Quiver & Quill

With over 300,000 profile views and 3,400 subscribed, Caitlin’s channel is one of the most popular on You Tube. As a Power User, she’s one of the most recognized video bloggers. I interviewed her via email and asked her to share key insights.

Q&Q: Why did you start video blogging?
Caitlin: I started video blogging, because I had been visiting YouTube for a few months just to look at other members like Brookers and LonelyGirl15. Then one day, I really wanted to respond to one of LonelyGirl15’s video about her and her friend Daniel having a fight. I clicked on the Directors account, got it straight away, and then posted a couple of videos. I was mainly just bored though

Q&Q: Why do you use You Tube as your video blogging platform?
Caitlin: I had posted a few random videos on my Buzznet account, but the site didn’t accept many kinds of video files, and YouTube accepts all the ones I have, so it worked better than Buzznet.

Q&Q: What’s your favorite vblog entry that you’ve produced?
Caitlin: My favourite vblog entry? The one I’m working on at the moment. Somebody asked me to tell them why I chose my Sign-In name TheHill88…but I got distracted as I was telling the camera about it, and started dancing and doing ballet tricks. It just seems to be showing the real me, finally…not rapping, not making soppy movies…just being me.

Q&Q:What other video bloggers do you read?
Caitlin: I have subscribed to quite a few. I love the awesome ones like Lonely and Brookers…but some of the coolest people, that others dont see to much of is arrwctchr and showmanROT, Arrwctchr is an excellent film maker and showmanROT is hilarious!

Q&Q;Your video blog has been viewed over +300,000 times. What makes people want to watch tune in to your vblog?
Caitlin: Well, it was featured, so that helped get views. I think so many people view my channel because of the rap video and my lonelygirl video - they are pretty popular, so people will see their video first (the one they really wanted to see) and then see me. People view it also because for some reason they either love me or loathe me. They enjoy tearing me to shreds and others enjoy posting nice or sleazy comments.

Q&Q: How do you feel about name brands using You Tube to distribute their commercials?
Caitlin: I don’t like brands using YouTube…they must of realised that people are on YouTube because it is more interesting than TV, but they can’t let people escape the ads on 24/7 and have to follow them to YouTube as well. It’s really just pathetic. This is a place where the little people can escape the big people of everyday life and become big themselves in their own right…we don’t need more product placement than we already receive every day.

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I interviewed Morbeck, the producer of one of the top 20 most subscribed to channels on You Tube. His content is funny, sexual and surprising. He published this video yesterday, viewed over 40,000 times in the last 24 hours.

Q&Q: Why did you start video blogging?
MORBECK: My first attempt at video blogging was a spoof of a famous youtuber. Everyone seemed to enjoy it so I kept going until I came up with my own characters.

Q&Q: Why do you use You Tube as your video blogging platform?
MORBECK: I decided to post videos on youtube because i saw the potential it had since the beginning and noticed how the videos can reach such a wide audience.

Q&Q: What’s your favorite vblog entry that you’ve produced?
MORBECK: My favorite vblog is a tribute to all videobloggers. I can be found at this url http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCzIIERHZKw

Q&Q: What other video bloggers do you follow?
MORBECK: I follow filthywhore, littleloca, bowiechick, therealnewsguy and other random ones that i see on the most discussed list.

Q&Q: Your video blog is one of top 40 most popular on You Tube. Why?
MORBECK: One of the reasons I got to the top 40 is because I try to come up with original content that is also entertaining. I set up a little studio in my bedroom for chroma key effects and people seem to be enjoying my creations so they keep coming back and telling their friends about me.

Q&Q: How do you feel about name brands (Paris Hilton, Nike, etc) using You Tube to distribute their commercials?
MORBECK: I dont mind that big celebrities use youtube as a resource as well. Although im glad that even though Paris Hilton is on the first page she doesnt have as many subscribers as me yet. This means the youtube community is here to watch everyday people that have something to offer besides mainstream entertainment.

Q&Q: If a company like Adidas, Pepsi or Puma wanted to sponsor your channel, would you accept payment in exchange for promoting them?
MORBECK: Yes I would accept it because I would be able to keep doing what I enjoy and still deliver what my fans expect of me.

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I spoke recently with You Tube power user, Joy (screen name xSJPx). Over 70,000 people have viewed her profile and hundreds of thousands have viewed her videos. She has +1400 people subscribing to her channel. She attributes her success to her “realness.” Have a look, this video alone was video was video 40,000 times.

In a conversation with Joy, she describes her YouTube habits:

“I started putting videos online for my friends back in my home town, because I never see them anymore and they miss me. I’ve always made fun short videos with friends throughout high school it’s a great hobby!

Youtube is very easy to use, I love that I can have my own “channel” and it’s easy for people to view my videos. I also like that more then just my friends can watch my videos and I can meet new people. I like the commenting and rating system as well. Their flagging system is flawed but I hope the sites staff will fix it soon.

Of my videos, my favorite is probably “Bob Marley painting” that is the favorite of all my friends as well.

Youtube videos I like to watch include allstarbritti, she makes short little videos that always make me laugh and boh3m3 he has a great video blogging style. There are many channels I subscribe too and I tend to flick through videos randomly. I don’t always have time to watch whole videos.

I think that people watch my videos based on the fact that I’m not trying to be anything or anyone, I’m real. I like to have fun and be silly I don’t take things to seriously. I have a strange sense of humor as well, and people who share this enjoy my videos.

It’s unfortunate that YouTube is turning into a commercially exploited site.

I suppose with many things that distribute mass media, it quickly becomes all about the money. YouTube is not too over run by money hungry marketer’s yet, but I see it happening soon.”

Her favorite video (that she produced)

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Get this video and more at MySpace.com

The number one video on Myspace currently, this cute little kitten, has been viewed over 1 million times collectively. I recently interviewed, “80s Tim,” the publisher of this video to get the story behind its success.

Here’s the details from Tim: “I found the kitten in the middle of quite a busy road near a town called Sarre in Kent, England. I was driving along with a friend called Lisa and I saw what I thought was a guinea pig on the road. After stopping and getting out, we saw it was a kitten. I picked the little guy up and we searched for ages for any sign of a mother or litter, but to no avail. I decided on the spot to adopt the kitten since I had just left the army and this was the first time that I had the chance to own a cat. The kitten was roughly 3 days old and would need a lot of nurturing. Luckily, my housemate, Gemma, is an animal care and knew her stuff about raising orphaned kittens. We started nursing him back to health and after one small scare, where he stopped eating for a couple of days, he started to develop as he should. It was about then that I made a quick video of him and put it on myspace to let my friends see him.”

Q&Q: Did you think it would be as great a success as it was?
Tim: I had absolutely no idea that it would be a big success, I only put the video on for a few friends and family, it was only after I started getting hundreds of messages a day that I was informed that the video had been on the myspace front page. I had no idea it had been used for this and it feels a little bit weird when look at peoples` sites and see my video on them, with my bed, my room and my kitten.

Q&Q: Why do you think so many people showed interest?
Tim: I suppose that most people are suckers for small, fluffly things and my video showed a very young, very vulnerable kitten that appealed straight to the hearts of certain people. In this case, those people were, on the most part, American and Australian women. Oh, and loads of gay guys too.

Q&Q: Why did you post the video on Myspace, rather than YouTube or other sites?
Tim: As I said before, I only stuck the video on here for a few mates, I never intended it for wide scale public viewing so it never occurred to me to put it anywhere else.

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video sites
Originally uploaded by davidking.

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I’ve had the pleasure of immersing myself in great literature and podcasts recently. This is mostly due to the many hours on the plane: reading books with eyes open, listening to podcasts with eyes closed. I’d like to share three things I’ve read recently.

“Everything we do, every new technology we make is either an extension of a fear or a desire,” Margaret Atwood, Beyond Faith and Reason Podcast with Bill Moyers.

“The great thing about broadcast is that it can bring one show to millions of people with unmatched efficiency, but it can’t do the opposite, bring millions of shows to one person each, yet that is exactly what the internet does so well,” Chris Anderson, The Long Tail.

“I write mainly for artists, fellow-artists and follow-artists. However, I could never explain adequately to certain students in my literature classes, the aspects of good reading– the fact that you read an artist’s book not with your heart (the heart is a remarkably stupid reader), and not with your brain alone, but with your brain and spine. “Ladies and gentlemen, the tingle in the spine really tells you what the author felt and wished you to feel,” Vladmir Nabokov.

*Image of a young Vladmir Nabokov: Citation.

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Ernest & Young on Facebook with an integrated channel. Check it out.

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I appreciated the Ad Age article, “Marketing Reality Check,” yet have a different perspective on the subject matter. I don’t think it matters that the mainstream population understand the technology that makes their lives easier: they don’t need to know how streaming works, the way an XML feed delivers content or the web 2.0 revolution to appreciate a faster internet, or a more convenient and personal media experience.

I think statistics about consumer awareness are somewhat pointless with new media. However, research that reveals the way in which attitudes and behaviors have changed as a result of new media is far more interesting.

I take issue with one key point in this article: “While marketing prognosticators and technophiles rush into the future, raving about the next big content delivery system or ad model, the fact is most Americans — notably adults with steady incomes — still get their content the old-fashioned way.” Let’s look at the old fashion newspaper. Newspapers are branching out to grow their web business to include new channels like video, streaming and podcasting. Content is changing too. These ‘old-fashion,’ resources are forming partnerships with bloggers and citizen journalists to evolve their content. Dan Gilmore’s project documents this at http://citmedia.org.

There are many other ways people are influenced without their direct understanding:

· John Doe may claim to have never read a blog but it’s more than likely he is reading a reporter whose story idea emerged from one.

· Search engines haven’t just changed how people find information; they also have impacted how people structure their thoughts.

· The decentralized internet, emphasizing an individual’s point of presence online, has created second lives and online identities.

· The abundance of perspectives—citizen journalist, seasoned reporter or Myspace user—provides waves of insights.

New media has changed the way people receive their information and contribute their world. Even if the impacts aren’t observed at the level of the individual, they are influenced media outlets, who in turn influence the people like ‘Jean Bretzlauf’ referenced in this article.

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You may have heard of Eons—the Myspace of the fifty plus crowd. Check it out. Here’s an interview with the founder on NPR.

Here’s what I like about the site:

• The intuitive registration process
• The use of boxes, colors and circles to create space
• The branding of their search tool as “Cranky”
• This site exemplifies great usability principles (design & copy)

Eons obviously serves many seniors for whom death is a concern. It offers them access to millions of obituaries online. Nestled in this great obituary community is a thriving revenue model. While browsing the obituaries, you can buy and send gifts!

The cool thing is how obituaries are used to create community. They even have a three step process to upload photos. It’s a great application of web 2.0 to the baby bomber + crowd.

On a personal note, my 78 year old grandmother sent her first email to me today. Her email was brief, thoughtful and attentive: unlike the hundreds of hurried emails I receive each week. I think I’ll invite her to create a profile on Eons. That will be the true test the site!

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1. What web sites serve as a model as you market and develop Esnips?

eSnips started as an extension of a web research tool developed by Netsnippets (a company also founded by Yael Elish, our CEO, and Alon Elish, our CTO). Netsnippets (www.netsnippets.com) is an online information management tool, used for effectively conducting online research. Some of our cooler toolbar features (such as snipping and capturing) evolved directly from Netsnippets. But the focus of eSnips is completely different as it aims to be the one place for all our user’s sharing needs, so we looked to other social sharing sites for inspiration. For example, when we launched our “social” version introducing tags in March 2006, we looked at sites such as Flickr, blogs, and even delicious for inspiration.

2. At what point did you realize that the Esnips concept was going to be successful?

I think this was at the point where we started noticing the variety of original content that members were posting in their public folders on eSnips. Creative endeavors that I enjoyed were the jewelry, graphic arts, original music (with some great chill-out creations) and even customized Harleys and souped-up Barbies.

3. There are some many products and services emerging daily. It’s hard to grab someone’s attention. How did you cut through the clutter and find the people who love Esnips?

Being located in Israel, it has been a bit of a challenge to reach users worldwide. Several things have helped us. First, people who love eSnips tend to tell their friends about it. We’ve had quite a lot of friends referring friends or other members of their community to eSnips. Second, we came to the attention of both TechCrunch (http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/03/21/checking-out-esnips/) and Mashable (http://mashable.com/2006/03/22/esnips-bookmarking-and-media-sharing/) at about the same time in March 2006, which helped us reach a new audience. Third, we’ve attracted communities such as artists and karaoke singers with spotlight weeks that place them, along with their creations, on our home pages. Such efforts usually bring like-minded people to share on eSnips.

4. Does Esnips create a different kind of community than that which currently exists online?

eSnips uniqueness is that it allows you to create endless online “environments” that reflect your many facets. Many of our users create different folders for their different sharing needs: sharing photos with friend and families, sharing business files with colleagues, and sharing their hobbies and collections with the world. The same member can participate in an active Karaoke community on one hand and an artists’ community on the other. The focus is not just on the photo that you posted, but also on you and the rest of your interests. It’s a different focus that the one at the vertical sharing sites such as Flickr and YouTube, where the file itself is at the center of attention.

5. What are your top 3 favorite sites on the internet?

Although it’s not a site, I love looking at Second Life and what they’re doing. The entire concept of a “virtual life” is fascinating, and they’re constantly innovating with what a virtual life can include. On the other side of the spectrum, I enjoy the New York Times site not just as an extension of the newspaper, but as a barometer of what the mainstream is interested in. I also enjoy the LinkedIn concept as it explores the “six degrees of separation” theory. In between I read a few blogs and waste time on the content sharing sites.

6. What analogies have you used to express the Esnips concept to people who are not web 2.0 savvy?

To show express the breadth of the original creative content posted on eSnips I’ve often used the “street fair” analogy. Real fairs have artists, musicians, petitioners all vying for your attention in a few city blocks, and this is really similar to browsing eSnips public folders. To introduce new users to eSnips I’ve used the analogy of a house to express the different eSnips environments that each user can create. As in a house, you have your completely private folders/rooms, like your bedroom and bathroom, where you keep stuff but don’t share it. You have your semi-public folders/rooms where you invite your friends and family to socialize and discuss your interests, like your living room and kitchen. Finally, you have your completely public folders/rooms for anyone to see and visit, like your front porch. The analogy of a house really drives home the point that you need diverse sharing environments as most of us share different things with different groups of people.

7. How have the experiences working with a pre web 2.0 sites like genealogy.com had an impact on the way you approach Esnips marketing?

So much has changed since I worked on marketing Genealogy.com. My goal at Genealogy.com was to “capture” as many users as possible so that we could email them in order to involve them in genealogy products and sell them CDs and boxed software! The focus was on both advertising (online and offline) and creating features that users would want to register for. Partnerships with leading offline genealogy sources such as Ellis Island were also a major focus. With eSnips the progress in online advertising technology, especially search engine marketing, give me so much freedom in deciding who to target and when. The desire to create an online sharing community is stronger with eSnips, whereas with Genealogy it was more a one-on-one relationship. One thing that hasn’t really changed is the pull of user generated content. I know this is a buzzword for the web 2.0 sites, but in Genealogy there’s nothing more important than YOUR family tree. Sharing your tree and research with others was mostly beneficial as you could find long-lost cousins researching obscure branches of your tree. Current technology (including digital photography and broadband) has really made all this sharing much easier, truly bringing the user’s content to the foreground.

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I’m posting what could be my favorite commercial of all time. I believe that marketing is about story telling. And this commercial tells me a story I believe.

Scene I: The workshop

The first shots are intriguing and disorienting and seemingly at odds with the calm music. There’s a great balance between machine noises and sounds and small personal touches like the pocket knife & the thumb against the tooth brush. The vintage bike in frame adds a James Dean touch to the shop.

Scene II: The Goodbye

We’re spectators observing an intimate moment between boyfriend and girlfriend. My favorite part of this scene is boyfriend’s expression when he gives his favorite pair of jeans to his girlfriend. It’s one of great sacrifice, and it’s so well timed.

Scene III: The Validation

A few details make this scene exceptional. It’s perfectly sequenced. Our hero waves goodbye to his love. In the frame we see both his hand waving and the reflection of his girlfriend in the bus mirror.

Audio: Every audible sound in this commercial actually enriches the song. Whether the bus’ hum or the workshop’s sparks, it’s all synchronized to the on rhythm of the the song. And the song created the perfect atmosphere for our story to unfold.

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Steve Kurg’s book, “Don’t Make Me Think,” is timeless. It’s the equivalent to The Elements of Style for the internet. It’s a common sense approach to web usability that exemplifies just how uncommon ‘common sense,’ is. Here’s a free chapter; it’s worth 5 minutes of your time to read. When you’re done, check out Newsvine’s landing page. I think it well executes the concepts Kurg discusses.

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I like the Cellfire web site. It’s a perfect blend of web 2.0 and the features that appeal to the core Myspace demo. Their Myspace marketing campaign is on the money: a $1,000 give away and an appealing creative (see the esnips widget below). I like their choice of incentives. After all the effort, too bad Cell Fire doesn’t work on my Sprint phone.

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I was at one of my client’s offices today, a radio station, and this bald man in shorts and his 8 year old son walked in. Apparently, they won tickets to a concert. After filling out the forms, they went to leave. The father turned to the son and then to the secretary and said:

“This is the biggest moment in his little life.”

Little life.

I’m not sure if that bothered the kid as much is it bothered me.

Therapy: a patient is born everyday.

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Airport, Boston, 9 pm.

Business man to attractive girl: “Can I take a picture of you?”
Attractive girl to business man: “You gonna blog about it?”

Gotta love the Jet Blue terminal.

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The exercise bikes at my gym are connected to the internet. I usually run on the trendmill behind them, which gives me a view to their screen. Today I watched three girls trying to connect to their Myspace page, while listening to their ipods and peddling. Even during an opportunity to escape, the girls on the bikes chose to remain connected.

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Seth Godin on the Across the Sound podcast discusses why we should think small. What I love about Seth Godin is his choice of words. He relates marketing as story telling, favoring using the right words to jargon and placing equal emphasis on data and anecdote. It’s worth a listen and is especially relevant to understanding iconoclast marketing techniques:

Free download from Jaffee’s Across the Sound podcasts

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