in an acceptable manner through a professional medium. This
form of media allows you to touch your clients and establish
and enhance your credibility at a very rapid pace. No one has
yet purchased real estate as a result of the videos, but the number of clients and potential clients that have called or e-mailed
in response is great.
Moreover, we can track our results through this medium.
Once we finish our “Last Ninety Days,” we post it to You Tube,
send out a link to those in our database we believe would like
to see it, and then count the number of people who view it.
Your numbers are right there on You Tube. You can count them
yourself.
Nuts and Bolts—Getting Started
You have many options for recording your own viral videos.
There is a lot of software and equipment out there to perform
this task, and not all of it is very expensive. The objective is to
know what your goal is. Are you seeking to produce television-quality videos or videos that will only be seen on the Web or
computer playback? If your goal is to produce Web-style videos, you are in luck. Many online viewers have been conditioned not to expect the best quality from viral videos. They
understand that most creators are not video experts, and they
have come to respect this form of video. This does not mean
you should not give it your all. Viewers need to be entertained
and informed.
You can begin video production with a high video resolution
camera, a USB lapel microphone, an updated laptop computer
with at least 2 GB of RAM, and a simple software package.
Most viral video is now done in HD, which calls for a camera
with video resolution of 180 X 1024. These are relatively easy
to find and can be purchased for $80-$100 online. Most cam-
eras will come with a built-in microphone, but most of these
pick up too much background noise. An omnidirectional USB
lapel microphone costing about $150 will give you crisp and
clear audio. Chances are you already have a laptop. You will
just need to be sure it is up to date and has enough power to
handle the camera. If there is too much running on a computer
with too little RAM, your video may skip or freeze. Most Web
cameras come with their own software, which offers little edit-
ing or customization. But this may be all you need to start with.
