{"id":8,"date":"2008-07-09T01:47:47","date_gmt":"2008-07-09T05:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/?p=8"},"modified":"2010-03-15T11:32:43","modified_gmt":"2010-03-15T15:32:43","slug":"is-ustreamtv-a-good-marketing-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/2008\/07\/09\/is-ustreamtv-a-good-marketing-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"Is USTREAM.TV a Good Marketing Tool?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those of you not familiar, ustreamt.tv<\/a> is a free service that allows you broadcast video and interact with an audience, all live. To get started, all you need is a webcam (or a traditional video camera attached to your computer) and a broadband Internet connection.<\/p>\n

Optionally, you can use webcam software to spice things up. For Mac users, CamTwist<\/a> is what you want. For Windows users, you’ll want WebcamMax<\/a> (note: Mac users are the clear winners in this department).<\/p>\n

And just so I’ve covered all the bases, there are additional live streaming services beyond ustream.tv. These include stickam.com<\/a>, operator11.com<\/a> and justin.tv<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the question is, are these services a good marketing tools for your business? Well, the answer depends on what you’re doing online. I know, not the direct answer you wanted, so let me explain.<\/p>\n

First, live video services are intended to be watched by a live audience. They are not meant for pre-recorded video. And that’s an important point. Actually, a critical point.<\/p>\n

Say for example, you’re giving a real estate training seminar at a hotel conference room. People are attending it in person, but you also want to provide a live feed on the Internet. You’ll only be doing this seminar one time…one day only. Broadcasting it live is good marketing use of the service.<\/p>\n

But by comparison, let’s say you offer a weekly or monthly newsletter to your audience (that you usually do by e-mail) and now you want to broadcast a live video to them instead. Not a good idea. With a format like this, your audience is already used to perusing your newsletter at their convenience. Now they have to watch it live…at a specific time…or watch the recorded version of it. Either way, they’ll be forced to watch everything, instead of just skipping to the parts they want (like in an e-mail). Forget the novelty of your live video; in short order, your audience will be asking for the original e-mail format back.<\/p>\n

Which leads to another point. People, by and large, prefer video they can watch at their convenience. That means, by and large, in most applications, that pre-recorded video rules over live video. And with pre-recorded video, you can perform EDITS to make the video very slick and professional.<\/p>\n

Yes, you can offer recordings of your original “live video” to your audience…but the difference between a recording of a “live video” and one that was pre-recorded and edited…is night and day. Very few shows on TV (expect sports) are broadcast live. Remember, there’s a reason for this.<\/p>\n

But what if you want to play around with live broadcasting nonetheless, just to see what happens?<\/p>\n

That’s fine. Just remember that you’ll want to keep your live video to just one topic (if it’s just you being a talking head). For example, if I were doing a live video on the secrets of QuickTime, that’s all I’d talk about…the secrets of QuickTime. I wouldn’t cover Flash, I wouldn’t cover Silverlight…just QuickTime and it’s secrets.<\/p>\n

Another option that works well is the “talk show format”. This is where you act as a host and interview people. You can even have a co-host or a group of co-hosts where you discuss a topic. But keep it moving and make sure there is chemistry between everyone…or at least some magnetic personalities.<\/p>\n

And other option is the “ask the expert” format. This is where, at a scheduled time each week, you host a show where people can tune in and ask you questions live. As long as you’re an expert in something (stock trading, gardening, whatever), this is a format you can easily pull off. Plus, your audience provides all the “content” for you, in the form of their questions.<\/p>\n

If you’re noticing a pattern here, you’re right…much of what I’ve mentioned has long been done on TV (and even radio). Why? Because it works. Live video on the web isn’t that different.<\/p>\n

The problem is when people treat it as a novelty. It’s not. Remember, live video is meant to be watched live…it’s meant to generate interaction, where the entire audience benefits. If your format doesn’t offer that, then it’s better to stick with pre-recorded video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For those of you not familiar, ustreamt.tv is a free service that allows you broadcast video and interact with an audience, all live. To get started, all you need is a webcam (or a traditional video camera attached to your computer) and a broadband Internet connection. Optionally, you can use webcam software to spice things […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[19],"tags":[17,16],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1114,"href":"https:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions\/1114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webvideouniversity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}