This video is about as amateur as can be.
I’m wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and sitting on my couch. I don’t know what I’m supposed to use for the brightness, contrast, gamma, hue, saturation, or sharpness. I shot it in one take on my laptop’s built-in webcam, while I was in a hurry to go spend some time outside. The sound skips in a few places, and to top it all off, the audio becomes desynchronized from the video halfway through. I truly hope this stands the test of time as the worst video I ever did.
And yet, it’s probably still better than any video you’ve done. 
Because while anyone could create a better video if they tried, only a small percentage of all bloggers have ever recorded a single video.
There are many reasons why most bloggers haven’t taken the plunge into video yet. Not having a webcam is a pretty good reason, and I only did this video because my new laptop happened to come with one. Not wanting to face the camera is another good reason. Not wanting to take the time is another. Not wanting to use a less accessible medium is another.
But is not being good at video a good reason?
In my first video post, Scott Sweeney at Review Chicago noted that video bloggers are generally far less polished than professional broadcasters:
“Although some people pull it off, the majority of those who do video updates and posts just come off sounding unprepared or boring. Broadcasters and TV personalities go to school and learn how to come off with ease on camera, just as writers learn to deliver the written word with some flair.”
I certainly agree that on-camera professionals have developed a level of skill far beyond most video bloggers. But fortunately, I don’t think video bloggers are in competition with them.
Think about your favorite bloggers, and see how many of them are professional writers. Probably not many. (And if they are, their blog is likely to be specifically about writing.)
People don’t go to ProBlogger to read Dickens. These people are beginner and intermediate level bloggers, looking for practical and understandable information about how to make money blogging. That’s what Darren Rowse needs to deliver.
If he started sounding like something you had to read in 12th grade English class, he’d alienate his audience. They’d think “This guy is talking way over my head. I’m just looking for some good information, but I can barely understand him. Do I need to write like this to be a blogger? Maybe this isn’t for me.”
Most bloggers don’t need to be professional writers, because that’s not what most people are looking for online. For much more on this, read Skellie’s post Why Great Writing Doesn’t Matter Online and the very important follow-up, On Writing and You.
Likewise, a video blogger doesn’t need to be great at video if that isn’t what their audience wants. Nobody is ever going to struggle with deciding whether to watch Tom Brokaw or a video blogger, because these people are serving completely different purposes. Yes, Brokaw is good at what he does, but the video blogger can be good at different things.
You don’t read bloggers because you think they’re better writers than Ernest Hemingway, and you won’t watch them because you think they’re better on camera than Katie Couric. You’ll have other reasons.
Scott goes on to say:
“But, with all mediums, I think it will start to step up in quality. Instead of using a built in webcam, maybe add some production value. Solid editing, maybe even a nice DV camera for these kinds of posts.
Webcam video posts, while some are good, remind me of a low-fi Blogspot blog, where if people can add some production value to them, they will be like having your own domain/wordpress blog.”
Yes, bloggers should create quality videos when possible. Even if greatness isn’t required, there’s no reason you can’t aim a little higher than you have to. This is particularly important for blogs based entirely on video.
For me, I’ve only done two videos so far. I don’t know what my plans for video are, so for now I’m not inclined to get a better camera, learn how to edit videos, set up a production studio, take acting classes, get a teleprompter, etc. (Still, I’d like to figure out why the sound skips on my videos. Any ideas? I’m using the webcam on a Toshiba Satellite L355D.)
There was a time when Blogspot blogs were ahead of the curve, and we’re at that point now with amateur video. Just having video at all makes you stand out. But while the bar is pretty low, you can expect it to be raised over time.
“This is truly amazing, a portable television studio. No wonder your president has to be an actor, he’s gotta look good on television.”
- Doc Brown in Back to the Future, after learning in 1955 that actor Ronald Reagan would become president in the 1980s, ostensibly because of the invention of the camcorder
I think we can all agree that video is the next blogging frontier. Like you pointed out in YOUR video, there’s no better time to start than now when we’re not yet flooded with vlog posts.
I think it’s going to be a few more years until being vlogger will really pay off, but becoming established now is absolutely crucial. The biggest mistake I see new vloggers make is to try and script their videos to come across more professional. Like you said, the advantage the vlogger has is their humanness. Lose that and you just become another talking head.
BTW, after watching the video in which I think you did well to be yourself, I already feel more connected to you as a reader. I know this may sound corny, but it’s just an observation. I look forward to seeing more video in the future. I think a nice mix of video and content can make for a great blogging experience. Eric
Eric Hamm´s last blog post..The Simple Guide To Single-Tasking Success
You’ve inspired me to do more vlogs. To truly take advantage of the medium.
Though… those were my plans anyways, but you’ve brought it up a few notches.
Me and my brother did one video together, and we used some basic editing to make it shine. I think it’s relevant to this post, so I’m going to drop a link.
I hope this video gives some inspiration to those contemplating doing a video blog.
http://punintended.com/blog/our-identities-finally-revealed/
I enjoyed the video reminder by Bamboo Forest. I watched it when it was first published. It was hilarious!!
Not being good at video is a good reason but there are ways to sidestep appearing in front of the camera with disheveled hair and in PJs and all. Oh yes…I look like that most of the time while at home!
Evelyn Lim´s last blog post..Making Sense Of Life Events
Excellent rebuttal post! I do have some issues with a few of your statements though.
First off, you are always in competition with every medium. That is just the nature of media in general. You stated that video bloggers are not in competition with broadcasters. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Every television show is online. Every news broadcast is online. You are streaming from the same 420 by 350 pixel window as everyone else. Your video blog sits on the same server as a Katie Couric interview. She is your competition. I am your competition. Jack Bauer is your competition. The sooner you realize the playing field, the more likely you are to succeed. If you are okay with a mediocre video, then you should be prepared to be okay with mediocre results from that video.
I played in a rock band for 10 years. We toured, was played on radio, all that good stuff. If we tried to sell a CD at a show, we were competing with every other artist for that kids entertainment dollar. We were going head to head against Pearl Jam, Fall Out Boy, Tupac, Frank Sinatra, the latest Grand Theft Auto game, a sporting event. All genres, all styles of music, all types of entertainment, all fighting for the same dollar. The only recourse you have as an entertainer is to be good at what you do. Sure, you need a quality song. (just like you need quality content for a blog or video blog to be successful) But after the song is there, next comes hard work, professional studio time, and putting out an image of professionalism that puts you above the class and makes your music stand out. If I spent 300 dollars at Guitar Center, purchased Protools and a cheap microphone, you aren’t going to be able to produce something that makes it on the radio. There is a reason that the ‘big’ musicians have the best guitars, amps, soundboards, speakers, and a talented team of people to make them sounds as good as they do. I feel that goes for all forms of media. Maybe Bruce Springsteen could record ‘Nebraska’ on a 4 track in his kitchen, but 99.999 percent of artists could not have made that record. I think the same goes for video blogger. Sure, maybe 1 in a 100 would naturally be good at it, but for the rest, it is just painful for me, and I am sure many other people, to watch.
I am not suggesting someone go out and take acting lessons, learn how to edit, and purchase 20 grand of equipment. But if videos are to be a major part of the product you are pushing, then yeah, you should spend some time learning the craft. You owe it to yourself and the people you are pushing your product to. If it is just a complimentary piece for your blog, then something like you are doing is just fine. Not every singer wants to make it on American Idol. Some are find singing in the shower. But if you truly want video to take you the next level, it needs that attention.
Next, You stated that most bloggers are not professional writers. That also isn’t really true. If you are making money from printed word, you are a professional writer. If you are aspiring to make money from the printed word, you are a professional writer. You mention Darren, and what he needs to deliver to his audience. He still needs to deliver it with professionally. Comparing Darren to Shakespeare is irrelevant. That is like comparing me to the Beatles. The hope is you would take pride in being a writer and work to excel at your craft, regardless of what you are writing about. The same would go for videos.
I understand what you are saying and where you are going with these series of posts, but personally, as a consumer of information, I would much rather read your posts than watch your video posts. Your blog, to me, is very good. Your video posts, to me, are severely average.
Scott´s last blog post..L’Archetypes: Hipsters
Dude your pop up is interupting your video. You should be able to set it so it only pops up for the first few times someone visits your blog.
This is a really good point you’re making. I haven’t done video. I have a camcorder and I’ve hardly even used it for anything yet. I would like to do video but I was thinking it would take a whole heap of practise. But as you say, it doesn’t need to be professional.
By the way, I read your email newsletter on taking a day job. I hope you still continue to persue your dream as you have a lot of great stuff to share. I was going to say you’re a great writer too – but as you’ve said, that doesn’t really matter.
Cath Lawson´s last blog post..Are We Stupid? Silva Life System Review Part 1
Hunter,
Do you remember my email that I wrote you might want to look into public speaking? You said no way, but I think you are going the direction . . .
Akemi – Yes to Me´s last blog post..Who Am I?
I’m not a huge fan of amateur video on-line. The majority waste too much time and lose me with too many “mmmm’s” in the first 30 seconds. I prefer the written word. Easier to skim and faster than video. I don’t even like professional video on CNN or Bloomberg, as it takes too long. 2-3 videos a month on a blog are ok, but if every 3rd post is a video the blogger will probably lose me.
Chad @ Sentient Money´s last blog post..Buffett…Fearful???
Hey Hunter,
I think you did a great job and made some very good points. About a year ago I made my first video (only have made 3 or so after that one) and it does only get easier. I like the unpolished more down to Earth appearance. I don’t watch news ofter but when I do sometimes I am almost distracted by how false the broadcasters look and sound.
I feel another advantage that bloggers will have is that most bloggers write about areas they are passionate about and even though they might not have had their hair styled or clothes picked out for them — they are speaking with passion NOT as a robot or by reading a tele-prompter. The most important lesson I learned in the few videos I made was to NOT write stuff down — to have a general idea of what I wanted to say and speak from the heart…. it got me over the fear of making videos and they all got good responses.
I still think there will be people that prefer to read like Chad above. It allows for people to print things out for later if they want to. Also people at work that will go to a site to read a post now and then are less likely to go if there is a video that will require them announcing to their co-workers they are not working.
GREAT points Hunter and I am well past due for another video….thank you for the reminder!
BTW — my latest kid’s computer post was done with you in mind — I went searching for some of my favorite types of non violent computer games – check it out if you get a chance… 
Love,
Jenny
Jenny Mannion´s last blog post..Interview with Virginia Ellen
Another good one. All valid points. Personality matters more than professionalism. Having said that, practice does make for better delivery. Nothing like watching yourself on video to see how you really look and sound to others and feel all self-conscious about yourself.
It takes much more guts than anything else (besides a camera) to video blog, so kudos Hunter for doing it.
Michael Martine´s last blog post..How To Profit Through Selective Listening
BTW can you smile? Is it so hard to smile? Is this a guy thing??
Akemi – Yes to Me´s last blog post..Gratitude For Emptiness, My Online Gratitude Journal #25
@ Eric, that’s not corny at all. I think your videos have done a lot to make your personality come across more than text will allow, so I understand. So what’s the frontier after video?
@ Bamboo, great video, thanks for giving the link!
@ Evelyn, is there a dress code in the hall of Akashic records? Are disheveled hair and PJs permitted?
@ Scott, good points again.
“First off, you are always in competition with every medium.”
To some extent, yes, we’re competing with every video. For that matter, any two things that consume time are in competition with each other. I just meant that video bloggers are not attempting to replicate what TV pros do, but they’re serving a different need. We don’t have to be better at what they do, because we can be better at other things.
“If you are okay with a mediocre video, then you should be prepared to be okay with mediocre results from that video.”
Fair enough, but the question is how adding mediocre video will effect your results compared to no video.
“I played in a rock band for 10 years.”
Which gives you lots of insight, but also bias.
To sell a CD, it needs to be professional. To get TV viewers, the show needs to be professional. But blogs were never competing on the basis of professionalism. I still cringe when people call their blog post an “article.” Articles are professional. Blog posts are usually not. But that doesn’t make them worse, just different. They’re judged by a completely different set of standards.
“I understand what you are saying and where you are going with these series of posts, but personally, as a consumer of information, I would much rather read your posts than watch your video posts.”
And you’re free to do so. I’m not planning on doing any video-only posts, so you can just read and skip the video. What I sometimes do is click play, then read while just listening to the video.
“Your blog, to me, is very good. Your video posts, to me, are severely average.”
Well I certainly hope there’s a big difference! You’re comparing the result of decades of writing experience against the result of minutes of video experience. If anything, the relatively narrow gap between “very good” and “severely average” indicates a problem with my writing more than a problem with my videos.
And while I agree with your assessment (and I think I would agree even as an impartial observer), some might not. Take a look at Dan Rather – is he terrific or terrible? Opinions abound.
At any rate, I’m still planning to focus largely on text. Video will just be an occasional supplement. We’ll see how this works compared to a text-only approach.
@ Cath, the pop-up is supposed to only appear once per IP address, but some people have said that it appears every time. Unfortunately, all I can do is wait for AWeber to fix it.
You should do a video! Don’t worry about practice, because our standards are really low! I’m sure you’d do much better than you think.
As for the day job, shhh – that’s exclusive bonus content that’s only available for my newsletter subscribers! Well, not really, I just found it easier to mention it in an email than write a whole post about it. I’ll post about it later, but yes, I’ll keep pursuing blogging.
@ Akemi, yeah, well this is a little different.
@ Chad, you’re the first person to mention the main problem I have with video – you can’t skim it. That’s why I plan to keep my videos short, and always have text in addition to them.
@ Jenny, I’ve seen at least one of your videos. I don’t remember exactly what it was about, but I remember liking it. So do another one! I’ll check out your post tomorrow.
@ Michael, I agree that practice makes better, which is a good thing, right? It would really suck to get worse the more you practiced! And yeah, it does take some guts, a lot more than text does.
@ Akemi, now that’s funny, coming from a Japanese woman. (Oh no he di’int!) Is it natural to just randomly smile while talking? Don’t you smile more while listening? Anyway, I smiled in my last video, so you can refer to that.
Hunter,
You mentioned in your comment:
“@ Cath, the pop-up is supposed to only appear once per IP address, but some people have said that it appears every time. Unfortunately, all I can do is wait for AWeber to fix it.”
The popover web form you are using will only be displayed once per visitor assuming the visitor has cookies enabled on their web browser. If someone has their cookies turned off (which would break many websites from functioning properly) the form will be displayed every time. That’s a limitation of web browser technology and not something that’s broken or fixable on our end.
Tom Kulzer (AWeber CEO)´s last blog post..T-Shirt Design Contest – Win a Year of AWeber!
Currently, I’m looking into implementing video on my blog. I’ve tried going without a script, but I find that there’s too many umms and uhhs in my videos.
I’ll be using scripts more often. The reason being is twofold: not only do you sound more professional (in a good, staying on topic way), but you can use the script as content for your blog. Maybe change some things around, and you’re good to go!
That way, if people don’t want to or can’t see me, they can read the script instead.
TheAndySan´s last blog post..My Fancy New Blogging Schedule
@ Tom, wow, the CEO of AWeber? I had a feeling that a big part of the problem was out of your hands. But I don’t see how it’s entirely explained by whether cookies are enabled. I never see the popovers on digital-photography-school.com anymore (after the first time), but I get them often on michaelmartine.com (and he says he has it set to display once per visitor). Same browser settings, but different results on two different sites.
@ TheAndySan, I guess people may have different preferences for using scripts, so you just have to do what works for you. I think it’s a good idea to include some text on your blog (whether a script or not) so that people have the choice of watching the video or not.
I may be in the minority but I’m not a huge fan of video unless it’s instructional. When I’m at work, I can’t do video streaming and don’t want to have to bother with earphones. I prefer the written word because I can reread something over and over again without having to worry about where on the video is located.
@ Carla, I’m actually that way too. I like to watch a video now and then, but back when I could read blogs at work, I would have to email the URL to myself to watch the video at home. I know I have to keep that downside in mind.
IMHO it all boils down on which your purpose is. Once you define that, if you use written word, audio or video and HOW you comunicate thru one of this channels is the MEDIUM.
For example, if you want to inspire it may make no sense to write like Charles Dickens, but it can be much more usefull to provoke. So the way you comunicate has great impact on your effectiveness to reach your goal. Think about that and choose the elements of your comunication that are essential to your effectiveness and improve them. It may not be editing quality, but for example speaking pace and pronunciation (your watchers may not know english as their first language).
A suggestion: have you ever been at a Toastmasters meeting ?
Search for the closest club to you (there are in any country of the world) and attend to a meeting as a simple guest (they are always very welcome): you’ll find not only friendly, each other helping people, but you’ll also learn a lot about comunication. If you like personal development (what I believe you do), you’ll love it: i’ve never found a more inspiring, funny and happy group of persons.
Let me know
ciao
alexander
Alexander reif´s last blog post..Libri: quanti ne leggi ?
P.S. and please Hunter: place your Notebook on a table (instead of on your knees), seeing you going up and down gives me headache
Alexander reif´s last blog post..Libri: quanti ne leggi ?
@ Alexander, you have some good ideas there. I’ve heard a lot of people rave about Toastmasters, so it must be good. I didn’t realize I was going up and down in the video. Because of where I’m sitting, I’m at an angle and I have to raise my left knee to try to keep it straight! I guess I could use a table instead.
As always Hunter, try it for yourself and know from a insider perspective what YOU think about.
Have a great day
alexander
Alexander Reif´s last blog post..Libri: quanti ne leggi ?
I think video is the next frontier, like you said. I’ve been creating videos for my new site (rawfoodswitch.com) and they are mainly recipe videos. I think I will need to explore the world of making videos without a recipe too. I think it makes a blog a lot more personal, and it has a way of creating a deeper connection with our readers!
What do you think of video comments? I’ve seen those enabled on certain blogs, but never tried it myself.
Nathalie Lussier´s last blog post..How To Pay The Bills While Following Your Passion
@ Alexander, there’s no side like the inside!
@ Nathalie, I saw your “beet goes on” video, and yeah, videos do make blogs more personal. I do think too much video can be a risk though, depending on what you’re doing. I’ve only seen video comments on one blog before, and it seemed like overkill to me. Are people really going to take the time to watch them all?
Enjoyed your post and video Hunter, and you make some excellent points. I’ve been considering recording some footage for my blog but the idea of it looking too unprofessional was, I’ll admit, holding me back a smidge. But I think you’re on to something here, and your suggestion that you’re better off looking amateur *now* rather than in X years when everybody in your niche comes over like Jon Stewart is a very valid one. Nicely done.
Sheamus´s last blog post..Want To Get Re-Tweeted? Memorise Your Number
@ Sheamus, you should totally do a video. Let me know when you have one up!