Ted.coms speaker Steve Jobs: How to live before you die

The story that most people tell about me might include a statement that I am a techie.  I have lived my life going after and purchasing the latest gadgets, and building the best computers I could manage.  This is why the TED.com post of a speech entitled "How to live before you die" given by Steve Jobs really impressed me.  Steve Jobs is an awesome demonstration of what we can achieve as individuals and professionals. In his 15-minute keynote address  in front of a graduating class at Stanford University Jobs describes his life in a candid and honest speech. Jobs talks about how he was able to achieve the creation of a large computer manufacturing company called Apple.  It is clear that life is going to be full of set backs and strides forward, but jobs tells the audience to Keep looking for what you love to do.  Love and loss are a part of the development of greatness.  When jobs co founded Apple he was on top of the world and accomplished the launch of something he loved.  By age 30 Jobs had a disagreement with someone he hired to help him run Apple and the board of trusties sided with the then CEO and fired Steve Jobs. Jobs soon realized that this was a blessing in disguise.  He went on to found two new very successful companies NEXT and Pixar.  Jobs soon found himself back working for Apple when NEXT, Jobs fledgling company, was bought by the struggling giant.  After all these setbacks Jobs turned it around and eventually turned Apple into the leading computer company in the world.

The main point of this speech is that we have to find what we love.  Don’t settle for anything less.  If you haven’t found that love keep looking, and live each day as if it where your last. 

Information source: http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html

A look at the American Advertising Federation (AAF)

     Online video has brought about a new frontier for advertisers.  Advertising is a surefire way to generate revenue for your websites, magazines, and much more.  This business model guarantees that if you can show a potential advertiser their content will reach a large audience, the advertiser will be more than happy to compensate your company for these impressions. It demonstrates a nice return on their investment (ROI).

     Joining the American Advertising Federation (AAF)  is a “no Brainer” for web video content producers to join this organization.  The AAF is not only the largest, but also the oldest trade organization in the advertising community. The programs they have developed will keep your company informed about the newest practices in the advertising industry with proven practices for growing advertising income.

     The AAF has created a collective group of diverse advertising professionals sharing the goal.  The leading advertisers in the nation have joined this organizations network with nearly 20 local federations that represent the more than 40,000 ad professionals in the nation. This will bring the web video professionals together with advertisers yielding creative business solutions that will bring this profession in to the forefront.  The AAF is located in Washington, D.C.

     There are 200 AAF college chapters.  This represents close to 7000 student members.  Through the use of these college chapters AAF is fostering the welfare of these future advertising professionals by educating them on the latest trends in advertising. The AAF encourages the inclusion of a diverse membership by recruiting people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.

AAF Mission

The American Advertising Federation protects and promotes the well being of advertising. We accomplish this through a unique, nationally coordinated grassroots network of advertisers, agencies, media companies, local advertising clubs and college chapters. (1)

1 (information courtesy the AAF Website http://www.aaf.org/default.asp?id=24)

Netflix vs. Hulu.com

Streaming media is rapidly growing.  In the past 5 years many companies that offered traditional media have started branching out into the world of streaming media.  People still use these traditional sources but more options have been developed. 

A short time ago if someone wanted to catch their favorite TV show or movie they would have to watch it when it was on TV or in the Movie Theater.  Those days have been replaced with the Internets broadband speeds and a countless number of devices capable of streaming such media.  No longer are we tied to our homes or movie theaters.  We have companies like Netflix.com and Hulu.com to come to our aid.

Hulu is a company specializing in streaming television shows.  On hulu.com you can catch a variety of TV shows from networks such as NBC, Fox, ABC and CBS just to name a few. This has been a revolutionary thing.  Hulu is a joint venture from these networks with money coming from Newport Television which is a joint venture company created by the network partners. Hulu.com , because of it’s affiliation with these networks, provides a service offering it’s customers to receive  video content in High Definition for a monthly subscription fee.  It is the holder of a countless number of video assets and it increases them each night.  The networks provide viewers with full streaming versions of the same programs that aired over the traditional video feed as recently as the night before.

Netflix originally got it start by offering video rentals to it’s subscribers for a flat monthly rate.  They also gave their customers the added benefit of not having to return their movie rentals without having to pay a penalty charge for returning them late.  This is the assassin of the business model of companies like Blockbuster video.  Netflix has also begun streaming their vast library of movies and specials over the Internet.  This puts them in direct competition with Hulu.  The difference being that Netflix has more movie titles than Hulu.  Netflix generally gets the movies first and Hulu has more television content to offer it’s subscribers.

Video apps and Streaming Video Media

For the past 6 years cellphone companies have been developing apps (applications) for their devices.  These many applications have created a new market for entertainment consumers.  Consumers now have at their fingertips devices that can connect them with family and friends, enable them to play games, carry their entire music collection and watch video on demand.  These apps have challenged some the traditional means of getting this entertainment. Their effects on video game consoles, televisions, books and entertainment systems have been astonishing.

Samsung and other manufacturers have embarked on a track to develop the same technology but allow you to share it between devices, specifically SMART devices.  These essentially will allow the consumer to move the same information between their devices on a fly.  Users will be able to play video games on their gaming consoles.  Pause the games and continue them on their mobile devices.  The same will also be available for music and other apps.

Samsung is currently distributing their SMART TV line-ups. The company has chosen to stick closely to it’s original television functionality the distribution of video content.   How will this effect live streaming video?  This will enable live stream content producers to reach a larger market if they develop apps for these smart TV’s enabling them to stream directly to TV sets via the Internet.  This is exciting news.  The gap between traditional broadcasters and video stream producers is narrowing year by year.

Broadcasting and Media associations

The world of live streaming is continuing to grow.  New companies are being created annually in an attempt to develop and produce content to meet the demand of the media consumer. It is directly associated with the old standards of radio and television broadcasting.  This process has been termed webcasting or streaming media.  It began with the start of recorded programming (video clips) posted on YouTube.  Now the trend spearheaded by two cadets from WestPoint  (Brad Hunstable and John Ham) who wanted to create a way for family members to see their deployed military friends from Iraq.  This has inspired a new generation of producers. Covering a broad range of live events around the globe. 

For many freelance videographers working on random projects there is a bright star on the horizon.  The opportunity has arisen to provide coverage on a local level of sporting, entertainment, and community events.  A coverage that is easy to produce with only a laptop and a web cam. Pretty soon professional producers from the broadcast industry began to try their hand at producing content. Content that generates revenue and has a viral spread across the Internet. This is creating a need for associations to speak on behalf of the professional media producers.

The association of choice for broadcasters and video producers is the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).  NAB provides a voice for some media producers.  It is the premier trade association for broadcasters.  Organizations like this one help feed the industry that it serves.  Creating an incubator of innovation.  They help to promote education and assistants with many community services.  NAB is also actively involved advocacy programs that speak with national legislators about the relevance of it’s state broadcasters. Informing policy makers about broadcasters who are beginning to adapt to the growing need for web media.

Do What You Love to do!

Gary Vaynerchuk: Do What You Love

Inspirational speaker Gary Vaynerchuk gave a speech for the TED.com initiative back in 2008 that should motivate many entrepreneurs to action.  He simply states, “Do what you love”.  I

In his speech he is very adamant about having a passion about what you are doing.   Most of us end up in jobs that we hate and are not passionate about.  It is just a paycheck for us.  This is not a great way to live our lives.  We spend too much time just striving to get by, and not living our dreams. “Please stop that!” states Gary Vaynerchuk. In his speech, he references how he took over his family business.  At the height of his success of turning the family wine business around, he came to a realization. Even though he was good at this job, it wasn’t what he loved.  He only became 1% unhappy with what he was doing. So he changed courses and created wine library TV. 

His family business was increased from a couple billion dollars a year to $50 Billion a year company before he turned 30 and decided he didn’t want to do it anymore.  So he devoted the next 17 months 5 days a week building wine library TV to the success it is today. “You need to care about everything!” Gary Vaynerchuk states in his speech.  “Giving a crap” about everything is very important to our success.  Don’t just listen care.  Figure out what we love and want to do for the rest of our lives and do that. 

This speech really hit me at the core.  What I would love to do professionally is something that doesn’t feel like work to me.  It will come so natural because I love it.  We all need to take heed to his words and STOP DOING WHAT WE DON’T ABSOLUTLY LOVE.

Capitalize on your websites/ Live streams

How to capitalize on your live streams

The technology involved in streaming live video over the Internet has grown over the past few years. The traditional sources of revenue include the use of strategically placed ads.  There are several sources for a publisher to generate this revenue.  The first and most popular would be Google AdSense.  As far as pay per click revenue is concerned Google offers a large catalog of advertisers that cater to every interest available.  Another ad revenue sight that caters to web publishers is Link share and Commission junction.  I have used both of these companies.  They differ slightly from AdSense, but still offer web publishers a variety of affiliate networks that allow for the inclusion of commission revenue.

Once you have applied to one of the ad publisher accounts, it is time to include their source code on your webpage.

 Example of a source code for one of my advertisers Soda Stream below.

These links allow everyone who logs onto your website to view your video content to see the banners created by your advertisers.  There is a call to action for the revenue to generate. Most of these ads require the web viewer to click on these links. The clicks are recorded wich enables the advertisers to reimburse the webmaster or owner of the webpage for the advertising lead generated by the click.

Ok so now you have your webpage designed your stream feed embedded, but nobody knows your site exists.  This is when you promote your site. The most popular way to do this is by utilizing SEO’s or search engine optimization. This is a sure fire way to generate more hits to your website.  Put your website at the top of the search lists on Google, Yahoo, Bing, and all the other search engines. 

This is a simplified introduction to this process for more information check out a few sources:

http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization