It might also…eventually…kick a good number of teachers out of their jobs.  Howard Lindzon said it best in a recent blog post (Howard is a highly-respected investor, hedge fund manager and entrerpeneur):

Does it make any sense for 5,000 teachers around the country to teach the same college algebra or macroeconomics course every semester? Of course not. Obviously, if you could take a class from Greg Mankiw or Tyler Cowen why would you resort to taking a class from some mid-level hack (assuming prices were similar)? The only reason 5,000 teachers are regurgitating the same subject in 5,000 separate classrooms around the country is because as little as a few years ago we didn’t have the technology for thousands of students around the country to learn from the same professor.

In other words, if you had the choice between learning from someone who is the best in the world vs. someone who is just average, who would you pick?  The bigger point being that web video is rapidly giving you that choice.

You can read the full text of Howard Lindzon’s post by clicking here.

And my question for you is, what’s your opinion on web video creating a “survival of the fittest” environment for teachers?

The site is MyChinese360.com.  It’s a startup based in Austin, Texas that teaches students Mandarin Chinese.  Specifically U.S. students grades kindergarten through 12.  Why would young students in the U.S. want to learn Mandarin Chinese?  Easy.  Because China is becoming a world leader in business and students who know the culture and can speak the language will have a huge advantage once the join the business world.

What makes this site unique is that all of the teachers are literally based in Beijing, China (and certified to teach in the U.S.).  They also happen to be the best of the bunch when it comes to Chinese teachers…they are paid $18,000 a year by MyChinese360, vs. $3,000 a year, which is the average wage for a high school teacher in China.

All the teaching is done in an animated, virtual environment…where students can take virtual field trips and even create avatars of themselves.  Students, in classes of 10 to 20, meet once a week with their instructor where they are guided through interactive audio and video sessions.  Additionally, live interaction with teachers through video chat is included.

MyChinese360 was started with $500,000 in private investor money.  The courses cost $600 per semester.  It officially launched in September with 25 students.  1,000 more are scheduled to start classes in January.  They expect 3,000 students by next September…and…20,000 in the following year.

And who said you can’t profit from web video?

To learn more about MyChinese360…see exactly what they offer…and exactly how they run their web video based business, click here to visit their site.

Well, if you’re like most people, you’re not getting the results you hoped for.  You have your profile out there, you have a few friends or contacts…but not much else is happening.

Even with 110 million active Facebook users, the above scenario seems to be more of the rule, rather than the exception.

So this week I sat down and did a video interview with Shama Hyder.  Shama is a Facebook marketing expert.  And we discussed how the average person can start using Facebook as a very effective marketing tool for their business.

We covered things like how to properly setup your Facebook account (most people do it completely wrong), how to properly start growing your network of contacts (again, most people do it wrong), how to actually turn these contacts into clients…and…much more.

Now just to be clear here, Shama is not an “Internet Marketer”, as in someone who is full of hype and shallow promises.  So don’t expect anything like that in this interview.  Rather, she is a “New Media Marketer”, which is someone who doesn’t need to use hype because their knowledge and professionalism stand on their own.

Now onto the video.  To watch my video interview with Shama, just click the play button below:

If you’d like to contact Shama directly, you can reach her through her web site, which is ClickToClient.com.

About 2 years ago, Cali and her husband Neal decided to start a video podcast covering technology news.  The problem was, they had zero experience with web video and had no clue what they were doing.  But that didn’t stop them.  You see, what they did have was passion, character and resiliency (3 traits you’ll always find in successful people…across all genres).

Today, their little web show (started in their spare-time) has become a full-time job…with 300,000 people downloading their webcasts…everyday.

I spoke with Cali via a video chat about how they were able to accomplish this and she openly shared quite a few priceless tips.  I recorded our chat…and while the technical quality of the recording is far from perfect (that’s the nature of video chats these days)…like I said, the information Cali shares is golden.

No matter where you currently are with web video, there are two things I strongly urge you to do:

1. Watch my interview with Cali.  It’s only 12 minutes long…but will shift your way of thinking.

2. Visit Cali’s site, GeekBeat.TV (don’t worry, she doesn’t sell anything).  It’s one of the best examples I’ve seen of web video being executed properly…and there’s much you can learn by simply watching the shows Cali and Neal produce.

To watch my interview with Cali now, just click the play button below:

To check out Cali’s site, click here.

UPDATE: Here are links to the resources Cali mentions in the interview:

Drobo – External hard drive maker and one of Cali’s sponsors

Mevio – Where Cali recommends you upload your podcasts

Tubemogul – Video distribution service Cali recommends

Vimeo – Video sharing site…best video quality

Wizzard Player – Flash video player Cali now uses (uses RSS feeds)

Adobe After Effects – What Cali recommend for professional video graphics

Today I’m going to share with you one of these effects. It’s an effect that’s used quite often in image editing software like Photoshop. But we’re going to do it with video.

And what we’re going to do, is cut out a specific portion of a video clip…and replace it with another clip that looks better. Specifically in this tutorial, we’re going to remove a dull, lifeless, washed-out sky from a clip…and replace it with a vibrant sky that has moving clouds.

How do we do this? It’s all in the video tutorial below. Just click on the image to watch it now (if you’re a Firefox user, you’ll need to be using Firefox 3.0 or above to watch this video):