Telling you video is huge is a bit redundant at this stage, however… video is huge.

The question you need to be asking yourself isn’t “should I be using video,” but “how do I get the most out of putting my videos online.”

That’s where this great sticky tips on videos comes in handy, compliments of Webproworld.

Your videos are found via “clues on the page” where your video file is embedded. The discussion does cover both hosting videos on third party web sites like Viddler and the all-famous YouTube and the pros and cons of self-hosted videos.

Spreading your videos around is also a good thing. We’ve found that while you could host the video yourself, viewing times are greatly “speeded up” for your viewer when they are hosted on sites optimized for video viewing.

In addition, pick your third party hosting sites carefully. For example, should you choose Viddler, you are able to edit the title (use your keyword in the title), provide a (keyword rich) description, and tag it. YouTube is great, but at the moment spots like Viddler top our list. And, search engines pick up your video very quickly!

Here’s a bit more about optimizing your video online, condensed, of what you’ll find when you visit the Webproworld forum link above:

1. Sitemaps …video sitemaps are a recommended way to give Google information about the video content of your site…

2. RSS Feeds …Google loves to crawl RSS feeds of various types, and this includes RSS feeds that focus on video content…

3. Metadata …metadata is the best source for search engines to determine what your video is about…

4. Provide a transcript …embedding a transcript in the video viewing page will provide the search engines with a wealth of content to index…

5. Optimize the video page …where the video is embedded focusing on the key topics of the video. Context seems to be an important factor…

6. Use friendly URLs …provide the search engines with additional clues as to the relevant topics of the video.

7. Be consistent when distributing your video …this will give you more opportunities to show up for your target term…

8. Prepare for the future of video search …By taking these steps now, your videos can remain relevant as search engines improve their scanning and indexing capabilities.

Again, a trip to the forum is in order to fill in the gaps of what I did not include.

Also, the responses to this sticky post on video optimization are worth the read.

Not everyone is prepared to jump on the video bandwagon at the moment, but arming yourself to use this immensely popular form of internet and social media marketing in the future is a sure winner.

Related articles

• Netvibes: The new social media dashboard (vator.tv)
• YouTube Video Alerts For Your Inbox (performancing.com)
• Viewzi Launches Site Search (centernetworks.com)
• Sitemap Submission Made Simple (googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com)

After making our post for January 3, it was off to my favorite forums. That’s where I found six tools mentioned by Owen that he loved using in 2008.

The one that caught my eye is Zemanta, an add-on to your Firefox browser that automatically recognizes your wordpress and/or blogger blogs. It’s a tool that’s going to help suggest photos, videos, articles, etc., related to what you’re writing about – all done from inside your admin area.

Here’s an example:

Related articles by Zemanta

• Twitter Is Stealing Your Password

What the example above shows is something Zemanta considered “related to” the rest of the information in this post (see below about Twitter).  There are many items to choose from, but I just picked this one – all from inside the admin area of this blog.

After installing (and it’s quick and painless and yes I did read the terms of service first), you’ll end up on the welcome page where you’ll get instructions on “how to get started right away” using this super cool tool!

A big thanks to Owen for sharing this and five other tools (one of which he created himself).

Excellent!

And, for those of you wondering why your WordPress Twitter Updater plugin no longer works, well we don’t currently have the answer to that… However, TwitterBar 1.1 may be your easiest solution.

It’s been available since November 1, 2008, tried and tested. Just be sure you know what you’ve got typed in your address bar before you Twitter it. It can be words, the link of the page you’re on, whatever. So double check first

(The Firefox logo was also pulled in using Zemanta.)

A second alternative to get your feeds posted directly to your Twitter account (though the toolbar above is very cool), is TwitterFeed

TwitterFeed requires you to create an OpenSource id. Just be prepared to validate your signup via email AND be adept at picture recognition – the  process is a tad long while you “guess the picture” during the account creation process.

What TwitterFeed will do is, depending on your setting choices, take a peek at your blog feed and post the last “x” amount you designate at the time interval you ask it to check. While that may sound confusing, it’s not – it’s just a fill in the blanks AFTER you get past the picture recognition thing (it’s very hard to explain but worth the trouble).

So there you have it… multiple ways to get your current posts automatically onto Twitter, plus add some graphic interest to your posts painlessly.  Enjoy!

Now it’s your turn to tell us what you think about this post. So please DO comment!

This morning sitting in my inbox was a link to a money making program that I just had to post about… Get Paid to Draw.

Now being a stick figure person myself, at first I was thinking, “Well this won’t do me any good!” But, curious, I headed on over to the page to see what it’s all about.

A one-time fee of less than $35 might be your ticket to starting out the New Year pulling in some cash.

o  Submit your images for cash
o  Learn the ins and outs of animation & illustration
o  Sell your drawings online
o  Make money from your digital photos
o  Discover freelance opportunities and much more!

Above, I admitted I’m no artist, but I will tell you the digital photos portion caught my eye!

Here’s just a tiny bit more (an overview really) of what you’ll find by clicking here:

o A Jump Start Setup – they swear requires no experience – to begin a new career working entirely online.

o Step by Step Videos – to help you get started making “thousands on the Internet by drawing pictures.”

o Company Directory Database – where to go to get reviewed by the “best directories in the world.” Also includes submission companies you sign up with for “great free money making opportunities.”

o The Get Paid to Draw eBook – sort of self explanatory.

o Strategies – learn “all the secrets” top artists and designers use to make (what they claim) hundreds of dollars an hour and up.

o Tools and Resources – material to get your make money drawing business up and running apparently.

There’s a ton more, including lots of bonuses.

So if you ever thought of trying to pull in cash online via art, photography, and more, this system might be just what you need!

We often talk about writing for a living online, but here’s an almost no brainer and potentially your newest source of revenue for 2009!

Happy New Year!

Rarely do Scott and I sign up for anything. Frankly, we’re way too busy helping other people market and advertise to take on additional 3rd party offers that also need telling about.

However, we’re making an exception for this one:

Click To See Which One

At the moment, during prelaunch it’s absolutely free to sign up. Listen to the short video and/or read along as the presentation happens at the bottom of the screen.

What it is is a large “must have” package of marketing tools.

The founders of Getresponse (Implix) and other major players are involved.

The tool we’re most interested in, which will come with the package, is the “gotomeeting” type service. We’re in sore need of something like this for training.

But that’s just one of many “must have marketing tools” with, of course, the added benefit of making residual income from a program that provides not junk, but real tools everyone needs to market effectively online!

We have many of them, but it turns out that by packaging them up come January 6th, when the program launches, we’ll be saving a ton of money, too!

So stop what you’re doing and go take a few minutes to get yourself positioned for this wonderful program launching at the New Year.

Free PreLaunch Signup Click Here