Tech Product Reviews

David Stromdavid@strom.com

310 857 6867@dstrom (Twitter)

Editorial management positions:

Strom of the past

The Old “Big Five” Tech Pubs

The New “Big Five” Tech Pubs

THE FUTURE: SCREENCAST PRODUCT REVIEWS

My overall stats

•65 Videos completed over three years•> 185,000 views on 20 different sites•Repeat business from Symantec, McAfee, BlueCoat, Alpha Software, Tune Up, and others!•Reposted at TomsITPro.com and a few other places

Skills required

•Can use the products involved•Think visually about what the end process will generate•“Visual storytelling”•Can write your narration and speak clearly, or have someone else read it for you•Understand the video and audio editing tools

Tools required old-school

 

Today's tools

•Piratepad.net for collaborative editing•audacity.sourceforge.net audio editing•techsmith.com/camtasia video editing•Wistia.com video embedding•Tubemogul.com posting•Wordpress.com blog

Today’s tools

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVahA1ZMgP0

It is catching on

Hour-long tutorial

Sound editing isn’t that hard!

Sound quality matters, too

•Speaking clearly, crisply, and engagingly is important•Synchronize with visuals•Prepare a script but don’t sound like you are reading from it

Workflow•Get an enterprise IT product, test it•Write a script, use static screen shots•Record the audio track•Match to visuals•Produce the video•Post around the Internet as much as you can

Screen resolution tips

•I record in 800x600•Many network-centric products are designed for >1280x1024•Use the zoom/pan feature sparingly, it is distracting and too much eye candy

YouTube matters. A lot.

Still the best place to showcase videosHalf of my views are there

But there are lots of other places too!

What to look for in video posting

•How much tech-based content is there already?•How much of it is how-to vs. just general interviews?•Can you create your own “studio” or brand easily?

Videojug.com transformation

Video = has to be visually interesting

•One video on email encryption was just static screens, nothing going on there!•Others have lots of action, activity, and jumping around screen to screen•Viewers can hit pause/rewind if they want to slow things down

You don’t have me at “Hello”

•But the issues using them matters, too.•A video on “applications visibility” looked at how to use WAN optimization products to examine what is going on over your network•Another for Symantec called “Stop Buying Storage” looked at deduplication features•Bigger and more well-known vendors attract more viewers faster just because folks are searching more on them!

It isn’t always about products

Build audience slowly

•And you will keep them longer, too•It isn’t always about “going viral”•A site needs regular infusions of new content, just like a magazine or newspaper, otherwise it dies!

Anchor video with text on Web page for better SEO

•Choose keywords carefully and consistently•Snappy titles help•Relevant vendor contact and pricing info critical too