37 Essential Viral Video Tips, Posts and Sites

 

There is a lot of information and people on web talking about web video
marketing and viral video.

As you know, though, there's no easy route to web video success. But for someone who wants to learn as they go, here's a collection of links that will put you in the right direction. And, every good video needs direction.

This is not a be-all-and-end-all list. Please give me a comment about your site or post so that I can include it in the next 37 tips. 

1. YouTube Most Viewed Will anyone ever knock down Avril Lavigne?
2. Top Ten Ted Talks Each talk represents over 1 million views each. There is something about smart people telling stories that make us see the world differently.  Something to consider with all your videos.
3. Vimeo Staff Picks I consistently see high quality videos on Vimeo. Here, staff (who must watch a lot of web video) pick their faves. Best part: RSS-able.
4. Ship's Biscuit Post This post deconstructs the patterns in successful web viral campaigns. Very thorough.  Understand this and you will have the keys to the kingdom.
5. Seth Godin Squidoo page Videos that can change your organization.  A neat collection. Lots of great information on how to make your organization better. And, it shows the power of aggregated video clips all on one theme.
6. NY Times Magazine on New Media A round table discussion of new age Mad Men and how the advertising game has changed.
7. Havel at Columbia In 2006, Vaclav Havel came to Columbia University for a seven week residency. To accompany Havel’s visit, the Arts Initiative and the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL) created this online resource. It serves as a great model for a stunning combination of text, video, and user interaction.
8. Cwerty.com An interesting model of using high quality web video to teach and inspire.
9. lynda.com Another web site that uses web video to instruct. I know lots of editors who use this site to brush up their skills.
10. ScreenFlow The best screencasting software out there. Mac only.
11. Cannon Vixia HV30. Dependable HD consumer camera. Tape and Firewire. 'Nuff said.
12. Closed Captions on YouTube  A nice little video that allows you to put CC on all your Youtube vids. It's a nice option when at work to read your videos. Note how many people have seen this little helpful vid. Think of all that advertising for the maker of the video.
13. How to make and distribute web video. Matt Dickman has a helpful video series on how he makes and distributes his web videos.
14. Web Video Marketing. A handy hub for folks who want to find resources in helping get their videos seen.
15. Involver Distribute and track your web video campaign.
16. Flimp Get a second opinion from these guys when you want to track and distribute your web video campaign.
17. Michael Hoffman.  Blogger, marketer and  web video maker.
18. Thomas Baekdal Designer and technologist. Has a good eye and always finds a video or two that he finds interesting.
19. Like this one.
20. Steve Garfield. Prolific video blogger.
21. Gary Vaynerchuk Very prolific video blogger. People swear by this guy. Joe Pesci meets wine.  Not for everyone. But he's definitely built a brand.
22. Social Studies Blog. Smart PR people who work published for the Interactive, Emerging and Social Media Team at Weber Shandwick.
23. Dan Rayburn Streaming media blog deals with the business side of web video.
24. RealSeo Tips, Tricks and info for Video SEO, Online Video Marketing, Trends.
25. Google Video Blog showcasing cool video news from around the web.
26. Vlogmap a gateway to many vloggers.
27. Ticklebooth Every day they come up with a video that they've found that is worth seeing.
28. Vodpod With the vodpod firefox plug-in you can bookmark videos from any site and have them live on your vodpod page.  Essential.
29. Daisy Whitney Video blogger who covers the business of internet video.
30. My Dwindering Thoughts Judith must be on the web a lot. She finds beautiful images and a video every now and then. Always compelling.
31. Video Menu A very complete A to Z index of sites that feature good video content.
32. Nicholas Patten A well followed Twitterer. He trolls the web 24/7 (it seems) and tweets out great content.
33. Jim Long Feel what it's like to be a Washington DC camera man. Good tweets.
34. Jill Hanner. Web Video Content creator. Tweets of a fledgling NY content creator.
35. Viral Conversations A thought provoking post that asks the question, Why are good videos so challenging?
36. Skelliewag on why video is your chance to be a pioneer.
37. Thegirleffect.org A beauty of a site built around a video.

image credit: Jennifer Buehrer

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