Looking at Video on the Web with Ken McCarthy

This is the third in a spontaneous, unplanned and somewhat goofy series of articles about mobile computing.

Why do I say "goofy"? Because you’d think in the middle of System 2007, I’d have more pressing things to do than jump into a brand new (to me) field and start thinking and writing about it, but I’ve learned not to second guess my instincts on these things. A bell has gone off in my brain that says "now’s the time."

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to wrapping your mind around the mobile world is the dizzying variety of mobile niches. Here’s how to make sense of them…

Read more…

Earlier this week, I reported that I’ve finally become a regular cell phone user.

It’s really opened my eyes.

Read more…

Motorolo just bought Terayon for $140 million.

This is the year I finally became a serious cell phone user so I’m going to start paying a lot more attention to these stories and what they mean.

Heavy use of a cell phone has made three things clear to me:

1. Mobile is where things are headed. The PC will be for production (word processing, graphics, video), TV sized entertainment (video games and TV), and involved browsing, but a lot of what people use their PCs for will migrate to the handheld.

Clearly, e-mail is headed there. So is what I call simple browsing: searches where you’re looking for something immediately needed – and local – like stores, hotels, gas stations, or places to eat.  As for play, a whole generation of kids have been trained on Game Boys so I can see lot sof entertainment possibilities too.

2. Handhelds wil get more elaborate: bigger screens (for video watching), more mini-keyboards, and headsets will become common.

3. In this environment, consumers will not be very receptive to intrusive advertising. In fact, they’ll be as opposed to it as they are to intrusive telemarketing.

Interestingly, some of the things that Motorola reportedly bought Terayon for included its ability to deliver locally relevent video, permit digital insertion of ads, and graphic overlays.

I’ve actually developed a system that makes these same capabilities availble to web publishers. I’m hoping that after the System Seminar, I’ll have some time to package it for others to use. It’s quite slick, easy to use and makes it a lot easier to make Internet video sell.

The response to the Gary Halbert videos I posted last was very positive…and it made me think.

I’ve got miles of video tape on Internet marketing in my archive going back to 1994. Why don’t I start making it available for free on the Internet in useful bite sized pieces? (Duh!)

In just a few days, 1,200+ people told me they thought it was a good idea. They went to the site and joined the bulletin list to be informed every time I post a news video.

In addition to the Halbert material (much more coming by the way), I’ve posted some of my own talks (they were handy and ready to go.)

Coming post-System 2007 (sometime in late May or early June), I’ll be posting an amazing talk by the late Ken Giddens (the System was the first conference that invited him to speak) and Dan Kennedy’s talk at the System in Cleveland.

Then I’ll start going through all past System videos and cherry pick highlights.  My plan is to post at least one new video at the rate of one per week.  In short time, there will be hundreds available.

If you’re interested in taking a look at the site in its early stages, you can take a sneak peek now. I’m calling the project System Seminar TV.

You can click here to see a sample: Gary Halbert  on Rave Review Ad Copy

I’ve been using Internet video more and talking about it less.

Here’s an example of the magic of Internet video at work…

We were lucky to have the late Gary Halbert as a guest speaker at the System Seminar  we held in San Francisco just a few years ago.

It was one of the few times he spoke at an Internet marketing event.

I’ve been going through the tape of Gary’s talk and posting excerpts to YouTube.

I’ve posted three videos so far:

1. "Human Engineering"

2. "Gun-to-the-Head Marketing"

3. "The Biggest Marketing Mistake"

You can click on the link below and watch these videos now.

http://www.GaryHalbertLive.com

Enjoy!

Ken

P.S. If you want to see more free Halbert videos as I post them, make sure you sign up for the Gary Halbert video announcment list on the site above.