Disclaimer: I did not come up with the term “Webelebrity.” It was spoken to me quite seriously at the Podcast & New Media Expo in the sentence, “I’m a webelebrity.” For the uninitiated, a “webelebrity” is a web celebrity.
Some of the points Lee Gomes makes are obvious (“Tenacity and self-confidence also should be in your arsenal”), and some wonderful insights might have been added by citing TubeMogul’s Web Video Marketing Best-Practices - but the examples used by Gomes in the article really give you something to ponder.
Tay Zonday notes that his “Chocolate Rain” song really took off because the his looks and deep voice are “unconventional” and “even a little freakish.” Matt Harding of “Where the Hell is Matt?” shares the secret of not “closing the loop” and “leaving something for people to figure out.” Wise words, and if you check out his website, you can see from his “Frequently Asked Questions” that he leaves plenty for people to ponder.
These examples both get back to Seth Godin’s message on virality which we harp on again and again – make it remarkable. The things that seem a little off or leave you asking questions also typically lead you to comment to others. Spreading the word is the key - these tips on gaining Webelebrity status are also tips on how to make your web videos viral!
Why not have another look at Mr. Zonday. You know you want to.
We’ve learned a great deal listening to our users, so we recently took a poll to hear in your words what differentiates the video sharing sites we serve. We compiled your comments in a “Zagat’s” like format and added what you told us about different monetization opportunities.
We hope this table paints a picture of the video sites as they are today. Since this is based on your feedback, this is a living document that we will update based on your comments (see Table Updates to Video Sharing Site Characteristics). Please share your thoughts, bookmark the page and check back for updates!
As any investor should be, Howard is bullish on web video distribution and analytics and has been “waxing enthusiastically” about his investment in us. Well Howard, we’re as proud of having you back TubeMogul as you are for finding us. After all, Howard is both a professional investor and the creator of Wallstrip, the online video show on picking stocks that was acquired by CBS after only 8 months and 80 something episodes of programming. He’s both revered and hated for this accomplishment, particularly by those that have been creating good content for several years. What does the Wallstrip viewership look like today? Did the charts help in the negotiations with CBS, Howard?
With the writer’s strike more than a day in the making, we at TubeMogul are very interested in seeing whether there will be an impact on web video viewing. The 1988 strike lasted nearly six months and cost the industry nearly $500M, according to most reports. The WGA still feels scarred from the last contract, and isn’t likely to back down on its demand for revenue sharing from whichever sources become available. In the last agreement, VHS and DVD sales were the new medium, and media companies gave very little to writers for these sales because it was unknown whether much revenue would be driven from these sources. The writers got burned.
We’re facing a new medium with the internet. But as Scott Collins of the LA Times notes, the web “is the one obvious difference between now and ’88.” The web isn’t just a new medium; now the medium changes the control over what content is available and how it’s distributed - it’s not controlled solely by the media companies. In addition, a great deal of video content is already available through this channel. Could this spur more writers to creating content for the web? Collins and others state that the WGA’s position on such work is “murky.” It will be interesting to see whether writers will focus their creative talents in this direction.
Also, this event could be a catalyst to move even more video viewers over to the internet for their fix of episodic entertainment. We know the train has left the station… will this event accelerate audience behavior even faster??
- but the examples used by Gomes in the article really give you something to ponder.