

.