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Put Audio & Video on Your Web Site
As a company that sells streaming media services for a living,
we get questions everyday about what needs to be done to make an
audio or video presentation that will stream well over the
Internet. Most of these inquiries come from small businesses with
limited budgets for marketing and advertising. They are always
pleasantly surprised when we tell them that they can do it
themselves!
Let's start with an audio only presentation:
- Write out your script first! Focus on two to three points
that you feel are essential to explain your products or
services. Keep the script simple. If your site offers a wide
variety of goods or services, you might consider several
different messages with each one keying in on one or two
important areas.
- Have someone who is not familiar with your business review
the script and your site. Be sure that they understand your
message. If they don't, rewrite it!
- Practice reading the script until you feel completely
familiar and comfortable with it. (You can hire professional
voice talent for reasonable rates if you'd prefer not recording
the audio yourself.)
- Use the best quality tape recorder available to you. A
cassette recorder is fine.
- Use a high quality brand name audiotape.
- An external microphone that plugs into your recorder is
preferable to the one that comes built-in. They are very
inexpensive and produce a better recording.
- Do your recording in a quiet place with as little
background noise as possible. (That one seems pretty obvious,
doesn't it?)
- Speak naturally! It can help to have a friend or colleague
act as an audience to give you focus.
- Record your presentation several times. Select the one that
will sound the most natural and inviting to your site
visitors.
- Send the tape to the encoding (streaming) vendor. They'll
take it from there!
A video presentation takes a little more time and effort, but
you really can do it yourself. Your home video camera will work
just fine! All of the same rules you used to make your audiotape
apply here including the use of an external microphone. Good
quality videotape is essential. The following suggestions will
help you prepare a video presentation for your site that should
stream very well:
- Keep the camera steady! Put the camera on a tripod or brace
it against something solid like a table or a wall. If you must
pan or zoom, do it very slowly. (Too much motion can cause a
"blurry" stream.)
- Simplify your frame. Think about where everything is going
to be. People coming in and out of the frame can create
movement that may cause confusion.
- Stay focused. A lot of auto-focus cameras can't focus
properly if you are too close to your subject. Five or six feet
away is a good distance. Don't try to shoot through a window;
the camera will focus on the glass.
- Good lighting is essential. Try to light your scene from
the front. Don't stand in front of a window; the backlighting
will cause you to be in silhouette. Try shooting outside if
possible.
- Use the fastest record speed. This will insure the best
video quality.
- Record in a quiet place. Hold the mike close to your mouth
to cut down on external noises.
- RELAX AND ENJOY YOURSELF! It really shows. Practice until
you feel comfortable.
If you have additional questions or concerns, your streaming
vendor should be ready and able to assist you.
Early adopters of Rich Media techniques, streaming being one
of them, have already started to reap the rewards of higher
click-through rates and increased conversion rates. If your
message is meaningful and relevant to your site visitors, your
streaming presentation will add to their enjoyment of visiting
your site and encourage them not only to buy but also to return
and buy again!
Ronni Rhodes is the owner of WBC Imaging, an Internet company
that specializes in web site enhancement utilizing streaming
media technology. With her husband, Don, a digital media
engineer, they work with companies to incorporate streaming as
part of successful and meaningful sales and marketing
programs.
Please direct all questions and comments to: Ronni@wbcimaging.com
520-742-5780 http://www.wbcimaging.com
MORE RESOURCES:
MySpace will stream video to select phonesSmartBrief, DC - Dec 3, 2008In becoming the first online social-network community to offer mobile video streaming, MySpace will not sell ads at launch, saying the video streaming will ... |
Throw This Stock AwayMotley Fool - 8 hours ago... free online access, how much longer will it be before folks cancel their cable subscriptions and take advantage of free on-demand video streaming? ... |
Video-Streaming - Google News
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